Why do you play?

[Show]

I've been considering the group I play with IRL for some time. They all seem to play tabletop RPGs just for the combat, seeing the story just as a means to an end(namely, more combat). Now, while this means that they all know the rules quite well and are usually serious about gaming, the stories are painfully boring and fraught with railroading.
To get to the point, there is little to no RP in their RPGs.

But enough about me. Why do YOU play, playground?
The ability to become someone else? Escape from the grind of daily life for a few sweet hours? Perhaps you just like to tell a good story?
Or are you one of those tactical souls who live for combat and the creation of the perfect stat block?

I'll start: I just love a good story. While I'm still very much the novice RP'er, there is nothing more satisfying for me to see real character development, cinematic moments of breathtaking awesome, and a satisfying resolution to a meaningful and original tale.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I play for the exact same reasons you play. Building a great story. Making characters with meaningful backgrounds, who kick ass in battle and go from relative nobodies to people whom the world will never forget. And obtaining potent mystical weapons that will be forever identified with them. I'm not talking like finding a +2 longsword in a goblin hole, but something like the mighty flaming sword Summer's Heart, a sword whose legend is inextricably tied to the mighty hero-king Kalkin (whom you lovingly played from 1 to 20).

[The-Mage-King]

Or are you one of those tactical souls who live for combat and the creation of the perfect stat block?

Pretty much this, as well as for teh lulz.


I'm a simple man, and crunching these numbers is... relaxing to me.

[rayne_dragon]

To have fun in a social setting, primarily. Roleplaying or tactics tend to be a secondary reason depending on the game and group in question. I'm just as happy with the hack n'slash as with the chitchat.

[HyperionWolf]

I guess i'll stick with " To tell a good Story".
You see, When we gather around a table, Forum or virtual chatroom, we are willing to let go of ourselves for a couple hours, and be someone else in a whole new world.
That only, is worth hours of rule learning, discussion, the expenses...
And of course, the lulz. Cuse watching fellow players scream in fear when they met their first Demon/Devil....Wootz.

[Savannah]

To be someone who I'm not and see how they react when thrown into hell. (I tend to be kinda hard on my characters )

[Xiander]

To be someone who I'm not and see how they react when thrown into hell. (I tend to be kinda hard on my characters )

I recognize this in my self.
The characters i liked the best was the vampire who was hated by fate, and the ranger (real world, not D&D) who had lost his leg to a bear trap. Both inspired such sweet melancholy.

Generally i look for an interesting story, and for interesting characters. A bit of dice shenanigans is never out of the way, but the reason i play is for the story.

[dsmiles]

Mostly to cook out on the grill and drink beer with my friends. And the sparkly dice.

[Jay R]

From Glory Road, by Robert A. Heinlein:

What did I want?

I wanted a Roc's egg. I wanted a harem loaded with lovely odalisques less than the dust beneath my chariot wheels, the rust that never stained my sword. I wanted raw red gold in nuggets the size of your fist and feed that lousy claim jumper to the huskies! I wanted to get feeling brisk and go out and break some lances, then pick a likely wench for my droit du seigneur--I wanted to stand up to the Baron and dare him to touch my wench! I wanted to hear the purple water chuckling against the skin of the Nancy Lee in the cool of the morning watch and not another sound, nor any movement save the slow tilting of the wings of the albatross that had been pacing us the last thousand miles.

I wanted the hurtling moons of Barsoom. I wanted Storisende and Poictesme, and Holmes shaking me awake to tell me, "The game's afoot!" I wanted to float down the Mississippi on a raft and elude a mob in company with the Duke of Bilgewater and the Lost Dauphin.

I wanted Prestor John, and Excalibur held by a moon-white arm out of a silent lake. I wanted to sail with Ulysses and with Tros of Samothrace and eat the lotus in a land that seemed always afternoon. I wanted the feeling of romance and the sense of wonder I had known as a kid. I wanted the world to be what they had promised me it was going to be--instead of the tawdry, lousy, fouled-up mess it is.

[Roderick_BR]

Agreed, man. I play for the story. If I want pure crunching, I play videogames, that does all the math for me, I just grind and equip items.

[valadil]

RPGs are the ultimate creative outlet. They satisfy almost all of my expressive needs at the same damn time.

[hydroplatypus]

I am both a player and a DM, and do both for basically the same reason. I like to create stuff. As a DM I build worlds and plots (well so far just 1 world and 1 plot but you get the picture). As a player I create characters. I don't care much about optimization, although I am not averse to it, I simply like making and RPing the characters more then crunching numbers and memorizing rulebooks.

[SamBurke]

I RP for all reasons: I love to talk to people. I LOVE to roleplay. I love to escape into another world, and figure out its internal (in)consistencies.I love creating an interesting and fun-to-play character, both from fluffy and crunchy angles. And, of course, I love to destroy things if it's possible.

[gkathellar]

The culture, mostly. Often I find myself on this forum most when I don't have an active group or game, just because I miss being in the company of other tabletop gamers. I guess the other side of it is habit: I've been playing since I was six or seven, and it's just so deeply ingrained into me that I can't really ever not be a tabletop gamer.

I also like optimization, both in theory and in practice. It's fun, and it can give you weird character concepts sometimes (warforged druid ftw).

[palindrome]

Personally I find that my DnD habit has made me simply irresistible to all of my eharmony matches.

[Dragonfire]

As a Dm I play to create stuff plain and simple. In my eyes playing the game is purer form of creation then writing a book. Hydro platypus has the right of it.

As a player... I play for escapism mostly and the fun of getting to do stuff that you really can't do in real life.

[Valameer]

Epic quote

Holy cow, THIS.

[LibraryOgre]

Spoiler

Show

Special thanks to Comfort and Adam Love for the art.

[Daftendirekt]

+

But enough about me. Why do YOU play, playground?
The ability to become someone else? Escape from the grind of daily life for a few sweet hours? Perhaps you just like to tell a good story?
Or are you one of those tactical souls who live for combat and the creation of the perfect stat block?

Yes. All of those. DnD has many fun and exciting aspects, and I tend to enjoy them all equally.

[ryu]

Ever read 8 bit theater? I play because I like expressing my inner black mage without consequences. Also I experiment with what I think he would do with different spell sets. It's both amazing and terrifying especially when dms who are also in it for the laughs try to justify my actions to npcs. Yes I killed the orphans' parents but at least I'm helping him redecorate...

[Tyndmyr]

But enough about me. Why do YOU play, playground?

I heard that if I get enough levels, I'll get real, magical powers. Black Leaf tried, but she couldn't keep up. Hah, that's what she gets for rolling a tier 3.

One day, all the power will be mine!!

[Pokonic]

To tell a story and get the gang together about bi-weekly. My group are the sort of people who vastly prefer discussing the finer points of Ebberons politics to finding out how much more damage there getting after advancing two size catagorys while in a barbarien rage.

[Das Platyvark]

I play for a good story, and to get the low-brow side of my story invention. If I want to write high art, I'll go write something. If I just want to come up with a cool setting and events and not worry about making it great writing, to the dnd books I go.

[Vortling]

For the stories. Always for the stories. The randomness of the dice and the other people playing characters make for a story I wouldn't ever think of on my own. And the tactical gameplay fun has its merits.
I DM because I like to create stuff, things, odds and ends and throw them at my players to see what they do with them.

[Hunter Killer]

Huh. You know, that's actually something I've given very little thought to. I just picked up dice one day and have been doing it ever since.

If I had to come up with a reason... It's because I love being the facilitator of fun. The stories and the math are both enjoyable, but when it comes right down to it I just want to show everyone a good time.

This means that if story gets in the way, I'll ditch it for something they'll enjoy more. If crunch gets in the way, then screw the rules. I like both, but my ultimate drive is getting everyone to smile and laugh and talk.

That, I guess, is why I love running RPG's... You get to hang out with the buddies, be the center of attention, and make everyone happy.

[magic9mushroom]

As an obsessive aspie (yes, tautology, I know), I play to relish the intricacies of mechanics.

As a social creature, I play to interact with other human beings.

As a student of psychology, I play to create and understand fictional characters driven by needs and desires alien to this world.

As, again, an obsessive aspie, I DM to combine known plot elements in new and interesting ways.

[Quietus]

I play for the fame, the money, and the women.

I fear I've made a terrible choice

[Yora]

Because it's fun.

[Welknair]

I'm always the DM. Always. I've never been a player.

I play, I DM, for the opportunity to build worlds. I get to be the absolute god of a multiverse. I can make absolutely anything happen. I can make anything I want. Sure, it's a lot of work, but it's worth it. Nine Hells, it's worth it. Just the ability to have absolute creativity. It's magnificent.

[bansidhe]

From Glory Road, by Robert A. Heinlein:

What did I want?

I wanted a Roc's egg. I wanted a harem loaded with lovely odalisques less than the dust beneath my chariot wheels, the rust that never stained my sword. I wanted raw red gold in nuggets the size of your fist and feed that lousy claim jumper to the huskies! I wanted to get feeling brisk and go out and break some lances, then pick a likely wench for my droit du seigneur--I wanted to stand up to the Baron and dare him to touch my wench! I wanted to hear the purple water chuckling against the skin of the Nancy Lee in the cool of the morning watch and not another sound, nor any movement save the slow tilting of the wings of the albatross that had been pacing us the last thousand miles.

I wanted the hurtling moons of Barsoom. I wanted Storisende and Poictesme, and Holmes shaking me awake to tell me, "The game's afoot!" I wanted to float down the Mississippi on a raft and elude a mob in company with the Duke of Bilgewater and the Lost Dauphin.

I wanted Prestor John, and Excalibur held by a moon-white arm out of a silent lake. I wanted to sail with Ulysses and with Tros of Samothrace and eat the lotus in a land that seemed always afternoon. I wanted the feeling of romance and the sense of wonder I had known as a kid. I wanted the world to be what they had promised me it was going to be--instead of the tawdry, lousy, fouled-up mess it is.

This,so,so much this!