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It’s been ages since I’ve posted, and I must apologize profusely. -_-;; The solstice and (thankfully) RPGing has gotten in the way of my posts.
I was thinking recently about what, to me, are the irreplaceable elements of good roleplaying games. To me, it boils down to two things:
(1) ROLEPLAYING. Er, this is obvious, isn’t it? -_-;; If you aren’t invested in the character, if you’re not willing to act it out and get into it, then you’re not really playing a RPG, you’re playing something else. (A board game?) Nonetheless, some people can’t seem to do this. But when I find someone who really knows how to get into character, who really loses their “self” in the process of roleplaying, then it’s like a cool breeze on a hot summer day. It’s like finding a secret door leading to a room full of treasure. There is nothing better than good roleplaying! That’s also one of the joys of being the DM, getting to play all the thousands and thousands of minor characters who the player characters encounter. ^^
(2) CHANCE/RANDOMNESS/MAYHEM. This is the “game” part, I guess. But what I mean to say is, good RPGs should have an element of chaos. This is the main thing that makes me dubious of diceless RPGs (though some of them are OK) and things like messageboard RPGs, where people just say whatever they want — “I’m a wizard! With sparkling green eyes!” “I’m a vampire! A glittering vampire!” Sure, it is fun and admirable to imagine yourself as a fictional character, but you need to keep one foot in the reality that the world is a random and chaotic place where you are often buffeted around by forces outside your control. You must improvise, you must roll with the punches, and you must deal with torments (which the DM must provide despite their natural desire to go easy on their friends), not just imagine yourself as some superstar.
So, good roleplaying games (to me) require the players to identify with their characters… in unpredictable and genuinely troublesome situations. ^^ If you’re just playing a difficult video game or a board game, it’s not a RPG. If you’re just saying “I can flllyyyyyyy” and flapping your wings (although this is good emoting if you’re playing a serious game) it’s not a RPG. You have to combine these two elements. Many gamers do not like the first element, and some RPers do not like the second element. But for me, that is the essence of roleplaying — playing a character, but playing them through adversity, not just good times.
Good post! A lot of diceless freeform rpgs do seem to not have a system for weighing options and exploiting your resources in risky situations. I do think it could be argued that the human randomness could account for mayhem in diceless rpgs though.
I totally agree, human mayhem can be great in diceless RPGs. But I think that you still need a spirit of competition (either PvP or PvDM). Basically the idea is to keep the game from degenerating into “I want to be a superhero/I want to be a pony” kind of stuff. The mayhem is there to forge the players into shining steel in the fires of adversity!!! ^0^
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My favorite definition of RPGing: “Group Storytelling with Rules”
I got this from a fellow player when I was in High School. Over the nameless and forgotten eons since then, that definition has always applied to the most entertaining games that I played in or GM’d. All of the bad gaming experiences I had was when the GM, or other players, forgot this basic fact.
p.s. I really should start running a Master Class in DMing. Most of this stuff I learned before you people were born! :-)