Role-Playing Games (Not That Kind, You Sicko)
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Since their invention in the mid-'70s, role-playing games (RPGs) have overcome a variety of difficulties -- the advent of computer games, a perception that they’re only played by overweight social misfits, even opposition from fundamentalist Christians -- and today are perhaps as popular as they ever were.
Nowadays, one of the primary tools of role-players is the Internet. There’s an incredible amount of gaming material to be found on the Web, from character generators to original scenarios. (By the way, if you have no idea what we’re talking about, check out Looking for a directory to role-playing sites in general? Check out Woodelf’s RPG Index, a well-organized compendium of hundreds of links. You’ll find sites from Europe, sites geared toward gamemasters, online magazines, personal Web pages and practically everything else imaginable. Also worth a look is Eric’s Compendium of Free RPGs; it offers the complete rules for dozens of RPGs, available for download completely free of charge. The fantasy game Dungeons and Dragons was one of the first role-playing games to appear, and it’s still probably the most popular. The official site of D&D’s parent company TSR provides information about new game supplements, a mailing list, chat rooms, message boards and much more. Even better is the unofficial Dungeons and Dragons: A Canadian Web Site; it’s a huge site with character generators, new spells and weapons, huge downloadable rules books and much, much more. There even are directories for locating fellow gamers in your area. TSR’s closest competitor probably is the FASA Corp. It also maintains an extensive official website, with new product information, an online catalog, FAQs and sneak previews of new supplements (with particular emphasis on the company’s two flagship games, the giant-robot game BattleTech and the sci-fi-meets-fantasy Shadowrun. Of course, all of these games have been blown out of the water recently by the card game/RPG hybrid Magic: The Gathering (in fact, Magic’s parent company, Wizards of the Coast, recently bought out RPG godfathers TSR). Check out the official site for press releases and information on new supplements, as well as information on international tournaments and a special section for new players.
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