W.A. Hawke Robinson 2004-09-30

Original Copyright 2004 ©

Revised 2007-02-24 (Copyright 2007 © )

An Overview of the History And Therapeutic Value of Role Playing Gaming

Role playing gaming has it's origins far back in ancient history with wargaming. Wargaming is the simulation of combat strategies and tactics represented in reduced scale with various rules, and often some sort of randomizer, such as dice or cards, to add an element of realistic unpredictability. As long as there has been organized warfare, there appears to have been some form of wargaming in every culture throughout history. Chess and the Chinese game Go both are very much based on wargaming, but considered lacking by some, because of the lack of unpredictability offered by “true” wargaming with dice and/or cards or other means to add uncertainty as in the “real” world.

H.G. Wells was renowned during the late 19^th century and early 20^th century as a novelist, journalist, sociologist, and historian. Some of his most famous novels include The Time Machine (1895), The Invisible Man (1897), and The War Of The Worlds (1898).

He revolutionized wargaming with his publication of Little Wars (1913). Previously wargaming was mostly the domain of the military and wealthy elite, his book made it easily understandable and available to everyone that could read.

In the 1960s, J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings hit the literary world en masse, and inspired the minds and hearts of generations. Book sales in the USA were said by some to be second only to the bible. Wargamers and many others were inspired by Tolkien's works, and began working on ways to modify wargaming so that statistics, including magic, and individuals of significance, not just whole armies, were included.

Chain Mail provided wargaming rules with extra features such as magic and mythological creatures, it was released in 1968 by Gary Gygax, and would later evolve during the 1970s into the now famous (and infamous) Dungeons & Dragons.

The 1980s were the “Golden Age” years of role playing games. In the 1990s hybrid RPG games using cards started a shift to simpler rules, and that shift to cards was completed with the creation of Magic: The Gathering, which is a still world-wide very popular CCG (Collectible Card Game).

The RPG industry continues to grow and is now a multi-billion dollar market. It has diversified from just “paper and dice” games to now also include hybrid CCGs, computer games, persistent online worlds and MUDs. There are also worldwide LARPS (Live Action Role Playing) groups still going strong.

Innumerable genres, systems, and settings abound. A very brief summary includes:

Fantasy/Medieval:

• Dungeons & Dragons

• Runequest

• Robin Hood

• Amber (Based on Roger Zelazny's Amber series, diceless game, uses cards)

• Pendragon (King Arthur)

• Conan

Science Fiction

• Star Wars

• Star Trek

• Traveller

• Doctor Who

• RIFTS (Multiple universes/dimensions of reality)

• Babylon 5

• Robotech/Battletech

• Aliens

Horror/Suspense/Gothica:

• HP Lovecraft's Call of Cthulu

• Vampie: The Masquerade (inspired tv short tv series, Kindred: The Embraced)

Mystery/Paranormal:

• X-Files

• Noir (Sam Spade and Mickey Spillane type detective mysteries)

Action/Adventure:

• James Bond

• Indiana jones

Oriental:

• Bushido (feudal Japan)

• Oriental Adventures

Old West:

• Boot Hill

• Deadlands

Comic book heroes (Such X-men, Batman, Spiderman, etc.):

• Heroes

• Champions

Humorous:

• Ghostbusters

• Paranoia

• Toons

It is amazing that an entirely new hobby industry has developed from non-existence to so much in just about 30 years!

There are those who take it even further, mostly adults, participating in reenactments or Live Action Role Playing (LARP). The SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) is not exactly a LARP organization, but they do try more to reenact various time periods (medieval Europe, feudal Japan, Tzarist Russia, etc.) in historically accurate ways, and include combat in armor with various refereed and “on your honor” rules for contact, as well as many rules for correct chivalry, dealing with “class” such as nobility and serfs, etc. Only the fighters generally compete in combat, the majority of members act out other roles, many in costume, of diverse “supporting characters”, such as minstrels, servants, courtesans, royalty, merchants, tradesmen, etc. SCA members are frequently used as extras in movies and television shows, and many are used as consultants to make certain that scenes, costumes, dialog, etc. are historically authentic to the periods depicted in various media.

In the early to mid 1980s some individuals began a campaign against role playing gaming and organized a group called BADD (Bothered About Dungeons & Dragons) to slander and try to ban all forms of role playing games. They kept trying to get the public to believe that participating in RPGs would lead to suicides, murders, occultism, anti-social behavior, and anything else they could come up with. Some schools, churches, and communities fell for the false rhetoric and banned role playing games during this time.

These negative incidents received a disproportionate amount of misguided media and press coverage on and off for nearly ten years. They attempted a number of lawsuits, and tried to pressure lawmakers to pass legislation banning role playing at any government-funded facilities such as schools and libraries, the primary location for role playing gamers. Fortunately for role players all these attempts eventually failed. These efforts persisted sporadically until around the early 1990s when official reports on studies about role playing games countered the claims and the accusations of BADD and similar entities, even proving some of the group's claims falsified, and techniques of coercion for false testimonies that were severely suspect. There are still some extremist religious groups and some others obsessed with the idea that role playing gaming is just a means of occultism or other antisocial behavior, despite the research now available.

There is no doubt that someone already extremely unstable, can go overboard with a role playing game, just as they can with gambling, extreme sports, overeating, drinking, escaping into reading obsessively and not living life, or doing drugs, or any of a number of other “escapes”. Gaming is a tool like any other, that can be overused and abused. However the vast majority of role playing gamers benefit from the diverse positive aspects that provide an unprecedented range of benefits for a leisure activity, some of these are:

Social

• Cooperation with diverse people/cultures/background on common goals

• Leadership

• Walking in others shoes/experiences

• Exposure to other cultures, religions, histories, etc.

• Languages/Linguistics

• Multicultural mythologies

• Learning/following the rules but also “thinking outside of the box when needed”

Intellectual

• Mathematics

• Statistics

• Researching

• Problem solving (e.g. puzzles, riddles, mazes, etc.)

• Reading/writing (technical)

• History

• Geography

• Cartography

• Geology

• Economics

• Government systems

• Politics

• Ecology

• Metallurgy

• Meteorology

• Astronomy

• Physics

• Demographics

• Warfare tactics and strategies

• Technologies past and present

• Architecture

Creative

• Theatrics/acting

• Improvisation

• Reading/writing (creative)

• Artwork (drawing, painting lead figures, etc.)

• Music

• Poetry

How many other single leisure activities in life can provide so rich and fulfilling an experience as in the preceding list?

A very basic and quick example of a role-playing process follows...

The game referee, sometimes known as the Game Master meets with the players in a comfortable setting around a table, or anywhere they find comfortable, and begins with a description:

“You and your friends have just walked into the courtyard of an ancient building. The courtyard is approximately forty feet square. The walls, built of a tan colored stone material apparently indigenous to the area, are built to the points of the compass. They are about thirty feet high. You entered from an opening in the south wall. You see the north wall has some stairs going up, and the east wall on your right has what appears to be a solid metal door hanging open on rusted hinges. The walls are crumbling in places, and much is overgrown with ivy and weeds. In the center is a large fountain about fifteen feet high in what appears to be the form of a series of three flower-like terraces. Surprisingly, the fountain is currently spouting clear and cool looking water. Looking at the water, your more acutely aware of how dry you mouths are after the long day's hike to arrive here, with no water previously in sight.

The wind is picking up as a storm from the south, with lightning and dark clouds gathering, quickly approaches. It is getting colder by the minute...

What do you do?”

At this point, those playing in the game each take turns telling the GM and the other players what actions they take. Some will have mundane results, others could have surprising consequences. Dice are frequently used to simulate the random events that can occur in life, and make it unknown in advance, even to the narrator, what exactly will happen next. For example, someone may decide to climb the stairs, where there are some loose steps, and depending on how agile the player's made-up “character” is, with a roll of the dice, that character may leap to the top unscathed, or may have a bit of a fall to deal with. Of course, there also could be trouble in the form of “ill-intentioned bandits” lurking within the entrance of the door....

I began role playing gaming around 1979 at 9 years old, and have continued on and off, now well into my 30s. My sons, 4, 6, & 8 years old, are now learning to game as well. They of their own volition, and despite my mild protests, have been sucked into the collecting craze of Yu Gi Oh and Pok-e-man collectible card games, but after introducing them to rpging, they regularly comment on how much more satisfying role playing gaming is.

Many kids are spending so many relatively anti-social hours on computer games, and failing to develop very many skills, other than quick fine motor skill reflexes. RPGing offers a means to engage their ample imaginations with so many other benefits. Role playing gaming can help develop invaluable social, creative, intellectual, and leadership skills that can benefit them throughout their lives. People of all ages can benefit from using such activities in their leisure time. It encompasses such wide interests, covering fantasy and medieval, to science fiction, horror, gothic, mystery, comic book heroes, cartoons, anime, and any other setting one could imagine. Who hasn't wanted at some time in their life, to pretend to be a favorite character from a book or movie or television show, or famous historical person or event? Role playing game makes that, and so much more possible with a vast array of benefits.