In roleplaying, participants adopt and act out the role of characters, or parts, that may have personalities, motivations, and backgrounds different from their own. Acting is the work of an Actor or Actress, which is a person in Theatre, Television, Film, or any other Storytelling A role (sometimes spelled rôle) or a social role is a set of connected Behaviors Rights and Obligations as conceptualized by actors Roleplaying, also known as RP to some, is like being in an improvisational drama or free-form theater, in which the participants are the actors who are playing parts, and the audience. Improvisation (also called extemporization) is the practice of acting singing talking and reacting of making and creating in the moment and in response to the stimulus of Theatre (or theater, see spelling differences) is the branch of the Performing arts defined by Bernard Beckerman as what "occurs when one An actor, actress, player or thespian (see terminology) is a person who Acts in a Dramatic production and who works Brooklyn Book Festival crowd by David Shankbonejpg|thumb|An audience at the Brooklyn Book Festival in New York City.

People use the phrase "role-playing" in at least three distinct ways:

• to refer to the playing of roles generally such as in a theater, or educational setting;
• to refer to a wide range of games including computer role-playing games, play-by-mail games and more;
• or to refer specifically to role-playing games. A computer role-playing game ( CRPG) is a broad Video game genre originally developed for personal computers and other home computers Play-by-mail games are Games of any type played through postal Mail or e-mail. A role-playing game ( RPG; often roleplaying game) is a Game in which the participants assume the roles of Fictional characters. ^[1]

For learning, political goals and therapy

Simulations and roleplaying exercises are one of the oldest of educational methods, having been used in ancient times and from young age. Education encompasses both the Teaching and Learning of Knowledge, proper conduct, and technical competency (Young children role play "doctor" and "nurse", "customers" and "shop owners" etc. ) They have been used extensively in vocational training situations and in vocation-oriented higher-education courses (e. g. Law, Medicine, Economics) since the 1960s. Law is a system of rules enforced through a set of Institutions used as an instrument to underpin civil obedience politics economics and society Medicine is the art and science of healing It encompasses a range of Health care practices evolved to maintain and restore Human Health by the Economics is the social science that studies the production distribution, and consumption of goods and services.

Roleplay simulations fall into the category of "multi-agenda social-process simulations". Roleplay simulation is a learning method that depends on Roleplaying. In such simulations, "participants assume individual roles in a hypothesised social group and experience the complexity of establishing and implementing particular goals within the fabric established by the system". ^[2]

Since the 1920s, roleplay simulation has been used in politics and international relations contexts, including model League of Nations organizations, which gave rise to model United Nations simulations. Mock Trials, and model legislatures, such as the YMCA Youth in Government program, are good examples of political role play too. Typically educational goals, real world political goals, and entertainment goals have all been important to political role play. Project ICONS and Fablusi role play simulations allow role play simulation designers to model human relationships using different rights structures in communication environments, differential information and amount of wealth.

Roleplaying has been an important part of military training for centuries. The Prussian term for live-action military training exercises is kriegsspiel or "Wargames", a term that has entered English as well, although the contemporary military prefers to call them military exercises. A military exercise (also called war game in American English) is the employment of military resources in training for Military operations either exploring

Roleplaying is used as a form of psychotherapeutic intervention in several approaches, with Drama therapy using it as a primary therapeutic intervention. Psychotherapy is an Interpersonal, relational intervention used by trained psychotherapists to aid clients in problems of living Dramatherapy (often written drama therapy in the United States is the use of theatre techniques to facilitate personal growth and promote health Often, conflicts with others will be acted out and embodied by a client or clients, providing insight and promoting sympathy. These techniques originate with psychodrama, a form founded by Jacob L. Moreno which employs playing roles as well as other techniques. Psychodrama is a form of human development which explores through dramatic action the problems issues concerns dreams and highest aspirations of people groups systems and organizations Dr Jacob Levy Moreno (born Bucharest, Romania, May 18 1889; died New York, USA, May 14 Role-playing is widely used in learning-based psychotherapies focusing on skill acquisition.

For entertainment

Role-playing in the form of historical re-enactment has been practiced by adults for millennia as well. "Reenactment" redirects here For the 1968 Romanian film see The Reenactment. The ancient Romans, Han Chinese, and medieval Europeans all enjoyed occasionally organizing events in which everyone pretended to be from an earlier age, and entertainment appears to have been the primary purpose of these activities. Within the 20th century historical reenactment has often been pursued as a hobby. A hobby is a spare-time Recreational pursuit Etymology A Hobby horse is a wooden or Wickerwork toy made to be

Another role-playing tradition is the improvisational theatre tradition. Improvisational theatre (also known as improv or impro) is a form of Theatre in which the Actors use Improvisational acting techniques This goes back in some sense to the Commedia dell'Arte tradition of 16th century. Commedia dell'Arte ( Italian: "the comedy of artists" is a form of Improvisational theatre that began in Italy in the 16th century Modern improvisational theatre began in the classroom with the "theatre games" of Viola Spolin and Keith Johnstone in the 1950's. Viola Spolin ( November 7, 1906 - November 22, 1994) was an American drama teacher and author Keith Johnstone is a drama instructor whose teachings and books have focused on Improvisational theatre and have had a major influence on the art of improvisation Viola Spolin, who was one of the founder the famous comedy troupe Second City, insisted that her exercises were games, and that they involved role-playing as early as 1946, but thought of them as training actors and comics rather than as being primarily aimed at being fun in their own right.

Role-playing games

Main article: Role-playing game

A role-playing game is a game in which the participants assume the roles of characters and collaboratively create stories. A role-playing game ( RPG; often roleplaying game) is a Game in which the participants assume the roles of Fictional characters. A game is a structured activity, usually undertaken for Enjoyment and sometimes also used as an Educational tool A narrative or story is a construct created in a suitable format (written spoken poetry prose images song Theater, or Dance) that describes a sequence of Participants determine the actions of their characters based on their characterization, and the actions succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines. UserScottandrewhutchins: http//enwikipediaorg/w/indexphp?title=Characterization&diff=next&oldid=157919139 --> Characterization is a process of conveying A role-playing game system is a set of Game mechanics used in a Role-playing game (RPG Within the rules, they may improvise freely; their choices shape the direction and outcome of the games. Improvisation (also called extemporization) is the practice of acting singing talking and reacting of making and creating in the moment and in response to the stimulus of

There are many different types of role-playing games (RPGs). Many, and particularly those that came first, are centered around characters being created in fantasy universes. Of particular note is the advent of such games as Dungeons and Dragons in the 1970's, invented and propagated originally by Gary Gygax and David Arneson. Many different versions of this game were developed, and other types of games were spun-off from this original template, causing what was first developed as a hobby to become a multi-million dollar business venture.

Sexual roleplaying

Main article: Sexual roleplay

A form of roleplaying in which partners take parts in a drama that provides sexual gratification; these might include a teacher and pupil, or employer and maid. Sexual roleplay is an erotic form of roleplay: it is a sexual behaviour where two or more people act out Roles in a Sexual fantasy Sexual roleplaying is common in BDSM, and is integral to most pseudonymous or anonymous forms of cybersex. Cybersex, computer sex, internet sex or net sex is a Virtual sex encounter in which two or more persons connected remotely via a Computer

Sexual roleplaying in online games

Sexual roleplaying also occurs, albeit rarely, on various forms of online games. Online games are games played over some form of computer network. This is a generally less accepted type of roleplaying in an online community, though opinions about it vary. Social acceptance and attitudes to sexual roleplaying differ within various communities, often dependent on the community's genre or purpose (e. g. , adult BDSM and fetish communities not only accept this behaviour but promulgate it as the main activity around which the online community functions). Sexual fetishism, or erotic fetishism, is the Sexual attraction to materials and objects not conventionally viewed as being sexual in nature It is also not uncommon for players to form personal attachments or friendships with the player that they roleplay with.

The above mentioned example is generally better accepted in an online environment than roleplaying a character that involves sexual-related content in public or in abovementioned adult-themed roleplaying games.

References

External links

• Roleplaying Community

• Roleplay Simulation for Teaching and Learning