Lessons From Roleplaying: Collaborative, Playful Storytelling
[A previous version of this craft article was originally posted in the Retreat West Community, during my time as Community Writer-in-Residence.]
Even if you know nothing about roleplaying games, you've probably heard of Dungeons & Dragons, but what you may not know is that there's more to roleplaying than just D&D.
I've been a roleplayer for more than 20 years. I started on tabletop games, where a group of friends play out a story and (usually) roll multi-sided dice to determine the outcome of actions, and later moved to live action roleplay (LARP) events, in which you get dressed up as your character and act out the scenarios.
LARP events range in size and duration from a few hours for small groups, up to weekend or week-long 'fest-style' gatherings for hundreds or even thousands of people. Both tabletop and LARP games come in many genres; fantasy, science fiction, horror, historical, and more.
Over the years, I've learnt a lot about what makes a good story in roleplaying, and I think much of this can be applied to writing too. I've written this article with writers who may not have any experience of roleplaying in mind, but I hope roleplayers with an interest in writing may also find it useful!
