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Player Character

The merging of the phrase that would eventually become “player character” or “PC” is referenced in Men & Magic book as “player-character” or “player/ character” (Gygax 1974:11). The creation of the player character is an important distinction that clearly sets role-playing games apart from wargames. It intimately ties the player to the character and implies a one-to-one level of control not previously evident in other forms of gaming (i.e., there are no “player armies” or “player squads”). This distinction becomes important because the player’s role, while significant, is greatly diminished in comparison to the role of the game master.

In Shared Fantasy Gary Alan Fine (1983:53) groups the justification for players investing their time and energy in role-playing into four themes: educational components, an escape from social pressure, a sense of personal control, and as an aid in dealing with people.

Pen-and-paper role-playing games are by nature rule sets for imaginative play. There are often detailed rules compendiums, instruction manuals that require a considerable effort on the part of the reader to understand how to play. Learning the game is a high barrier of entry to tabletop gaming, weeding out players who are adverse to learning complex rules. In comparison, computer role-playing games (CRPGs) and MMORPGs mitigate much of the learning curve and are easier to begin to play.

Because there are sometimes historical or futuristic elements in role-playing games, players learn more about real-life cultures by playing fantasy approximations. My brother cited an example of how he was able to articulate the concept of medieval humors in a high school class because of his role-playing experience (Tresca 2010). Similarly, games like Call of Cthulhu encourage an understanding of the life and culture of the 1920s.

Beyond educating players on the details of history or the theories of the future, Fine (1983:62) also listed other acclaimed attributes derived from roleplaying games, including the ability to synthesize information, decision-making, leadership, and role-playing as a skill. Role-playing is by its very nature a teaming activity, which requires both decision-making and leadership for the team to be successful. Role-playing as a skill is better described as empathy, the ability to put oneself in another’s shoes to help understand him or her. Child psychologists, adult counselors, and business people all use role-playing as a teaching tool to help understand a different viewpoint, and fantasy roleplaying can help in much the same way.

Role-playing games are also a form of mental escape. Gamers get the opportunity to take on other personas that are smarter, faster, stronger, and more attractive than they are. They alternately might choose a character who is more bold or ferocious, exaggerating traits they are unable to exercise to the fullest in their daily lives. Role-playing also allows players to break common social conventions and taboos without fear of repercussion. Their characters can be as violent or conciliatory as they wish, with the only consequences concocted by the game master.

Although role-playing games are less popular than other forms of more mainstream entertainment, role-playing nevertheless requires social interaction. This helps certain players who might otherwise have difficulty socially interacting by finding a peer group they can relate to and pretending to be someone else.

For me, role-playing games were an important part of my professional development. Speaking confidently to a group seated around a table, agreeing on a course of action, and getting team members to work together using a set of complex rules are all attributes I use at work. Before I ever entered the business world, I had unknowingly led hundreds of business meetings. All that was missing in the conference room was some dice.

Caller

In Men & Magic a sample of play includes a dialogue between someone known as a