How do RPGs work?

[Friendly]

Genuine question. Explain it like I know nothing about anything.

Are there strict rules? Is only the admin in charge of the story? Do the members only interact in character? Is it like playing a game but on a forum?

[Kami]

Feb 9, 2024 12:14:53 GMT -8 Friendly said:

Genuine question. Explain it like I know nothing about anything.

Are there strict rules? Is only the admin in charge of the story? Do the members only interact in character? Is it like playing a game but on a forum?

No one likes this answer, but it depends 🤪 The thing about RP forums (I tend to drop the G to distinguish them from the video game type) is that RP is not really a genre of forum, just a category. Within RP there are different subject genres, as well as gameplay genres.

The most common type you see are the collaborative storytelling / play-by-post type. In other words, the forum staff provide a general plot, and players create stories with their characters interacting with other player characters. Some threads move the plot forward, others are more a "slice of life" focused on a relationship between characters. In these types of RP forums, the goal is narrative. The plot time tends to move a bit more slowly, and "liquid time" (playing multiple stories in different periods of a time range simultaneously) is really common. The plot tends to progress when either the forum dictates a new time period in preset intervals, like every 3-4 IRL months, or when the admin/staff decide to move it forward with a forum-wide event that everyone participates in, in some capacity.

There are also RPs that are structured more like tabletop RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons. There's narrative and story interactions between player characters, but certain outcomes are determined more randomly, with dice rolls or coin tosses, etc. Within this structure, some forums also have "mission" style progression more like tabletop games where you gain XP, and track your character statistics and attributes numerically.

Broadly speaking, RP forums are like written versions of RPGs; it's up to each forum to decide whether they're more like say D&D, or Dragon Age, or Skyrim in game mechanics, or more like Visual Novels.

Most RP forums also have dedicated out of character areas where players can interact as individuals too. Rules also vary by forum: some folks are stricter about how to post, when to post, how often to post, etc; other folks are more relaxed. It all depends on the type of community / players the admin of the forum wants to create. RP forums aren't that much different from other forums. At the end of the day, it's a bunch of people sharing an interest and building relationships — it just also happens to include fictional relationships and people too.

[Friendly]

Actually I do like your answer. It makes sense in my head now. I thank you