Role-playing games, or RPGs, is a hobby of mine which dates back to the evenings at my neighbour's when I was ten or twelve years old. I have been doing it, with several long breaks, since then. It is a consuming and social hobby, and an addictive one. It's a bit like reading a book which you just can't put down.
RPGs take many forms. Here are some of those I am aquainted with.
My very first RPG, and I think the first to be translated to Norwegian. Many Norwegian enthusiasts remember the «red book» and the «blue book» as their first encounter with role-playing games. Later the company discontinued their D&D series, and moved to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, which I played for many years before I knew better. D&D was above all simple. AD&D is rules-heavy and rigid. Granted, it is fully possible to play AD&D and enjoy yourself immensely, but there are much better systems out there.
It is important to note that the D&D I'm talking about is the original one, not the one you can buy today. What they call Dungeons & Dragons today is simply AD&D in a new wrapping. Oh well.
This uses a more modern, skill-based system. The system itself is otherwise unremarkable - but the setting is very, very cool. The story is an exploration of applied insanity in the most literal sense. And the world is of course not as everyone thinks it is...
It frustrates me that I haven't been able to play this more. I managed to assemble a group once, but a few months later everyone started studying, doing their military service, etc, and all were scattered to the winds. It is a pity, because the setting is interesting to say the least. It is a pity, though, what I have seen about the game being commercialised. What I got in one book has now been split into several books, and the books themselves have become much more fancy and has much more décor than is strictly needed. This makes the whole thing unnecessarily expensive. It is sad, because the game was in the beginning an idealistic thought in the head of two Swedes... but this is how the story always goes, it it not?
This is, from what I hear, one of the great classics. My only experience with it was being a player during a campaign of about half a year. The system is an odd mixture of class-based and skill-based, and the setting - a fantasy one - is also best characterised as odd.
Being heroic is aplha and omega to this game. I find this slightly limiting, as my characters generally are everything but infallible. I think, however, that I would have liked it more when I was younger.
I have often been grateful that I discovered Fudge. It is as simple as it is ingenious. It can be used for all settings, in all circumstances. It includes just enough rules to guide you, as is freeform enough to allow nearly all 'fixes' you might like to introduce. The word Fudge itself is an acronym - Freeform Universal Do-it-yourself Gaming Engine is the full name.
The drawback of this system is of course that there is no standard gameworld, and there are no comercially available gameworlds made specifically for Fudge. This is not as great a drawback as it may seem, however, because gameworlds made for other systems adapt easily to the Fudge gaming system. However, if you want to GM a Fudge campaign, you should have some years of experience on your back.
This is a system I like. It has enough rules to cover every situation worth speaking of, while at the same time being consistent and above all modular. GURPS can be used for all settings you would care to mention. The name GURPS - Generic Universal Role-Playing System - was originally a working title, but the name stuck.
GURPS has the advantage over Fudge in that there are a large number of available settings. I myself have two, a dark science-fiction setting and a humorous fantasy one. It is a pity that I haven't yet had the chance to actually play a session of GURPS. Hopefully it will happen soon.
There are two other systems which deserve to be mentioned here. Toon is just what it sounds like - you roleplay a cartoon character. Potentially hilarious, but I haven't yet had the chance to try it. And Steffan O'Sullivan, the man behind Fudge, has made a system, SHERPA, which is suitable for outdoor playing or other «difficult» conditions.
This deserves to be mentioned here, although is is not really like classic role-playing games. This is large-scale improvised theatre, where the participants dress in medieval garb (or other costumes, as appropriate) and role-play their characters exclusively for a period, usually a few days. This is fun, and you meet many, many new friends. However, it is both time- and money-consuming. Many «livers» spend several thousand kroner on this hobby every year.