Why do we do it?

[drcpunk.livejournal.com]

So, why do we play rpgs? Why do we gm rpgs? Or larps or pbems, if you prefer?

I'm not asking for abstract reasons. I'm asking for up to 10 moments in an rpg -- or larp or pbem, if you prefer -- that you point to and say, "That. That's why."

Comments

[jl8e]

I'd have to say I don't play for the moments. That said, here are some of them, in roughly chronological order:

Sorcerer: The Andreas-Leonardo scene, from "...and he heals!" straight through the demon summoning.

Circus LARP: watching my "brilliant" plan come crashing down around my ears, and then not even being able to successfully burn down the circus out of spite.

GURPS Supers: the "oh shit!" moment when my players put two and two together and figured out what the bad guys they were infiltrating were planning to do.

GURPS Supers: in the process of running about like chickens with their heads cut off in the wake of the above realization, one player deciding to rescue the bad guys' supposed resident precognitive, who was forced to spend most of her time in a drug-induced trance.

...and who was actually the home body of the bad guys' Extremely Evil, Extremely Powerful, Telepathic Enforcer, who just preferred to spend most of her time wandering around as an astral projection.

Then, not knowing any of this, the player seized upon a minor point of my world background, and had his character, a super-gadgeteer, build something to protect the two of them from said EE,EP,TE, effectively neutering the character entirely by accident.

Stellae Cognitae: Surprising not only the GM, but also myself to a degree, when my character embraced the transformation that he was probably undergoing. Not because he wanted it. (He didn't.) Not because he needed it, but just to get the question settled once and for all.

GURPS Horror(ish): Old Man Marley, who I am totally going to steal and play if you guys ever do a third Mad Scientist LARP.

D&D, Keep on the Borderlands: My first session of any RPG ever. Also the first session ever for the GM and the other players. I was eight. We ride into town, get the mission, and go exploring. One of us gets killed by spiders. We make camp for the night. And get utterly slaughtered by lizard men. I don't even recall if we killed any of them. Doesn't sound like a lot of fun, but I was well and firmly hooked.