A roleplaying game (RPG) is a structured method of playing "Let's Pretend", in which players create characters to serve as protagonists in a fictional world created by a game master. Although characters and plots are driven largely by the imagination of the participants, game rules are used to resolve the results of dramatic conflicts, providing the games with a necessary element of suspense. Roleplaying began with the creation of the fantasy game Dungeons & Dragons in Wisconsin in 1972, but now includes hundreds of commercial systems and homemade RPGs in many languages and genres. This category primarily covers what are often called tabletop roleplaying games (because they are typically played sitting around a table, with books and dice) but also includes its pen-and-paper descendants, live action roleplaying (where players dress up and physically act out their characters' actions) and gamebook roleplaying (system-based interactive fiction).
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