Role-Playing Games

Computer role-playing games (CRPGs or more commonly, RPGs) are a genre of game that places the player in a fantasy or science fiction setting, driving the gameplay via a prominent storyline. Players must move through the world, completing quests and fighting enemies in exchange for experience and money.

This genre evolved from traditional role-playing games played with pencil and paper (for example, Dungeons and Dragons), with the computer handling all the record keeping and nondeterministic elements such as dice rolling. In the original games, gameplay was usually turn-based, in which the play stopped whilst the player selected the actions they wanted to carry out. Most modern games now involve real-time play and combat.

Character Classes

In most cases, the player takes the role of a particular type of adventurer who specialises in a certain set of skills, such as fighting, spell casting or thieving. These various types of adventurer are known as 'classes' and may include:

• Warrior (combat-based abilities, but little magic)
• Rogue (with stealth- and socialisation-based abilities)
• Mage (physically weak but with powerful magical abilities)
• Cleric (minor combat abilities along with healing and supportive magical abilities)
• Paladin (a cross between the warrior and cleric)
• Bard (a cross between the mage and the rogue)

Although most RPGs follow these general classes, variations exist; for example, in City of Heroes, players may choose their superhero character to be a:

• Blaster (specialising in long range attacks)
• Controller (specialising in controlling enemies)
• Defender (specialising in weakening enemies and healing team-mates)
• Scrapper (specialising in fighting enemies up-close)
• Tanker (specialising in absorbing enemy damage)

Although most RPGs allow players to create their own characters, some (particularly Japanese RPGs) require the player to take control of an existing character, only enabling them to define limited aspects (for example, Final Fantasy).