Seeds of Fire in Dream

I have been thinking a lot lately about this topic, so I thought I’d bring these topics to this forum.

Roleplaying is not killing things and getting treasure.

(Roleplaying is about telling a story, with a plot, and characters, theme, mood, and all those other literary conventions you may have heard about.)

Roleplaying is not a freeform wahoo “I shot you, no you didn’t” experience.

(Roleplaying is a cooperative, consent-driven activity.)

Roleplaying is not improv.

(The point of most improv is to make other people laugh. Improv is for other people. Roleplaying is both for you, and the other people with whom you roleplay.)

Roleplaying is not wargaming.

(The slower conflict resolution is, the harder it is to fit in those snippets of character and story that make roleplaying great.)

Roleplaying is not Second Life, World of Warcraft, Dark Age of Camelot, or City of Heroes.

(Second Life is a virtual world platform. WoW, DaoC, and CoH are all engines for playing a computer wargame.)

Roleplaying is not a euphemism for kinky sex.

(Although folks play roles for sexual purposes, a roleplaying game is more story-focused and character-centric, and may include sexual situations among adults, but that is not their purpose.)

Roleplaying is not automatically about fantasy or science fiction.

(Roleplaying can be modern day, horror, romance, or even true crime-related too.)

Roleplaying is not a Mary Sue platform for acting out your fantasies.

(Roleplaying is a shared participatory experience, not someone’s opportunity to be a little tin god.)

Roleplaying is not an industry.

(Roleplaying is what the RPG industry should serve, not the other way around.)

Roleplaying is not just child’s play.

(Although children should be encouraged to enjoy it)

Roleplaying is not exclusive.

(Roleplaying is something anyone can do. In fact, we do it every day. In fact, you’re probably doing it right now.)

Roleplaying is not expensive.

(Especially not compared to other activities / pastimes, it’s downright cheap on an hour-per-dollar-spent scale.)

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