Why do we like to Roleplay? July 29, 2007
Posted by 54071 in : Role PLaying , trackbackWhy do we like to Roleplay?
This is a question with what must amount to dozens of different answers, and those answers are as varied as there are players, playing a different role play game.
But the above few sentences, still does not answer the question does it, so lets take a look at a few reasons why we like to Roleplay….
The first and the simplest is to get together with friends of a like Nerdiness.
Okay your saying, who am I calling nerdy?
Let me explain further….
Several years ago, I was speaking with someone at work, a friend named Hope, who had a brother who had introduced her to ( the term she used has escaped me now but the word introduced was not used when she spoke of this ) to playing D&D, and I had said to her ” welcome to Nerd Night ” and I used the term very affectionately in the context of something that I enjoyed being a part of, and she gave me a rather knowing wicked smile. But I had said to Hope in our conversation that I enjoyed getting together with friends to play D&D myself, and had told her that it was a great time with my friends who were like minded people when it came to this pastime.
So, yes, I’m now fifty, and NERDY!
Role play is a way of Getting away from it all.
This is a pretty obvious statement. What better way to get away from it all than a little vacation right…okay in todays economy of $3.00 a gallon for gasoline ( you know the stuff that cars and planes use to get you from point A to point B ) roleplaying is a pretty cheap way to take a vacation somewhere else for a while. Traveling to that Starwars galaxy far far away, might cost you and some friends about ten to twelve bucks for some chips and soda. Maybe another twenty dollars all told for the materials involved to get you to that far away galaxy. A bargain any day of the week!
What I am in my get a way world?
Okay, so what you are can be very varied, but lets start with the basic two things…
a) Your a Player Character
b) Your the Dungeon Master or the Judge in what ever game you happen to be running.
That’s the simple start of it all thou….
Let me explain who I am in my role play world…” I have been and always shall be your friend…. ” sorry, wrong thought there…for a minute there I was Leonard Nimoy!
No in my world, I am the Dungeon Master. I always have been, and it looks like I always will be. So what exactly does a DM ( Dungeon Master for short, my nerd knowledge is showing ) do in a role play world…
He runs the world, per se. He writes adventures, he makes the dungeons that players explore in, he helps guide players in direction, as to how they might play their characters, he also sometimes plays Non-Player Characters ( or NPCs for short ).
So when being the DM, you wear alot of different hats.
Being a Player Character is a whole different ballgame, this is where you really get to leave your dull, boring world behind for several hrs as you become someone else.
You could be a High Elve from Shadowdale….you could be a Sorcerer/Conjurer from Underdark…you could join forces with Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and the rest, against the Empire in a galaxy far, far away…you could even join a dark haired Cimmerian in his quests for Adventure and Gold…
the point being you can be anyone you want for several hours each time you get together with your friends…questing for gold, defeating a Warlock, saving the fair haired princess and becoming her betrothed…
all this and more can be yours every time you and your friends sit down for another Nerd Night….and again, I use this term with the greatest of reverence to something that alot of others look down on, because they simply do not understand the feeling of being someone else for a short period of time and enjoying the company of your friends, while you all face the Black Dragon in his lair, defeat him and get his gold, gain your experience, and become more than your were before….
All of the above and more is why we role play, why we have those nerd nights, to adventure, explore forgotten lands, delve into dungeons, destroy the villain, and be more than we really are…if not just for a little while…as we take that escape from our boring realities…together …..with our nerdy friends.
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