How RPGs Work
When small children play cops and robbers, one points his fingers at another and shouts, "Bang! Gotcha". At which point the usual response is "Nuh-uh! You missed me". Because pretend is freeform, there are no rules to determine whether or not the imaginary bullet struck its target. In an RPG, however, there are rules in place to ensure that no such arguments are started (though they sometimes are). In most cases, there is a number that represents a chance for the imaginary bullet to hit. Dice are rolled (there are exceptions - some games do not use dice) against that number to determine a final result, either the bullet hits or misses. Once that determination is made, the other player may say, "You missed me! Nyah nyah!" or "Argh! You got me!"

Of course, no one is really shooting or getting shot at. Roleplaying games take part entirely in the imagination of the people playing the game. The players imagine taking part in a barroom brawl. They imagine what it's like to explore the alien jungle of a different planet. They imagine everything that takes place in the game -- whether they have made those things take place or they have been told that those things are taking place.

Types of RPGs

Fantasy - Roleplaying in an imaginary world that is usually a blend of Earth's own Western-European Dark Ages and Renaissance (often with some Greek and/or Roman mythology thrown in). Characterized by sword wielding characters and magic-users who are charged with saving the world from some overwhelming and ancient evil.

Horror - Roleplaying in an imaginary world in which exist terrible creatures straight out of the horror movies. Characters are often normal people trying to stop the horror from overtaking an unsuspecting populace. Usually set in a time-period ranging from the 1890's to Modern-Day.

Supers - Roleplaying in the four-colour-comics world of bigger-than-life heroes with special powers. Usually set in the present/near-present. Characters are superheroes who need to stop the evil mastermind from taking over the world.

Space - Roleplaying in the ‘final-frontier'. Often set in the far future. Characters are space-farers (human, alien or robotic) who generally are ‘exploring strange new worlds' (ala Star Trek). Or they may be overwhelmed heroes going up against an evil empire (ala Star Wars).

Cyberpunk - Roleplaying in an imaginary world where life is cheap, huge corporations run the governments and all money is credit. Set in the very near future. Characters are humans who are usually enhanced by the addition of cybernetics/bionics. Some characters strive to make the world a better place, which causes them to butt heads against the evil corporations. Some characters just want to survive.

Old West - Roleplaying in the historical world of cowboys and Indians. Can be set in any of the ‘pioneer' era (early-middle to late 19th century) but usually post-Civil War. Characters are generally lawmen trying to bring in those desperate desperadoes.

Military - Roleplaying in one of the many wars of the human world. Usually set in one of the more modern conflicts ( World War II , Korea or Vietnam ) but can be others. Characters are soldiers trying to accomplish missions and follow orders in the face of the enemy.

Post-Holocaust - Not as common as it used to be. Roleplaying in the world of post-nuclear-disaster. Usually set in the far future after the radiation has had time to die down. Characters can be humans, mutants (animals, humans or even plants), cyborgs or robots who are usually charged with exploring the ruins of ancient cities (such as what's left of Chicago or New York).

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