What is a Roleplaying Game?
It seems every roleplaying game has this question in the introduction. Lots of different answers. This one is mine.
The typical response to this question goes something like this:
In a roleplaying game, each player creates a character–an alternate persona they use to interract with the world they imagine together. The players use rules to determine the strengths and weaknesses of their characters and use dice (or some other random number generator) to help determine the outcome of dangerous or risky or uncertain actions.
Now, this isn’t a very useful definition. In fact, the definition is complicated by the existence of games like Everquest, Guild Wars and World of Warcraft. These “roleplaying games” fit that description quite well… but they aren’t roleplaying games. Let me explain.
Chess is not a roleplaying game. Yes, you can turn it into a roleplaying game, but it was not designed to be a roleplaying game. If you give your King, Queen, Rooks, Knights and even your pawns names and make decisions based on their motivations–instead of the best strategic move possible–you’ve turned chess into a roleplaying game.
Like chess, in WoW, you have many choices, but no mechanic rewards you for making decisions based on your character’s motivations. In fact, the game punishes you for doing so by giving you a less-than-efficient character. After all, the point of WoW is beating the game. Becoming the most powerful character you can to take out the most powerful monsters.
Kill monsters to take treasure so you can kill bigger monsters to get better treasure to kill bigger monsters to get better treasure.
That’s not a roleplaying game. That is a very sophisticated version of chess. A highly intricate board game with rules so complicated only a computer can keep track of them. It rewards you for your choices.
It rewards you for your choices. But it isn’t a roleplaying game.
Houses of the Blooded rewards you for making decisions based on your character’s motivations, ambitions, desires and fears, not your own.
I’ve played a lot of live action games, and all too often, I see players shout to the Heavens about their character’s motivations, but as soon as they are forced to make a compromise between that character’s beliefs and that character’s safety, I see them shut up and play coy.
Why? To protect their character. A player decision, not a character decision. An efficient decision.
Your character makes a less-than-strategic decision that makes sense to his motivations? Reward.
Your character do something completely stupid because he’s in love? Reward.
Your character do something completely stupid because he’s vowed revenge? Reward.
In this game, you can make the most efficient character you want. You can bend rules and jump through loopholes with the greatest of ease… but that isn’t the point of the game. The point of the game is playing a character and making decisions your character would make.
Not making decisions you would make, but making decisions your character would make. And the game rewards you for that.
And that, my friends, is what a roleplaying game is.