Aeropaeia Frames What is an RPG? Page

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An RPG is not a computer game, and not a board game. In an RPG the players take on the role of an imaginary character — somewhat like what you would find in a book.

There are many different genres of RPGs, just like their are different genres of books: science fiction; western; spy thriller; and so on. D&D® belongs to the fantasy genre.

In order to create your D&D® Player Character (known as a PC) you would normally role dice to determine how strong you are, how agile, how smart, how charismatic, how wise, and how much endurance you have.

Then, you would choose a race (human, elf, dwarf, halfling, and so forth — except in Aeropæia, the only race a PC can play is human.)

Next you decide what "class" you want your character to be. This will decided to a great degree what skills your character has. Do you want to take the role of a skilled warrior? A sneaky thief? A devout priest? A charismatic bard? Your options are many and varied.

Once you have created your character, then you are ready to play. One person called the Dungeon Master (known as a DM in most games, but in Aeropæia he is called a Dream Weaver, or a DW) is responsible for providing you and your fellow players with an imaginary environment in which your imaginary characters will exist He will tell you what your characters are seeing, smelling, feeling, hearing and experiencing. Then you will get to choose how your characters react.

Often the DM uses maps, and brief sketches to help you picture where your character is and what he is seeing.

Unlike in a computer game where you can go only four directions and have a limited choice of other commands you can give and basically no control over what your character says, in an RPG you have complete control. You can try anything, say anything and do anything. The only limit is how your DM's world reacts to what you do. Whether or not you succeed will usually depend on a dice roll. There is a lot of dice rolling in D&D® (but not in Aeropæia).

As you adventure, your DM will award you with Experience Points (known as XP). When you have enough XP, you will go up a “level,” meaning that your basic class related abilities will improve, you will become better at fighting, and you will gain “Hit points” (known as HP). HP determine how quickly you die when some bad guy is attacking you.

Because of the flexibility of RPGs, the rules can end up becoming very complicated — too complicated to go into any detail here. Yet, no matter how complicated a rule system is, it cannot predict before hand what you will decide to do.

A lot of responsibility for a good game ends up resting on your DM. Each DM brings his own gaming style to the D&D® rules. The “style” of play can greatly effect your enjoyment. One person's D&D® game you will love, and another person's D&D® game you will hate.

For example, some DMs like to provide a wealth of detail. They describe what everyone is wearing — right down to the silver and enamel ring on their pinky fingers. They will describe every building in the village, and so forth.

Other DMs will just do their best to provide you with constant action. Every time you turn around, a new assailant leaps out of hiding to attack you.

Still other DMs will contrive elaborate plots, puzzles, riddles, even political intrigue.

Players, too, have their own individual styles. Some see role-playing as an exercise in mathematics, and they will pour over the books doing calculations and trying to come up with the most advantageous combination of race, class, equipment and so forth.

Other players spend hours on the background of their character, writing up a complete family tree and detailing incidents from their childhood.

Some consider role-playing to be a theatrical club and will act out everything their character does.

Some hints for listening to your friends, or lurking in a Play By eMail game (known as a PBeM):

For statistics (stats): (STRength, DEXterity, INTelligence, WISdom, CONstitution, CHArisma, and COMeliness) High is good. 18 is wonderful! Anything over 18 is ridiculous, but can happen.

For levels: High means that the character has been around for longer than a lower level character (as a general rule). Really high (anything over 11 or 12) is the sign of either a) a game that has been going on for years, or b) a DM has provided lots of monsters and lots of treasure and not much else (plot, description, characterization, or tactics, for example).

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