Pen & Paper RPG 101 - part 1

[ayascythe]

I'm pretty sure hardly anyone on my flist has already had experience with pen and paper rpg and the poll I did a while ago showed that there are at least a few people interested in a little 101. :)
I'm going to start out with a little bit of facts and history, because a) I think it's interesting and b) because I've had this part written out for quite a while. I'll get to the actual gameplay later, but as I don't have much time lately, I figured I should at least post what I already have. These are only a few words on RPG and by no means very complete, so if you're interested to learn more about this, feel free to ask sites like Wikipedia and the likes. (Or me, I'll try to answer the best way I can.^^)

 

A Definition

Pen and paper RPG. Called like that because all you really need is a pen and some sheets of paper. Also referred to as tabletop RPG. Called like that because you play it on a table. (D'uh.) RPG stands for roleplaying game. As far as I know, both terms are equally accurate, but I've seen tabletop rpg being used more often on American sites whereas pen and paper is definitely the term used here in Germany.

 

A little bit of history

In 1974 Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax published the first commercially available pen & paper RPG books in history: Dungeons & Dragons (D&D).
D&D – and that you have to understand – is the RPG. It was the first of its kind and is still the most famous and popular one around the globe. There were several movies produced and it gets constantly referenced in pop culture, e.g. in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Futurama, The Simpons, Scrubs ...

Another thing you should know: Dungeons & Dragons was the Violent Killing Game That Corrupts Our Children of its time. No, seriously. I didn't even know myself, but there is a very interesting article on Spiegel.de:

Wie ein Fantasy-Spaß zum "Killerspiel" gemacht wurde (unfortunately only in German)

Suicides were said to be a direct result of playing RPG. People were told that teenagers became delusional and „unable to differ in-play from reality“ because of it. Especially Christian groups went rabid about the supposedly „Satanic aspects of the game“, referring to witchcraft and the demons the players killed in the game.
 

Picture gallery about D&D and, err, "satanic rpg"

There was even a TV-movie called Mazes & Monsters (I SEE WHAT U DID THERE) in which Tom Hanks plays a psychotic roleplayer who runs amok after he loses track of reality.
 

 

(Somehow, I am really curious to watch this, but something tells me I might either die from laughing at the ridiculousness or fall into a rage.)

The hype faded away by the end of the eighties, but the publishers still gave in. They changed cover-arts and put warnings in the books that went along the line of „THIS IS NOT REAL AND WE ARE NOT SATANISTS, THANKYOUVERYMUCH.“

I wanted you to know this little aspect, because I find it crazy what a witchhunt went on in the eighties, just because of some ignorant people who proclaimed bullshit about something they didn't even know. (Especially if you think of the image roleplayers have today: goofy, albeit harmless nerds.) Then again, this is exactly what people still do nowadays with Marilyn Manson, Counter Strike or (*LMAO*) Final Fantasy. Puts some things into another perspective, doesn't it? ^^

TBC

 

Coming up next: character creation.

Comments

[phoenixmaedchen.livejournal.com]

Die Artikel les ich mal wenn ich Zeit hab, habs nur mal überflogen, und das hier fand ich auch interessant, weil von der Geschichte und so hab ich keinen blassen Schimmer.

Zwischenfrage: Kennst du "The Gamers"? Ich lieb den Film. Er ist so wahr :D Und so nerdreich.^^

Then again, this is exactly what people still do nowadays with Marilyn Manson, Counter Strike or (*LMAO*) Final Fantasy. Puts some things into another perspective, doesn't it? ^^

Was mich am meisten - oder MIT am meisten stört - ist, dass durchaus wahre Erkenntnisse aus der Hirnforschung vollkommen verdreht dargestellt und dementsprechend nutzbar gemacht werden. Inzwischen sagen viele "Wer Counter Strike spielt, dessen Hemmschwelle sinkt".

Wahr ist ja schon - wer sich viel mit Gewalt beschäftigt, für den wird Gewalt alltäglicher und somit sinkt die Hemmschwelle.

Was allerdings nichts Neues ist und auch keine bahnbrechende Erkenntnis.

Und was allerdings auch keinen Kausalzusammenhang zwischen CS-Spielern und Amokläufen herstellt. Na ja, äh, war hier eigentlich ja gar nicht Thema, aber fiel mir eben ein^^ (Zumal man ja dann noch sagen muss, dass Dinge schon gewaltig in Schieflage sein müssen, wenn von PC-Figuren Gewaltphantasien auf echte Menschen übertragen werden. Hm, ich wär wohl schon heimliche Rattentöterin, so viele, wie ich in Morrowind umgebracht hab, aber ich find Ratten eigentlich süß...)

[ayascythe.livejournal.com]

"The Shadow. The Shadow? The Shadow!"
THE GAMERS. Der meistzitierte Film in in meinem Bekanntenkreis, der zu 90% aus nerdigen Rollenspielern besteht. :DDDD Ich liebe ihn ebenfalls und kann zahlreiche Klischees aus dem wahren Leben darin wiederfinden. Kennst du auch The Gamers: Dorkness rising? Der ist fast noch besser.

dass Dinge schon gewaltig in Schieflage sein müssen, wenn von PC-Figuren Gewaltphantasien auf echte Menschen übertragen werden
Das sag ich auch immer wieder. Das kann vielleicht ein Auslöser sein, aber noch lange keine Ursache. Als jemand, der gerne in Dragon Age und Diablo Monster metzelt und auch Marylin Manson gern mal anhört, regt es mich immer wieder auf, was für hirnrissige Argumente da immer wieder aufgebracht werden. Gerade in der Hinsicht ist der Spiegel-Artikel sehr interessant. Weil es damals genau das gleiche war und aus unserer Sicht heute völlig lächerlich wirkt.

[sweetestremedy.livejournal.com]

*g* The only experience with tabletop RPG I have is from reading Darths&Droids, so thanks for the intro! I'll be looking forward to any further installments :D

[ayascythe.livejournal.com]

What I've read from Darths&Droids so far was pretty accurate to RL, dorkness and crazy and all, so you might already know more than you think. ;) But I'm glad you're interested, I'll try to update this as often as possible.

[scarlet-carsons.livejournal.com]

Thank you for making me aware of existence of Mazes & Monsters. It looks... amazing.

[ayascythe.livejournal.com]

IKR? I really need to watch it with my fellow roleplayers someday. I bet it's going to be an, uh, unique experience.