Welcome to Wordsmyth Games. Here you will find a variety of information about roleplaying games, both online and tabletop. We have articles, character summaries, rules modifications, and more.

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Roleplaying Games

Everyone has roleplayed at some point in their life. Even if it's just a game of "cops and robbers" or "cowboys and Indians" as a kid, it's pretty easy to imagine playing a game where you pretend to be someone else. A roleplaying game (RPG) can be thought of as "cops and robbers with rules". Instead of childish cries of "I got you!" "No you didn't!", the players use rules (usually based on some random factor, like die rolling) to determine the outcome of conflict situations. There's even a referee (usually titled a Gamemaster or Storyteller) who resolves disputes and enforces the rules.

When the average person hears "roleplaying game", they usually think Dungeons and Dragons. Although this was one of the first RPGs, and the one that got the most press (most of it bad), there are a wide variety of games out there: Fantasy, science fiction, medieval, historical... just about any era in history (real or imagined) is available.

Online role-playing grew out of its tabletop counterpart, and became popular in the early 90's (perhaps earlier depending on who you ask). Online RPGs are usually called MUSHes (Multi-User Shared Hallucination), though there are other acronyms like MOO, MUX, MUD, etc. to further identify the specific flavor of game. As with tabletop games, the theme can vary wildly from game to game. There are science fiction MUSHes, fantasy MUSHes, and everything inbetween.

Whether you're playing at a table or on a computer, the emphasis in roleplaying is about telling a story. The only difference is the presentation.

On this site you'll find resources and information about both tabletop and online roleplaying.