Tabletop Roleplaying Games (TTRPGs)

Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is the most famous tabletop roleplaying game and relies heavily on tactical combat, class-based progression, and high fantasy settings. Other TTRPGs, like Call of Cthulhu or Vampire: The Masquerade, use different rulesets to focus on horror, investigation, or narrative-driven storytelling rather than combat.

While the Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook is the standard purchase for the world's most popular TTRPG, you do not need to spend much to start. The basic rules for many tabletop roleplaying games are available for free online, and all you truly need to play is a set of polyhedral dice and some friends.

You can easily play TTRPGs remotely by using virtual tabletop (VTT) software like Roll20 or Foundry VTT. These platforms handle the dice rolling, map sharing, and character sheets over voice or video chat, making the experience highly accessible for remote groups.

In most systems like Dungeons & Dragons, one player takes on the role of the Game Master (GM) or Dungeon Master (DM). This person acts as the referee, narrates the story, controls the non-player characters (NPCs), and sets the challenges for the rest of the collaborative group.