Thursday 26 February 2015

Is Role-Playing Fun?

Hello World,

I have talked about the positive effects of role-playing in previous blog posts. Discussing how it improves social skills and expand one’s understanding of the world around them. While that is all well and good, I got to thinking. Is the act of role-playing intrinsically enjoyable?

Now don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that role-playing can’t be fun, I am more saying that exterior factors generate the fun, not the act of getting in character. Thinking back on my experiences with role-playing games, the enjoyment always seems to stem from something other than pretending to be a fictional character. It comes from out witting an opponent in an argument, telling stories with friends, or even overcoming mechanically challenging situations within the game. And while each of these actions are strung together and enhanced by role-playing, they still stand-up without it. But can the same be said for role-playing? Is the sole act of acting like another person fun? If it is, why? Where does this enjoyment come from? Truthfully I haven’t come to a full conclusion on this and would love to hear your opinion on the matter in the comments below.



Before I open up this topic to discussion I would like to make a quick announcement. Over the next Month or so I will be featured on the GM academy’s inaugural season of Rally Cast. An RPG live stream hosted by the GM Academy which has a group of players from around the community run through a campaign in lesser known RPGs. The First episode will be streaming on Tuesday, March 3rd at 8:30 PM EST and can be found at the following LINK.

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on role-playing.


- Patrick Lapienis

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