D&D 5E Actors Having a Tough Time Roleplaying

[Guest 6801328]

I wouldn't get into it with ChrisCarlson if I were you. Once again I find myself agreeing with him principle, but embarrassed to admit we are on the same side. He will take your words and twist them into an absolutist charicature of your intent, and then play all disingenuous. It's not worth it. He is not here to engage in dialogue, he just wants to make other people look wrong.

Mod Note: This is not acceptable. Please see my post below. ~Umbran

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

A counter example based on what I take away from your last post:

DM: Bill, your wizard takes 7 damage from the orc's arrow.
Bill: Oh no! That'll drop me. McSpellhappy flops down like a ragdoll unconsicious in a pool of his own blood!
Eric: Bill, did you forget to record the healing word I gave you on my last action?
Bill: Oh right. I got distracted when Joe spilled his soda and it slipped my mind. I guess I'm still standing.
DM: Sorry, but no, Bill. You already declared McSpellhappy unconscious and bleeding to death.
Bill: ...

Thoughts?

My thoughts: this is a bug in play. It means that the players and the DM need to improve their communication tools. Instead of planning your playstyle to work around the bug, change things so the bug doesn't happen. For example, if HP were tracked publicly and visible to all, then Eric would have corrected this problem long before it could potentially disrupt narration on Bill's turn.

 

[ChrisCarlson]

My thoughts: this is a bug in play. It means that the players and the DM need to improve their communication tools. Instead of planning your playstyle to work around the bug, change things so the bug doesn't happen. For example, if HP were tracked publicly and visible to all, then Eric would have corrected this problem long before it could potentially disrupt narration on Bill's turn.

Absolutely. The same could be said of making sure a list of who has what gear for all to see would help alleviate the issue of a player forgetting he has a potion potentially changing a shared strategy of how to proceed in the battle...

The point being, sometimes OOC discussion--or reference of a public list as you suggest--helps keep everyone on the same page as they play the game.

Oddly, the idea that the players are all having OOC tactical discussions would tend to have me believe that's how they enjoy playing. For a DM to try and make draconian overtures to squash such things strikes me as a bad idea. At most, a conversation away from the table to discuss who enjoys what and how to better get everyone on the same track would be more appropriate than "everything you say your PC says." Again, given the facts that the players are seemingly enjoying the 'meta' part of the game, so to speak.

 

[The Grassy Gnoll]

Except for players B and C who on numerous occasions now I've explained were not being allowed to enjoy the game as it was being dictated to them how they should act. Installing a little - stress little - encouragement to act on the moment - particularly in relation to RP encounters is hardly "draconian".

As ever, online discussion consists of leaping to the severest conclusions and rather pejorative needling.

I shall keep my mouth shut in future as I'm clearly "doing it wrong" and, as per my old signature, have sustained 1d6 chiding damage.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Except for players B and C who on numerous occasions now I've explained were not being allowed to enjoy the game as it was being dictated to them how they should act. Installing a little - stress little - encouragement to act on the moment - particularly in relation to RP encounters is hardly "draconian".

As ever, online discussion consists of leaping to the severest conclusions and rather pejorative needling.

I shall keep my mouth shut in future as I'm clearly "doing it wrong" and, as per my old signature, have sustained 1d6 chiding damage.

Sorry, I'm not sure if this was aimed at me or not, but I certainly didn't intend to "chide" you. I think your way of doing things is reasonable, and I almost posted a similar suggestion earlier in the thread, even though I don't enforce any such rules at my table. (I've considered it, but it doesn't seem to fit in with how my players like to approach the game.)

I do see some benefits to the way you run things, and I very much would regret it if you "kept your mouth shut" in the future. There are a lot of idiots on the Internet, but you're clearly not one of them.

 

[edhel]

Fiasco is my go-to for introducing players to improvisation. It offers good structure, and shows how fun and cooperative storytelling and roleplaying can be.
I personally haven't found any use in writing backgrounds longer than a couple of sentences. FATE style aspects or Burning Wheel like beliefs might help some players. I rarely get to play but when I do I often just have an idea of the character's basic psychology, some values, and a weakness. Everything else is discovered in-game, and your character will develop and find a 'voice' if you stay consistent with his/her values and beliefs.
If characters' intentions come in conflict, have them discuss and play it out in-game. Don't accept "my paladin wouldn't do X". Also embrace your character's doom. If there's a tragedy in the horizon, go for it, and don't try to protect yourself.

 

[ChrisCarlson]

Except for players B and C who on numerous occasions now I've explained were not being allowed to enjoy the game as it was being dictated to them how they should act.

To be honest, I must have missed the part where you described that they told you they were not happy. My bad. I thought it was just something you saw as a problem.

Regardless, as I've said repeatedly as well, this is generally something best resolved away from the table, IMO. A serious, conversations of equals, not as DM-to-player. I think that's important.

Installing a little - stress little - encouragement to act on the moment - particularly in relation to RP encounters is hardly "draconian".

As ever, online discussion consists of leaping to the severest conclusions and rather pejorative needling.

I'm just going by what I read. If I overestimated your table rules, I apologize. I'd encourage you to go back, with fresh eyes, and reread your OP describing how you, "enforce a "what you say your character says" rule." No mention of "little" or "slight". Also mentions of what you "allow". So, again, I'm sorry if I misunderstood what you were saying. Forgive me if I took you for someone who does administer such draconian dictates. Do you not believe there are those that do?

I shall keep my mouth shut in future as I'm clearly "doing it wrong" and, as per my old signature, have sustained 1d6 chiding damage.

Again, whatever works for your group. I don't really believe in onetruewayism and try to avoid claiming others are badwrongfunning.

I just hope that's subdual damage...

 

[Morinth]

I've dabbled in community theater and have RP'd with numerous actor types. The thing is, playing a character isn't so much acting as improv. They're very different skill sets. To me, playing my PC is really just long-form non-comedic improv, where I don't break character if I can help it. And the other players in most of my groups do the same thing to varying degrees. In one of my groups, we'll game for hours, and if the GM leaves the table for a period of time, the players with continue to RP conversations at the table, sprinkled with explanatory OOC notations where appropriate. I've found that when a group gets to spend time in a community, they get to form relationships with various NPCs in that community, and that can bring out the RP aspect quite a bit. I've been lucky in that most of my co-players seem to have the same approach as I do, and aren't worried about looking silly or whatever.

 

[Umbran]

I wouldn't get into it with ChrisCarlson if I were you.

We do not expect you to like everyone on the boards. We do expect you to treat everyone with respect, and public badmouthing another user is 1) ad hominem and rude and 2) a good way to get the hairy eyeball from a moderator.

Keep it civil. Show respect for each other. Don't make it personal. Very simple.

 

[Saeviomagy]

I've found that the single most important thing that I can do to encourage roleplaying is simply to remember to use character names all the time and never player names, as both a player and a DM. I find that if even one person sticks with player names, it kills it.