FUNDAMENTALS OF GAME DESIGN, SECOND EDITION
Role-Playing Games
In addition, we'll look at the world, story, and settings common to role-playing games and delve into the attributes of the avatars and other characters involved in the game. We'll also look at the various game modes and some special issues for designing the user interface of a role-playing game.
Unfortunately, there isn't room for more than a general overview of role-playing games. They include more different types of gameplay than most other genres and have the second most complicated user interfaces. (Construction and management simulations have the dubious honor of the most complicated user interfaces.) For a more detailed discussion of the subject, read Neal and Jana Hallford's Swords and Circuitry (Hallford and Hallford, 2001).
Computerized role-playing games are an outgrowth of the original noncomputerized, pencil-and-paper role-playing games, of which Dungeons & Dragons is by far the most famous example. (For simplicity's sake, this book calls computerized roleplaying games CRPGs and the noncomputerized kind tabletop RPGs to distinguish them from each other.) The object of both kinds of games, computerized and otherwise, is to experience a series of adventures in an imaginary world, through an avatar character or a small group of characters whose skills and powers grow as time goes on. A group of characters who go on these adventures together in an RPG is universally called a party.
In tabletop games, the adventures, usually characterized as quests to achieve some goal, are devised and staged by one player acting in a special role as the game master or dungeon master (this book uses the term game master or GM). The tabletop games' rules are complex by comparison to other noncomputerized games. Almost all the game activity takes place in the players' imaginations; only a few props or visual materials depict the game world. Consequently, the players may propose to take almost any action that they can think of, and the GM must decide whether the action is permitted within the rules and determine its consequences. In general, tabletop RPGs are permissive rather than restrictive, and any reasonable action is allowed—with the definition of reasonable being the privilege of the GM. The process involves a certain amount of ad-hoc rule making.
In CRPGs, the computer implements the rules, performs the activities of the game master, and presents the game world on the screen. Because the computer can offer the players only a fixed set of actions to take and can't invent new rules on the fly, CRPGs aren't as flexible as the tabletop games. However, because the players do not have to implement the rules and the graphics are often stunningly beautiful, CRPGs are somewhat more accessible and attractive to the novice player than tabletop RPGs.
Multiplayer online RPGs also sometimes include human GMs who work within the confines of the computer-controlled rules. The GM acts similarly to a GM for a board game, modifying situations and keeping the game fresh. Chapter 21 covers multiplayer online RPGs.
A key aspect of tabletop RPGs is, as the name suggests, role-playing—that is, impro - visational drama in which each player plays the role of his avatar character and the GM plays the roles of any NPCs. Emotional relationships can arise and change among the characters as the players play their respective roles. A good role-playing experience depends on the imaginations and acting skills of the players. For the most part, however, CRPGs have only borrowed the general themes and core mechanics from the tabletop games and not the role-playing activity itself. Singleplayer CRPGs don't yet have the power to simulate NPCs with the acting skill of a human GM. Role-playing in single-player RPGs is therefore limited to holding conversations with NPCs by means of a dialog tree, a technique that Chapter 7, "Storytelling and Narrative," discussed in detail.
In contrast, multiplayer online RPGs do allow real role-playing between characters because the players can type messages to each other on the computer's keyboard and sometimes even talk to each other via a microphone and speakers.
The essential parts of a computer role-playing game, then, are the quest or story of the game and character growth. The quests usually require combat, and the rules of the game are designed to support it. The rules also define how character growth occurs. Creating a successful CRPG depends on providing a captivating story and a rewarding character growth path.
ROLE-PLAYING GAME A role-playing game is one in which the player controls one or more characters, typically designed by the player, and guides them through a series of quests managed by the computer. Victory consists of completing these quests. Character growth in power and abilities is a key feature of the genre. Typical challenges include tactical combat, logistics, economic growth, exploration, and puzzle solving. Physical coordination challenges are rare except in RPG-action hybrids.
CRPGs have elements in common with many other genres; it is the way in which they implement them, and the combinations in which they occur, that set them apart. Because CRPGs include so many types of challenges, it's not unusual for people to make hybrids.
