A
roleplaying game (RPG) is a structured method of playing "Let's Pretend", in which players create
characters to serve as protagonists in a fictional world created by a
game master. Although characters and plots are driven largely by the imagination of the participants, game rules are used to resolve the results of dramatic conflicts, providing the games with a necessary element of suspense. Roleplaying began with the creation of the fantasy game
Dungeons & Dragons in Wisconsin in 1972, but now includes hundreds of
commercial systems and
homemade RPGs in many languages and
genres.
This category primarily covers what are often called
tabletop roleplaying games (because they are typically played sitting around a table, with books and dice) but also includes its pen-and-paper descendants,
live action roleplaying (where players dress up and physically act out their characters' actions) and
gamebook roleplaying (system-based interactive fiction).
This category is for English language sites about system-based
pen-and-paper roleplaying games: tabletop, live action, and gamebook roleplaying. Please try to find the most specific subcategory as sites are seldom accepted in this category directly.
Please don''t submit any of the following here:
Roleplaying archives are web-accessible collections of game-related files, including, but not limited to maps, adventures, character sheets, and netbooks. Whereas many web sites showcase the gaming philosophy or experiences of their creators, archives emphasize quantity and diversity, collecting files from many sources and authors.
Many roleplayers develop extensive backgrounds for their characters, creating elaborate histories, game fiction, and even in-character homepages.
Official homepages of companies producing or publishing Roleplaying Games and support material.
To be listed you need following:
- A Product
- A Company
- A Finished Game
- A Tabletop / Pen and Paper Roleplaying Game (no Board, Computer, or Video Game)
Sites that exist primarily to provide alphabetical or classified lists of resources about roleplaying games.
Focusing on advice for basic or advanced roleplay. At this level, sites should cover roleplaying in general or multiple genres and systems.
Gamebooks are a form of self-contained interactive fiction; you play the part of the hero and make his/her decisions by turning to different pages and reading different sections of the book. The genre includes Choose-Your-Own-Adventure, Lone Wolf, Fighting Fantasy, and other series.
Gamebooks are not just rule books, hints, cheats or descriptions of game systems; they are the games themselves.
This section contains sub categories for the various Genres, or areas of subject matter, that Roleplaying games seem to have broken themselves into. Each category contains pages that deal with more than one system in the genre and Systems specific to this genre.
Like any subculture, roleplayers have their own in-jokes; this category is the place to look for parodies, ridiculous rules, gaming stories, comics, and anything else approaching role-playing in a light-hearted spirit.
Live action roleplaying (a term often shortened into LARP or LRP) is a form of roleplaying where the participants do not merely verbally describe their actions, but actually carry them out (or pretend to do so).
Live action games can be compared to improvisational theatre, where each of the participants is free to act on themselves, guided by their interpretation of the character they are playing. Although costuming and elaborate props are not a necessity, they are often employed to create an authentic atmosphere.
Several different forms of live gaming have developed independently of each other, and the games can range from quite physical 'live combat' experiences to elaborate 'free form' plots, where the games consist of discussions, plotting and emotional immersion.
Please submit sites about
Murder Mystery or
Laser Games to their respective categories as these are not considered Live Action Roleplaying (LARP) by the definition of the ODP.
Roleplaying magazines, publications, journals, fanzines, both online and on paper.
Discussion and collection of messages on tabletop or pen and pencil roleplaying games.
Online roleplaying is
not available in this category (or Games/Roleplaying for that matter). All online roleplaying is located at
Games: Online: Roleplaying.
Gaming clubs, societies, and associations whose members meet each other in order to play games face to face.
Roleplayers traditionally view their hobby as one divorced from "the real world", a second life lived in imaginary worlds, with little regard for societal issues outside the game. A few issues, however, have special relevance (and history) within roleplaying, requiring gamers to deal with the issues as gamers.
The interaction of the roleplaying hobby and the society around it is more complicated than advocacy and opposition; in many cases, there are differing views among roleplayers themselves. This category collects resources from all sides of an issue, as well as media references about gamer issues.
Helpful Tools for
Game Masters and Players. This includes online Java, JavaScript, and CGI programs, and downloadable software for
character generation,
mapping, dice rolling, and any other computer program specifically intended to aid roleplayers.
This category is about Tools for
pen-and-paper roleplaying. Sites about Computer and Video Game roleplaying games or tools for these should should be submitted to
Games: Video Games: Roleplaying.
Please including basic information about your software, like what license model it uses (like Commercial, Freeware, Shareware, Open Source) and on what systems it runs (like DOS, Windows, MacOS, Linux/Unix, etc).
This section contains a list roleplaying games that have more than one web page devoted to them. Look in
Games: Roleplaying: Genres/(appropriate_genre)/ for a listing of these systems, divided by genre.
If you want to submit a site for a game that isn''t listed in here, submit it to the appropriate subcategory of
Games: Roleplaying: Genres. When a sufficient number of sites dealing with a new game system are submitted (and accepted), the Open Directory editors will create a new category for that game.
A web ring is a group of thematically-similar sites organized into a circle through the use of standardized 'Next' and 'Previous' hyperlinks.
Resources and tools for building worlds suitable to be used in roleplaying games. These include resources such as mapping tools, discussion groups, guides to online world-building projects and invented languages.