party (role-playing games)

{{Short description|Group of characters adventuring together in a role-playing game}}

{{Redirect|Party (video game)|the genre of video games|party video game}}

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A party is a group of characters adventuring together in a role-playing game.{{Cite book|last=Adams|first=Ernest|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/460601644|title=Fundamentals of Game Design|date=2010|publisher=New Riders|isbn=978-0-321-64337-7|edition=2nd|pages=492, 517|oclc=460601644}}{{Cite book|last1=Deterding|first1=Sebastian|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1019729171|title=Role-Playing Game Studies: Transmedia Foundations|last2=Zagal|first2=José Pablo|publisher=Routledge|year=2018|isbn=978-1-315-63753-2|location=New York, NY|pages=Box 2.3, Box 7.1|oclc=1019729171}} In tabletop role-playing, a party is composed of a group of player characters, occasionally with the addition of non-player character allies controlled by those players or by the gamemaster.{{Cite book|last=Tresca|first=Michael J.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/697175248|title=The Evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games|publisher=McFarland & Co|year=2011|isbn=978-0-7864-6009-0|location=Jefferson, N.C.|pages=159. 167, 188|oclc=697175248}} In computer games, the relationship between the party and the players varies considerably. Online role-playing games parties often comprise player-controlled characters, as in tabletop games, except that the non-player allies are always controlled to a lesser or greater extent by the computer AI. In single-player computer games, the player generally controls all party members to a varying degree.{{Cite book|last=Altice|first=Nathan|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/897401731|title=I Am Error: The Nintendo Family Computer / Entertainment System Platform|date=May 2015 |isbn=978-0-262-02877-6|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|pages=212–214|oclc=897401731}}