GM Aabria Iyengar leads a crew of players on a fairy adventure of D&D interspersed with Regency romance game Good Society.

Dimension 20 Presents: A Court of Fey and Flowers

Wil Wheaton and Felicia Day play Fate alongside one of its designers on their show TableTop.

TableTop Plays Fate Core

A cast of podcasters and comedians convenes to play Wanderhome, a game of traveling animal-folk searching for home.

Dreamstream: Wanderhome

Roleplaying is the act of making choices and taking actions as though you were someone else. In the context of tabletop roleplaying games, this usually means acting through your character. Of course, "roleplay" is subjective, and means many different things to different people. Some enjoy fully embodying their character like an actor; speaking in their voice and performing their actions and expressions. Others prefer thinking about their character like a writer, describing their actions in third person. Ultimately, though, what makes roleplay is making choices!

An emphasis on character choices, interactions between characters and NPCs, and narrative decision points might all contribute to a game feeling roleplay-heavy. In these games, the player characters and their choices take center stage, and the game tends to place them in situations where their values, priorities, and actions shape the course of the narrative.

Not necessarily! Roleplay-heavy action and combat reframes the focus and purpose of that action around the reasons for doing it and the choices characters make within it. Whereas in a tactical combat-focused game, fighting battles is an end unto itself, in a roleplay-heavy game, battles and action sequences serve to highlight why characters fight, what they'll fight for, and the choices they'll make in high stakes or life-and-death situations.

Do roleplay-heavy games have less action and combat?

No; while socially interacting "in-character" is a common conception of roleplay, it's only part of the whole picture. While highly social games tend to be more freeform, emerging out of interactions ungoverned by game rules, this isn't necessarily synonymous with "roleplay-heavy." Any time players are making choices as their characters, they are roleplaying. Social interaction happens to be a  highly visible and obvious way of making in-character choices!

Is roleplay the same as social interaction?

Roleplay-Heavy

“Roleplay-Heavy” games place the focus on the story, the characters, and the world they live within, and tend to lean hard into the various roleplaying elements of the game. These games will frequently find the party talking with NPCs, exploring the personal elements of their backstories, or even having emotional moments around the campfire. 

Browse Roleplay-Heavy TTRPGs Explore one-shots, campaigns, and homebrew adventures run by expert GMs across Roll20, Foundry VTT, Discord & more. Find your perfect game on StartPlayingGames!

Roleplay-Heavy

Frequently asked questions about Roleplay-Heavy games

What is roleplay?

What makes a game "roleplay-heavy"?

Do roleplay-heavy games have less action and combat?

Is roleplay the same as social interaction?

Roleplay-Heavy Reviews and Actual Plays

Dimension 20 Presents: A Court of Fey and Flowers

TableTop Plays Fate Core

Dreamstream: Wanderhome

Find a Roleplay-Heavy group and Start Playing today!