What is a "Tabletop Role-Playing Game?"

    A brief history, first, for those just tuning in to tabletop role-playing games. Also be aware that I was not present during these events, and that my knowledge of the subject started in very early 200X, and a country away, from 1960s and 1970s Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, United States. For our European readers, that would be the city of "Lake Geneva" in US-Wisconsin, as distinct from the "Lake Geneva" on the border between France and Switzerland, alphabetically. So my knowledge of events should not be taken as definitive, but rather, as I understand it.


    This, then, is a brief intro to the subject, intended to give a quick grounding. We'll start with a subject that may seem unrelated - Wargames. This necessitates a brief intro on wargames themselves. You've likely already played one; at least, if you have ever played the board game *"Risk(TM)". In a wargame, then, players take control of opposing sides on a playing board, and manoeuvre their playing-piece troops so as to gain advantage over and defeat the other players' forces.

    Some wargames are very elaborate, with dining-table sized game boards, and/or detailed combat rules, while others occupy only a small or abstract board, and may have simple rules. Note that a relatively small game board does not necessarily mean the rules are simple, and there are plenty of games that use large boards, and simple (but complete) rules. Some wargames add in rules for logistics, or reinforcements, or calling in artillery fire on the game board pieces, or various other situations. Some depict (or attempt to depict) a fictional view of real-world wars and/or military units, while others depict entirely fictional battles and/or forces.

    Such was what happened in the lead-up to table-top role-playing games; acronym'd as "RPGs" or "TRPGs". A small association of wargaming groups decided to try small battles not between large forces, but between individual soldiers. Others in that association added fantastical elements, such as wizards instead of cannon or catapults. As this gameplay was developed, statistics were added for the individual characters in play, as players began to want to customize and personalize their troops, as well as enable each character to increase in capability and survivability.

    All of this should be understood as happening both concurrently and sequentially, as players discussed the changes they had made in their game. In addition, it was found beneficial that one player set up the scenario and adjudicate the rules for play during it. This introduced additional uncertainty in play; allowed the scenario to be customized for the characters in play; and allowed a neutral arbiter to both engage in the game, and make fair judgements. In addition, while players would typically play against forces controlled by this **arbiter, the arbiter was understood to be neutral in the matter. The enemy forces were understood to be trying to defeat the players' forces, but the arbiter was not trying to defeat the players, but rather, provide a fun and enjoyable experience. Even if all the player characters died, that could still be a dramatic and engaging experience, such as is found in many war movies; although naturally limited to the acting skills of the players involved, and the general lack of props aside from a game board and pieces.

    Some of these scenarios took place on maps depicting fields, forests, castles and/or cities; other  took place on maps depicting the underground, in caverns, underground ruins, and ancient, eldritch cities. As gaming in the latter generally involved the player characters going underground, in tight, generally cramped, very dark spaces where monsters may leap out at any second, they became known as "dungeons"; understood to mean something other than a medieval jail.

    Somewhere in this development, some of the players realized that they had something entirely new, that was not simply another wargame. Two of these players in particular, Gary Gygax, and Dave Arneson, set out to publish a coherent set of rules for this new type of gameplay. Along with others, they wrote, edited, solicited art, hand-assembled, and published a set of rules for this new style of play, titling their publication *"Dungeons and Dragons(TM)".

    Within two years, there were dozens of "tabletop role-playing games", in genres as diverse as fantasy, science-fiction, mystery, masked heroes and villains, and more. As time passed, many new games also moved further from the wargaming roots, to being based on movies, novels, or to have verisimilitude with either history or the "reality" of a fictional world. Games based on those roots also developed further.

    In short, although "only" about forty-one years old, tabletop role-playing games have a rich and diverse history, with literally thousands of publications enabling a wide range of gameplay.

*  "Risk(TM)" and "Dungeons and Dragons(TM)" are owned by Hasbro Inc.. Hasbro Inc. is not associated with this blog, and no endorsement or association is meant, intended or implied.

** Along with "arbiter", this player may also be called:
    1) One title generally used in games that are based more on narrative than wargames is "storyteller".
    2) A title similar to that of a person running a party or celebration; instead of "master of ceremonies", "game master" or "dungeon master" is used. These titles simple indicate that person is running the game or scenario, but can be misunderstood by third-parties, which is one impetus behind using different, less easily misunderstood titles. For example, "game manager" or "game moderator".
    3) Simply "referee".
    4) "Director", referencing the director of a movie or play, is often used by games that are based more on those forms of media than on wargames.