Monsters, magic, evil spells--goblins, giants and sorcery--these are just a few of the ingredients that have made fantasy role playing games practically a way of life for addicts the world over.

This introduction to these imaginative games traces their development from their origins in the early 1970s, and presents a state-of-the-art summary of their variations--their physical paraphernalia, their statistical tools and props, and the special imaginative atmosphere that each is likely to develop.

The fascination of "acting out" one's character in a universe--defined at once by rational constraints and by chance, that is both orderly and studded with possibility--has made the role playing games amazingly popular. In contrast to the passive nature of mass entertainment, these games demand active collaboration to improvise brand-new mythologies. And, in this co-operative art form, the mythologies are not "as a tale that is told" but drama in the process of creation.

--Inside cover blurb.