LEHS Roleplaying Club

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====== LEHS Roleplaying Games (RPG) Club ======

This is the wiki for the LEHS Roleplaying club.  Members should log in so they can edit things.

The purpose of the LPS RPG Club is to create and foster an environment that:

  * Provides members with opportunities to play and run roleplaying games of various types.
  * Fosters creativity and ingenuity.
  * Is inclusive and supportive of all who participate.

===== What Are Roleplaying Games? =====

Roleplaying games (RPGs) are open-ended games in which a person or a group of people (usually called games masters (GMs) or dungeon masters (DMs)) create an open-ended story-based adventure.  Each player creates one or more characters and decides what actions those characters take within the game based on traits that are specific to their characters.

Character traits usually fall into the following categories:

  * Species or sub-species.  This is usually called race, but the word "race" in RPGs is used in the sense of of J.R.R. Tolkien's //Lord of the Rings// books, meaning elves, hobbits, dwarves, orcs, humans, //etc.//
  * Character abilities.  These are descriptions of the character's inborn abilities.  Typical character abilities include strength, intelligence, wisdom, dexterity, health and charisma.
  * Character class.  These are like professions.  Each game system has its own list, including several specific types each of fighters, spellcasters, healers, rogues, entertainers, //etc.//.  As characters gain experience, they gain more special abilities that are specific to their class.

In these games, the object is for the GM to create some sort of challenge that the players have to overcome through their characters.  The outcome is designed to be achievable, but to require cooperation among the players and clever use of ingenuity in concert with the characters' abilities.

The games end up being a combination of storytelling and improvisational theater.

===== Tabletop RPGs =====

In a tabletop roleplaying game, the GM describes what each of the characters observes and/or what happens to them.  The player for each character decides how their character would respond.  When there is a question about the outcome of a character's action (combat, intrigue, spellcasting, healing, //etc.//), the player and/or DM roll dice, and the numbers shown on the dice indicate how successful the character was at performing the action.

===== Live-Action Roleplaying Games (LARPs) =====

In a live-action roleplaying game (LARP), the players physically play their characters.  Whatever the player actually does is what the character is doing.  In many LARPs, combat involves attempting to touch another player **gently** with a padded prop that represents a weapon such as a sword.  Spellcasting involves speaking the correct "magic words" and throwing a small object (such as a ping-pong ball) at the person that the spell is directed toward.  If the object contacts a player, the spell takes effect on that player.  Healing involves binding wounds (placing a cloth representing a bandage on the "wounded" area) or speaking the correct "magic words" while touching the "wounded" area with a magical object (such as a special "magical" object or one of the ping-pong balls that spellcasters use).  Situations where a character has more stealth than the player are dealt with using props like headbands that indicate to players that they should pretend that they don't see the player and are unaware of what the player is doing.  Outcomes rely on the honor system, and are adjudicated by one or more gamesmasters (GMs).