Welcome to the 30 Day challenge of November which is going to be all about Role Playing Games of all shapes and sizes, whether produced in Japan or USA, tactical or real-time and more.

We’ve touched on it on the Romance and Morality days, but today cuts to the core of R in RPG, namely role-playing, and the lack thereof. As covered in the “what defines an RPG” day the capacity for overt “role playing” does not necessarily define an RPG, which cover the spectrum of letting you run everywhere and make countless little choices at your own pace, or following a set narrative path with few, if any, “role playing” choices.
And so, the main prompt of the day is: Do you prefer RPGs that focuses on freedom of role-playing, or RPGs more focused on telling a specific story? What strikes the proper balance in terms of choices/bespoke narrative?

Bonus prompt: What’s the most you’ve gotten invested in role playing in an RPG? And what’s the most frustrating case of then butting up against the limits of choices afforded (“no, you HAVE to stab this man in the face to progress”)?

New Prompt Plus: Silent protagonists – do they do anything for you? Especially in RPGs with more bespoke narratives with less choices afforded?

“Wait, what’s the plot again?“ prompt: What RPGs were too open ended, to the point that the main narrative, or the propulsion of it, suffered? What RPGs could’ve used a more defined narrative backbone?

“Just let me explore already!” prompt: And what RPGs could’ve stood to loosen the reins and let the player explore more at their own pace?