Roleplaying comes easy to a few, the rest of us have to work
at it. Let’s face it roleplaying asks
you to be an actor and we weren’t all meant for the big screen, but that
doesn’t mean we can’t learn to at least play on a community theater level. Here are twelve tips to becoming a better
roleplayer.
1.Create a character you are able to rolepaly.
Set yourself up for success by creating a character that you
are better able to roleplay. If you are
new to roleplaying or recognize that it is a week point in your game then start
by creating characters that closely resembles yourself. When deciding what actions to take in the
game you are always having to ask yourself not what you would do in this
situation but what your character would do.
Creating a character that has a similar personality and moral compass to
yourself allows you to more easily answer this question. Make the character just different enough from
yourself that it’s easy to answer the question of what your character would do
instead of yourself. As you get more
comfortable roleplaying you can make your characters increasingly different
from yourself.
2.Play up your backstory.
D&D is a world that only exists as we create it. Spend time on your character’s backstory, as
it should shape how your character acts and thinks. Having an elaborate backstory though doesn’t
do you any good if you don’t include it in your play. Only what you say or do actually exists. Your character’s back story is nothing but
words on paper until you either talk about it or have your character act in
ways that are directly related to it. Your
character’s backstory is the blueprint for how your character acts, thinks,
feels, and behaves, make use of this tool by playing it up. It does you no good to write an elaborate
backstory of how your character fell in love with a dwarf who broke their heart
and now they hate all dwarves if you
don’t act that out whenever your PC interacts with a dwarf. Give life to your character’s back story
because by doing that you create a much more memorable experience.
3.Be creative.
This one can be kind of difficult because in some ways
you’re limited by how creative your character is. Still play your character as creatively as
you can. Make him or her unique and
memorable. Maybe you create some sort of
quirk for your character, like a dwarf that always has a belching fit after
drinking ale. Another way to get
creative is to have your character come up with nontraditional ways to handle a
situation. It’s easy to have your rogue
pick a lock but maybe your rogue has a wizard polymorph him into a spider that
can fit through the key hole to sneak in and scout the room before opening the
door for the party.
4.Be engaged in the game.
Be an active player not a passive player. Don’t let others at the table make all the
decisions, you don’t have to put in your two cents all of the time but make
sure that you are participating more than just during your turn in combat. Give the game your full attention and
participate.
5.Don’t become distracted by the outside world.
A game of D&D is
supposed to transport us to another world.
Turn off cell phones and put away any other distractions when it’s time to
play. The DM and your fellow players deserve
your full attention. You can’t enjoy the
game if you’re not paying attention to it.
6.Take part in telling the story.
A campaign or quest is a story to be told that isn’t fully
written. The DM has a general outline
but it is really up to the players what direction the story goes in and what
happens along the way. Make your
character meaningful to the story. Make
your character advance the plot line in some way. Involve your character in more than just
combat rounds. Interact with NPC’s. When you’re in a shop, for example, ask if the
shop keep has any family in the area. His or her answer could lead to a side quest
or just a richer experience when you’re in town because by making your
character take an active role in the story telling you make the other
characters come to life.
7.Don’t tell other players how to play their character.
Everyone has their own way of viewing what their character
would and wouldn’t do, their character is their creation. It is not up to anyone else to decide how
someone should play their character. If
it’s an alignment issue trust that the DM will work it out in game if it is necessary. You want to play your character how you
envision him/her, afford other players the same right.
8.Get along with the others at the table.
No one can focus on
properly playing the game when there’s infighting going on between
players. If you have an issue with
another player pull them aside before or after the game and talk things out
with them. Chances are talking to them
will resolve any issues. If that doesn’t
solve the differences between you then at least come to the agreement that you
will keep your personal differences aside during the game. Just because everyone at the table needs to
get along doesn’t mean the PC’s have to be best buds. Your paladin may not trust your buddy’s rogue
and that’s okay as long as you don’t let it go too far in game and as long as
the conflict between PC’s doesn’t carry over to the players. Maybe your paladin keeps a closer eye on the
rogue than the other PC’s but don’t have your paladin strip search the rogue,
while amusing that takes things too far.
9.Respect the DM.
DMing is not an easy job and your DM is putting in a lot of
hours behind the scenes to bring you an enjoyable campaign. For the length of your session your DM has
spent at least that same amount of time during the week preparing things. The DM works hard and deserves your
respect.
10.Don’t be a rules lawyer.
Rules lawyers can drain all the fun out of a game. Honestly the rules are more like guidelines
and to make things work in any given campaign the DM is going to have to fudge
the rules a bit or make their own house rulings. Don’t argue with the DM over rules or other
things, trust that your DM has a method to their madness. When you start bickering with the DM you take
everyone out of the moment and drag them all back into the real world and bring
things to a screeching halt. Respect and
trust in your DM and play on. If you
really think that something needs addressed discuss it with the DM outside of
game time. The game isn’t so much about
the rules as it is having a good time and telling a good story.
11.Accept failure.
The dice are going to hate you some nights. Maybe you can’t succeed on an acrobatics
check or you don’t get the information you need from a NPC or you fail your
death saving throws. At some point in
your D&D career you’re going to fail at something. Do so gracefully and figure out a way around
the problem.
12.Have fun!
The most important thing to being a better roleplayer is to
have fun and the more fun you’re having the more fun everyone will have.
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