Roleplaying? Yeah right!

[Greylock]

I guess our group is lucky. I consider everyone in it to be a roleplayer, and each a good one in their own ways. I can think of a couple right off that would deny it, simply because they sometime let "meta" thoughts get in the way, or can't talk in interesting accents. Of the latter, our group usually has one that can pull that off, but honestly, in most cases where I've heard folks in other groups use funny accents, I've considered a poor substitute for roleplaying, and think of it as a mask. Folks who think saying "Yar, I slay it with meh axe" in an Scottish brogue is roleplaying. It's not.*

What the folks in my group can do, and do often, and do excellently, is inhabit their characters, and are consistent in acting like their characters. Understanding their motivations, their wants, their little bits of humanity or demi-humanity. Even if they, and I, often play our characters using the third person voice, the characters are always played true. And that's what counts.

*[Now, the one guy in my group who plays Glorin the Dwarf with a Scottish brogue? If you are reading this, I'm not talking about you. I'm talking about the fatbeards at that place in Bartlett.]

 

[pawsplay]

Why do most rants about lack of roleplaying seem to come from self-admittedly demoralized and capitulized people? Seriously, if you can't do a bad accent in front of your friends, why should you expect any of them to try it?

 

[Oryan77]

I'm in the same boat as those who believe roleplaying is not simply speaking in a different accent and using Old English. I'm turned off by that type of roleplaying. I would simply just like them to speak in character with normal voices. Talk to some NPCs and ask questions. And I don't mean ask them questions like you're reading from a shopping list. I'm talking about socializing with NPCs the way your character would speak to another living person.

There's no substance in the player characters. Even when I purposely throw little scenarios into a scene to try and get characters to react, it usually bombs.

For example, I once tried to spice things up by having 3 guards try to bribe the powergamer's PC into paying them a fee so they won't arrest him for "murdering" an Ettin in Sigil. I roleplayed these guards as the typical smug loser types. I was thinking the player would start talking smack to show he's not afraid of them. This could have been a fun opportunity for fist fighting/wrestling or some humorous exchange of harsh words. Instead...because it's a game....the player instantly attacks the 3 guards lethally without saying a word. These guards didn't even have weapons drawn. They also tried grapplying him rather than attacking lethally (I was trying to show they weren't the type of threat that needed to be killed). But it didn't matter to the player. He slaughtered them and fled. He would say it's ok to do that because he's a "chaotic" good cleric :\

That's pretty much the routine. No need to make a character interesting unless it directly benefits your character's mechanical advancement.

 

[Oryan77]

Your post seems to complain that the players are having BadWrongFun, and that this BWF is not actually roleplaying.

Anyone remember me ranting about the use of the word BadWrongFun a few weeks ago? I told you that people jump at the chance to try to use the word BadWrongFun.

I know the word BadWrongFun is the new word of the day and people are itching at the chance to use BadWrongFun in a sentence, but I never once said anything about the player playing D&D wrong & having BadWrongFun. I said his style isn't what I'm interested in DM'ing and it's affecting my fun in a bad & wrong way. :\

You should have directed the word BadWrongFun at the player in my group instead of me because he's causing me to have BadWrongFun.

There...hopefully I used the word BadWrongFun enough to wet everyone's appetite for awhile.

 

[Spatula]

Wow, the CN defense, only used by a CG character. That's when you tell the player that they're not CG anymore...

I feel the OP's pain, although at least I don't have to deal with any anti-social power gamer types like the one he describes - that player sounds like a good candidate for da boot. Many if not most DMs put a lot of work into their games, and players who don't show any interest in it (beyond combat) are a real downer.

 

[Harmon]

Couple things here- I agree with much of what you are saying, I find my role playing lacking in D&D where in other games (prior to our return to D&D with the release of 3.0e). I also find that others players have lost much of their interest in role playing and rather seem to like roll playing or just getting into fights and not worrying about the out come (cause hay, its just a game).

If you figure this problem out, I would like to know the answer. As it stands this kind of role playing is turning me away from RPG which I have been involved in and loved for twenty seven years.

I'm in the same boat as those who believe roleplaying is not simply speaking in a different accent and using Old English. I'm turned off by that type of roleplaying.

This line got me to thinking about something I use to admire in Players/GMs- slight and subtle vocal changes. Our present GM is good at this, but I have noticed that he's slipping, that we can't always tell when the NPC speaker changes from one to another where in we usta could follow every change move just by the slightness of his voice. Its an art he is losing. So you are not alone, something is happening the more we game and its.... not good.

...because he's a "chaotic" good cleric :\

That's pretty much the routine. No need to make a character interesting unless it directly benefits your character's mechanical advancement.

That character is dead now, so this really doesn't matter, but that doesn't sound like something a CG cleric should have done. Sounds more like CN or something with an E in it. I think I would have slipped his alignment the next morning to CN.

 

[hong]

For example, I once tried to spice things up by having 3 guards try to bribe the powergamer's PC into paying them a fee so they won't arrest him for "murdering" an Ettin in Sigil. I roleplayed these guards as the typical smug loser types. I was thinking the player would start talking smack to show he's not afraid of them. This could have been a fun opportunity for fist fighting/wrestling or some humorous exchange of harsh words. Instead...because it's a game....the player instantly attacks the 3 guards lethally without saying a word. These guards didn't even have weapons drawn. They also tried grapplying him rather than attacking lethally (I was trying to show they weren't the type of threat that needed to be killed). But it didn't matter to the player. He slaughtered them and fled. He would say it's ok to do that because he's a "chaotic" good cleric :\

See, this is a player who doesn't know how to showboat.

 

[Mark]

I've played with a lot of different gamers and I always mention how I'm a more roleplay/storytelling DM than a hack-n-slasher or powergamer. Everyone that I met always said they like roleplaying in D&D. The thing I've noticed is that very few of them ever actually roleplayed in the games I played with them.

Yup. If you're going to talk the talk, you have to actually talk the talk.

 

[AnonymousOne]

Yup. If you're going to talk the talk, you have to actually talk the talk.

Some of us can maximize a character and at the same time role play a suave rogue or a daring swashbuckler. I resent the comments that seem to stick people in one of two camps:

Those that want to kill things and take their stuff (the feeling seems to be that these characters are completely uninteresting and should go play WoW)

And those that are 'truly in touch' with role playing and build sub optimal characters to fit an idea. (the feeling seems to be that this is not only mutually exclusive, but better)

*glares* I can dish damage dice with our maxed Warblade just fine thank you and also persuade a NG cleric of Pelor that he should act in the interest of his flock to help us. In fact our DM has had to really pull some things on the fly with us because we role played the scenario to the hilt.

 

[skippy_the_witch]

I am currently running what will eventually be an E8 Pathfinder game for my FLGS. Because all of the players basically chose +1 lvl adj races (or I modified a standard +0 by giving two Iron Heroes traits to make it the equivalent) [and I just simply ignored the lvl adj] and have 5 players (rather than the 4 recommended), I have simply doubled the mooks for balance. Since the first few encounters are combat encounters in the module (this is NOT a spoiler, look at the cover), there really haven't been a lot of chance for role-playing outside of combat. That said, here are some of the role-playing that has happened in the group DURING combat:

*the Earth Genasi Boar Totem Barbarian (looks like The Thing) is about to die after being hit with THREE crits, calls out for the "spirits of earth" to save him. The Arcane Cleric Gnome (from a Dragon Magazine article) uses his ONE magic missile scroll (I gave everybody something special to start with...this gnome is facinated with arcane magic, even if he is a divine caster and uses the Intuitive Learning trait [i.e. wis bonus in skill points, NOT int], and is always trying to figure out the "math" or "science" of magic, while having no understanding of either) to kill the opponent. The Barbarian missed his spot check, so it looks to him as if the Spirits of Earth saved him and smited his opponent.

*Later, due to some wierd rolls and fumbles, the gnome ends up wrapping himself up in another player's large sea coat. Because the barbarian will literally be dead at the next round, the only part of the gnome exposed is his face, the barbarian picks up the gnome, who tell him to kiss him to "make him better". The gnome player meant to kiss his forehead or like to cast CLW (yes, I know, RAW say somantic component to CLW, but I let it go, because it was so damn funny), but the barbarian player said he misunderstood and did so on the lips. The Barbarian was stated as being "fresh from the farm" and very innocent and inexperienced, so when the healing energies washed through him (which HAVE to feel good), I had him make a Will Save. He fumbled it (natural 1) and now thinks he is in love with the gnome.

*There is supposed to be a break between encounter 2 and 3, but because of a fumble during the end of encounter two, this is not going to happen. Two of my other players are playing half-brothers, one a Tiefling and the other an Asimaar. The tiefling is a VERY lawful rogue (we have yet to really decide on good/evil yet), who is basically a PI/cop. The Asimar is a chaotic Battle Sorcerer, with a family heirloom masterwork Katana (again, I fudged a bit and let the player choose proficiency with katana rather than normal martial weapon...he is also not likely to find a katana to upgrade, thus will be using this weapon for quite a while). Anyway, during the last round of the second battle, he makes one final attack against his opponents, which are now panicking and running away (at the end of this round, this one is the ONLY survivor). The asimaar fumbles and (using the Dragon Compendium crit/fumble tables) throws his katana away from himself. Random direction generator has him throw it exactly the same direction as running opponent, who then makes a high roll and snags it and keeps going. Thus, the Battle Sorcerer is running after this last survivor of the encounter, and his brother follows him, with the rest of the party following them. They have not even had the chance to loot the bodies of the fallen, and there is some treasure left behind that will probably be looted in the chaos of the encounters before the party gets back. And this is with nobody having time to stop and be healed (all are pretty wounded).

*The barbarian (who has multiple opponents in front of him) grabs the hot dog stand (yes, I know, anachronism...could as easily be a table full of food or like...expected to be in encounter) and, making an impressibe str check (remember, he has 22 str at this point), basically pushes/throws it into two of his opponents, crushing and killing them. This was because he left his weapon leaning against a barrell a few feet away to very specifically "have a hot dog in each hand" and was unarmed at begining of encounter.

I think this all counts as Role-players rather than Roll-players.

True, the Battle Sorcerer has taken the special ability to spend spell slots to avoid damage.

True, the Barbarian wields a War Maul (from Arms & Armor 3.5), and basically kills whatever he hits with one shot (but he doesn't hit a lot).

But, I have had problems in the past with power gamers. I am just lucky that I have a few optimizers, but even that player is more like trying something "neat" to see what combos he can create rather than maximizing his character. As for past power gamers, they ALWAYS quit my game. I simply kill them. Lots of times. They eaither learn or quit. Problem solved. And this from a GM that HATES to kill a player, and has been known to go to extreme cases of fudging to keep a character who does not deserve to die alive.

skippy
GM or E8 Pathfinder