Role-playing game
Role-playing video games may include player capabilities that advance over time using statistical mechanics.
These electronic games sometimes share settings and rules with tabletop RPGs, but emphasize character advancement more than collaborative storytelling.
Whereas a viewer of a television show is a passive observer, a player in a role-playing game makes choices that affect the story.
A consistent system of rules and a more or less realistic campaign setting in games aids suspension of disbelief.
The level of realism in games ranges from just enough internal consistency to set up a believable story or credible challenge up to full-blown simulations of real-world processes.
Tabletop role-playing games may also be used in therapy settings to help individuals develop behavioral, social, and even language skills.
In contrast, many indie role-playing games experiment with different structures of play, such as sharing the responsibility for creating setting details and NPCs among all players.
[20] The first commercially available RPG, Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), was inspired by fantasy literature and the wargaming hobby and was published in 1974.
[29] Participants act out their characters' actions instead of describing them, and the real environment is used to represent the imaginary setting of the game world.
[30][31] Some live-action role-playing games use rock paper scissors or comparison of attributes to resolve conflicts symbolically, while other LARPs use physical combat with simulated arms such as airsoft guns or foam weapons.
[32] LARPs vary in size from a handful of players to several thousand, and in duration from a couple of hours to several days.
[22] This translation changes the experience of the game, providing a visual representation of the world but emphasizing statistical character development over collaborative, interactive storytelling.
Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) combine the large-scale social interaction and persistent world of MUDs with graphic interfaces.
One common feature of many RPGs is the role of a gamemaster (GM), a participant who has special duties to present the fictional setting, arbitrate the results of character actions, and maintain the narrative flow.
