Roleplaying game
- "What's anRPG?"
"Easy—role playing game."
"Ooh, so close. It's arapid pulse gun." - ―Jango Fett and aQuermian[1]
Aroleplaying game (RPG) is a type of game where players assume the roles of fictional characters via improvisations. At its core, an RPG is a form of interactive and collaborative storytelling. Whereas cinema, novels and television shows are passive, RPGs engage the participants actively, allowing them to simultaneously be audience, actor, and author.
Tabletop roleplaying games[]
In atabletop RPG, participants play the parts of characters in an imaginary scenario that is organized, adjudicated, and sometimes created by a "gamemaster" or "GM," whose role is both to describe the setting and cast of characters for the players to interact with, and to adjudicate how these interactions proceed. He or she may also be responsible for advancing some kind of storyline or plot, albeit one which is subject to the somewhat unpredictable behavior of the players or outcome of the dice rolls. To date, there have been three producers of licensedStar Wars roleplaying products.
West End Games[]
West End Games producedStar Wars: The Roleplaying Game from1987 until1998. The creation of background material for the West End Games' game line had considerable influence on consolidating the formerly disorganizedExpanded Universe into a coherent fictional universe.
Wizards of the Coast[]
Wizards of the Coast, a division ofHasbro Inc., took over the license and produced itsStar Wars Roleplaying Game from1999 until2010, incorporating online elements into the system.
Fantasy Flight Games[]
Fantasy Flight Games released abeta test ofEdge of the Empire atGen Con Game Fair in2012. In2013, Fantasy Flight released theEdge of the Empire Core Rulebook as the first of three iterations of theirStar Wars roleplaying brand line. Subsequent games, each cross-compatible, areAge of Rebellion andForce and Destiny.[2]
Computer roleplaying games[]
The term "roleplaying game" is also used for certainvideo games where the player takes on the role of a character in an imaginary world, and makes choices which advance a story. These games are often based on the "tabletop" or "pencil-and-paper" RPGs described above, and describe characters using their rules. However, without the improvisation of a human gamemaster and other human players, the storyline tends to be slightly more restricted.
While manyStar Wars video and computer games have storylines and elements of roleplaying,Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and its sequel,Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords are the only single-player computer roleplaying games set in theStar Wars galaxy. Both games are based on the mechanics of Wizards of the Coast'sStar Wars Roleplaying Game. However, the creation of "modifications" has led to an expanded RPG universe where one would not exist. Such an example includesStar Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, which has various groups implementing RPG modifications to turn a free-for-all into a roleplayable universe.
Another type of computer roleplaying game is the "Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game," or "MMORPG," where numerous players take on characters and interact online.Star Wars Galaxies was one of threeStar Wars MMORPGs, along withStar Wars: The Old Republic and the free-to-playClone Wars Adventures. Its rules are not derived from any of the tabletop RPGs.
Sources[]
Notes and references[]
External links[]
Role-playing game onWikipedia- Computer role-playing game onWikipedia
- MMORPG onWikipedia
- Wizards of the Coast Star Wars onWizards.com(original site is defunct)
- Related categories:
- Roleplaying games
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- Roleplaying games