Why do you play RPGs?

[OzymandiasX]

I've been an avid gamer for most of my life. Table top RPGs are one of my favorite casual passtimes and I've encountered tons of players who continue to play these games for tons of different reasons. I'm sure most of you here have as well... So what is your favorite part about tabletop RPGs? Character creation and advancement? High fantasy combats? A stress outlet where you can kill and pillage? Building a heroic character (abilities, gear, etc)? Role-playing with NPCs?

If you had a sentence or two to describe what you enjoy most and what keeps you coming back, how would you do so?

My answer would be:
First and foremost I love creating interactive stories with a group of my friends. Combats are secondary, but I enjoy the tactical decisions and view combat as a multi-player chess match with fantasy trappings.

[Crake]

I used to play DnD because I enjoyed fantastic settings and heroic tales of glory.
Then I played DnD because I enjoyed optimizing characters and making the most out of what I had to play with
Then I played DnD because I wanted to be engaged in an interesting story.

Then I DMed.... and playing has never really been the same for me since.

I must say, my experience as a player hasn't been the best ever, most of my DMs have been kinda flaky (some more than others), and for at least the first 10 years of my DnD experience, I didn't play a in a game that lasted more than a few sessions, and not one had any kind of closure or resolution. But back then I was ignorant to what I was missing out on.

The whole time, since I first started playing though, I've been slowly designing and putting together a campaign setting, and then, 12 or so years later, I finally got the guts to run a game in it, and wow, was it ever so different on the other side of the screen.

I pretty much live for the thrill of running a massive world where my players can do whatever they please, and deal with the repercussions (whether good or bad) of the actions.

[Drachasor]

Batteries and equivalent technology do not have sufficient energy density.

[Tindragon]

To pick up hot women!

HA, really though, started out many moons ago with AD&D, great outlet for imaginative youngster.

Kept with it on and off with friends over the years, and now we are back at it after a near 7 year break.

I love DM'ing for a group who can appreciate it, and I love to play when I have a DM that allows some wiggle room, and can run a great story.

Having DMd for so long with good (and bad) players, I have high expectations for anyone who DMs a game I am in. That is, they need to put in the time and effort, and be adaptable on the fly. It's the standard I hold myself too.

I loved going back through all my notebooks to refresh myself with my campaign, and get ready when our group restarted last year. The wife used to play with us, but this time, decided not to. She started after we got married, so maybe I did do it for the hot women at one point! :smallcool: But now, we are playing because it gets some time together as friends and our kids can hang out while we do play all night! I am sure the 2nd generation of RPGrs will be soon to follow in our die rolls!

[HaikenEdge]

The short version is, because I enjoy it.

The long version is, I enjoy the collaborative process of telling a story within the restrictions of a set of rules that everybody involved knows and understands.

[Fax Celestis]

Escapism. My life is boring.

[Keneth]

Depends on the type of roleplaying. D&D challenges me intellectually and socially. I love its freedom in character and world design, and I love its combat, even if it does take all evening to play out a fight that lasted just over a minute.

But I can't really immerse myself in D&D, and I find LARPing way too ridiculous (I prefer fighting in a cage with my fists, not on a grass field with foam sticks). So that brings me to computer roleplaying games. There immersion isn't a problem, and I play them to become someone else, to escape reality, even if they don't really challenge anything except my patience.

There are other reasons too. Tabletop RPGs allow my imagination to run wild, and they help me become a better system designer as I identify flaws (of which there are many, especially in D&D) and fix them. My campaigns are sometimes a dry run for a story writing or a game I'm developing.

And aside for being a way for me to socialize with people I know, I've also made quite a few new friends over the years while roleplaying.

I won't really get into other types of roleplaying, just to keep things appropriate. :smallwink:

[Fates]

I think for me it's mostly to do with creating characters, be they PCs or NPCs. There's nothing more satisfying than finding that my characters have taken lives of their own. To lose the role of puppet master in favor of cooperating and negotiating with my own constructs within the limitations of their personality to direct them to certain goals, that is what I love. I've found at times that I can learn a thing or two from drawing parallels between myself and my characters about myself, and become a better person for it.

Sorry if that all sounds a bit...romantic.

[Dawgmoah]

The kid down the street threatened to beat me up if I didn't play the game with him. He had a cute sister who wanted to play too, so...

[Cikomyr]

Because it gives me a great occasion to let my imagination and creativity loose.

There's no limit to the actions you can take in the game, as long as you put some thought into it. Unlike a video game, you can think outside the box.

[Qc Storm]

I like the strategy aspect of it. Roleplay and stories are ok and all, but I prefer above all being tasked with solving problems, combat or not.

It also allowed our group of friend to stay together, even when post-school would've normally put some distance.

We may not be playing right, but our D&D was entirely self-taught. One brave fool learned it on his own, and then taught it to 5 similarly ignorant friends. Some of those then eventually went and tried their hands at DMing, with varying success.

Main problem I can see is that we never had an "outsider" experience. The only D&D we know is the D&D we played.

[The Trickster]

Escapism. My life is boring.

Yeah. Let's go with that.

...and I suppose I am a sucker for a good story, especially when I am part of it.

[Phelix-Mu]

My brain would probably explode without the outlet provided by role playing. As a DM that does some planning, but mainly improvises stuff on the spot to keep pace with the players and their curve balls, I find that there is no other activity that involves the level of creative intelligence needed to run dozens of npcs, a world, a complicated, multi-layered plot, the backstories of the characters, and with a side of forecasting likely future developments (pending those curve balls, ofc). My longest campaigns have run on to three years of weekly meets, with upwards of seven people (though that was crazy...my ideal range is 3-5). Creating a cohesive storyline across that span of time and incorporating a group of main characters that occasionally change, but who are consistently interesting/heroic/devious/insane/awesome, is not just fun, but a constant challenge to my abilities.

I am currently playing Exalted, and, due to a combination of unfamiliarity with the ruleset and real life issues, I am making almost everything up as I go (not optimal to be sure, but thems the beans). The mental strain is huge, and while there have been some missteps on my part (and the players), I find the process incredibly stimulating.

[BWR]

To pick up hot women!
It worked for me (even if I technically played many years before finding her).


I play because it's fun. Pure and simple. It's a great excuse to get together with friends. If we spend more time talking about other stuff than playing, that's ok. If we do nothing but playing, that's ok too. It's fun to build characters and see them try and fail and succeed. It's fun to make an odd character and see how s/he/it reacts to the setting and the NPCs. It's fun when you make a truly memorable N/PC that everyone loves or loves to hate. It's fun to get those hilarious moments where everything goes wrong and you either make things worse or pull off an incredible save by your wits (and possibly the skin of your dice-throwing knuckles).
It's fun to write your own adventures and run or play through something no one else has. It's fun to hear other people's stories. It's fun to play the same adventures other people have and hear how they did things.

It's the possibilities and the power you have over the story and the action.

[ddude987]

Escapism. My life is boring.

This. But not just because boring, its nice to be another person, get out of the real world, change your personality, or play who you truly are and see if people notice.

[Phelix-Mu]

This. But not just because boring, its nice to be another person, get out of the real world, change your personality, or play who you truly are and see if people notice.

Yeah, everyone knows I am a druid after the one campaign where I played one, hehe.

[Coidzor]

People frown on people going into the fields and getting into fistfights with cows and it's too much effort to go find a grizzly bear to wrestle.

[Drachasor]

People frown on people going into the fields and getting into fistfights with cows and it's too much effort to go find a grizzly bear to wrestle.

Cows do not have fists.

[Phelix-Mu]

Cows do not have fists.

And thus do the people frown on it.

[Hyena]

To ask why I play RPGs is to ask why the leaves fall. Escapism is in my nature. Perhaps, there is a better question...

[Coidzor]

Cows do not have fists.

So they're at a bit of a handicap.

[ddude987]

So they're at a bit of a handicap.

If they were warforged cows they would at least have a slam attack. Give them monk levels and decisive strike, and your players will never trust any non sentient or inanimate object again.

[Fax Celestis]

If they were warforged cows they would at least have a slam attack. Give them monk levels and decisive strike, and your players will never trust any non sentient or inanimate object again.

TIL: cows are inanimate objects.

[ddude987]

TIL: cows are inanimate objects.

I said "non sentient or inanimate." Though you could have an inanimate cow I suppose.

[Drachasor]

I said "non sentient or inanimate." Though you could have an inanimate cow I suppose.

Yes. Dinner.

[ryu]

I play primarily for the purposes of ridiculous characters and more ridiculous matches of what I refer to as wizard chess.

Ridiculous characters? I make a point of cornering exactly one major and usually silly market per character, then start letting the market influence their personality. I've had pimp wizards, fast food wizards, jeweler wizards, mad scientist wizards who sell magically bred abominations unto nature for money, and, most terrifyingly of all, wizards who invented democratic societies for the singular purpose of making the citizens of his megacity ambrosia farm feel more free and powerful than they really ever were. He was good aligned in that he still valued the common good, but doubted that the average person in his empire had the mental acuity and magical talent to defend themselves in a high magic world. At this point the question becomes how do you make a bunch of peasants forget entirely about the outside world without using any mind effecting spells on them? That was an oddly freaking serious philosophical campaign once it all got moving.

Even more ridiculous matches of wizard chess? I have a full understanding of the value of contingent effects, how to get them in NI amounts, and I'm not satisfied with my combats unless I feel challenge from similarly powerful opponents. This tends to make... stuff happen. Big stuff.

[Alent]

Yeah, mark up another Escapism answer. Not much washes away the depressing grime of doing a job you hate like pretending to be something else for several hours.

[Coidzor]

I said "non sentient or inanimate." Though you could have an inanimate cow I suppose.

Say, what you have after punching them into hamburger.

[Drachasor]

Yeah, mark up another Escapism answer. Not much washes away the depressing grime of doing a job you hate like pretending to be something else for several hours.

I'm confused. You act like these are different activities.

[Alent]

I'm confused. You act like these are different activities.

One's an activity, the other is a motivation?

[Amphetryon]

Because running around with a Handaxe or Heavy Pick in real life causes. . . issues, and polymorphing into a Barghest in real life is a complicated problem.

:smalltongue:

[Drachasor]

One's an activity, the other is a motivation?

Hmm, let me try this again...


Yeah, mark up another Escapism answer. Not much washes away the depressing grime of doing a job you hate like pretending to be something else for several hours.

I'm confused. You act like these are different activities.

[Alent]

Hmm, let me try this again...

~heh~ I thought that was what you meant, but assumed I was reading too much into it.


I'm confused. You act like these are different activities.

They are! In one you pretend to be a delightful helpful person, in the other you're denied the luxury of taking off the mask and revealing your inner heart's desire to kill everybody you meet and ignore your duties as a human being.

I'll let you decide which is the customer service job and which is the adventurer on a DM railroad quests to find and rescue the elder's cat from the evil treant.

[Optimator]

3D fantasy hyperchess combined with cooperative storytelling. What's not to like? :smallbiggrin:

[Meowmasterish]

Because I like it. Do I really need another reason?

[mephnick]

I like board games and it was pretty much just a better board game.

Then I started DMing and now I kind of dislike being a PC in a IRL table session. All I can think of is how I'd present the situation, or what decision I would have made. I also find it fairly boring compared to DMing. Maybe I'm doing it wrong.

So now I almost exclusively DM and I love it.