In role-playing games, powergaming (pg) is a particular way of playing in which the emphasis lies on developing a player character that is as powerful as possible, usually to the detriment of other aspects of the game, such as character interaction. This article is about traditional role-playing games. ... Look up Power in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

In table-top roleplaying

Table-top powergaming often involves an expert knowledge of the rules of the game, and knowing how to apply the rules to get maximal results with minimal penalties (often referred to as min-maxing). This implies one willingly takes actions which should be illogical within the game world, or following the rules to the letter rather than in their spirit. Min-maxing is the practice of playing a role-playing game for the intent of creating the best character by means of minimizing undesired traits and maximizing desired ones. ...

Sometimes seen as an active abuse of the rules, when rules that are expected or intended to model a realistic game world (according to some well-understood definition of "realism") are applied in ways that are manifestly at odds with those expectations. For example, a Dungeons & Dragons sorcerer might take a two levels of the paladin class for the attractive synergies that come with this, even though paladins are traditionally seen as being devoted to their lifestyle, and the profession is not something you could train in briefly. It is important to note that powergaming, in this sense, doesn't imply active cheating or circumvention of the rules, merely using them in ways that are frowned upon by those who consider the intent of the game more important than its exact implementation - keeping to the letter of the rules, but breaking the 'spirit of the rules'. Dungeons & Dragons (abbreviated as D&D or DnD) is a fantasy role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Gygaxs company Tactical Studies Rules (TSR). ... A character class represents a characters archetype and career in some role-playing games. ... Paladin is a character class in Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) and later role-playing games, many of which were influenced by D&D. The class is loosely based on the paladins of medieval romance. ... “Cheater” redirects here. ...

Powergamers enjoy finding and exploiting all powerful synergies and combinations regardless of the author's intent, though houserules may be used to curb any abilities that make for particularly unbelievable characters.

In online roleplaying

In text-based online environments such as MUSH, MUCK, MU*s and other role-playing (RP) games that emphasize role-play over acquiring levels or skills (as opposed to most MUDs), a player can be described as a powergamer if (s)he presumes or declares that his or her own action against another player character is successful without giving the other player character the freedom to act on his own prerogative. They may also be a player who tries to force others to participate in role-playing they don't want to engage in. For instance, a player who unilaterally describes his character as doing something with (or to) another character that would usually require the other to play along — such as having a fight or a sexual encounter — is considered to be powergaming. The login screen from M*U*S*H, the centre of development for PennMUSH. A MUSH (sometimes said to be an abbreviation for Multi-User Shared Hack, Habitat, Holodeck, or Hallucination, though these are backronyms) is a text-based online social medium to which multiple users are connected at the... Muck can refer to several different things: An Alternative Rock Band From Baltimore Muck(Band) A type of soil: Muck (soil) An island in Scotland: Muck, Scotland The kayak club of NUIM: MUCK, NUIM Kayak Club In gambling, a number of actions both legal and illegal: Muck (gambling) Other meanings... MU* is a widely-used shorthand to refer collectively to multi-user environments known variously as: Multi-User Dungeon / Dimension / Domain (MUD) Multi-User Shared Habitat / Hallucination (MUSH) Multi-User eXperience (MUX) MUD Object-Oriented (MOO) Multi-User Chat Kingdom / Construction Kit (MUCK) MAZE Multi User Shared Experience MUSE Massive... In role-playing, participants adopt characters, or parts, that have personalities, motivations, and backgrounds different from their own. ... In role-playing, participants adopt characters, or parts, that have personalities, motivations, and backgrounds different from their own. ... In computer gaming, a MUD (Multi-User Dungeon, Domain or Dimension) is a multi-player computer game that combines elements of role-playing games, hack and slash style computer games and social chat rooms. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

In a MMORPG setting

Powergamers enjoy being at the bleeding edge of progression of their selected game. Taking part in every activity that yields the fastest progression, and passing by the lesser activity's such as crafting or any other secondary job/trait/skill. Doing whatever it takes to be the best, have the best gear, kill the hardest mob. This is a wide generalization however. A Gamer that likes to max out all aspects of the game and do so in a expedient manner is also classified as a Powergamer, often seeing more of the world and or game than the "average" player would.

The problem of powergaming

Younger and less socially experienced players are more often powergamers, and it is these same people who are often seen as potentially disruptive to the various types of social interplay that others enjoy in RPGs. Disruptive powergamers may focus primarily on developing their own character with disregard to any others, and may seek to have the play focus on their character's resulting extraordinary capabilities, leaving others with little to do.

Because of the highly capable nature of their characters, methods other than simple direct confrontation are not often necessary to resolve whatever problems the characters face. This can largely leave other enjoyable parts of RPGs out of play.

A group that doesn't enjoy powergaming can even have difficulties incorporating a more cooperative powergamer; the comparative lack of interest shown in the groups style and a tendency to quickly overshadow less capable characters in action scenes can be difficult to handle in a manner that keeps the game enjoyable for everyone else.

As a result of these problems, social groups which favour the story telling or method acting aspects of RPGs often find it more fun to play separately from powergamers, and vice versa. However, it is quite possible to accommodate most any play style in a group and have an enjoyable game for all when players are aware of the need to give everyones favoured style some time in the spotlight.^[1] This page includes English translations of several Latin phrases and abbreviations such as . ...

See also

• Munchkin (role-playing games)
• Powerleveling
• In Character (IC)
• Out of Character (OOC)
• Godmoding

A munchkin is a player who plays a normally cooperative game (usually an RPG) to amass as much power and as many kills as possible, whatever the costs to role-playing, the storyline, fairness, logic, or the other players fun. ... Powerleveling is the process of sustained, fast leveling in computer role-playing games. ... In Character (IC) is a roleplaying term, referring to the world of the characters, rather than the world of the players. ... Out of Character (OOC) is a roleplaying term, referring to the world of the players, rather than the world of the characters. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with online text-based role-playing game. ...

Notes

1. ^ Laws, Robin D. (February 2002). Robin's Laws of Good Gamesmastering. Steve Jackson Games. ISBN 1-55634-629-8. 

Robin D. Laws is a respected and prolific writer and game designer who lives in Toronto, Ontario. ...

External links

• Roll-playing vs. Roleplaying on TopMudSites, by Wes Platt. An article on the basics of role-play as opposed to 'roll-play' in text-based environments.
• The Official Powergamer Homepage: Real Ultimate Power, a satire on the powergaming concept in the style of Real Ultimate Power
• A Powergamer's guide to Life , another satire in which real life is treated as an online game to be powergamed.
• Powergamers' Guides, commercial product designed to allow players to power-game Dungeons and Dragons.