Don't Fear 'Getting In Trouble' In The Game

In discussing the differences between several different games various members of my friend group and I am involved in, I couldn't help but notice that there was a common difference between the games the players all seemed to really look forward to, and the ones they just looked forward to. Now, this is not to say people aren't having fun in all of these games, or that any of them are bad games, but it is hard for humans to not have a preference and in discussing these preferences sometimes a common theme will emerge.

Introducing A New Character As A Player

A lot of thought and advice goes into how to introduce new PCs for GMs. This is understandable, depending on the game and group you need a way to integrate the new PC that feels natural to the story and works within the confines of your plot and events that are going on. At least if you're doing a story heavy game. Sometimes the group of adventurers just runs into the last surviving member of another party that just happened to be a room ahead of them in the dungeon - even though nothing behind that other party ever showed or helped the PCs.

The thing is though, as the player of the new PC you also have a responsibility to make it go as smooth as possible. Here are a couple of the things you should be looking for as the Player.

Goals: Something You Can Never Have (and why!)

We talked on Monday about your character's desire. The emotional reward they seek. An emotional reward is good, but even better is a goal that is fueled by that desire. This makes for a personal connection to something in the world. It mixes together the desired emotional reward that gives the story resonance, with the tangible physical.

The best goals for dramatic tension involve other characters - whether a PC or an NPC is up to you, but if you're setting your sights on something with or from another PC make sure they're cool with it and involve them in the conversation.

Fortunately, the steps for doing this are super easy. So let's begin.

Bad Decisions Not Stupid Ones

A friend once told me that you get good roleplay out of bad rolls. It is a good thing to keep in mind. Characters who win and succeed all the time are boring. There is a reason John McClane and characters like him took over the action movie genre over the action stars that preceded him, and the reason was because John McClane - in a RPG sense - rolled bad from time to time.

What Does Your Character Want Most?

"What does this character want most?" is a good question to ask yourself whenever you make a character. It isn't the end of the world if you can't answer it, but I find that when I can answer it that the character is a lot more fun to play. After all, I know what it is they want most in the world.

Don't Be Afraid to Speak Up

Over the past weekend one of my friends was coming off a bit of a rough week and was more tired than normal for the Friday D&D game I run, and the Sunday Star Wars game we're both in. The result was he ended up being more quippy than normal. He was in that state of tired where his filter was off, and so he responded - in character - to more things than he normally did.

Which was completely awesome.

I like playing with this guy, but at times his characters can feel weird or flat partly because he can be so reluctant to speak up. But with the zingers and responses, not only did we get to see more of the character and get insight, but it prompted other people to speak up more as well. The game became more enjoyable, a couple laughs broke out out of character from snarky comments, and in general it made for a pleasant experience.

Now, I'll never tell you to do something you're completely uncomfortable with, but the thing I took from this - and I hope the friend did too - is that you shouldn't be afraid to speak up and give voice to your character. RPGs are as external for others as they can be internal for you, and if you don't interact at the table, let your character speak, or go and perform actions there is nothing there for the other people at the table to see or latch onto for your character.

This doesn't mean there is anything wrong with staying quiet if you prefer that. However, in general I would recommend making the effort to speak up and put your character into the game. Have fun. Triumph. Fail. Learn. Make things interesting. You can't do any of that unless you first speak up and have your character do something.

And for the rest, I know this seems super basic, but even DMing for 20+ years and playing for longer I am often the person at the table being quiet and letting everyone else play while I don't voice my character. The basic things need to be said sometimes. If only to remind us of how they work.

It's a game. Have fun. Play. Leave it all on the table so you can come back and pick up the pieces next time.

Flaws vs. Limitations

When making a character - whether as a GM or player - the recommendation is to give that character flaws. Flaws make the character more unique and more interesting. They help the character generate stories, appeal to the rest of the table, and can even make them more sympathetic in a way. There is only one problem: when it comes to RPGs a lot of what people list as flaws aren't actually flaws, they're limitations. Limitations are great to have as well, but they're not flaws, and as such they don't do the full job you really want from a flaw. Today I want to talk about that.

"God Tier DM" vs. "Really Good Storyteller."

In a Youtube comment (I know right) someone told Matt Coleville, "I used to think you were a God-Tier DM, but after watching your game you're just a really good Storyteller." The statement led to a lot of confusion to people when the comment was shared (sans name) on twitter, which is where I found it. In unpacking it the closest some people could come to explaining their - similar - view is that DMs like Matt Mercer spoiled them for what a God Tier DM is.

Random Gender & Sexuality

On Wednesday I mentioned that I do Gender, Sexuality, and Age randomly when making characters. Today I want to explain how I do this, why, and why - if you're comfortable doing it - I recommend you give it a try.

Let's Build a Character w/ Six Truths & a Player Goal

This coming weekend one of the groups I'm in will be starting a new game. The GM gave a try to the Six Truths method for presenting the world, and I figured this would be a good chance to show how you can use those truths in building a character that should fit the game.

Who Was Your Character Before The Game?

One thing I like about D&D 5e's character generation is the emphasis it puts on who your character was before they became a level 1 PC. It's a simple enough idea. Your character starts with skills and training, so where did they get those? What was their life like before they decided going into caves, tombs, and dungeons to fight monsters to the death over a bit of coin was the right answer for them?

Other games like L5R kind of have this built into the system. Your character was born a samurai, they were being trained to be an adult samurai, and so that kind of comes with it. Even then though, it is good to think of who the character was before they became an adult.

Slow Sessions Are Ok

Shopping Sessions have a bad rap in my opinion. While some people love them, other people hate them. I can get behind the idea that some people don't like shopping - or watching other people shop - that's fair. However, I dislike the complaint that nothing happens in a shopping session.

See, there's two parts to this. One, is that it's not just on the GM for things to happen. Two, is that you need slower sessions on occasion to help break the tension. Let's unpack that, but in reverse order.

Character Motivation: Achilles' Quest For Immortality

I've been thinking a lot about character motivations of late. Part of this is trying to find a motivation for one of my characters beyond simple survival - because let's face it, if your goal is to survive you're better off not being an adventurer. I've gone through a few different ideas, but then something popped into mind: Immortality.

Why Is Your Character Adventuring? (Goals & Motivation)

One of the things I'm really bad with when making characters is goals and motivations. I can make the stat line. I can make the character. I can make the backstory. I can put all those together. I can even probably give you a sense of who the person is. However, when it comes to what their goals are, or why they do the things they do, I struggle.

What Does Your Magic/Fighting Style Look Like?

I want to start by saying that I am bad at this. However, despite combat in RPGs being a largely mechanical affair, there is a lot of room for character expression in not only what your character tries to do during the fight, but in the how as well. Today I want to talk about this, and how combat can be used for character expression, and enriching the combat encounter for everyone, without getting in the way.

It Takes Two To Tango...and to Fight

Social interaction between PCs can be an interesting beast. Everyone at the table is - generally - there for the story that their PC is going through. Yes, they're also their for the group and the social interactions, but a player's job is to portray their character in that story so it makes sense that ego-centric focus (to use an unkind term for it) is on their mind.

The Social Ending

When I was an undergrad in college I had to read a book. As most books classes make you read it wasn't one I would pick on my own, but I found myself getting invested in the tale. It was about a young person and their relationship with an older man they called Sensei. Not a lot happened - as is the case IMO for a lot of literary fiction - but the drama of the everyday lives was enough. And then the main character's father fell ill, they had to choose between going back home or staying in the city. If they went they'd be there for their father, but their life in the city with Sensei would be over. If they stayed, they would miss their father's death and be abandoning their family in a time of need. I was riveted. Finally something huge was happening and I needed to know what was going on. Then I turned the page and found myself staring at the back blank cover of the novel, jacket giving the author information.

To say I was upset is a mild understatement. I was so annoyed a day later when we met for discussion that the teacher gave me bonus points as I was clearly the only one to finish the book on time.

I bring this up now because I just had a table top RPG end the exact same way, only I find myself ok with it. Today I want to talk about it.

Closing the Distance Between You and Your Character (Or Vice Versa)

After a game recently one of the players recommended another player use "I do X" or "I try Y" when declaring their actions instead of referring to the character in the third person. The suggestion was made as advice to help improve their role playing and bring the character more to the fore. It got me to thinking, and today I want to talk about that and the distance you have between you and your character and how to manipulate that.

A Note on Historical Accuracy and Character Representation

While this happens mainstream with videogames a lot, I've also seen it around several gaming tables and I figure it is worth talking about. For some of you this may bother you - and feel free to disagree with me on it all you want. For others, you may feel the same as I do, in which case maybe this will give you some counter-arguments to make.

Let's put this simply: 'Historical Accuracy' is not a reason to deny someone playing the character sex, race, or anything else that they want.

Energy Levels

Your personal energy level can have a huge impact on your game. Some of this goes without saying. When you're more alert and good to go, everything just runs smoother. However, your energy level as the GM - or the average energy level of the players - can be the difference between a productive session and one that goes off topic or otherwise meanders around everywhere.