A monster on the verge of eating an adventurer.

Am I Playing a Role-Playing Game?

by Ramanan Sivaranjan on October 30, 2012

Tagged: osr meta

There has been some discussion online about what constitutes a role-playing game.

When you are playing a game that you suspect might be a role playing game, ask yourself these questions:

If you answered yes to both these questions, congratulations, you are probably playing a role playing game. Now go have some fun!

I have heard it remarked that Dungeons and Dragons’s isn’t a role playing game, it’s a war game. Now, clearly we can see this isn’t the case–unless you are a halfing wizard or some such thing–so the next question to ask is: how do I know if I am playing a war game? If you find yourself wondering if you are playing a war game, ask yourself these questions:

If you answered yes to both these questions, congratulations, you are playing a war game. Now go flank some units!

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