The following is a rendition of gameplay one might see happening during a high-fantasy type PPRPG:

<Dungeon Master>: “The trap door swings open with a loud, protesting squeal, and you find your selves gazing down into the darkness below. What do you do?”

<Merric, the Thief>: “I drop a rock down the hole, and count the seconds until I hear it land.”

<DM>: “You estimate the drop to be about 15 feet... You could jump, but it would hurt.”

<Lieral, the Ranger>: “I'm going to look for something to tie my rope around!”

<Cyn, the Cleric>: “I lower my lantern into the opening, and try to see what's below.”

<DM>: “Lieral, there is a large boulder near by that looks pretty steady. Cyn, you see a steep flight of stairs leading down into the darkness, and Merric's rock a ways below you on a step. Obviously, these stairs lead deeper than you thought.”

<Lieral>: “Never mind, if there's stairs I put my rope away.”

<Morag, the Barbarian>: “I'm going to go down the stairs, holding my battle axe at the ready.”

<Cyn>: “No! Wait! We don't know what's down there!”

<Morag>: “I don't care...”

<Merric>: “I say in character: "Let me go first, places like this are always full of traps." ”

<Morag>: “I sigh "fine" ”

<Lieral>: “I'll follow Morag down, holding my bow ready with an arrow knocked.”

<Cyn>: *grumbles* “Alright, I'll take up the rear.”

<Merric>: “I'll start carefully down the stairs, taking time to search for traps as I go.”

<DM>: *rolls some dice* “Merric, you just barely manage to see a tripwire in time to avoid stepping on it. Cyn has the only light source, and you can barely see.”

<Merric>: “I call "Stop!" ”

*Everybody stops*

<Merric>: “I'm going to light a torch, and try to disarm the trap.”

<DM>: *rolls some more dice* “You successfuly disarm the trap.”

<Morag>: “ "Let's go already, thief! I'm getting bored standing around in these dank halls..." ”

*Party continues down the stairs*

<DM>: “Alright, you eventually reach the end of the stairs. Before you, a hallway stretches away into darkness.” *rolls a die* “Merric, you think you hear some faint screeching and gibbering in the distance.”

<Merric>: “I'll inform the rest of the part of what I hear.”

<Morag>: “ "Good! Maybe there's something to kill!" ”

What happens next is the stuff of legend. Or something. :) It doesn't really matter... that was an example of how a standard game of Dungeons & Dragons (my personal favorite PPRPG) works. There are, as you've no-doubt guessed, many more of these sorts of games, such as Rifts, Cyberpunk, Mechatron, Tunnels and Trolls, Gamma World, and Hackmaster, to name just a few. As I said, Dungeons & Dragons is my personal favorite, and so most of my examples will have to do with this game in particular. I feel, however, that it is a superb example of the PPRPG genre of gaming, one of the oldest still in production, and likely one of the most successful ever. That's all... Back to Top