The average
Role-Playing Community consists of two distinct places, and a combination of
personality archetypes. They are outlined as such.
PLACE: The
Games Store - This is a conveniently located
comic book/
role playing games store that is generally located within a few blocks of the
freeway. It can be easily identified by the following
telltale signs: Faded posters featuring
Marvel Super-Heroes, a sign proclaiming that they sell
Magic: The Gathering cards, a random cardboard cutout of an
anime character, a crudely scrawled sign with the
Special of the Week written in dried out
magic marker, and the rusted
hatchback out front with the
Darwin fish bumper sticker peeling off. Inside you will generally find comics, games, and a shady
back-room where some unknown
gamers always look at you suspiciously.
PLACE: The
Headquarters - This is one of two places. Someone's
mom's
house, perfection, well-lit, dusted,
vaccuumed, and a ready supply of
Cokes,
pizza,
chips,
cookies. It smells pleasant, is easy to find, and there is a big wide table perfect for gaming.
... or...
One of the gamer's apartments. The apartment is typically bare of furniture, except perhaps a ratty
futon and a table that cannot be used because his
miniatures are still drying. There is nothing to drink,
BYOB, no food, and the place smells of rotting
McDonalds bags. The carpet has enough dirt and
mold to be a
monster used in the game, and is always slightly damp for some unexplained reason.
Of the two places, the latter is always preferred... because no
gamer wants to have his
role-playing hampered by having to
censor what he says around someone's
parents.
ARCHETYPE ONE:
THE MERCHANT - This is the man who runs the
Comic Book Shop. It's always a
man. He's always slightly
overweight. He always tells you he's giving you his
Special Discount rate. He usually wears glasses. And invariably, there is always something
creepy about him. Like you'd rather not be stuck alone in the same room as him.
ARCHETYPE TWO: THE
STORYTELLER - No, not the
Game Master, but instead
the annoying guy you always run into at the Comic Book Shop. The type that must always tell you about the time his character from such and such game was the last to survive when the whole party died, and managed to kill the monster when the character was down to one hit point. Or about the ultimate
Battle Mech/
Starship/
Car Wars Car that he made that could defeat anything anyone else ever made.
ARCHETYPE THREE: THE
TASKMASTER - This is the Game Master,
GM,
DM,
Dungeon Master, whatever you call it. He's the one that actually does 99% of the work, organizing the
HQ, writing up an
adventure, refereeing the
game, mapping
dungeons, calling everyone the previous week to make sure who is coming and who isn't. Most Taskmaster's burn out after six months or learn to
delegate.
ARCHETYPE THREE:
THE BOYFRIEND - This is the
player that has a
girlfriend who doesn't like the fact that he's gone once a week to
role play. After a couple of failed attempts to get her to join, he ends up showing up about once every two or three weeks, never knows what's going on, and eventually drops out of the group.
ARCHETYPE FOUR: THE
HARDCORE - There are usually two of these in any group. They are either best friends of the Taskmaster, or like his style so much they stick with him through the
revolving players. They are
dependable, will always be
prepared,
on time, and have spare
books.
ARCHETYPE FIVE: THE
FIRST-TIMER - This is the baby of the bunch. He doesn't really know the game, wants to know, but has has a million questions. Over half the
game time is spent explaining
rules/
spells/
weapons to them. They either drop out after 2-3
gaming sessions or they turn into Hardcores, or Burnouts.
ARCHETYPE SIX: THE
BURNOUT - This is a gamer that used to be Hardcore and something happened. Maybe he lost interest, got too interested and had one of his
favorite characters die, or some other depressing thing. He spends most of the gaming session reading or sleeping, his character only taking action when the Taskmaster says "What do you do now?" or he is prodded by a fellow player. He's generally the last to arrive and the first to leave.
If anyone would like to add basic archetypes to the group, feel free. I'm pretty sure these cover most of them.