What are Role-Playing Games?
What are Role-Playing Games?
What are Role-Playing Games?
Many people think about dice when they think about games. It represents chance and randomness. But players also have an opportunity to affect and interpret its outcome as part of a larger game narrative.
Many individuals do this on a regular basis as they play different characters in settings as fantastic as they are diverse. They do so through role-playing games where they explore a world created through their own agency, the choices of the dungeon master, and of the game itself.
But what are role-playing games? Where did they begin? And how can they be identified and used for applied games and games-based learning?
This article will examine role-playing games (RPGs) and will define them for the purposes of this article. A brief history of RPGs will be covered as well as how they have grown and iterated over time through different platforms and modalities.
A “theoretical” foundation of RPGs will be established as well as how some of the elemental aspects that make role-playing games role-playing games. These will be examined along with some of the most common mechanics of RPGs and how they are represented in different types of RPGs.
Role-playing games require that players role-play throughout them. So, an examination of player personas will be provided as well as how players enter and explore the “magic circle” through gameplay. Often this is structured and scaffolded through the actions of a game master or dungeon master. These roles have traditionally been filled by other designated players, but more recently have been fulfilled by game programming and generative artificial intelligence.
Finally, aspects of applied games will be covered that include how RPGs can be used for therapy, their positive psychological, emotional, and social benefits. The article will end with coverage on the use of role-playing games for teaching and learning with a specific focus on games-based learning.
What are RPGs?
Defining the term “game” itself is often difficult and contentious. Doing this for role-playing games is even more so. Therefore, there is no single universally accepted definition of RPGs. That’s because RPGs exist on a spectrum that is influenced by narrative control, social interaction, and inherent mechanics. This is further complicated by the fact that RPGs are represented in different modalities including tabletop, online, live-action, and video games.
However, for the purposes of this article, we will focus on the central aspect that makes a role-playing game a role-playing game: role-playing. Therefore, role-playing games include activities where participants take on the role of a character in an imaginary world. This approach, like all games, requires a level of interactivity that is co-created with the player in defining this interactive world. This is often accomplished through the assistance of a game master and by following rules that shape the game world.
RPGs often include players who control a protagonist, face challenges, and do so in the presence of other companions, and characters in the exploration of a deeper story. These narrative explorations often come in the form of a “main” quest that the player follows along with optional side quests that create outcomes to enhance the character and/or broaden the experience of the player.
However, even these features of RPGs can be hotly debated as the process of defining this genre is contentious. One of reasons is culturally based as different regions have distinct RPG traditions as embodied in debate between Western RPGs vs Japanese RPGs. This is further exacerbated in the realm of game studies as RPGs often lack a quantifiable outcome for players.
Further challenges include the fact that RPGs have grown and evolved over time and now include different mechanics, players, and technologies which further complicate the definition of the player experience.
Therefore, it may be helpful to focus on the definition of RPGs as an approach to gameplay rather than a strict genre. This enables players to explore the central aspect of “role-playing” in role-playing games as an activity of focus rather than a defining element. This means that the term RPG can be used to describe the player’s overall experiences as more than just inherent mechanics.
History of RPGs
The origins of RPGs is a long and storied one, but can be traced back to the early 1970’s with the war game Chainmail. This game served as the framework and launching point for what would come to be known as Dungeons and Dragons which has quintessentially become the prototypical role-playing game. That was because, unlike the wargame Chainmail, which focused on units and their abilities, Dungeons and Dragons instead focused on individual characters, their statistics and role-playing choices.
Chainmail was originally created by Gary Gygax and Jeff Perren in 1971. However, Gygax would go on with David Arneson to create Dungeons and Dragons in 1974 as the first established fantasy tabletop role-playing game.
In addition to changes to the format of the game and accompanying mechanics, Dungeons and Dragons included structured fantasy-role playing elements and established itself as one of the most influential and popular tabletop RPGs.
While D&D established role-playing games as a genre, they continued to evolve as other platforms and modalities became available. In the 1970’s-1980’s the prevalence of electronic RPGs emerged. This was supported by the personal computer (PC) and console games. Networked computers allowed players to interact with each other through the multi-user dungeons (MUD), that incorporated text-based play. Overall, these platforms provided different ways for players to engage with the game via the world created within it.
Digital versions of role-playing games didn’t limit tabletop roleplaying. The prevalence of different formats of RPGs created different experiences for players to engage and grow.
The RPG genre expanded into different modalities in ways that created diverse adaptations for rules and complex rule systems. The results created new formats that are a far cry from the original tabletop game; but all still retained the core elements of an individual playing a role through a shared narrative created within a game.
Theory of RPGs
The history of RPGs established the theory of RPGs based on role-playing, narrative, and character development. These features required that players embody a sense of creativity, interaction, and most importantly imagination when playing. That’s because many RPGs are still created around a storytelling experience – whether that occurs around a table, computer, or console.
Therefore, most RPGs include players controlling a single character as their main avatar. Through their play, they define their appearance, actions, and abilities. In turn, players make choices for their characters which inform the story’s progression and their own individual character development.
Some RPGs are structured in away where the story is created collaboratively and the narrative is co-created with other players. This embodies the creative and cooperative aspect of role-playing that is most representative of this experience.
However, other RPGs involve the use of a game master or dungeon master that controls the progression of the narrative. For digital RPGs this is often controlled by a computer, whereas tabletop RPGs may rely on another player to serve this role. In this way, players take an active part in defining the outcomes of the narrative through their actions and agency. When this is done in concert with other players, the RPG serves as a way for understanding human behavior and social interaction within groups.
Therefore, the role-playing elements of RPGs often mirror real-world identity construction in how players make sense and form an identity for themselves and their player character. The way that both players and their characters interact with and perform roles in the game and their everyday life parallel the construction of interpersonal relationships.
It can be argued that all individuals (whether in the game or in real life) are “playing a role.” This role shifts between different identities within and outside of the game and in between and around different social settings. So, it can also be argued that any game or activity where a player plays a role could be a role-playing game.
Therein lies the struggle with defining this influential and important genre. However, for the purposes of this article, we will focus on examining RPGs through player experiences, system mechanics, agency, and immersion.
Elements of RPGs
It is difficult to exhaustively determine what elements make an RPG and what elements must be included for a game to be called an RPG. Considering the player experience and what players expect of the genre, the following elements can be found across many different role-playing games.
RPGs includes the control of a particular character. For tabletop RPGs this represents the player and their persona or the avatar in a digital RPG. In this role, the individual person makes decisions that are then carried out by the player. These character choices are made with the metacognitive knowledge of the player but are enacted “in the game world” of the character.
Characters that individuals choose represent themselves in RPGSs adopt fantasy personas that may (or may not) represent the actual individual. This character is then governed by the structured rules of the imaginary world of the game. These rules help define, limit, and direct the actions of players. Their actions influence an evolving narrative that is influenced by character choices.
The results of these actions vary according to players and the modality of play. For instance, tabletop RPGs include a greater reliance on narrative and performance that is centralized with a player managed game master or dungeon master. This is compared to live action role-playing games (LARPS) where storytelling is accomplished more cooperatively across several characters.
Likewise, characters that inhabit this world are often defined by their choices as well as their statistics and attributes that influence what a character can say and do successfully. For tabletop RPGs this includes character sheets, maps, and other collateral which help define and outline the game world.
The role of players and their characters are flexible as RPGs can take on the role of freeform storytelling, adherence to detailed rulesets, or a combination of both. Usually this is accomplished through the interpretation of a game master who exercises wide latitude in determining how the game progresses and how characters influence both the world and the underlying narrative.
Mechanics of RPGs
Mechanics and their applications vary according to the different platforms of RPGs. However, many different role-playing games include similar actions. One of which are verbal declarations of in-game actions (i.e. saying “my character attempts to climb the wall.”) A tabletop role-playing game might require a game master to “skill check” this player and insist that they combine a die roll with their characters abilities to determine if the action is a success. Whereas in live action RPGs (LARPs) and computer-based RPGs, this action would be resolved in a different manner based on agreed upon rules and programming.
For non-digital RPGs, such actions, results, and history may be tracked via physical implements such as character sheets. These items help players track the overall progression of their character for improvement over time.
Likewise, such tracking allows for the management of “in-game” inventory for characters like armor, weapons, and items. Other items that represent more abstract elements of RPGs include dice to resolve a sense of randomness and uncertainty. These are usually applied with the help of a dungeon master who interprets such results via the rules of the game, characters abilities, and the context of the unfolding narrative.
Usually, some of the more memorable aspects for this combination of player abilities, randomness, and storytelling comes through in the resolution of combat between and amongst players, non-player characters, or environmental elements. In this case, players exercise their agency in choosing and applying their skills and abilities to achieve their desired outcomes.
Types of RPGs
The different aspects of theories, elements, and the overall mechanics of RPGs can be found across different applications of the genre across different modalities.
The following includes a list of different types of RPGs, some of which have already been mentioned as coverage of the history of role-playing games. This list is not comprehensive and continues to evolve based on new application of the genre, work of designers, and players’ experiences.
The original role-playing game is embodied in the tabletop RPG. This is where an individual player (either in person or now through virtual platforms) interact, cooperate, and collaborate with one another to tell and share stories by adhering to the structure of a specific game system. Dice rolls and gamemaster intervention often influence the results of play. Such examples of tabletop RPGs include Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder, Call of Cthulhu, and Vampire: The Masquerade.
Ther are also live-action roleplaying games (LARPs) which involve much of the same roleplaying and storytelling accomplished with tabletop RPGs. The difference is that individuals physically portray their characters in LARPs while interacting with other players and characters in a real-world environment.
RPGs can also be played in digital form. These represent some of the most popular ways to play and engage with this genre. The beginning of this was with computer or console role-playing games (CPRG). Original games were often pre-scripted with exploration undergone by the player. However, more modern examples of this type include Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Planetscape: Torment, Disco Elysium, and Shadowrun Returns. The original form of CRPGs could also include single-player RPGs where a single player is represented by a player character throughout their gameplay. Examples of this include Dragon Quest, Phantasy Star, and Pokemon.
Another form of digital RPGs is the multi-user dungeon (MUD) which represents an early form of online text-based play where individuals typed in commands to control their characters interact with the game world, and other players.
MUDs formed the original format for digital interactive play with other players that created the massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). These are large persistent online worlds where players interact in real time. This was often accomplished with thousands to millions of other players where the same outcomes were achieved with other types of RPGs such as creating characters, completing quests, and pursuing narrative storylines. However, one of the main differences with MMORPGs compared to other types of RPGs is the prevalence of gameplay over immersive roleplaying. This means that players typically act as themselves rather than role-play their characters. Some examples include World of Warcraft, Guild Wars 2, EVE Online, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and Black Desert Online.
There also exists some additional sub-types of RPGs that can be experienced both digitally as well as non-digitally. This includes action role-playing games (APRGs) where there is prevalence of real-time combat and action elements. A greater focus is placed here on fighting mechanics and equipment to help characters strategically win fights. Such examples include the Diablo series, Elden Ring, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Borderlands.
Also included are what have been defined as Japanese role-playing games (JRPGs) which originated in Japan, but stylistically blend fantasy, science fiction, and character driven stories. These types of games emphasize party-based gameplay and a greater emphasis on dramatic storytelling. Examples include the Final Fantasy series, Pokemon series, Chrono Trigger, Monster Hunter, and the Persona series.
Finally, there are also western role-playing games (WRPGs). These are often characterized by large, open world games with central storylines and inclusion of many different side quests. Combatively, WPRGs include more player-driven exploration and character-based choices compared to JPRGs. Examples include Skyrim (and the greater Elder Scrolls series), the Fallout series, Cyberpunk 2077, and the Witcher series.
Player Personas and RPGs
Since “role-playing” is a central element to most RPGs, it’s important to examine and define the role of the individual when controlling their player character within the game. Players usually take on a role outside their normal identity. This is not always the case for all players in all games, but many choose to explore a new (fictional) identity in this role as a means of experimentation and escapism.
This lends items well to role-playing games where they can immerse themselves in a role and the associated world to explore the opportunities and choices available to them. These opportunities provide a means for players to make decisions that also further the narrative of the game. The feedback that these players receive is incorporated into the core loop, and creates an immersive experience for players.
An important distinction to make in RPGs is that both players and the character exist at the same time. Initially the player has full control and agency of their character. Their character represents their avatar in the game and the means from which they interact. However, through further play and character development, players may make different choices based on their character desires and motivations.
This is important to realize as players will need to eventually distinguish between these roles (player and character) to maintain the integrity of the game. This is often adjudicated by the game master or dungeon master who mitigates and manages the relationship between players, characters, the environment, non-player characters, and the rules of the game.
While this may be easily accomplished by some players, others may find it more difficult as the lure of fantasy role-playing creates a fluidity of identity. Perhaps this is best embodied by the different character classes that players can select (i.e. warrior, wizard, monk). These classes go so far as to define what a character is potentially competent at and how they play. In turn players may choose to select these characters for purely mechanical reasons or personal preferences. However, this decision is usually left up to players exclusively.
The role of the player persona brings on the interesting question of “role-playing in general.” Meaning that players who “choose to play a role in a game” would make the game a role-playing game. While this outcome seems simple on the surface, the best way to critically examine role-playing games is focus on player driven actions rather than game mechanics themselves.
The results of which provide means for players actions to represent character development, story progression, and the role of their character rather than the formal elements of roleplaying games alone.
Magic Circle and RPGs
The characters that individuals play in games crosses the line into the “magic circle of play.” This line exists in all games, but the line for RPGs is special as it delineates not only a point where the game play “begins” but also presents the area where functional social conventions are interpreted through play.
This is where most of the “role-playing” takes place in games – when players cross the symbolic boundaries between their real selves and their in-game character and begin to act the part. In this way, the actual “play” in role-playing exists as a liminal boundary between the imagination of players and the structured play of the game.
This liminal boundary has an effect for other individuals representing their characters as well as for the individual player. These roles can often become blurred with players developing strong attachments to their characters and investment into fictional personas. This is often represented in “bleed” when the identities and influences of the player bleed into their character and vice-versa. Therefore, players must often practice “bracketing” which includes keeping their in-game emotions and representations of their character separate from their real life.
Ultimately the “play’ in role-playing games comes from a sense of agency and control of the game, narrative, and environments – often countering real-world uncertainty which supports recreational escapism.
Game Masters and Dungeon Masters
While escapism can be accomplished with any variety of games, role-playing games often rely on the support of an independent arbiter known as the game master or dungeon master. They take on the crucial role of shaping the game’s narrative and managing interactions between players and the environment.
This role is much like the referee and umpire from Kriegsspiel or megagames as they interpret and arbitrate player actions as well as controlling certain non-player characters. This role often serves multiple different functions in tabletop role-playing games as they handle the mechanics of players’ actions and attempts as well as manage the underlying narrative.
The live game master and dungeon master of tabletop RPGs are often leveraged to provide the best kind of immersive experience. Though this role is usually fulfilled by computer, programming, or artificial intelligence for digital roleplaying games. This means that much of the rules arbitration is handled through system-based rules.
Though despite the scalability and automation of digital role-playing games, the use of a live moderator in the form of a game master or dungeon master enhances the overall player experience, role-playing, narrative flexibility and positive player engagement.
Therapy and RPGs
The nature of RPGs, their structure, and the narrative component inherent in role-playing make them applicable for therapeutic situations and mental health treatment. One of the ways that they are used in practice is to allow players to explore different facets of their own personality in a safe space. This is embodied in the magic circle of play and the cooperatively formed space in role-playing games.
This is accomplished through replication therapy as it allows practitioners and patients to replicate behaviors that they may not be able to do within the confines of a therapy session. One application allows players to develop and test their social skills by encouraging players to interact as or with their character. This allows them to externalize personal struggles and challenges while also observing the effects through self-reflection.
RPGs also provide structure, mechanics, and rules to make the engagement of patients in therapy more applicable to those who are resistant to traditional social interventions. This can include those with autism, anxiety, and social difficulties by allowing them to explore new experiences in a non-threatening environment.
This has the added benefit of allowing players to promote tolerance; express frustration; action group problem-solving; and practice communication through player personas in an environment that actively supports and encourages growth..
Psychological and Emotional Benefits of RPGs
In addition to therapy, RPGs provide a means for players to explore identities, emotions, and new social situations in a more approachable environment. This further supports players through the framework of role-playing by allowing them to experiment with new behaviors through playing a character.
The central element of role-playing allows characters to revel in a sense of achievement and empowerment through in-game progression and through reinforcement of behaviors from the game’s narrative. The positive results of these interactions are many, and include stress relief, improved mood, and overall enhanced self-esteem.
A further benefit of RPGs is that they have been accessible and empowering for disabled individuals by allowing them to play characters that level the ability field since all players represent characters of their choosing. This level of escapism provides them with an opportunity to explore the experiences of someone not hindered by their own disability and is instead freed to experience the game’s world and narrative.
Social Benefits of RPGs
The psychological and emotional benefits of RPGs also extend to positive social benefits. The results of which have been documented in research covering sociology, psychology, and art studies.
The social benefits of playing certain role-playing games extended from the significant amount of time that players spend socializing and connecting with one another. This is compounded and scaffolded when done via players characters. The result of which is the development of social capital, cultural engagement, and meaningful exchange between participants that has the added benefit of fostering teamwork development and community building.
This is enabled through the collaborative storytelling of RPGs that support learning and connection with other players and their characters. This is comparatively similar to “improvisational theatre” where the deeper role-playing aspects of some role-playing games require more in-depth group cooperation, teamwork, and a shared imagination between participants.
In all, RPG play creates and supports social environments where players can form friendships and collaborate with one another. This connective element is a valuable aspect for role-playing games.
Educational Benefits of RPGs
Finally, there are several educational benefits of role-playing games. While therapy, psychology, and social and emotional aspects of RPGs have been discussed, perhaps the most influential aspect of role-playing games is their benefits towards learning.
RPG players must think creatively and respond authentically when role-playing a character. This is often done by immersing themselves in fictional worlds and embodying the emotions, will, and motivation of their character. The mechanical elements of RPGs emphasize problem-solving; strategic planning; and decision-making while the collaborative elements of play foster teamwork and strategic cooperation between players and characters.
The narrative elements of play also positively influence literacy and numeracy through interactive story telling with and amongst the players and dungeon masters. The results of which have been applied to diverse fields such as health education where RPGs have been used to improve patient communication and medical training.
The benefits of using RPGs for teaching, learning, and education, have not been so profoundly realized than in engaging those with disabilities. As they provide an enthralling and positive learning environment for those that may have been underserved by traditional educational methods.
Takeaways
This article covered role-playing games. It defined them within the context of applied games and discussed the history, theory, elements, and mechanics that make up the many examples included.
Different types of RPGs were discussed as well as different modalities for play including tabletop role-playing games, digital role-playing games, and live-action roleplaying games. The act of role-playing is a critical part of the player experience for RPGs, so this article also covered the relationship between players and their created characters in role-playing games.
These player characters exist within the magic circle of game play. The dividing line between the real world and the imaginary constructed narrative of RPGs was discussed along with the critical and pivotal role that game masters and dungeon masters often play in roleplaying games.
Finally, this article closed on different applied and beneficial aspects of role-playing games outside of entertainment. It covered RPGs for therapy, psychological and emotional benefits, social benefits, and educational benefits in applied gaming for teaching, training, learning, and development.
This article covered role-playing games. To learn more about gamification, check out the free course on Gamification Explained.
Dave Eng, EdD
Principal
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Cite this Article
Eng, D. (2025, March 25). What are Role-Playing Games? Retrieved MONTH DATE, YEAR, from https://www.universityxp.com/blog/2025/3/24/what-are-role-playing-games
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