The Player's Role

Here is the most important question : what is the role of Players in your universe? Indeed, a RPG where the Players are of secondary interest is null. So as not to commit this mistake, this page inteds to show you various roles the Players can have in your world.

Primordial Role

As it is often in RPGs which are campaigns of few scenarios, Players may have the primoridal role. In this case, the overall plot must revolve around Players and their past. Many possibilities are conceivable :

1) Player Characters are pursued for their past. A group wants to appropriate Player Characters because they may hold very important informations (with or without knowing it!), or because they are different from the rest of the population... Possibilities are infinites.

2) Player Characters are involved in a plot they are not supposed to be in. They are then forced to solve the plot to understand what's happening or they might be killed. They can see a murder or get secret informations and then are pursued for this.

3) Player Characters know they are different and may try to save their fellows or their lives or even prepare a war to conquest territories or knowledges.

Principal Role

Lightly different from the Primordial Role, the Principal Role implies that Player Characters are granted with abilities that are not from normal human beings. However, others can do what they have to do, but they might be less efficient than Player Characters or it may take more time to others to do it. Here are some conceivable hypothesis :

1) Player Characters are members of an Elite Unit and must act to counter Alien Invesers or a Mad Scientist....

2) Player Characters become aware or an imminent danger on a great scale and acting quickly to struggle against the forthcoming event implies that they do it themselves. It can be a war or a disease etc...

Free Role

This role is only applicable in long term RPGs and where Players already evolved before. In this case, the GM is not forced to impose the scenariobut let his Players do as they please. This implies that the GM must be competent at Improvisation. Here are some examples :

1) Player Characters are experienced and want to create a business or want to go to war. GM must try to be coherent. Even if Player Characters are powerful, their armies or their employees may not. They can success or fail!

2) Player Characters want to understand the foundations of the world and the various interactions which rule it. They may obtain power, knowledge and the ability to create things. The GM will have to listen to his Players, guide them through their apprenticeship and show them the limits taht even powerful Players cannot cross.

Secondary Role

NO WAY! This role relegate Players to drudge subordinates. The fact that they fail or succed their mission if of no importance. The Players may be quickly tired of this and will abandon your RPG. The basis of RPGs is to give a feeling of importance to Players. This is the problem of RPG whose universe is clearly defined (Like the "Lord of the Rings" for instance where Players will never be  Frodo, Aragorn, Gandalf or Legolas...)

AS A conclusion, CREATE A ROLEPLAYING GAME AND NOT A BOOK WHERE PLAYERS WOULD ONLY BE SPECTATORS!

We will complete this page in a next version of the site!.

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