What are tabletop role playing games? Board games "RPG Tabletop role-playing game how to play
Board games rpg or in other words they are called board games are fun with the least use of different game tools and the active use of a mechanical model.
The first RPG board game appeared in the 74s. It was released by TSR The very first game was called "Dungeons and Dragons".
The difference between RPG games and tabletop games is in one single window, which is located among the players and the game area (setting) in which their characters reside. Also in the list of differences is the master of the game (the person who is the leader in the game).
It helps to introduce the rest of the players to the environment in which they are their characters. The game master also predicts future events that depend on the actions of the players.
This way of playing has both positive and negative aspects.
The good news is that you can do almost anything in a tabletop role-playing game. Heroes have every chance to use their abilities, without exception, that the gaming community gives them, in their own actions they are curtailed only by the moral foundations of the heroes, which he is and the internal laws of the toy in which they reside.
In this case, a rather significant disadvantage will be the fact that in a board game you will need to act together, otherwise the game time can be very long.
The process of a role-playing game is able to move both verbally and with the application of the laws of the board game. The presence of the master in the role-playing toy gives him the right to directly make a decision, such as whether the hero is able to perform the action announced by the player or not, to what extent his actions are successful and what results they lead to. If the board game is played according to some game concept, as a rule, a significant proportion of the character's abilities are already known to everyone and characterized by the prescribed rules of this game. In such games, the implementation or non-implementation of the impact is determined by the master in accordance with the laws of the game, a formula or a table pre-installed by the game itself.
Often in role-playing board games, a character sheet is used - this is a piece of paper into which the board player enters information about his personal character, including equipment information, with his own hand. A little less often, the master's display is used, in which the key principles and rules of the game are recorded.
A selection of tabletop RPG games
Warrior, wizard and other heroes, firmly established in the fantasy world, go on another adventure in the board game Dungeon Raiders. You will meet scary monsters, share treasures and endless labyrinths in the dark corners of the dungeon! Only the richest by the end of the game will have a taste of that very sweet victory! Up to five people can play, and it is desirable that the number of players be at least four, otherwise the feeling of competition and enthusiasm disappears. For more detailed rules of the game, see the corresponding section.
Pathfinder is the real desktop rpg. The game consists of a large number of locations that are combined into a common game scenario or company. Gather your friends, choose a hero and go on an adventure! On the way you will meet various monsters and bosses, which will not be so easy to defeat without the help of allies. Pathfinder is an interesting incarnation of the classic role-playing game in the form of a card board game. The rules are voluminous, but at the same time quite simple, logical and quickly remembered.
Clash of Legends: Resurrected is another RPG board game where players have to choose their favorite hero from a large number of possible options and fight other players in a fierce battle where sword and magic rule the show! As in any RPG, this board game will allow you to upgrade your character to certain heights, but here you don’t have to beat various monsters, this game is essentially an arena where the strongest fight for the right to be the first! It is worth noting that the Battle of Legends is a domestic board game made at a high level and is in no way inferior in style to other games of this genre.
What should be the ideal board game, we know from the movie "Jumanji": intuitive, extremely realistic and how interesting, so as not to let the players go until the end. However, as you know, the ideal does not exist - this is fantasy. But there are board games that have made a special contribution to the development of the entertainment industry. You will learn about them on the following pages.
Board games
The simplest example of classic board games, or board-printed games (NPI), is the well-known Monopoly. As a rule, the board game is sold as a whole in one box (although there may be extensions-add-ons), it is designed for an average of 3-6 players and the duration of the game is from half an hour to several hours. The set may include a field, cards, tokens, chips, dice, counters - in almost any combination.
"Colonialists" (1995)
For a breakthrough
More than ten years ago, "Colonialists" became the first German tabletop game to achieve worldwide recognition. 25 languages, 11 million copies, three dozen extensions and variations, among which there are both historical and frankly fantastic ... And in 2002, the Russian version of "Colonialists" marked the beginning of the publication of the best desktop games in the world and in our country. It is thanks to this twice pioneering game that today we can spread Munchkin, Lost Cities and even World of Warcraft on the table.
"Munchkin" (2001)
For banter
Steve Jackson probably counted on the success of his mocking parody of Dungeons and Dragons, but he hardly imagined that it would turn out to be so big. In less than ten years, Munchkin has managed to carefully quibble not only D&D, but also space opera, vampyre, oriental action, superheroes, Cthulhu, westerns and pirates. To some, the game seems monotonous, but it certainly deserves to be included in our list. Objections? You have approximately 2.6 seconds to say them...
World of Warcraft (2005)
For scope
This game is a clear testament to how seriously board games can be taken. And it's not even in the careful transcription of the cult MMORPG. In desktop WoW, everything is brought to the limit: the quality of workmanship, the volume of rules, the number of elements, the price, the size, the duration of the game ... Not everyone will buy it for a personal collection, but the game will be an ideal gift for board game fans, computer game fans and collectors of rarities.
"Potion Making" (2005)
For slender symmetry
Perhaps the most ingenious idea of domestic game developers in terms of simplicity. Powders, potions, elixirs are collected from certain ingredients. Of these, in turn, potions of a higher level can be made - up to the Supreme Elixir or the Great Talisman. For each successful adherence to the recipe, points are awarded depending on the level of the received magic potion. Players can interfere with their own and other people's laboratory experiments using various types of spells. The game impresses with its slender architectonics and thoughtful design.
Collectible card games
What these games are, it is clear from the name. Their main and necessary element is cards, although tokens, counters, and the playing field can sometimes be used. They are distributed in various sets (starters, boosters), from which the player independently composes a deck. As a rule, two players play TCG, but many games support "multiplayer". Most CCGs have new sets and cards coming out regularly, so you'll have to spend a lot to keep up with the times.
Magic The Gathering (1993)
For a great idea
In fact, Richard Garfield came up with almost nothing new. Almost. He simply combined two elements into one whole: a simple card game and collecting cards. Along the way, the idea of compiling your own decks was born. Combined, all this gave such a stunning result that the Californian mathematician quickly became a millionaire, and a new genre appeared in the gaming world. Yes, over the 15 years of its rapid development, more interesting CCGs have appeared, but it is still somehow customary to divide representatives of the genre into two groups: "Magic" - and everything else.
Guardians (1995)
For beauty
The Guardians will turn 13 in September, but no CCG has surpassed it in the quality of illustrations. On the contrary, some publishers did not hesitate to use the inspired work of Keith Parkinson, Don Maitz, Brom and other artists when designing their desktops. But it's not just the illustrations that make this TCG stand out: Guardians is one of the best card wargames out there. In addition, fans of sparkling humor and banter fell in love with her back in the pre-Manchkin period.
Pokemon (1999)
For caring for children
When Wizards of the Coast announced the game in 1998, almost no stores or clubs wanted to order it. Why do we need a game for children of primary school age? A year later, sales of this KKI confidently took second place, second only to Magic. Now every year there are many collectible card games based on anime series and video games - however, only Yu-Gi-Oh! could repeat the commercial success of Pokémon!
Lord of the Rings TCG (2001)
For design and balance
A unique case: a collectible card game was created at the same time as the original films. What's more, sometimes scenes from Peter Jackson's films appeared on the cards before they hit the movie screen. LotR TCG favorably differed from the drawn predecessor Middle Earth CCG with simple rules and high dynamics. And the main "chip" of the card "Lord of the Rings" was that each player acted simultaneously for both light and dark forces. And finally, the KKI was framed for five plus.
Tabletop role playing games
In a role-playing game - computer, "live" or board - the participant plays for one or more characters. In principle, you can get together in a small company and play role-playing without any rules, but according to the rules it is more interesting. In addition to the rule book, supplement volumes (descriptions of universes, monsters, magic, etc.) are released for role-playing games, they almost always use dice and cards with the characteristics of heroes. Battles can be modeled with figurines. The standard composition for tabletop role playing is 3-5 players and one master presenter.
"Dungeons and Dragons" (1974)
For classic fantasy
The first and most popular tabletop RPG, the most recent edition of which was released a couple of months ago (read our review of the novelty on the following pages). Dungeons & Dragons has become a standard not only for role-playing games, but also for fantasy heroic-adventure. Salvatore's "Dark Elf" and Wace's various "Dragons" with Hickman are all official D&D novelizations. And how many books have been written under the impression of the games played, how many people have fallen in love with science fiction thanks to this game ... In a word, Dungeons and Dragons is a world-class cultural phenomenon.
Call of Cthulhu (1981)
For supernatural horror
A long-lived game that is no less different from D&D than Howard F. Lovecraft's dark fantasy is different from the adventures of the Dark Elf. For meetings with unknown heroes of the Call of Cthulhu, they will have to pay with mental health, and at the end they will find a hospital or the mouth of a nightmarish monster. Additions to the game cover different years, but it is best to play in the twenties of the last century: the atmosphere of Lovecraftian stories blends wonderfully with the noir style of that time. For more than a quarter of a century of its existence, role-playing has become an integral part of Mythos - the universe created by G.F.L. and his followers.
World of Darkness (1991)
For gothic punk
"The World of Darkness" is the mystical underside of our everyday life. Werewolves roam its dark streets, clans of vampires secretly control people, and magical power can suddenly awaken in an ordinary person ... "World of Darkness" brings together more than a dozen tabletop role-playing games, the most famous of which is Vampire: The Masquerade. By 2003, the universe had grown so much that the creators considered it better to arrange Doomsday, and in 2004 they released a new edition that combined parts of the World of Darkness not only thematically, but also at the level of game mechanics. If you love night, gothic, conspiracies, mystical secrets - then this game is created for you.
"Age of Aquarius" (2000)
For Russian anime
The creators of the "Age of Aquarius" wanted to kill two birds with one stone: to release the first commercial tabletop role-playing game in Russia and to promote the popularization of anime. An interesting world and an original game system were developed, but the first pancake came out lumpy. Several planned expansions never saw the light of day. Once a year there are rumors about the revival of the system, but Russian publishing houses are suspicious of the anime role-playing game. But thanks to the Age of Aquarius, players can remember the glorious time when a tabletop RPG could be bought at any major bookstore.
Wargames
"Wargame" is a slang term for military-tactical games with miniatures, in other words, "soldiers". Board battles are played between groups of plastic or metal figures, using dice, rulers and rather complex rules. It is believed that the pioneer of the genre was the famous science fiction writer Herbert Wells, who at the beginning of the 20th century compiled the first sets of rules for tin soldiers. And in the seventies, the Chainmail wargame grew into Dungeons and Dragons, the first of a new genre of role-playing games.
Warhammer (1983)
For scale
Not the first, but the most famous of the wargames. Hammer of War has a reputation as an elite game for dedicated fans of the genre. It will take even longer to tinker with assembling and painting figures here than to learn the rules. Another advantage of the game is its multidimensionality. Under one brand, two colorful universes are united - fantasy and space, as well as more than a dozen separate games. Warhammer is to wargames what Magic The Gathering is to TCG or Dungeons and Dragons is to RPGs.
Mage Knight (2000)
For mass character
Some consider this game a model of the future of wargames, others - a profanation of the very idea of the genre. Already assembled and painted miniatures are sold in starters and boosters - the distribution system is the same as that of KKI. There is no need to make any records: combat damage is marked by turning a special disk built into the stand. The rules take up several pages. In general, Mage Knight is designed for a much wider consumer than the same Warhammer. It does not require time, painstaking work or immersion in the universe. The family of "turn-dial wargames" includes not only the fantasy Mage Knight, but also the superhero Heroclix and the new MechWarrior.
We at Geekster often play board games and write about it. But desktop role-playing games have not yet been touched. This is a whole independent universe with its own laws and big hits. We decided to figure it out and with the support of the festival “ Rolecon” selected 9 NRIs - well-deserved classics and promising newcomers.
Each game is marked with the presence of Russian editions and the approximate level of difficulty: some are easier to enter for beginners who are completely unprepared for such games, some require a confident adventurer. But in any case, all these NRIs are interesting in their own way. By the way, you can find a game for one of them in Moscow at the Location club. If you know about good places for role-playing games in your city - write in the comments.
Savage Worlds: Diary adventurer
Difficulty level: one elf out of three
Russian edition: There is
The authors of the game proceeded from the principle “Quickly! Funny! Brutal!” - that is, the rules should be as simple as possible, entry into the game should be quick, and the process itself should be as dynamic and fun as possible. And they did it! Of the features of the rules, it is worth noting that players control not only their characters, but also allies.
Savage Worlds is not tied to any particular universe. Players, and first of all the master, choose the genre and setting of their game themselves, which opens up the broadest prospects. However, the title - "Diary of an Adventurer" - hints at, first of all, adventurous and adventure style in the spirit of the XIX-XX centuries: cowboys and Indians, alternative World War II, lovecraft, steampunk, but also fantasy and cyberpunk. In general, this is a pulp genre. There are already ready-made worlds and campaigns: the frosty fantasy Hellfrost, the mystical Wild West Deadlands or Russia during the civil war “Red Land”, created by Russian developers.
Actually, for the game, in addition to the rules, you will need a set of dice from D4 to D12, a deck of poker cards, and friends, of course! On sale, including in Russian, you can find ready-made adventures of various genres, and experienced adventurers can compose their own stories.
“Step back, weaklings. I will kill him myself”
Mouse Guard
Difficulty level: one elf out of three
Russian edition: There is
Mouse Guard or "Mouse Guard" is a relatively young role-playing game. It is based on a series of graphic novels by David Petersen, one of which was recently released in Russian through the efforts of Jellyfish Jam.
The world of Mouse Guard is very similar to our Middle Ages, except that instead of people it is inhabited by intelligent mice that forge armor and weapons, build castles, create secret organizations and fight against predators - cats, birds and ferrets.
In the RPG Mouse Guard, all characters, in addition to parameters, have Beliefs, Goals and Instincts, which in the ideal case determine their behavior. The gamemaster sets tasks for the characters to complete by rolling a D6 on obstacles. But in the second phase, the players themselves decide what to do.
At the end of January, a campaign was launched on CrowdRepublic for the Russian boxed version of the Mouse Guard role-playing game, and Rolecon was visited by the author of the translation and spoke more about it and his work.
“I can’t be defeated!…”
World of ``Mouse Guard``
Read the review of the Mouse Guard universe in our material!
Pathfinder
Difficulty level: two elves out of three
Russian edition: There is
Pathfinder is an RPG that takes its roots from the D&D 3.5 rules and tries to fix the bugs of this edition. Many classes and races migrated from there, although there are a lot of their own. In addition, backward compatibility is declared. So if you're familiar with D&D, then getting into Pathfinder will be easier for you and you'll be able to use old adventures in the updated game. Very quickly, Pathfinder became popular enough to overtake its ancestor, something that hasn't happened since the early 70s.
The action takes place in the fantasy world of Golarion, where classic creatures for the genre live: elves, dwarves, orcs, undead, and players are invited to become a party of adventurers - a magician, warrior, rogue, barbarian, to go in search of glory and treasure. In addition to the players themselves, you will also need a master who will lead the game and be responsible for the monsters.
Pathfinder has good support from the developers, new stories are constantly being released, and thanks to the Pathfinder Society, the official community that performs special tasks, you can influence the global world of the game. In addition, the official computer game “Pathfinder: Kingmaker” was released on the system, which received good reviews.
“Well, of course I can swim! What kind of acid?!…”
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition Starter Pack
Difficulty level: two elves out of three
Russian edition: printing in progress
Of course, this TOP could not do without the grandfather of all NRI, the most famous and famous representative of this type of entertainment - "Dungeons and Dragons". Dungeons & Dragons is the most popular fantasy game that has gone through many editions and incarnations. Unlike many other RPGs, the Dungeons & Dragons universe has multiple worlds (known to the general public from computer games like Neverwinter Nights), so there's always something to choose from.
Players create their own characters, endowing them with biographies, skills and features that will directly affect the game. As a random factor, D20 is used to check the success of the application of skills and the likelihood of events. The current fifth edition is considered more or less classic and provides many opportunities for versatile role-playing, and not just the combat part. Of course, you will also need a good Game Master, where can you get meringue from him?
Given the return of interest to the 80s, we can say that D&D is now in trend - it’s not for nothing that the heroes of “The Stranger Things” played it.
“Hey dragon! By your presence you are defiling this temple…”
Star Trek Adventures
Difficulty level: one or two elves out of three
Russian edition: printing in progress
The game will allow you to get on board Starfleet ships and experience an adventure in a popular sci-fi setting. All your favorite races, planets and situations from the Star Trek series are right there, of course, and if you are a real trekker, you will appreciate the opportunity to be on the deck of a starship. Most importantly, do not wear a red uniform.
RPG is based on the intuitive 2D20 system, and in addition to the conversational part, Star Trek Adventures also has two combat components: ground battles on the map using tokens (or miniatures) and space battles in which players control entire fighter jets and crews. The presenter has access to both ready-made scripts and tools for creating his own stories.
There is a set with simplified rules for beginners, and there is a full-fledged rule book with more detail (in Russian will be released later), but both promise sufficient depth and degree of immersion in the game world.
“I can’t be defeated!…”
World of Darkness: Vampire: The Masquerade
Difficulty level: two pale elves out of three
Russian edition: printing in progress
Many are familiar with the "World of Darkness" from two popular video games, to which the third part will be added soon. This universe is similar to ours, with the only difference being that vampires lurk in the shadows of society. They have entangled governments and corporations, culture and art with their web, but they prefer to keep their world of hopelessness, despair and cruelty a secret, maintaining the Masquerade, a set of rules, in order to remain invisible to people.
NRI offers a rare opportunity to play for the “other side”, those that players usually like to chop into cabbage. In Vampire: The Masquerade, you can join one of the vampire clans, which differ in their strengths and weaknesses in the game. The priority is role-playing and atmosphere, you can even not use dice, so RPG is perfect for beginners. And the role of the master is especially important.
And by the way, this is a game within a game: in addition to the fact that the player portrays a vampire, the vampire also needs to portray an ordinary person in order to “not get burned” (including literally: well, you know, there is sunlight and all that).
“I mix all the potions and drink…”
Difficulty level: two elves in a jump of three
Russian edition: There is
FATE is a child of crowdfunding, a role-playing system without being tied to a specific setting. Many elements, for example, the list of skills, the details of the magic system, are given to the Leader for decision. So far, four editions have been published.
A feature of FATE is aspects, i.e. some descriptive characteristics of the characters, which replace the usual parameters and either act as bonuses or as problems. This approach allows you to better play the role and influence the plot. For example, the aspect “with great power comes great responsibility” succinctly describes both the advantages and vulnerabilities of the character. Although there are enough tables and “math” here, the game is still largely designed for storytelling.
The game requires special six-sided dice with pluses, minuses and empty sides on them. In general, the rules of the game are simple enough for initial familiarization, but will require serious immersion, both from the players and from the Host, who will compose stories.
“I pull all the levers. Any one will work…”
Tales from the Loop
What is it and how to start playing.
Everyone who is more or less familiar with computer RPGs has heard about tabletop role-playing games. The phrase Dungeons & Dragons is certainly familiar to many. Fans of ordinary board games could also hear something from their friends or from conversations at a nearby table in a gaming club or anti-cafes that are now fashionable.
We understand what tabletop role-playing games are, how they differ from ordinary tabletop games, and what you need in order to start playing them.
Tabletop role-playing games (RTGs) have their origins in the 1970s. It was then that (Gary Gygax), together with a group of like-minded people, created the very first edition of the rules for a fantasy role-playing game inspired by the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Since then, the popularity of RPG has steadily grown, and more and more other role-playing games began to appear in the world - with different rules, settings and mechanics.
The very same Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) also did not stand still: for her, there were countless additional books, and the basic rules were revised and reissued in new editions. Over time, since the 1980s, a huge number of computer games have been released based on the mechanics of D&D. For the most part, these were RPGs, but there were also quests and even beat'em ups.
Now the most recent edition of the D&D rules is the fifth, also known as D&D Next. The rights to publish books on it belong to the company known to many for the popular TCG Magic the Gathering.
Gary Gygax
Of course, no one forbids inventing your own settings. Together with the freedom of action that desktop RPGs offer by default, such systems take them to a new level, offering freedom in choosing the context and form of the game's storytelling. In general, if you have long dreamed of playing a post-apocalyptic detective story based on Russian folklore with elements of cyberpunk, then you should definitely take a closer look at one of the universal systems.
In the case of genres, everything depends both on the system used, and on the skill of the Gamemaster and his desire to create a certain atmosphere. Some systems are initially sharpened for certain genres. For example, almost the entire mechanics of Dungeons & Dragons is built around battles with monsters - this is, in fact, an action game in a fantasy setting. - this is primarily a detective (it is not without reason that in Russian translation it is called "Detective"). Numenera focuses on exploring the world and unraveling its mysteries. In Legend of the Five Rings, much attention is paid to the communication of players between themselves and NPCs, as well as observing the norms of oriental etiquette.
However, this does not mean that the setting used imposes any restrictions on the Master and the players. If you wish, you can also play an excellent detective using the rules of D&D. Or come up with such intense action in the tabletop Star Wars that the Jedi will simply have no time to turn off their lightsabers.
Here the question is rather what expectations the Master and the players have: the main thing is to choose a game format that will ultimately be of interest to everyone. Well, keep in mind that role-playing systems, after all, reveal themselves in all their glory precisely in the genres for which they were created.
Pre-flight preparation
Now that you have an idea of what tabletop RPGs are and what systems and settings are, it's time to decide what you need to start playing.
Find like-minded people
Some board games can be played alone, but tabletop role-playing games unfortunately don't work that way. The company is important here - both in terms of creating a quorum for a comfortable game, and for creating the right atmosphere at the gaming table. Practice shows that the optimal number of players for almost any game is from three to five, plus one Master. A larger number leads to the creation of a farce and stretching the game (especially during turn-based battles), and a smaller number is simply not interesting to play - after all, the lion's share of the fun is generated by the interaction of players and their characters with each other.
If there are no like-minded people among friends, it does not matter. In large cities, board game stores regularly organize events where you can get acquainted with tabletop RPGs. The advantage of such events is that the games are often played by quite experienced masters. If such events are not held in your city, this is also no reason to be upset. Social networks will come to the rescue: groups dedicated to RPG are usually full of ads like "Players are looking for a master" or "Master is looking for players in a group."
Decide on the setting and system
As you can see from the text above, there are a lot of gaming systems. They cover almost all possible settings and genres. Some are more difficult to master, some are easier. But for starters, I would recommend focusing on something popular: such systems, as a rule, are much more developed, and it will be easier to find more experienced players if it becomes necessary to seek advice or clarify the nuances of the rules.
A few words should be said about languages. Knowledge of English in this case removes almost all barriers in choosing a system for your board games. But those who do not read English should not be upset: the rulebooks for many popular systems have been translated into Russian - both officially and through the efforts of fans. Examples include the latest editions of D&D - they were definitely published, even in printed form. Savage Worlds is known in Russian localization as "Diary of an Adventurer". Warhammer 40000 Roleplay, Dungeon World, Fallout PnP can also be found in the Russian version if desired, like many other systems.
There are entire role-playing systems of domestic production. One of the most famous is "", released in 2000 and then re-released in 2011 with updated rules. Other systems came out before it: for example, "" in 1997, and "", which was released already in 1990 and is considered the first tabletop role-playing game in the USSR. Interestingly, Enchanted Country was released based on the Polish version of the original D&D rules, which in turn was a translation from English. The double translation gave rise to a lot of inaccuracies in the rules, already generously diluted with the imagination of Soviet developers, but the final product was still very popular.
Decide who in the group will be the Gamemaster
Ideally, of course, it is desirable that the first games for you be played by an experienced Master - one who has long been familiar with NRI and knows the nuances of the chosen game system well. But even if there wasn’t one among your surroundings, it doesn’t matter, just nominate the best storyteller or the owner of the richest imagination. The Master has an extremely important role - not only does he direct the plot of your story, but he also sets the tone and atmosphere of the entire game.
However, even if you have taken on this role, the lack of experience should not scare you. Whether the story is linear or non-linear, whether you follow the rules rigidly or introduce your own rules into the game system, whether you fill the story with only battles or focus on dialogue and investigation - there is no one right way to play the game. The surest indicator is the atmosphere and general mood of your group. If everyone at the gaming table is having fun, then you are doing everything right.
Learn the rules of the chosen system
To do this, you must first get the appropriate manuals and books. There should be no problems with this, you can find everything on the Internet: both paid electronic copies on publishers' websites, and amateur localizations on fan forums. The main question is: what exactly to download? Take the same Dungeons & Dragons: for each of the editions, dozens, if not hundreds of books were released. How to deal with them?
The general rule is quite simple: every system has a master book of rules. It can be called differently: Core Rulebook, Player's Handbook, etc. It should contain all the basic rules needed to understand the mechanics, create characters, and start the game.
Often there is also a separate section for the Master, which can contain monster parameters, mechanic nuances, tips for creating adventures for players, and so on. Sometimes this section is taken out as a separate book, as, for example, in D&D: there it exists in the form of a manual called the Dungeon Master's Guide. For the first games, the basic guide should be enough, and then you can expand your horizons with additional materials on the chosen system.
An important point for beginners: in order to start playing, you do not need to read the book with the rules from cover to cover. But it is important for the Master to understand the details of the mechanics and game logic, so he still needs to study the manual. In the future, he will be able to explain the main points during the game orally.
At one of the companies where I've been running tabletop RPGs for years, some of the players have never opened a manual for any system in all that time. And this does not prevent them from fully participating in the gameplay, relying only on my tips and help.
Also, many systems offer ready-made adventures in the form of separate books or collections. Often there you can find ready-made characters for the players. This is quite a good option for beginner Masters - you can get such an adventure and just play the game "by the book". And having gained experience and understanding how the logic of tabletop role-playing stories is built, you can already move on to creating your own worlds and adventures, full of author's plot twists, characters and secrets.
Get the necessary props
And here I primarily mean cubes, or, as they are also commonly called, dice. In addition to them, you will need paper and pencils. That's the whole minimum required set. In fact, you can even do without dice: you can download a free application with virtual dice on any smartphone, and then the total amount of investment in your RDI will be reduced to zero.
But I still insist that real game dice be used: they are much more pleasant to play with, and their use has a special charm inherent only in tabletop RPGs. The number and type of dice depends on the system used, but to be sure, you can take a standard set of d4, d6, d8, d10, d12 and d20 - this way you will provide yourself with dice for all occasions.
The terrain, maps and miniatures are nice additions, but for the first games they are completely optional. Later, once you've gotten the hang of it and decided on the setting that's best for you, you might want to think about enhancing the visuals of your games this way.
Speaking of props, it's also worth mentioning that the board game market has ready-made "starter kits" that include everything you need to start playing tabletop RPGs. These boxes contain everything you need: cubes, miniatures (or their substitutes), character sheets, books with rules, and several ready-made adventures. Great option for beginner game groups. The only thing to keep in mind is that often in such "sets" the game offers truncated or simplified rules regarding the main system. Both old and new editions of D&D with similar "boxes" are on the Russian market in Pathfinder.
Play!
So, now you have the necessary knowledge and props - it's time to go on your first tabletop role-playing adventure. Schedule a decent amount of time, preferably a whole evening or at least a few hours. Practice shows that tabletop RPGs are far from being the same as quickly breaking up a game in Carcassonne. If there are no pre-made characters in the manuals or starter packs, be prepared to spend half of the first batch creating them. There is nothing wrong with that, it is also part of the gameplay.
The reason I say "first installment" is because interactive stories in tabletop RPGs are rarely completed in one game session. Some of them can last for months, or even years, just like TV shows. This has its own charm - every weekend to watch how the game's story develops, and the characters gain experience and become more and more powerful.
Someone does not like this format, and they play the so-called "one-shots" (one-shot) - short adventures that fit into one game session. As in other aspects of role-playing, here too you are free to choose - play in the way that your group seems most comfortable.
This is the whole world of tabletop role-playing games: on the one hand, they offer rigid rules of role-playing systems, but on the other hand, they never impose them, and the Master, together with the players, can change them, adjusting them to their needs. They may offer you ready-made adventures, but you are always free to create your own epic saga, dashing action or mystical detective.
Where regular board games give you a ready-to-play product, tabletop RPGs provide a whole set of tools with which you can create your own perfect game.
People who hear about tabletop role-playing games for the first time (hereinafter referred to as RPG for simplicity) are divided into two categories according to their reaction. The former begin to smile embarrassedly, imagining purely intimate entertainment associated with the outfits of nurses, policemen and other representatives of professions important to society, as well as with the use of outlandish devices, which we will not expand on so as not to distract the reader from the main topic of our article.
The second category includes those for whom “role players” are synonymous with the word “tolkienists”. This performance evokes associations with “elves”, “gnomes” and “goblins” who spend time in the forests and fields (on the playing grounds), play out plots from the books of Tolkien, Sapkowski and other writers in the fantasy genre and sing songs based on the campfire. their works.
In fact, tabletop role-playing games are a hobby in their own right, not like dress-up sex games or what Tolkienists do. The only common characteristic for all these three hobbies is the ability to get used to the role of the chosen character, reproducing some of his traits and behaviors. And, of course, the pleasure that the participants of all these, so different, role-playing games get)))
What does it look like?
Despite some differences, the gameplay is very similar to the usual board games familiar to most readers since childhood, like Monopoly. Players sit at the table in the same way, roll dice and periodically check the rules or mark something on special forms.
But here, unlike ordinary board games, the main action takes place not on the playing field or map, but directly in the imagination of the players themselves and, in fact, around them. All this happens with the help of a host who describes to the players the world around them, non-player characters and ongoing events. The host can be any of the game companies who decided to try their hand not only in participating in the game, but also in its creation.
The players, in turn, react to the words of the facilitator in the same way as their character would react, modeling the corresponding behavior and actions. Roughly speaking, if your character is a beefy commando, he will communicate with street hooligans in a completely different way than he would communicate with them, for example, a violinist or a library employee. At the same time, in a different situation (for example, if you need to quickly find some hard-to-reach information), a library employee will feel much more confident than a commando.
The given example explains to us the meaning of the word “role-playing”. Each character is not only and not so much the role that the player takes on. This is also the role that he performs in the game team. It can be a power support, the “brain” of the team, a charismatic talker - and anyone else whose unique abilities will help others achieve their goals.
It will be very difficult to describe this process in detail - it is best to see everything that happens once or even participate in a trial game. At Rolecon, which is designed specifically to give new people the opportunity to learn more about role-playing games, you can take part in a free introductory master class that demonstrates the main game situations.
Creative component of the game
Think of any adventure novel you've read. It has a hero (or several heroes), their friends and enemies, and all the other characters who can help, hinder, or simply flash by neutral, episodic passers-by. In addition, the novel certainly describes the world surrounding the hero - whether it be a modern city, a fantastic planet, or completely unknown lands inhabited by strange creatures.
In literature, all this is described by one person - the author. He controls the actions of heroes and villains, forcing them to make mistakes, achieve success and heroically kiss the rescued beauties in the finale.
In NRI, everything is different: as already mentioned, the functions of the author related to the description of the world, antagonists and neutral characters are performed by the host. But the actions of the heroes depend solely on the players!
This fact quite rightly reminds us of computer games, where this is exactly what happens. You control your character, traveling through the world created by the authors of the game and, to the best of your ability, cope with the problems. However, the range of actions available to your character is limited. Even in the most modern and complex computer game, you can only perform those actions and make those decisions, the possibility of which was laid down by the creators.
In a board game, nothing limits your freedom. Your character can do whatever you want. There are no more decorations: houses that cannot be entered, trees that cannot be climbed, and so on. The behavior of your character is dictated only by your decisions - therefore, it is you who determine the course of the game and, in the end, its final.
To make it clearer, let's play the situation "in faces". Imagine three players: the Leader (B), the First Player (I1) and the Second Player (I2).
First, the Host describes the current situation to the Players:
Q: “So, after a whole day on the road, you go to a roadside cafe under the sign “Golden Shashlik”. It looks more decent than most of what you've seen along the way, but still falls short of even the most modest city eateries. Two dogs run along the asphalt patch in front of the entrance, the signboard looks askance, and a shabby room with the letters “M” and “Zh” stands a little further from the room. Thick smoke rises from behind the cafe building. Judging by the smell, they are grilling kebabs there.”
In this description, the host can add any number of details to taste (it is worth considering the preferences of the players) - describe the color of the building, the bars on the windows, the brands of cars parked in the parking lot, and anything else.
I1 (let it be the same commando described above): “I put the car in an empty place and tell my companion that here we will finally eat.”
I2 (librarian): “I doubt that you can eat here properly, but for lack of a better one, I will not mind. Let's go to a cafe."
Q: You see the bar with the cash register on it. Behind her is a young girl with long hair pulled back in a ponytail. There is no one at the tables, but there is a visitor in front of the counter - a man, aged 35 - 40. He looks at you with displeasure, but says nothing. The girl behind the cashier says in a low voice that the cafe is closed.
I2: “This man seems suspicious to me, I apologize and I’m going to leave the cafe.”
I1: “He also seems suspicious to me, but I'm not going to leave. I want to figure out what's wrong."
Here we see how the player builds a line of behavior for his character, depending on his image and character. Of course, the commando will behave more boldly than the girl from the library.
The technical component of the game
We found out how the “role-playing” process is carried out in the game (usually it is called “acting out” - from the phrase “acting out”). However, often players are faced with the need to perform specific actions that may or may not work. The simplest example, familiar to many from computer games, is, of course, a fight with an enemy. How to hit the enemy with a pistol? How to dodge his shot? Or how, for example, to climb a tree? It’s quite difficult to “play back” these moments - if each player simply voices his action as a fait accompli (“I tie up a bandit, hack his computer and find the address of the cache there”) - the game will not be interesting, there will be no challenge in it. In addition, then the Host will be able to say “The bandit gets out of the ropes and hits you on the head from behind while you are fiddling with the computer.” Situations like this (finding out whether an action worked and who did it better) are called “conflict resolution.”
Despite the fact that there are a great many rules for tabletop role-playing games, a general principle can be deduced for all of them. It's called "mechanics". The mechanics of each game is its technical component.
Imagine an average character. Like most people, he uses his physical and mental abilities to achieve success. Let's take strength, dexterity and intelligence as an example (it is worth noting that in different systems of rules there may be more of these abilities and they may be called differently). Each of these abilities is indicated by some number that expresses the degree of its development (this number is determined during the character creation process - the general meaning is that some of the abilities will be higher than the others (for example, the character is smart, but weak) or all will have average values (so that the character will not have special vulnerabilities anywhere, but he will not be able to miss the stars from the sky).
The higher the value, the higher the probability that the action will succeed. However, since situations are different and even the most skilled people sometimes fail, an element of chance is introduced into the game in the form of dice. Thus, the value of the ability is not a determining factor in success, but only increases the likelihood of this very success.
Imagine that our commando from the example has the following characteristics:
Intelligence: 2
Agility: 3
Strength: 3
It turns out that, not being a stupid person (then the Intelligence would be equal to 1), he still relies more on his physical abilities. Here's how it will show up in the game:
Q: The man at the counter turns around and threatens you with a gun, demanding that you get on your knees and put your hands up.
I1: Still, this is a bandit. It seems to me that if we obey his demands, he will either rob us or even kill us as witnesses. I want to assess the situation - how far am I from the bandit?
B: The cafe is small, so you can try to get to it with a good jump. But keep in mind that if he shoots, he will be able to hit your companion.
I1: I will. I push her to the nearest table and try to jump up to the bandit to knock out the gun.
B: Good. In order to overcome such a distance, you need to beat a certain difficulty (the difficulty is expressed in numbers and spelled out in the rules). For this problem, this complexity is: 7.
I1 rolls the die. In this example, we will consider the usual, six-sided - however, special cubes with more and fewer faces are also used. The die rolls 4. Together with the strength of the commando (and the task of jumping from a place to a long distance is, of course, a matter of strength), it turns out just 7 - the task is completed!
B: Yes, you jumped to the bandit. However, he was at the ready, so he shoots you with a gun!
Now both the leader (to hit) and I1 (to dodge) throw the die. The leader rolls a 3. Together with the bandit's dexterity (2), it's a 5. R1 rolls a 4, but, together with his dexterity, it's a 7. The final result of the player (and his character) is higher than that of the leader (and the bandit) - so the bandit misses and the bullet hits the wall.
Q: The bandit missed! Now, before he fires a second time, you can try to disable him.
Further actions related to the resolution of the conflict, in the same way, will be connected with the need to check the success of various actions.
As already mentioned, there are much more characteristics, skills and other parameters in games. However, the general principle of their implementation, as a rule, is exactly the same as in the above example.
It is important not only to be able to win back the behavior of your character, but also to choose correctly which of his abilities will be better developed in order to match the chosen image. In addition, it is important to be able to evaluate in the game his chances for a particular action - far from everything can work out! This gives the game the excitement and emotional intensity that make up the lion's share of interest in tabletop role-playing games.
What happens at the gaming table is not limited to throwing dice. The ability to solve puzzles, conduct discussions between players, come up with some original moves - all this significantly distinguishes “live” games from computer ones - where, in most cases, the player acts within strictly limited limits, communicating with available non-player characters with a certain number of phrases.
Who is playing this?
Very often the word “games” suggests that this entertainment is purely for children. Actually, it is not. The audience of each particular game depends solely on who the presenter intended it for. It can be a fun adventure for schoolchildren, a bloody thriller for those who like to tickle their nerves, or a detective puzzle in a Victorian setting for those who love history and beautiful scenery.
There are no restrictions on the status or lifestyle - both the heads of large enterprises, and students, and the classic “middle managers” and anyone else who is interested in communicating with people and new, unusual ways of leisure are fond of tabletop role-playing games.
It may seem that this takes a lot of time - however, nothing prevents you from playing when everyone involved has a free evening and a desire to get together. And if you didn't manage to play the story to the end, you can simply “save” and next time start from where you left off.
"Why don't I know about this?"
You know! Maybe not directly, but indirectly, but a lot of people have come across games, films and books based on the rules or plots of NRI. The famous literary series about the Dark Elf, the computer games “Baldur`s Gate”, “Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines”, which have become immortal classics, as well as the new Shadowrun and Cyberpunk 2077, the fantasy film “Dragon Dungeon” and even the card game “Munchkin” - everything it's somehow based on the rich tabletop RPG culture that's not quite as strong in Russia yet.
In conclusion, I would like to note one simple fact: tabletop role-playing games in life are much more interesting than they can be described in any, the most detailed article. Different genres, worlds and systems of rules will allow anyone who wants to choose something to their taste for themselves - something that will meet their needs and interests. But in order to get to know all this better, you should not draw conclusions only from numerous descriptions and reviews. It's better (and much, much more fun) to play on your own.
If you would like to visit Rolecon and learn more about tabletop role playing games, you can do so in the Events section of the website, or visit our
