mirror-textfiles.com/reports/ACE/rpg.txt

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Grade Level:       Type of Work           Subject/Topic is on:
 [ ]6-8                 [ ]Class Notes    [Explanation of role     ]
 [ ]9-10                [ ]Cliff Notes    [playing games.          ]
 [x]11-12               [x]Essay/Report   [                        ]
 [ ]College             [ ]Misc           [                        ]

 Dizzed: 07/94  # of Words:4028  School:Public          State:NY
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Independent Study Project on Role Playing Games

          What are Role Playing Games?  Quite simply, RPG's are games where
YOU assume the role of a different person.  Then, you with other
adventurers, must play that role in the setting in which the game takes
place.  Playing and RPG is much like acting, only you don't know what is
going to come next.

          RPG's utilize at least 3 players.  One, called the Game Master,
or Dungeon Master, is the person who runs the game.  He is "the umpire,"
who decides where the players are going and who knows everything about the
adventure.  The GM is a storyteller, who is relaying the story to the
players, who make the decisions.  RPG's are like one big
Choose-Your-Own-Adventure story, only the choices are infinite.

          The other 2 people are the players.  They are the ones who make
all of the decisions in the game.  For example, the GM might describe to
them a room, and in the room are a desk, a shelf with books, and a rack
with lots of vials and bottles.  The players then have a choice to leave
the room, explore the desk, shelf, and rack, take whatever they want,
destroy everything, etc.  Any of these decisions could result in something
good to the player or bad.  "Every action has an opposite and equal
reaction."

          How do RPG's work?  Basically, they are a story being told.  Each
player has their own character, who they are playing, or acting in the
game.  Each character has their own strengths and weaknesses.  Below is
shown part of a character sheet.  A character sheet is where all
information on the character is shown. This includes things like reaction
time, strength, intelligence, etc.

CHARACTER SHEET FOR THE GAMEPLEX-AMS ROLE PLAYING GAME

          In this RPG, there are 7 Main Attributes.  Each Main Attribute is
then sub-divided into smaller secondary attributes. Here, we will describe
the most important main attribute, the physical attributes.

PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES:

STRENGTH: The amount of power, or strength, a player has.  This is a
generic term, used in general.  (Lifting boxes, hurting people's hands when
shaking them, physical bulk, etc.)

ATTACK STRENGTH: This is the amount of strength the player can exert when
attacking someone.  Since combat is an integral part of any RPG, this
attribute is very important.  This is even more important if the player is
assuming the role of a fighter, who engages in combat more often than a
wizard, for example.  An attack strength of 1 out of 48 would not give much
power, if any, when a person is attacking, but an attack strength of 48 out
of 48 out surely kill, or seriously injure, anyone when hit.  Attack
strength does not count the skill at which the person can attack.  If a
person blindly swings at someone with their sword, the chance of hitting
them is adjusted, from say, 50% when properly focused and alert to 10% when
attacking blind.  A lucky hit though, when swinging blind, would still
inflict the same damage as when swinging alert.  Only the chance of hitting
the enemy would change.


DEFENSIVE STRENGTH: This is the opposite of attack strength. Defensive
strength regulates how much a person can defend themselves.  For example,
if the defensive strength is 1 out of 48, one hit from an attacker would
kill the person.  In contrast, with a defensive strength of 48 out of 48, a
hit would not hurt the player very much if at all, because they can defend
themselves very well.  As in attack strength, skill is not counted in the
way a person can defend themselves.  If a person is prone and lying down,
and only has their hands to defend themselves, the attacker would have an
adjustment made to how they attack the person.  For example, if the
attacker, when attacking the person normally, had a 25% chance of hitting,
when the person was prone, the attacker would then have a 80% chance of
hitting.  The amount of damage inflicted is still the same though, as
always.

OFFENSIVE TOTALS: This is a numerical constant used in determining other
attributes, even those other than physical.  It is also a measure used in
combat, used as an adjustment in dice rolls to determine wether an attempt
at a hit is successful.

DEFENSIVE TOTALS: This is the complete opposite of the offensive totals.
It is a numerical constant used in determining other defensive oriented
attributes.  It is also used in combat as a defensive adjustment in the
dice rolls used to determine wether an attempt at a defense to a hit is
successful.

PHYSICAL TOTALS: This is also a numerical constant used in determining
other generic physical attributes.  For example, physical totals could be
divided by five (five is the amount of dice rolls it takes to determine the
physical totals) to determine the amount of time a person can carry their
own weight.

SIZE: Size is how big the person is.  This can be rolled with dice, but
usually it is a judgement made by the Game Master, according to the other
physical attributes.  For example, if a player's strength was 30, his
attack strength 40, and defensive strength 45, his size in real life would
probably be that of a large offensive lineman in football.  If then size is
rolled according to dice, and he rolled a 2 out of 24, which would be equal
to the size of a small dog, it wouldn't make sense.  Therefore, size is
usually determined by the Game Master.  The true size of the player above
would probably be around 18 or 19 out of 24.

RUNNING SPEED: This is determined by half of the attack strength. This is
the top speed at which the character can run.  To determine how long they
can maintain this speed, you further divide it by 4. Any decimals are
rounded up.  For example, if the attack strength is 32, the run speed is
16.  The top speed the person can run at is 16 meters per five seconds.
When you further divide it by 4, it means they can maintain the speed of 16
meters per five seconds for four minutes.

JUMP POWER: This is determined by multiplying the running speed by three
then dividing by two.  For example, if the running speed is 10, multiplying
it by 3 would equal 30, and divided by 2 would be 15.  Jump power is how
high the person can jump and the speed at which they can do it.  Speed is 2
thirds of the Jump Power, and how high the person can jump is 1 third.  So,
if the Jump Power is 15, it would take the person 10 seconds of run up to
jump five meters. This can then be divided accordingly.

PHYSICAL COMPARISON TO I.Q.: This is determined by dividing the physical
totals by two.  For example, if the physical total is 40, then the Physical
Comparison to IQ would be 20.  Physical Comparison to IQ is basically how
dumb the person looks.  If the person's Physical Comparison to IQ is 13,
the person would look like a stereotype of "a dumb jock."  If the person
then has an IQ of 200, this would sometimes prove favourable, as most of
the time, others would underestimate the person's intelligence.

CARRY WEIGHT: This is determined by getting the strength and multiplying it
by 5.  This is the amount of kilograms a person can lift.  This is then
multiplied by four minutes to get how long the person can lift it.

          Above are just some of the attributes in a role playing game.  As
you can see, every aspect of real life is duplicated in the character a
person plays.  The object of the game when making a character is getting it
to be as realistic as possible.

          After a character's attributes are determined, the game can get
started.  For the purposes of example, we will assume that there are 3
players in a dungeon.

          The game has begun.  After the GM has described a room, the
players are left to fend for their own.

GM- In this room is a large wooden ark.  The room itself is huge-
painted brilliant white and gold.  A couple of bones of unknown
animals are scattered about the room, and on the ark.
Player 1- I examine the ark.
GM- A loud booming voice screams:"LEAVE MY ARK ALONE! OUR JOURNEY
MUST CONTINUE!"
Player 2- "WHAT IS YOUR JOURNEY?"
GM- (As the voice in the ark) "OUR JOURNEY MUST NOT BE KNOWN-LEAVE
US ALONE!"
Player 3- I bring out my Two Handed sword and swing at the ark.
GM- Ok.  Since your Weapon Rating is 12, you get a 12% bonus on
your chance of attack success.  (rolling dice)  You make your
attack.  The ark splits straight down the middle, releasing a green
gas into the air.  You all start to choke and gag.
Player 2- I fall to the ground, and cover my face.
GM- Ok.  The rest of you, you are both affected by the gas.  Make
an Affect Roll to see if you get affected by the gas.
Player 3- (rolling dice)  I was standing 2 feet from the ark, so I
get -2 on my roll.  (rolls dice)  Nope, the gas doesn't affect me.
GM- And you? (motions to player 1)
Player 1- (rolls dice)  Nothing happens to me.
GM-Ok.  When the gas clears, a huge blue mist envelopes all of you. 
After that mist has cleared, 3 huge Xanthor warriors are standing
before you.  They stand there, solid and gleaming in their
electroplate armor.  They hold huge pistol gripped Electrified
Swords.
Player 3- I rush the one in the lead, my sword pointed out to
impale him.
GM- (rolls some dice) No luck.  Your sword bounces off of his
armor.  You see a huge fold in the tip of your sword.  Since it is
useless from a foot to the tip, you lose 5 points on every attack
roll you make when using the sword.  The leader, in retaliation,
crashes his sword into your shoulder.  You fall back, dazed, and
your shoulder bleeding heavily through your Leather Armor.  You
have no feeling in your right arm.....

          That was just a taste of what a role playing game is.  As you can
see, it is highly organized, as each person takes a turn, or one action,
each in turn.  In combat, everyone is given equal opportunity to attack.

          RPG's are almost self working.  You just have to have a Game
Master, or storyteller, with a good imagination to tell a story.  Then you
have the players, who are the listeners and who make the decisions.  And
then you have the story itself, in which the characters are based.  Below
is given a flow chart of how RPG's work:

          The RPG is not a game in the true sense of the word. There are no
winners or losers.  To be successful in the game, players must cooperate
rather than compete.  It is amusing to watch how people's personalities
come out in a game.  One might be always greedy, wanting more than his fair
share of the gold, while one might always rush headlong into battle,
lusting for blood!

A BRIEF HISTORY OF ROLE PLAYING GAMES

          The Role Playing craze began with the creation of Dungeons and
Dragons in the late seventies.  People loved the idea of the game, a game
where you could shed your normal skin and become a person of their wildest
fantasies.  The original Dungeons and Dragons game has been revamped and
added to hundreds of times. Currently, there are two distinctly different
Dungeons and Dragons RPG's.  There is the normal, original Dungeons and
Dragons, and the more advanced, realistic Advanced Dungeons and Dragons.

          The creation of such games like Role Playing Games flowed along
with the creation of the computer.  Once computers got better, creators of
RPG's thought they had to be one step better in order to keep up with the
creation of games for the computer.  How could written word and human error
compare to flawless performance and never-ending challenge?  Simple.  The
human factor.

          People don't want to listen to a box telling them what to do in a
processed, run of the mill manner.  In this way, humans speaking and
creating the game as they go along make up essentially what the role
playing games are based on: People ROLE PLAYING. Computers can't role play
with the human factor of decisions and such things as cunning, wisdom, and
even intelligence.  Computers see one things-garbage in, garbage out.
Information goes in, its processed, and is fed back to the user.  Humans
can also process information, but in such ways that computers cannot.

          By 1980, the only role playing game available was the original
Dungeons and Dragons game, set in the stereo-typical medieval England.  But
there was one MAJOR influencing factor in the evolution of new RPG's.
Fictional books.
     
          There are even more Science Fiction and Fiction books out there
than there are people.  From the ideas within a book, people have gotten
ideas to make games.  Why read a book and listen to the set decisions of
the author, when you can jump INTO the book and create your own ending?
Using this idea, the RPG market flourished when young authors combined with
number crunching and acting wizards to create hundreds of new RPG systems.
Also, the market of competition between RPG companies heated the fire.
TSR, the company that produces the infamous Dungeons and Dragons game,
still is the most popular RPG, partly because of the wide spread use of the
game, its huge selection of modules (different storylines for the D&D
system) and because it was the first game ever produced. When something
comes out and its the best, and the first ever produced, people still tend
to go to it.  The first people also tend to research more to keep their
product at the highest quality possible, so quality isn't usually an issue.
A good example is Sony and their Walkman line.  Hundreds of companies have
made their own portable tape players, but people still refer to them as
"Walkmen" even though they aren't Sony.

          The evolution of RPG's grew with the demand.  Soon, it was seen
that D&D didn't have every single possible module for every type of game
wanted to play.  So companies produced games based on Super Heroes, a very
popular item in comic books, trading cards, and role models.

          Role Playing Games today can be found in any form, shape, size,
and game type.  The RPG found on the first page is the GAMEPLEX-AMS Role
Playing Game.  It has been designed to work with any type of module
available or wanted.  All RPG's have this in mind, but some tend to
specialize in one area only.  The GAMEPLEX- AMS System is designed so if
the system itself does not cover the wanted area, for example, bowling, the
module would have specific instructions on how to cover that topic.  But
usually, if this type of instruction were to come up in an RPG where it is
not covered, it is up to the GM to adlib and make up something for it.
Everything doesn't have to go by a complete set of rules.

          Toady, at the latest count, there are 653 Role Playing Games in
existence today.  Not all of them are playable or even good, but some of
them are.  Some are specialized for a specific area in role playing, and
some are designed for wide use.  A sample is shown below.

Dungeons and Dragons and Advanced Dungeons and Dragons: The original and
still the best in role playing.  Because they were the first to poke into
the RPG market, they have carved their own niche and hold onto it quite
well.  D&D is designed to work with anything, and if that topic isn't
covered, a special module would cover it.  In this way, it is one of the
most expandable systems on the market.  There are approximately 5000
different storylines for role playing games in the D&D system.  Advanced
Dungeons and Dragons is essentially the same as D&D, but it is more
complex, and is richer in detail.  More physically oriented attributes are
added to AD&D, making it that more realistic.  D&D and AD&D is produced by
the TSR Company.

GURPS, or Generic, Universal, Role Playing System: GURPS is the king of
games designed to cover every single possible detail in a complete rule
system.  In this way, it is called universal.  GURPS is designed to work
with ANYTHING, absolutely ANYTHING.  Games for the GURPS system range from
Nuclear Holocausts to the Wild West, from Space Ships to Murder Mysteries,
and from Sports Events to World War Two.  GURPS is the most comprehensive
package available for role players who love variety.  It is highly playable
because not all the rules are needed for a game.  GURPS is probably the
most comprehensive game on the market.  Everything from biting fingernails
to heartburn is covered in GURPS.

ROBOTECH AND OTHER ROBOTIC TYPE GAMES: These games, are all set in the
future.  Robots dominate the earth and roam about freely, controlled by
skilled pilots.  Here, every planet explored houses robots.  These robots
have their own form of skills, and their physical attributes (type of
metal, etc.) also come into effect. These type of games are very good for
the person interested in the future and who likes combat with lasers and
robots.  They are basically like any other type of D&D game but in a
futuristic sense.  These games are produced by the Palladium RPG company,
whose products are very good.  They are known to keep everything simple and
to mix two attributes into a single one (like running and walking) to make
things easier.  Their robotic system includes such attributes such as Heat
Dissipation (how fast a robot can dissipate the heat from an incoming laser
or bomb) Heat Sinks (the place where the dissipation takes place) to the
mental power of the pilot.

GAMEPLEX-ATTRIBUTE MAINSTREAM SYSTEM: Gameplex-AMS is a hybrid of many
systems combined.  It has the complete playability of GURPS with the
endless supply of modules of D&D to the simple and easy to play form of
Palladium systems.  Gameplex incorporates everything into a single package.
Playability is the same as in many other RPG's.  The Gameplex-AMS system is
based on the theory that a person's attributes should function without flux
with his other attributes.  For example, a 2 inch high rat would not have
the strength of Arnold Schwartzenegger.  This "common sense" theory is what
makes Gameplex-AMS better.  Gameplex-AMS also uses special specific
attributes and has a no-nonsense, stick to the rules approach.  There are
no exceptions.

CHAMPIONS, DC COMICS, AND MARVEL RPG'S: These RPG's storylines are based on
comic book heroes and plotlines.  Frequently, stories are taken out of
comic books and then re-translated into a game, with a few changes.  This
is the case with the DC Comics Role Playing Game (it covers all characters
and such in the DC Comic world) and the Marvel RPG (same as DC Comics but
uses Marvel Characters.)  The only exception is The Champions RPG System.
The Champions system is a totally new concept.  It wasn't developed through
a comic book, or comic story, but from the mind of its creator.  The
Champions System uses modules which are totally original and which haven't
been taken from comics.  All three of the systems are highly playable, but
the only real difference is the selection of modules.  The Champions System
is the best if you want a challenge but if you enjoy reading comics and
playing your favourite super- hero, then the DC or Marvel System is for
you. FIGHTING FANTASY GAMEBOOKS AND THE FIGHTING FANTASY RPG: The Fighting
Fantasy Gamebooks are a very popular item.  They are a true RPG in a sense,
but they are designed so only one person can play them.  So, they are much
like a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure because only one person plays them and
makes the decisions.  Also, the decisions are altered because only a
certain amount of choices is offered.  For example, if there was a fork in
the road and some bushes around, you would only have the choice of choosing
which road to take, while in a true RPG such as AD&D and Gameplex-AMS, you
would have the choice of searching the bushes, choosing which road, attack
the other players, burn the bushes, etc.
          
          The Fighting Fantasy RPG is a whole different story.  The
Fighting Fantasy RPG is much like the Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks, but they
can be played by any number of players like a normal RPG. The rules in FF
are very simplified, as there are only 3 main attributes (compared to over
60 in Gameplex-AMS, 40 in AD&D, and 100 in GURPS) but it is the best RPG to
start with if you are new to Role Playing.  The modules themselves are top
rate, being simplified also along with the rules.

          As you can see, there are an infinite number of topics on which
RPG's can be based.  RPG's can be written about the Titanic to the
evolution of the vampire, to the future of the earth to how dragons cast
spells.

THE FUTURE OF ROLE PLAYING GAMES

          The future of Role Playing Games is bright.  With the increased
interest in them, and the new systems, modules, and accessories coming out,
there can only be more heated competition and the product can only get
better.

          The newest form of RPG's that has appeared within the last 10
years is the computerized RPG.  With the dawning of the PC as the dominant
system in the last 5 years, computer game companies have harnessed the
increased power of the computers to make their product more exciting.

          The origins of the computerized RPG began with the crude
adventure games of the late 70's.  These were basically text-based
adventures, with no pictures.  The adventure was based on a first person
view, and a typical scene would go as such: "You are walking down a dark
tunnel.  You can hear the water dripping down the walls.  You see a huge
troll raging towards you, with a huge battle-axe in his hands.  The axe is
dripping with blood and the troll is smiling."  Then you would type in a
one or two word answer, such as: "Take Axe."  The computer would then
respond with: "Oh, sorry.  You tried to grab the axe and the troll cut your
hand off.  While you're looking at your hand on the ground, the troll
laughs and cuts off your head.  Game Over."  In this type of adventure, you
were basically "reading" the game.  The game itself was very limited, as
you could only type in a one or two word answer.

          Then, more advanced games sprung up.  Ones with graphics, but it
was still seen from a first person view.  No animation was involved, but
the basic premise of role playing a character was still involved.  These
games were very popular, because at that time, people had never seen
anything like it before.  No color was involved.  Role Playing Games like
these kept up with the "book- keeping," by that it means the little dice
rolls, table checking, and book flipping involved with a normal RPG.  The
computer acted like the GM, and you the player.

          Then the IBM released its PC series.  This revolutionized the
computer game industry and the computer business.  With the new found power
in computers, software became increasingly complex. Color was a mainstay.
The game themselves took on a whole new tone with animation and new, more
challenging quests.  People had fallen in love with this new type of
addiction and they begged for more.

          But what about the future?  Right now its bright but still
uncertain.  The paper RPG aspect is still going strong and selling well.
The computerized RPG aspect is growing by leaps and bounds as new and more
powerful software and computers pop up.  The horizon seems limitless.