What are tabletop roleplaying games?

What is a roleplaying game really? Everyone has their own ideas and frames of reference when it comes to roleplaying games and what that term means to them. There are tabletop roleplaying games, live-action roleplaying games, massively multiplayer online roleplaying games; all of these are roleplaying games but they are also very different types of roleplaying games. Here, I will go through the basics of what tabletop roleplaying is, what misconceptions there are, and what to expect or not to expect from a session. I am also going to briefly talk about the history of tabletop roleplaying to give some context to what led up to where we are today.

In general terms, a tabletop roleplaying game is a game in which the players assume the roles of characters within a fictional setting. The players act out these characters’ roles within a narrative, and there…