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The RPGA, or Role-Playing Games Association, is a marketing arm of Wizards Of The Coast which organizes and sanctions Role-playing Game s worldwide, principally under the D20 System . The group was founded in November 1980 by Frank Mentzer of TSR, Inc. , the original publishers of the Dungeons And Dragons game. Wizards Of The Coast acquired the RPGA when they purchased TSR in 1997. MISSION The RPGA was originally formed to provide tournaments to conventions that would be both fun to play and fair to the players in the event. Each player was given a pre-generated character with a background, equipment, and some limited information about the other characters at the table, and a great deal of effort was spent trying to create balanced events. A game master and four to eight players would play a 4-hour adventure supplied by the RPGA. At the end of the adventure, the "winner" of the event was decided (on the basis of rules knowledge and role-playing ability) by tallying votes from the game master and the players (the game master's vote counted double and was used to break any ties). These events are now referred to as "Classic" events. Players were awarded experience points based on how well they did in competitive events, and over time they could advance to higher levels. The players also rated the game master, and the game masters similarly gained experience points and could achieve levels as judges. Initially, all RPGA events were for TSR products, primarily ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' but also the ''Top Secret'' (espionage) and ''Gamma World'' (science fantasy) role-playing games. By the mid-1980s events based on games from other publishers were approved and distributed by the RPGA; the first such event was a Star Trek Role Playing game at Glathricon in Evansville, Indiana. The RPGA later decided to allow gamers all around the country (and world) to play in a single campaign where everyone could create changes in a dynamic world. In essence it was to create the largest single RPG campaign(s). The first such campaign was Raven's Bluff, the Living City. The game(s) are set up as a series of "modules" (or adventures) where players play in groups of 5-7 people (one of whom is the Dungeon Master) at a time. Modules with story arc hooks have results sent to RPGA Headquarters for compilation - usually a certain percentage (a majority) is required for a specific result to occur. For example, if a world is cursed due to a cursed item and most people in a particular adventure succeed in removing the object, the curse could be lifted or altered for the world in all future story modules. Players who do not succeed still play in the world and gain experience and character growth as if they had succeeded since the "official" storyline dictates as such. MEMBERSHIP Per the Wizards of the Coast website: "When you attend any RPGA-sanctioned event, the organizers will have a membership application and a membership card for you. Ask to register, fill out the short form, and grab your card; you can start playing then and there." If one is unable to attend an RPGA-santioned event, one may send the required information to the RPGA by e-mail, and the request will be processed in 2-3 weeks. CAMPAIGNS There are many campaigns run by RPGA and its members today, and they are all free to play, although some of the ''Living'' campaigns make use of printed campaign books, such as the ''Living Greyhawk Gazetteer'' and the ''Living Force Campaign Guide''. Others (such as '' Living Death '') use free books in PDF format. Below are some of the current and previous campaigns.
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