A live action role-playing game (LARP) is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically portray their characters. The players pursue goals within a fictional setting represented by real-world environments while interacting with each other in character. The outcome of player actions may be mediated by game rules or determined by consensus among players. Event arrangers called gamemasters decide the setting and rules to be used and facilitate play.
A multi-user dungeon, also known as a multi-user dimension or multi-user domain, is a multiplayer real-time virtual world, usually text-based or storyboarded. MUDs combine elements of role-playing games, hack and slash, player versus player, interactive fiction, and online chat. Players can read or view descriptions of rooms, objects, other players, and non-player characters, and perform actions in the virtual world that are typically also described. Players typically interact with each other and the world by typing commands that resemble a natural language, as well as using a character typically called an avatar.
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting or through a process of structured decision-making regarding character development. Actions taken within many games succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines.
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, along with Dungeon.
David Lance Arneson was an American game designer best known for co-developing the first published role-playing game (RPG), Dungeons & Dragons, with Gary Gygax, in the early 1970s. Arneson's early work was fundamental to the role-playing game (RPG) genre, pioneering devices now considered to be archetypical, such as cooperative play to develop a storyline instead of individual competitive play to "win" and adventuring in dungeon, town, and wilderness settings as presented by a neutral judge who doubles as the voice and consciousness of all characters aside from the player characters.
Knights of the Dinner Table (KoDT) is a comic book/strip created by Jolly R. Blackburn and published by Kenzer & Company. It primarily focuses on a group of role playing gamers and their actions at the gaming table, which often result in unfortunate, but humorous consequences in the game. The name is a parody of King Arthur's Round Table reinforced by the truism that roleplaying aficionados often end up sitting round their host's dinner table as it is the only one large enough to accommodate the party.
Shadis is an independent gaming magazine that was published in 1990–1998 by Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG). It initially focused on role-playing games.
Chez Geek is a card game that parodies geek culture and cohabitation. It was created by Jon Darbro and developed by Alain H. Dawson, with additional development by Steve Jackson and Russell Godwin. The cards and rules were illustrated by John Kovalic. Upon its release, the game won the Origins Award.
John Kovalic is an American cartoonist, illustrator, and writer.
Fuzzy Knights is an online comic created by Noah J.D. Chinn and published by Kenzer & Company. It stars stuffed animals who enjoy role-playing games such as HackMaster and Dungeons & Dragons. What started out as a simple one-shot tribute to the Kenzer gamer comic series, Knights of the Dinner Table, turned into a cult hit that continues to gain new fans. Gary Gygax, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, was an admitted fan of the Fuzzy Knights and wrote a promo for the trade paperbacks.
The Diana Jones Award is an annual award for "excellence in gaming". The original award was made from a burned book encased in lucite. The award is unusual in two ways: first, it is not an award for a specific class of thing, but can be awarded to a person, product, publication, company, organization, event or trend – anything related to gaming; second, it does not count popularity or commercial success as a sign of "excellence". The award was first presented in 2001.
A gaming convention is a gathering centered on role-playing games, collectible card games, miniatures wargames, board games, video games, or other types of games. These conventions are typically two or three business days long, and often held at either a university or in a convention center hotel.
Frag is a first-person shooter-themed board game published by Steve Jackson Games in the summer of 2001. It was developed by Steve Jackson and Philip Reed, and illustrated by Alex Fernandez.
James Daniel Lowder is an American author, anthologist, and editor, working regularly within the fantasy, dark fantasy, and horror genres, and on tabletop role-playing games and critical works exploring popular culture.
Kobolds Ate My Baby! is an independently published role-playing game from 9th Level Games, a small-press publisher and designer of humorous role-playing games (RPGs) based in Pennsylvania. The name is a derivative reference to the Azaria Chamberlain disappearance and the famous misquote, "A dingo ate my baby!" The Super Deluxx Edition was still designed by 9th Level Games but is published by Dork Storm Press.
Lethargic Lad is a protagonist in the comic strip of the same name, created by Greg Hyland sometime in the late 1980s. The character is notable for being very slow and inactive. Lethargic Lad does not speak, though he sometimes mutters "Umm...".
Kenneth Hite is a writer and role-playing game designer. Hite is the author of Trail of Cthulhu and Night's Black Agents role-playing games, and lead designer of the 5th edition of Vampire: the Masquerade.
Warpcon is an annual wargaming and roleplaying convention held at University College Cork (UCC) in Cork, Ireland. As of 2010, the organisers reportedly described it as "Europe's largest student-run gaming convention". Beginning in 1990, it is run annually over a single weekend in January. Run by UCC's Wargaming And RolePlaying Society (WARPS), games played at Warpcon include role-playing games (RPGs) from several systems, collectible card games (CCGs), live action role-playing games (LARPs) and tabletop wargames. The 20th anniversary event, in 2010, reportedly hosted approximately 700 attendees.
Jolly Randall Blackburn is an American publisher and cartoonist who is best known as the creator of the comic strip and identically titled magazine Knights of the Dinner Table.
Jason Holmgren is an American cartoonist, art director, and role-playing game designer.
