In contrast to impromptu theater, storytelling gamers describe the actions of their characters rather than acting them out, except during dialogue. That said, live action versions exist, which are very much akin to theater.

The most popular modern storytelling games originated as a sub-genre of role-playing games, where the game rules and statistics are heavily de-emphasised in favor of creating a believable story and immersive experience for all involved. So while in a conventional tabletop role-playing game the announcement that one's character is going to leap over a seven-meters-wide canyon will be greeted with the request to roll a number of dice, a player in a storytelling game who wishes to have a character perform a similar feat will have to convince the others (especially the storyteller) why it is both probable and keeping within the established traits of their character to successfully do so. Some storytelling systems provide for randomness in the arbitration of the rules, often in the form of a contest of paper-rock-scissors or a card drawn from a deck of cards.

It takes a certain kind of gamer to enact in good storytelling, one that is more interested in the path to a goal than reaching it. Many role-playing gamers are more comfortable in a system that gives them relatively less freedom, but where they do not need to police themselves; others find it easier to enjoy a system where a more concrete framework of rules is already present.