Hello all,
I am a long time gamer, played many different games and systems over the years most of them behind the screen. For me it's most often a 5 to 1 ratio, for ever five games I DM I get to play in one. Recently however with the growth of online tabletop gaming this ratio has changed and currently I'm playing in more games than I'm dming. (yay!) However I've hit an issue. Most of the parties I'm now in have no one else who will speak up when the DM or his NPCs speak to us. We have people playing faces, with the social skills and investigation skills but they're not speaking up or asking the right questions or sometimes any questions at all and I'm forced to do so. Normally this isn't an issue I tend to play intelligent characters who are observant and with a modicum of social skill... normally but with a number of games I've wanted to branch out, play the socially inept nerdish type, the barbarian who's smart as an ox, ect... these are NOT the type of characters to do any major interaction that's important to the flow of the adventure, and worse are not the types to build battle plans! I can do these things yes but my character doesn't have the skills or background for it. I hate breaking my suspension of disbelief just to keep the party rolling however by NOT doing so the game becomes so boring as the DM in one is forced to use his NPCs to all but guide us around by the nose and in another the party spends a half-hour just to decide to open a door and want to rest after every encounter. I've told my fellow players in these games that my characters shouldn't be the one making decisions, some cases more than once but it still falls to me almost every time.
Griping aside I guess my quandary is, do I forego my desire to play the characters I would like to play to always create characters capable of 'leading' the party or should I stick to my desire and let the games flounder in the quagmire of inaction?
I am a long time gamer, played many different games and systems over the years most of them behind the screen. For me it's most often a 5 to 1 ratio, for ever five games I DM I get to play in one. Recently however with the growth of online tabletop gaming this ratio has changed and currently I'm playing in more games than I'm dming. (yay!) However I've hit an issue. Most of the parties I'm now in have no one else who will speak up when the DM or his NPCs speak to us. We have people playing faces, with the social skills and investigation skills but they're not speaking up or asking the right questions or sometimes any questions at all and I'm forced to do so. Normally this isn't an issue I tend to play intelligent characters who are observant and with a modicum of social skill... normally but with a number of games I've wanted to branch out, play the socially inept nerdish type, the barbarian who's smart as an ox, ect... these are NOT the type of characters to do any major interaction that's important to the flow of the adventure, and worse are not the types to build battle plans! I can do these things yes but my character doesn't have the skills or background for it. I hate breaking my suspension of disbelief just to keep the party rolling however by NOT doing so the game becomes so boring as the DM in one is forced to use his NPCs to all but guide us around by the nose and in another the party spends a half-hour just to decide to open a door and want to rest after every encounter. I've told my fellow players in these games that my characters shouldn't be the one making decisions, some cases more than once but it still falls to me almost every time.
Griping aside I guess my quandary is, do I forego my desire to play the characters I would like to play to always create characters capable of 'leading' the party or should I stick to my desire and let the games flounder in the quagmire of inaction?