"WHAT IS A ROLEPLAYING GAME?
A good question, but not an easy one to answer. Everyone has read a book or seen a movie where the lead character does something that the reader or viewer finds so utterly wrong that he or she wants to yell out and warn them. But whether the reader calls out or not, it makes no difference. No matter what we say, the character will do what the plot demands; we're just along for the ride.
The situation in a roleplaying game is very different. When roleplaying, the players control their characters' actions and respond to the events of the plot. If the player does not want the character to go through the door, the character will not. If the player thinks the character can talk him or herself out of a tight situation rather than resorting to that trusty pistol, he can talk away. The script, or plot, of a roleplaying game is flexible, always changing based on the decisions the players make as characters.
The person controlling the story is called the gamemaster. His or her job is to keep track of what is supposed to happen when, describe events as they occur so that the players (as characters) can react to them, keep track of other characters in the game (referred to as non-player characters), and resolve attempts to take action using the game system. The gamemaster describes the world as the characters see it, functioning as their eyes, ears, and other senses. Gamemastering is not an easy task, but the thrill of creating an adventure that engages the other players, tests both the players' gaming skills and the characters' skills in the game world, and captures the players' imaginations makes it worthwhile. FASA publishes game supplements and adventures to help this process along, but good gamemasters always adapt the game universe to suit their own style.
Stories (the adventures) provide the overall plot, a general outline for what might happen at certain times in reaction to other events. The story is no more concrete than that until the players become involved, however. Then, the adventure becomes a story as involving and dramatic as that great movie you saw last week, or that great book you stayed up all night to finish. In some ways it's even better, because you helped create it."
"Werewolf is not only a storytelling game, but a roleplaying game as well. You not only tell stories, but actually act through them by assuming the roles of the central characters. It's a lot like theatre, but you make up the lines.
To understand roleplaying, you need only think back to your childhood and those wonderful afternoons spent playing Cops 'n Robbers, Cowboys and Indians, or Dress-Up. What you were doing was roleplaying, a sort of spontaneous and natural acting that completely occupied your imagination. This play-acting helped you learn about life and what it meant to be a grown-up. It was an essential part of childhood, but just because you have grown up doesn't mean you have to stop.
In Werewolf, unlike pretend, there are a few rules to help you roleplay. They are used mainly to avoid arguments - 'Bang! Bang! You're dead!' 'No I'm not!' - and to add a deeper sense of realism to the story. Rules direct and guide the progress of the story, and help define the capacities and weaknesses of the characters. The essential rules for Werewolf are described in Chapter Four.
Werewolf can be played with nearly any number of players, but roleplaying games in general are best when there are six or fewer players. The mystery and flavor are diminished when players must compete for attention."
"Games come in a wide assortment of types: board games, card games, word games, picture games, miniatures games. Even within these categories are subcategories. Board games, for example, can be divided into path games, real estate games, military simulation games, abstract strategy games, mystery games, and a host of others.
Still, in all this mass of games, role-playing games are unique. They form a category all their own that doesn't overlap any other category.
For that reason, role-playing games are hard to describe. Comparisons don't work because there isn't anything similar to compare them to. At least, no without stretching your imagination well beyond its normal, everyday extension.
But then, stretching your imagination is what role-playing is all about. So let's try an analogy.
Imagine that you are playing a simple board game, called Snakes and Ladders. Your goal is to get from the bottom to the top of the board before all the other players. Along the way are traps that can send you sliding back toward your starting position. There are also ladders that can let you jump ahead, closer to the finish space. So far, it's pretty simple and pretty standard.
Now let's change a few things. Instead of a flat, featureless board with a path winding from side to side, let's have a maze. You are standing at the entrance, and you know that there's and exit somewhere, but you don't know where. You have to find it.
Instead of snakes and ladders, we'll put in hidden doors and secret passages. Don't roll a die to see how far you move; you can move as far as you want. Move down the corridor to the intersection. You can turn right, or left, or go straight ahead, or go back the way you came. Or, as long as you're here, you can look for a hidden door. If you find one, it will open into another stretch of corridor. That corridor might take you straight to the exit or lead you into a blind alley. The only way to find out is to step in and start walking.
Of course, given enough time, eventually you'll find the exit. To keep the game interesting, let's put some other things in the maze with you. Nasty things. Things like vampire bats and hobgoblins and zombies and ogres. Of course, we'll give you a sword and a shield, so if you meet one of these things you can defend yourself. You do know how to use a sword, don't you?
And there are other players in the maze as well. They have swords and shields, too. How do you suppose another player would react if you chance to meet? He might attack, but he also might offer to team up. After all, even an ogre might think twice about attacking two people carrying sharp swords and stout shields.
Finally, let's put the board somewhere you can't see it. Let's give it to one of the players and make that player the referee. Instead of looking at the board, you listen to the referee as he describes what you can see from your position on the board. You tell the referee what you want to do and he moves your pieces accordingly. As the referee describes your surrounding, try to picture them mentally. Close your eyes and construct the walls of the maze around yourself. Imagine the hobgoblin as the referee describes it whooping and gamboling down the corridor toward you. Now imagine hoe you would react in that situation and tell the referee what you are going to do about it.
We have constructed a simple role-playing game. It is not a sophisticated game, but it has the essential element that makes a role-playing game: The player is placed in the midst of an unknown or dangerous situation created by a referee and must work his way through it.
This is the heart of role-playing. The player adopts the role of a character and then guides that character through an adventure. The player makes decisions, interacts with other characters and players, and, essentially, 'pretends' to be his character during the course of the game. That doesn't mean that the player must jump up and down, dash around, and act like his character. It means that whenever the character is called on to do something or make a decision, the player pretends that he is in that situation and chooses an appropriate course of action.
Physically, the players and referee (the DM) should be seated comfortably around a table with the referee at the head. Players need plenty of room for papers, pencils, dice, rule books, drinks, and snacks. The referee needs extra space for his maps, dice, rule books, and assorted notes."