page_title: Tabletop role-playing game
section_title: Game systems
hierarchical_section_title: Tabletop role-playing game / Game systems
caption_attribution_description: English: People playing tabletop RPG
context_page_description: A tabletop role-playing game, also known as a pen-and-paper role-playing game, is a form of role-playing game in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech. Participants determine the actions of their characters based on their characterization, and the actions succeed or fail according to a set formal system of rules and guidelines. Within the rules, players have the freedom to improvise; their choices shape the direction and outcome of the game.
  Unlike other types of role-playing game, tabletop RPGs are often conducted like radio drama: only the spoken component of a role is acted. This acting is not always literal, and players do not always speak exclusively in-character. Instead, players act out their role by deciding and describing what actions their characters will take within the rules of the game. In most games, a specially designated player typically called the game master creates a setting in which each player plays the role of a single character. The GM describes the game world and its inhabitants; the other players describe the intended actions of their characters, and the GM describes the outcomes.
context_section_description: The set of rules of a role-playing game is known as its game system; the rules themselves are known as game mechanics.  Although there are game systems which are shared by many games, for example the d20 system, many games have their own, custom rules system.
  Most role-playing games require the participation of a gamemaster (GM), who creates a setting for the game session, portrays most of its inhabitants, known as non-player characters (NPCs) and acts as the moderator and rules arbitrator for the players.  The rest of the participants create and play inhabitants of the game setting, known as player characters (PCs). The player characters collectively are known as a "party".
  During a typical game session, the GM will introduce a goal for the players to achieve through the actions of their characters.  Frequently, this involves interacting with non-player characters, other denizens of the game world, which are played by the GM.  Many game sessions contain moments of puzzle solving, negotiation, chases, and combat.  The goal may be made clear to the players at the outset, or may become clear to them during the course of a game.
  Some games, such as Polaris and Primetime Adventures, have distributed the authority of the GM to different players and to different degrees. This technique is often used to ensure that all players are involved in producing a situation that is interesting and that conflicts of interest suffered by the GM are avoided on a systemic level.
  Game rules determine the success or failure of a character's actions.  Many game systems use weighted statistics and dice rolls or other random elements. In most systems, the GM uses the rules to determine a target number though often the targets are determined in a more principled fashion.  The player rolls dice, trying to get a result either more than or less than the target number, depending on the game system.  Not all games determine successes randomly, however; an early and popular game without random elements is Amber Diceless Roleplaying Game by Erick Wujcik (1990).
  Most systems are tied to the setting of the game they feature in.  However, some universal role-playing game systems can be adapted to any genre. Basic Role-Playing (1980) was the first of these, adapted from the fantasy RPG RuneQuest. The following year Champions was published; it was accompanied by a number of sourcebooks w (collectively called the Hero System) allowing play in a wide range of genres.  The d20 system, based on the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons, was used in many modern or science fiction game settings such as Spycraft and the Star Wars Roleplaying Game.
  In practice, even universal systems are often biased toward a specific style or genre and adaptable to others.  For example, although the d20 system has sourcebooks for modern and futuristic settings, most published d20 system material stays within Dungeons & Dragons' combat-focused fantasy milieu.
caption: Role-players at a small convention
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