Role/Roll Playing

[SorvahrSpahr]

Definitely Roleplay for me. I have a lot more fun when I focus on my character's background and personality then when I plan every single thing just to have a powerhouse. Even when I dm I worry mostly about my NPCs having solid built personalities instead of having them be godlike. True, it's always good if your character can hold its own, but I won't go out of my way to power-up my characters when I can have a regular one that acts the way I like.

Besides, my group focuses a lot more on roleplay, so there's little need for us to go nuts about stats and feats xD

 

[Obryn]

Is it worth saying that I find this "distinction" sophomoric and useless?

IME, I can basically immediately disregard what anyone is saying about RPGs when they use the term "rollplaying" as a separate thing from "roleplaying." Generally, they have nothing interesting to say on the topic, having already arrived at a false dichotomy.

-O

 

[Dandu]

I find that "going nuts about stats and feats" has as much to do with "rollplaying" as larping has to do with "roleplaying".

 

[Water Bob]

Delete this.

 

[Jimlock]

So good roleplayers just copy what ever hackneyed, trite, fantasy character their stats suggest?

Weird.

Why do i get the feeling that you did not even read his post before answering that?

 

[xigbar]

I would just like to reiterate that anyone who has a problem with my poll should either a) actually read my first post or b) keep your opinion to yourself.

 

[Hunter99]

It's a false dichotomy.

I like to do both, and no I would not play a character who had no survivability such as the 1 hp character.

In real life, only powerful heroes can deal with monsters.

Why should we expect differently in D&D?

George Washington, a real life hero, was able to lead the revolutionary war because he was powerful and not weak.

America was able to deal with the Nazis because it was powerful and not weak.

There are plenty of historical examples to illustrate the fact that heroes require strength to deal with monsters.

Even in mythology, Hercules was one of the strongest men in the world and Achilles one of the best warriors.

According to your logic, a person who tried to build the mechanics of a Hercules-like character or an Achilles-like character who could actually deal with monsters would be powergaming and hence a munchkin.

 

[Ranes]

I am considered an optimizer among my friends, but the roleplayers in my previous groups never seemed to have any problem with it.

I have a mix of optimisers and others in my game. I don't mind optimisers when they're doing it to make their characters as effective as possible. Neither does the rest of the group, as far as I know.

I've had more problems with players who forget the rules when it suits them.

I have known OCD optimisers who seemed to think that their grasp of obscure and often flaky rules was the most important thing anyone could possibly bring to a game. I can't tell you how quickly I've dissuaded such people from coming the game I run. I've usually found unanimous support from other players for this course of action.

As a player, I don't get too bothered about optimisation. If another player is an OCD optimiser and tries too hard to persuade me to select their idea of the best feats, skills or stat increases, I tend to build the character in a way they can't get their head around at all. I then get to develop a character I'd never have thought about otherwise and have great fun doing so. I've never found it to be detrimental to the party and, once the PC dies or retires, and I create another, the OCD player usually tries to find another mark. Slow learners are hard work, though.

 

[Water Bob]

Many of these replies seem to come from a point of view that optimization and roleplaying can't exist together in the same person. "Optimization" is not a bad word. A roleplayer will do the best with what he's got just like an optimizer that doesn't have a good roleplaying bone in his body.

Where I find distaste is the optimizer that demands high stats--won't play without them. If he rolls low hit points or doesn't have a stat above 11, then he wants to get special dispensation from the DM to re-roll or otherwise demand that he be allowed to "try again" (supposedly until he gets something acceptible to him).

If you're going to do that, then why not just use a point buy system? Why random roll at all?

If you're going to random roll, then accept the consquences. Optimize what you get, and roleplay the heck out of that characters.

Those are the types of players I respect--not the whiners who have to have at least one stat at 18+ and all the others with bonuses.

I've got a character in my current group right now the stretches to the two high-low extremes with his stats:

Caelis Redbirth

STR 19
DEX 13
CON 10
INT 12
WIS 7
CHA 6

He's a first level character; a heck of an athelete (+10 Climb, +8 Jump, +4 Swim); the new apprentice to his family's forge (+6 Craft (Weaponsmith)); and a pretty good clan scout (+7 Hide, +7 Move Silent, +4 Spot, +3 Knowledge (local)).

But, this guy is also very plain spoken. He rubs people the wrong way. He's smarter than the average clansman but is lacking in the common sense department. He's the type that, if you don't like what he has to say, well, he'll invite you oustide and beat you until you agree that he was "right".

You don't want this guy representing the clan when there is a council with other clan chieftains: -6 Diplomacy; -5 Bluff; -4 Intimidate. Even though he's big, at 6', 180 lbs., people tend to underestimate him when he opens his mouth.





This here is a character that is extremely weak in some areas but has been optimized by a roleplayer to "fit" a personality. Did this player wish he'd rolled better stats? You bet. But, he was able to optimize what he did roll (a 17, put into STR, then received a +2 racial bonus) and turn this list of stats into a real character--someone you'd want at your back when on the battlefield but not when you're negotiating a truce.

This jumble of stats now has a real personality.

 

[Dandu]

Where I find distaste is the optimizer that demands high stats--won't play without them. If he rolls low hit points or doesn't have a stat above 11, then he wants to get special dispensation from the DM to re-roll or otherwise demand that he be allowed to "try again" (supposedly until he gets something acceptible to him).

Agreed. A true optimizer would simply roll up a druid and use a combination of wild shape and animal companion to overcome the obstacles in his adventuring path. Or play a warlock. Or maybe a Tainted Scholar. Mmm... taint.