Guest Author - Lloyd Brown III

What is a role playing game?
Lots of people role play. Doctors do it when they learn how to discuss sensitive topics with patients. Police officers role play when they learn how to defuse potentially deadly domestic disputes. We make a game out of it.
In a role playing game (RPG), you and your friends take one the role of a character. You might be an elf, or a pirate, or a space marine. One of the players becomes the game master—she poses challenges for the other players to overcome. A challenge might be a fire-breathing dragon, a North Atlantic hurricane, or an alien abduction.

How do I find other players?
Make them! Teach your friends how to play. Or ask around. Maybe some of your friends already play, but the topic just never came up. You might also try notices at your local game stores, Meetup.com, or online.

How much does it cost?
To play a game or two, nothing. Naturally, you wouldn’t expect to be able to pick up knitting or tennis or any hobby without buying some basic supplies, though.
Most core RPG books cost $30 to $40, and a set of dice runs $7-10. That gets you started and can last a good long time. Over the life of your hobby, you’ll probably want to buy a few more books, more dice, a miniature figure or two (usually $4 to $8 each) and maybe some other loot. If you’re a game master, expect to spend probably $100-150.

How much time does it need?
If you’re a casual player, you’ll spend a couple of hours a week actually playing. You might spend a short amount of time outside of the game keeping track of your character details, or you might wait until a slow point during the actual game for that. For most of the group, it’s comparable to heading out to the movie theatre (but cheaper).
If you’re the game master, you’ll also need to spend some time preparing for the game. If you run a very freeform game, this might only be a few minutes of note-taking. If you enjoy the world-building element and the planning, you might spend a few hours in writing out dialogue, encounter descriptions, or drawing out maps. Most of the discussion on this site is designed to help you make that time more productive or cut it down.

Where can I find out more?
Start with our forum. If you are interested in a particular game, you can find that game’s publisher through your favorite search engine and visit their site directly. If you want to know more, ask me.

What are the best games?
“Best” is subjective, but here is a representative list:
Dungeons and Dragons, by Wizards of the Coast
The World of Darkness, by White Wolf Publishing
Legend of the Five Rings, by Alderac Entertainment Group
Blue Rose, by Green Ronin Press
Paranoia, by Mongoose Publishing
Shadowrun, by Fantasy Productions