[Senkusha]

What's the difference between these two abbreviations?  Role playing on a forum requires a bit of flexibility that's typically not required around a table.  As somebody who has been a Game Master for nearly two decades, with much of that time using an online forum format, I've realized somethings.  The first of these, is the fact that there are two different modes for role playing.

RPG:  A Role Playing Game is what most people think of when a group of friends sits down around a table, whips up some characters they'd like to pretend to be, scribbles down some notes, and curses at some funny multi-sided dice because it rolls on a Nat 1.  But here, I will elaborate given the additional context that we're playing virtually, online, using a text-based medium.

In this mode, you'll want a game system, usually dice, scrap note paper, and friends are usually required.  However, it is possible to play a solo game, more often than not, when opting for a RPG, you'll be following a fairly strict format with rules, math, and sometimes a full blown setting.  There are thousands of role playing systems that you may choose from, and each one has its benefits and pitfalls.  The rules of the game help to establish the basic mechanics that power your game world, like, how long each player's turn is, what order do the players participate in, and specifically how are characters constructed.  This format allows for fairly easy game play with some structure, taking the burden of imagination off of the game master and other players.  However, this is also what bogs down most forum role playing games too.  Everybody needs to know the rules of the game, it's preferable for everybody to own a copy of the game so that players can reference the rules when in doubt, and disagreements can easily flare up.  And disputes could take significantly longer to resolve because players are not sitting across from one another in the same room.  The result can likely mean the termination of a game, simply because it falls apart.

MAS:  A Multi-Authored Story, is just what it sounds.  Technically, a role playing game falls under this term as well.  But the main benefit of an MAS is that there are no hard and fast rules.  A group of players can start up an impromptu game with very little effort, quickly create some characters to get the game started using just basic descriptive language, and begin writing, telling the story.  The flow of the game is determined by the Game Master, however the most successful games I've witnessed involve players just jumping in and posting whenever they are available.  This prevents games from stalling out because players are waiting for their turn to participate.  However, as flexible as this style of game play is, it can be difficult for novice players to understand the art of role playing, or in this case, story telling.  Defining characters can be sticky as well, because there is usually nothing standardized for all the players to refer to when building their characters.  Therefore, great care must be taken on the Game Master's role to ensure there is balance and fairness throughout the game play.

The Kawaii Klub supports both RPG and MAS available to its members, so the choice about how you play is yours!  Which method do you prefer?