roleplaying

Roleplaying refers to any of a broad range of activities in which participants assume roles other than themselves, usually for the purpose of entertainment, though sometimes as a literary, dramatic, or therapeutic exercise. Bloggers tend to use the term to refer to games.

Roleplaying games (or RPGs) became very popular in the 1970s with the first publication of Dungeons and Dragons. Other "pen and paper" based games include many based on original source material, as well as licensed properties like Star Wars and the writings of H. P. Lovecraft. In these games players create characters appropriate to the setting and describe the actions of these characters within a scenario managed by a Gamemaster, producing what is essentially a collaborative story. Bloggers frequently write game reviews, as well as articles on game theory and development.

The roleplaying format was later successfully adapted to computer games. The dominant format for these games has come to be the Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game (MMORPG) in which thousands of players share the same game world through the internet. Leading examples of this sort of game include World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings Online, Eve Online, and RuneScape, as well as many others.

Story-based roleplaying is also very popular on the internet, with players using message boards, chat, and online forums to engage in collaborative storytelling with very little structure and few rules. For an example of forum-based roleplaying see Caeliria. Also popular is live-action roleplaying (LARP) where participants dress up in character and engage in mock combat. For an example of popular live action roleplaying see NERO or World of Darkness.

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Latest blogosphere posts tagged “roleplaying”

 

• Multiclassed to oblivion from Ruminations of a Canadian Geek » RPG

  
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  Another post in my series on how to build characters that will actually help the party. This advice comes from a very common character type that I could not stand at all. The overly-heavily multiclassed character. Multiclassing is a great way to meld the attributes of two classes: For a barbarian... [...]
  3 days ago

• Final Fantasy Versus XIII’s “Noctis” Perfume Pictured

  
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  Final Fantasy Versus XIII‘s “Noctis” perfume has been pictured. The perfume is basically based off the protagonist of the upcoming RPG title. Concrete information about the game is pretty much non-existent. It has been rumored to be developed solely to … Read more ›
  3 days ago

• Barry’s mailbox: In Thunder Forged

  
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  In Thunder Forged: Iron Kingdoms Chronicles (The Fall of Llael Book One) Available June 4, 2013 Buy at Amazon In Thunder Forged: Iron Kingdoms Chronicles (The Fall of Llael Book One) The first novel based upon the award-winning WARMACHINE® steam-powered fantasy wargame and the world of the Iron Kingdoms™ ...
  3 days ago

• Locations, Locations: Fort Tusken

  
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  A crucial element to just about any roleplaying game is the setting. For me, I fell in love with the loud music in the Cantina in Mos Eisley, the frigidness of Echo Base, and everything in between in the Star Wars universe. When roleplaying within it, the entire galaxy is at your disposal. This column will show both ...
  3 days ago

• Drakengard 3 Screenshots Released

  
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  New screenshots from Drakengard 3 have been released. In them we see the “Apostle” characters who will be fighting alongside the main character Zero. The characters  and their descriptions can be found if you head on over to Gematsu.
  3 days ago

• MightyDungeons from Der ewige Held

  
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  Freunde von HeroQuest aufgepasst! MightyDungeons ist ein netter kleiner Zeitvertreib für Android, iPad und Steam. Der Schwierigkeitsgrad ist bisher recht überschaubar, aber es macht Spaß die Acheivments freizuschalten und Gold zu sammeln um sich bessere Ausrüstung zu kaufen.... [...]
  3 days ago

• Supplement Review: The Stealer of Children by Peter Spahn from Small Niche Games

  
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  Of late, I’ve had the opportunity to review several quality books from small publishers and seen how well a product can be produced even on a budget. That said, occasionally I come across a product with a great concept where something fails to grab my attention and hold it the whole time. The Stealer of Children ( ...
  3 days ago

• Things Not to Do When the Party Hates Your NPC from Exchange of Realities

  
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  They tell you in the real world that first impressions are everything. It’s even more the case with RPG characters, particularly the ones you want to keep around—and sometimes it’s just going to go wrong, and for whatever reason the entire party is going to decide that they loathe... [...]
  3 days ago

• WoW p5.3 this week, highlights include

  
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  Patch 5.3 notes are out, for the Prod drop on May 21st. Ref: MMO-Champion – Patch 5.3 Live This Week for a full summary. I expect downtime to be bigish, with the downloader churning away. This means the cycle is less than three months between patches, and if the next patch comes quickly we might see a staggeringly ...
  3 days ago

• Can Dungeons and Dragons Still Be Enjoyed in the Modern Era of Gaming?

  
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  The world of Dungeons and Dragons has been reinvented several times, but is it time give up on it? Heres Caseys take on the subject. The post Can Dungeons and Dragons Still Be Enjoyed in the Modern Era of Gaming? appeared first on Leviathyn .
  4 days ago

• Stick and Rudder: Why all the love for Roberts and Star Citizen?

  
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  Filed under: Sci-Fi , Culture , Game Mechanics , Lore , MMO Industry , New Titles , Opinion , Roleplaying , Sandbox , Crowdfunding , Stick and Rudder , Star Citizen , Buy-to-Play I was talking with a gaming buddy recently who missed the whole space sim experience in the 1990s. Hes a Star Wars fan ...
  4 days ago

• Sovereign Stone -- Kickstarting Elmores Vision - May 23,2013

  
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  Join us as we chat with Tony Lee and Ken Whitman about the exciting Sovereign Stone Kickstarter project. Sovereign Stone was a collaboration of tabletop RPG gaming luminaries featuring Larry Elmore, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Through Elmores vivid visual renditions of unique personalities, clashing nations, ...
  4 days ago

• The Gaming Philosopher Post 4: Personal Identity

  
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  Issues of identity arise in all sorts of contexts. Let’s say I’m playing a Star Wars game and my PCs are piloting an old YT-2400 light freighter. After the first session, the hyperdrive’s shot, and they have to replace it. Then, in the next session, the shield generators go. Session after session parts of ...
  4 days ago

• The Morrow Project Pre-Release: Character Generation from Casting Shadows

  
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  For me, the character creation rules are often the window I use for getting a good understanding of how an RPG is intended to be interpreted and implemented. This section tends to be my first, best source of first impressions. Digging into my Pre-Release copy of The Morrow Project, I was quickly... [...]
  4 days ago

• Character Workbook: Fighter from Berin Kinsman » rpg

  
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  Character creation and leveling up can be confusing, even for experienced players. There’s a lot of keep track of, including abilities to choose and statistics to be recalculated. The Character Workbook: Fighter for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game is a game aid designed for the core... [...]
  1 week ago

• From the Front Lines: On Military and Gaming

  
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  Hi there.  I would like to take a few minutes and address the Gamer Nation on an issue I have been facing for over three years (hopefully others have had better luck).  In those years and experience while serving in the military, I have noticed a recurring issue when trying to join a gaming group. I understand that ...
  1 week ago

• Kicking my own tires as a Kickstarter backer from Casting Shadows

  
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  I reviewed my ‘backed projects’ list on Kickstarter this month in reaction to a late project I have backed and the accommodating comments posted in response to a late and frankly insulting update from the project manager. After posting a polite, fact-filled response to this... [...]
  1 week ago

• Character Workbook: Universal from Berin Kinsman » rpg

  
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  Character creation and leveling up can be confusing, even for experienced players. There’s a lot of keep track of, including abilities to choose and statistics to be recalculated. The Character Workbook: Universal for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game is a game aid designed for any class or... [...]
  1 week ago

• A Minor Obstacle

  
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  Auren is a revered sorcerer, having achieved membership in the Order of the Fallen Star younger than any magic-wielder before him. With accolades like that, a simple thing like a dragon erupting from a field of fiery magma is but a small setback. Time to show the beast how to fight fire with fire! The long-awaited ...
  1 week ago

• Storyboard: Making villains work

  
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  Filed under: Opinion , Roleplaying , Storyboard , Miscellaneous A while ago, I talked about the fact that roleplaying in MMOs most closely resembles comic books . This is apropos of the current discussion because both mediums have a fundamental issue with how villains are supposed to work. A good villain ...
  1 week ago

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