What is FRP (Fantasy Role Playing)?

Fantasy Role Play is a sub-genre of RPG (Role Playing Games), and must be one of the most ambiguous things on Earth to people who deal exclusively with computer games. In this age of speed, technology and electronic communications, all forms of entertainment which require complicated organization and do not stimulate all your senses seem unrewarding and tiresome. In other words, FRP is an old-fashioned form of entertainment, born in 1965.

The adventures (campaigns) can span over a number of game sessions. You must have at least two friends present in order to play, one of you being a Game Master - GM (or Dungeon Master - DM) and two of you being players. A group consisting at least two players is a coterie. An ideal number of players for a coterie would be four (for longer campaigns) or six (for shorter campaigns), but there can be anything from one to thirty players per game. One session lasts at least four to eight hours, and there were sessions lasting for over 72 hours continuously.

Hence, in comparison to simply putting your favorite CD into your computer and playing the game until you're sick of it, saving your position and deciding on your own when you had enough (well, OK this last thing can be assisted by one of your parents threatening to physically hurt you unless you turn the damn thing off), this FRP, really seems to be an arduous job. And still, RPG remains one of the leading genres in the gaming industry, and all the people who actually played these games have a strange passion towards them, regardless of all obstacles. So what can all this be like, you may wonder, if people rather go and spend some eight hours on playing a game with no graphics or sounds, in spite of the fact that they could play a much more convenient computer game at home, AND they actually enjoy it that much that it has left a mark on each and every one of them.

The basic thing about FRP games is the interaction between live players and their imagination, as well as the story they are developing with their Game Master's guidance. You picture your character with your eyes open, and you slowly turn into him. Your instruments of play are your body, your mind, your actions and your relations to other players. The Game Master has to take care that everything that takes place during a session remains within the rules of the game and laws of physics and magic. And each player is like an actor in a movie, weaving an epic saga and becoming a legend. How else could you truly become a hero for six to eight hours a week?

True non-linearity is still the main trump of live RPGs as it cannot be "ported" into CRPGs (Computer RPGs). Unlike the storyline in a computer game, which can be non-linear, but still represents a finite number of strictly pre-defined options, live FRP has no boundaries; everything is possible, provided that the Game Master allows it. Real FRPs, therefore, rely on a combination of theatrical techniques, movie atmosphere, literary depth, and first and foremost, human contact, which breeds good humor and fun.

So, uninstall that Diablo 2 and stop that incessant clicking, which was supposed to make you reach the 99th level, find a nice Game Master and some good players in your neighborhood, and become a real Paladin, Druid or Assassin, by gathering experience through countless stories and legends. All you will need is a pen, some paper and the funny dice. And even if you cannot find any friends who would be up to it, you can search the net for forums in order to find your companions, or even join a Play by E-mail adventure, but more on that another time...