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Encyclopedia > Player character

A player character or playable character (PC) is a fictional character in a game who is controlled or controllable by a player, A player character is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. Player characters are often also metonymically called players. Alice, a fictional character based on a real character from the work of Lewis Carroll. ... Tug of war is an easily organized, impromptu game that requires little equipment. ... A player of a game is a participant therein. ... A protagonist is the main figure of a piece of literature or drama and has the main part or role. ... In rhetoric and cognitive linguistics, metonymy (in Greek meta = after/later and onoma = name) is the use of a single characteristic to identify a more complex entity. ...


Role-playing games

In a role-playing game (RPG) a PC is an individual within the game's setting. The character's thoughts and feelings are decided by the player based on the background provided by themselves and by the setting. In contrast, the character's physical presence within the world is usually represented by a collection of statistics, numbers stating the degree of certain characteristics of the character, such as strength or intelligence. This article is about games in which one plays the role of a character. ... A statistic or stat, in role-playing games, is a piece of data which represents a particular aspect of a fictional character. ... The word property, in philosophy, mathematics, and logic, refers to an attribute of an object; thus a red object is said to have the property of redness. ...


When creating a character, a player either imagines a character and then selects these characteristics deliberately, or generates the characteristics randomly and then describes a corresponding character. Most role-playing games have a system for the selection of the statistics with intricate rules and many choices. Characteristics represented can range from fundamental (endurance, social skill) to the trivial (favorite color, height) depending on the nature of the game and the degree of detail the players want to go into. These attributes describe the way in which the character will typically act and what the character is capable of doing. Character creation (often Character generation or chargen) is the process of defining a fictional character for a role-playing game (RPG). ... A statistic or stat, in role-playing games, is a piece of data which represents a particular aspect of a fictional character. ...


A player character provides the player a chance to do things that, in real life, could not be done or would have unwanted consequences. That is one of the attractions of role-playing. However, excessive actions by characters attempted by some players can spoil a game for the other players. The expectations of the other players need to be respected or the social cohesion of the playing group can break down. In sociology, a group is usually defined as a collection consisting of a number of people who share certain aspects, interact with one another, accept rights and obligations as members of the group and share a common identity. ...


Computer and video games

In a computer or video game a PC is one that can be used as the player's avatar within the game world. Some games only have one such character available by default (for example, Link in Zelda). However, many other games have multiple characters available for play. Some characters, called secret characters, cannot be played without finishing some specific, often arcane labor in the game (the Super Smash Bros. series is famous for having a large amount of secret characters). In some games, usually of the fighting genre, secret characters can be played when a code sequence is entered. Some games automatically change the playable character during the course of the game. Other games give the player control over more than one character at the same time, or allow one character to directly or indirectly control one or more other characters. Namcos Pac-Man was a hit, and became a universal phenomenon. ... An avatar (abbreviations include AV, ava, avie, avy, avvie, and avvy) is an Internet users representation of himself or herself, whether in the form of a three-dimensional model used in computer games,[1] a two-dimensional icon (picture) used on Internet forums and other communities,[2][3] or... Look up link in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Zelda may refer to: // Zelda Fitzgerald (July 24, 1900 – March 10, 1948), born Zelda Sayre, the wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald. ... A secret character (not to be confused with an unseen character) is usually a playable character (although not always) in a video game that can only be played (or in some cases fought) by completing some task in the game. ... Super Smash Bros. ...


In some computer role-playing games, as in traditional RPGs, players may construct playable characters from a range of aspects, such as a fantasy race and character class, e.g mercenary, shaman, starship freighter pilot, etc. Playable characters can also refer to the multiple characters the player can control (such as the members of the player's party), especially in single player games that allow the player to control more than one character. On a similar note, some games have the player controlling another party member's avatar (usually that of the second-in-command) on the field in certain situations (if it is plot-wise, it is usually because the usual main character is unavailable and/or away from the main party for some reason). This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Many fantasy stories and worlds call their main sapient humanoid species races rather than species. ... A character class represents a characters archetype and career in some role-playing games (RPGs). ... In computer games and video games, single-player refers to the variant of a particular game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session. ...


Often, the player character is a simple blank; the NPCs speak their lines without response from him/her, and in a first-person perspective game, s/he is never seen, since the player sees through his/her eyes. Examples include The Stranger in Myst and Gordon Freeman in Half-Life. Other games define the personality of the player's avatar, with a backstory, reactions from NPCs, the lines of dialogue from which to choose in branching dialogue options, cutscenes, and other storytelling devices. This type of character is often called a silent protagonist. A silent protagonist is a central character who does not verbally interact with other characters within a storys narrative. ... Myst franchise Games Myst Riven Myst III: Exile Myst IV: Revelation Uru: Ages Beyond Myst Myst V: End of Ages Ages of: Myst Riven Myst III: Exile Myst IV: Revelation Uru Myst V: End of Ages Novels Myst: The Book of Atrus   Tiana   Dni   Marrim Comic Books #0... Gordon Freeman, Ph. ... Half-Life For a quantity subject to exponential decay, the half-life is the time required for the quantity to fall to half of its initial value. ... In narratology, a back-story (also back story or backstory) is the history behind the situation extant at the start of the main story. ... A cut scene or cutscene (sometimes also referred to as a cinematic) is a sequence in a video game over which the player has no control. ... A silent protagonist is a central character who does not verbally interact with other characters within a storys narrative. ...


In contrast, a non-player character, often shortened to NPC, is a character in a role-playing game or computer game whose actions are not under the player's control. Non-playable characters may be bystanders, competitors, bosses, or potential allies to aid the player's progress in the game. An NPC from the video game The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. ... Flag Ship from the video game Gorf A boss is a particularly challenging computer-controlled character in video games. ...


See also


  Results from FactBites:
 
The Archaea Sourcebook - Chapter Two: Rule of Character (p.2) (2356 words)
Because a player knows that a friend will be playing a wealthy baron does not mean the character knows who the baron is. Because a player understands every effect and every spell in the game does not mean the character knows such things.
Dead players should remain in the location where they were killed until the fight is over and the majority of the living players move on.
Players who refuse to role-play, who ignore rules, and who disrupt the game may lose XP from their characters and be removed from play.
computer role-playing game: Information from Answers.com (2926 words)
Players choose a character class or profession that defines the focus of their training in different aptitudes such as weapons mastery, social skills, spell-casting, and stealth.
Two different systems of rewarding the player characters for solving the tasks in the game can be set apart: the experience system (also known as the "level-based" system) and the training system (also known as the "skill-based" system).
Players also criticise the fact that the player has limited, pre-programmed control over their digital avatar, rather than unlimited control of a character who may interact with any aspect of the game's world.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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