8/12/2019 Bedford Writer's Group RPG

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As our first writing exercise will be submitted to a role playing game magazine, we will

be engaging in a very brief role playing session. This is a rudimentary and much abridged

experience to help you better understand the market and to offer a fresh perspective oncharacter development. In it, you will all be playing the role of Job, an average high

school student getting ready for a typical day. owever, paired with a writing partner,

you control only a single attribute of his character. As you can see on your handouts, oneplayer is !trength, another "exterity, #onstitution, Intelligence, $isdom, and #harisma.

In nearly all role playing games, characters are defined by a set of attributes like these,which determine their odds of success when attempting an action. %or example, a

character with a dexterity score of &' would need to roll that number or less to

successfully climb a wall or (ump over a pit. This aspect of randomness facilitates game

play. The use of these particular attributes in role playing date back to the very firstfantasy role playing game, #hainmail, published in &)*&. This game evolved into

"ungeons and "ragons, which retains the same +uintessential set of attributes to this

day, '& years later, in games played all around the world.

-ou wake up in the morning, blearyeyed and exhausted from a late night out

with friends drinking bubble tea at the local bookstore. /ooking around yourroom, what is the first thing that you notice0

1oing around in a circle.

As a group we construct an image of Job2s room.

!ome dim, primordial part of your brain had responded to the alarm clock, turning

it off well in advance of the rest of you waking up. The school bus will arrive in

half an hour. -ou need to hustle to get ready. $hat is the most important thing todo0

3oll a die. $hoever rolls highest acts first. 4layers need to make a successful attribute roll to perform their

actions.

5ither misses or makes the bus. Interaction with mother.

6n the way to school, you think about the last three days. This 7orwegian foreign

exchange student, !ven, has been hassling you and getting increasingly rough.

Today is probably going to start with a fight the way things have been going.

$hat should you do0

4layers discuss as a group to come to a solution.

This is the basis for role playing. The scenarios are much more involved and fantastical

with settings like 8edieval times, the $ild $est, 8odern "ay, or an Apocalyptic future.

The characters are typically as developed as any character in a novel.