What's the deal with role-playing and role playing games?

Question

My boyfriend is an accountant and he has a fair amount of disposable income. He tends to spend quite a bit of it on his "role playing" hobby. He has asked me to try it a few times and now I am thinking about it. I know it has to do with pretending to be a character in a game but I am pretty ignorant of it. What is it all about and should I be worried about trying it (lol)? What's the odds I might enjoy it or is it a total waste of time/money? Anyone..especially other women..have any experience with this?

Answer 1

Yeah I played some role playing as a teenager. It was fun.

Usually kind of smartish people who play, how fun the game is depends on two things, the group of people you play with and the person running the game.

The people:
If they take themselves too seriously they can suck the fun out of it. Some people make the mistake of trying to channel all of their powerlessness into the game to makeup for their feelings of being a loser, so they make these super "powerful" characters and get really proud of them and take it really hard if something bad happens to it. These people are knowns as *******.

Otherwise the people have a good sense of humor, and it is a creative story telling avenue where each person is kind of like their own character in a soap opera. Each meeting you try to come up with things that are clever and funny, or interesting for your character to do in the framework of the adventure setting the person running the game has set.

The Gamemaster:
Bad: power hungry ******. Has a "pet" who gets special treatment, while resisting other people's ideas. Is rigid and gets pissy when the gammers go in a direction they aren't ready for.

Good: Has a good story arc, with fully thought out background characters, with realistic motives. Treats each session as a lose framework where the gamers are co-pilots in creating the world.

There are two types of gaming:

"table top" which is done with a peice of paper, some dice, and books open around some couches.

"Live action" where people dress up and "act" out their character in an improvisational style with other people who are also "in character".

Both have their charm. "Table top" is what people think of when you say "Dungeons and Dragons".

"Live action" is more for people who miss "dress up" from when they were kids.

Both really deprend on a group of fair, and level headed game masters to keep the personality drama down since people who are drawn towards this type of entertainment can have flare ups frequently.

Good luck.

Answer 2

It is all about what you like. Some women like roleplaying games and others don't. My ex-wife didn't, because she just wasn't interested in the game.

It is a good time to sit around and spend time with friends, and get out of your daily routine by pretending to be someone and somewhere else. Everyone likes the idea of being the hero and saving the world, accomplishing mighty deeds of valor, and the like.

If it is a setting like the middle-ages, and you like movies like Conan, or the King Arthur tales, you might get a kick out of becoming a character in that kind of tale, imagining the movie in your head as play progresses.

If you're in a modern setting maybe you can be the edgy detective that solves the case and takes out the bad guys by the numbers.

And it doesn't have to be serious either. Folks get a kick being goofy sometimes too, so whatever you're interested in, there is a game for it.

I would recommend that you at least go and see them gaming, get involved though, don't just sit there because you'll get bored and not have a good time. Make your boyfriend let you roll the dice for him and make him show you how the rules work. Ask questions because gamers are always happy to help others learn how to play.

Answer 3

At its basic level a roleplaying game is like talking about a book or a movie. If you see the Lord of the Rings and afterwards say "If I were Gandalf I would have ..." you are roleplaying. Imagining yourself in the role of a character other than yourself.

A typical discussion like that would end up with everyone arguing about what the results of your action would be. The game part of a roleplaying game puts in rules to determine the results and has a game master who uses the rules to determine the outcome.

A roleplaying game can be about anything. There is Bunnies and Burrows based loosely on the book Watership Down which has you roleplay rabbits. There are roleplaying games based on Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and most other popular science fiction and fantasy. There is even a roleplaying game based upon the Jeeves and Wooster stories of P.G. Wodehouse. http://www.granta.demon.co.uk/drones/

There are also endless "goals" to playing. Some play just for roleplaying. They use few rules and do not try to accomplish anything. They just like acting out the part.

Most are more challenge oriented. The game is to kill something and take their stuff, or figure out a mystery, or some other difficult thing to accomplish. They are frequently known as "hack and slash" and may do little roleplaying as such.

The main issues with whether or not you would enjoy it are: do you like the genre (science fiction, fantasy, spies, pirates, ninjas, mystery, horror, etc), and do you have the same goal as the other players (killing things, becoming powerful, solving mysteries, acting in character, chatting socially while eating junk food).

Answer 4

It is a nice question. The role playing games are interesting because a player needs to become or pretend to be somebody. These games are involved with different players, rules, and other elements.

The MahJong is one of many fun Yahoo! Games. It offers different icons for the players. These icons are man, woman, girl, angel, animal, ... and more. Therefore, players can wear different icons to play interactive games with their friends for pleasure and fun.

Before spending a lot of money to enjoy doing the real role playing games, you can try to play this kind of games on the Internet. Yahoo! Games are one of the best choice for you. You will experience to feel becoming somebody else. See if you like it. Haha :~)

Have fun!

Answer 5

I assume you're talking about role playing in the bedroom right?
If so I would say YES definitely give it a try, I have never done it, but would be totally up for it. Always keep an open mind when it comes to intimacy, you never know what you just may like!

Answer 6

Really it depends on what if its like D&D then its like a game of risk but if its like writing then you could so easily get lost in it all cause you have to have a really strong imagination for it creating your character making all the decions about what goes on what he wears or has its alot of fun really or it could be the role playing like in bedroom where you dress up and act like the person you are dressing up as it has alot of different things to it but i hope this has helped a little

Answer 7

You mean like, Dungeons and Dragons?

I grew up on the game and I've actually played it with a couple girls. It isn't as uncomfortable as you would think. You should try it out a couple times and get gain some constructive criticism.

Answer 8

its a sexual thing more than likely..... heres an example.... '' im kissing down your chest to your stomach'' blah blah blah blah, its just another form of sex without touching........

Answer 9

My same question!