Role Playing

Prior to the 1970s the hobby of role playing was essentially limited to the realm of historical reenactment. Individuals wishing to participate in role playing activities joined local chapters of organizations such as the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA), a national organization that enacts full-scale battles in the form of sword fighting, fencing, and other period war games. While live-action, improvisational role playing still exists, the majority of role playing now takes place primarily in the imagination of the players.

In the late 1960s and the early 1970s, traditional role playing began to take shape. Inspired by the increasing popularity of such fantasy novels as J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings series, people began inventing fantasy genre war games using miniature figurines made of pewter or lead.

In 1973, Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax transformed the role-playing industry. They established Tactical Studies Rules (TSR) and, in 1974, released the first edition of the Dungeons & Dragons rule book for role playing. The first box set of the game Dungeons & Dragons included miniature figures as well as enough information for the players to establish a detailed world of mythical creatures, skill sets, heroes, and villains. During the 1980s, TSR Hobbies, Inc. released second and third editions of the popular game with more elaborate full-color depictions and artwork. These Advanced Dungeons & Dragons materials attracted an even wider audience of new players.

In 1997, TSR was bought out by Wizards of the Coast, a company best-known for its trading card game Magic: The Gathering. In 1999, Wizards of the Coast became a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. While smaller companies have joined the gaming market over the years, the games originated by TSR continue to dominate the role- playing industry.

Since the emergence of the internet and the World Wide Web, the role-playing world has shifted slightly toward the virtual. Many gamers enjoy role playing through online video games that connect players from around the globe in complex role-playing environments called Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG). Of these online connections, the latest trend is the development of simulated online environments that mimic characters, tasks, and activities of everyday life.

Techniques & Tips

Since role playing is inherently social, it is important to find a group of players that are compatible in personality. For some gamers, role playing is an extension of a lifestyle that revolves around enjoyment of the fantasy genre, while for others, it is a fun release for a few hours a week and bears no resemblance to their daily lives. For this reason, it is helpful for a new player to join a group that matches their level of interest in the game.

Within the game, it is important to build characters with interesting strengths and vulnerabilities, as this makes their interaction with other characters and villains more life-like. Characters that are extremely strong and impervious to all evils tend to dominate the game and reduce the overall fun of role playing.

Trends

Although role-playing games began in the fantasy genre, there is rising interest in role-playing games that focus their characters around other settings. Some of the most popular alternatives are superhero games that include comic book characters, such as the X-Men. Horror genre games also have a particular following within the gaming community. Role-playing games set in the worlds of popular television shows, movies, and books have also gained popularity; there are games that correspond to Star Wars, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the Harry Potter series. Additionally, role-playing games are often included in general gaming conventions held throughout the world.

In the virtual world, the latest trend in role playing is the emergence of simulated role-playing environments, one of the most popular of which has been Second Life. In these role playing games, characters are called avatars and their exact appearance is designed by each player from a selection of feature options. Avatars interact with one another in a simulated environment, but the communications behind the avatars are the equivalent of conversations in an online chat room. Similar to chat rooms, some encounters between avatars are transferred into real life relationships, while others remain only in the game realm. Players in some simulated online environment games can spend actual currency to upgrade the lifestyle of their online avatar in terms of property and home, career, or relationships.

Advancements in virtual reality technology have led to gamers having increased access to equipment such as headsets that allow them to become even more fully immersed in the world of role-playing games. With these virtual reality systems, players can actually become the characters or avatars and feel as though they are moving through the virtual environment themselves.

Role Playing for Fun vs. Profit

Generally, role playing is done only for fun, although some businesses have been built around the industry. Gamers have started publishing companies to support the need for manuals and magazines that suggest better gaming techniques and character development, all for the purpose of enhancing the role-playing experience.

The latest endeavors related to role playing are connected to the simulated online environment method of gaming. A variety of real-life businesses have been established to help players add more elaborate details to their simulated environments, particularly in the form of real estate, architecture, and interior decorating. Computer-generated images of all manners of property, homes, furniture, and artwork are available for a real price for online games such as Second Life.

Learning More

Books

Cook, Monte, Jonathan Tweet, and Skip Williams. Dungeons & Dragons Core Rulebook Set. Wizards of the Coast, 2003.

Noonan, David. Player's Handbook II. Wizards of the Coast, 2006.

Sernett, Matthew. Dungeons & Dragons Basic Game. Wizards of the Coast, 2006