So, I've decided that I hate roleplaying

[MortonStromgal]

Pretty much. I guess what makes it kind of "weird" is that I enjoy having the roleplaying background; that is, I'm fond of campaigns with very strong themes and tightly woven plots, so I can create a character who fits the tone and style of the campaign. I enjoy coming up with character traits, and personality, and backstory. I just don't like a ton of immersive roleplaying and first-person character dialogue/interaction. I have no problem with exhibiting some of my character's traits and occasionally a quote, but I don't like to saturate the game with IMO overly complex narrative.

For instance, I have no problem having a fully fleshed out character (again, matching the overall plot, theme and tone of the campaign) with a personality, and personality traits/quirks, and interjecting that into the game (e.g. if playing a cleric and fighting undead: "I hold up my holy symbol and yell a prayer to Pelor to smite the undead"), as long as it doesn't require me to "play dumb", but I'm not a fan of narratives (e.g. "O great Pelor, your servant asks you smite these abominations! By sunlight be cleansed!") except very short bursts where it makes sense to the plot (e.g. confronting the BBEG). I think maybe it's the fact I've played in many games that didn't consider the first part "roleplaying", only the second, and I don't feel comfortable doing the second; typically there's always someone, or more than one person, who does the second and then my doing the first seems like I'm trying to avoid roleplaying my character. The current situation is like this - in the WHFRP game I can't get away with doing the first, I have to do the second.

No offense but your dialog example is poor as you said "I hold up" in the first and the second only expands upon your prayer. Also I have a friend who is very similar to you in many ways. I always say to him why did you write a 5 page background for yourself. Because he will seldom have it come out in his character unless you specifically ask the right question. Which rarely happens because we were not allowed to read his background so how would we know what to ask.

Heres what I am hearing from you now. I think you actually enjoy roleplaying you just don't feel comfortable doing method acting and you don't want roleplaying to get in the way of your tactics. This to me says old skool, you need a game where there are no knowledge skills, so if you as a player know it you can use it. You also need a game thats heavy on the tactics end and where you can roll a skill rather than act out a scene. You also need like minded individuals to play said game. My solution D&D, any edition, you can hack the stuff out you dont want, then find some people who want a "Beer and Pretzels" game, perhaps WOW guild mates. Run it! Shadowrun may also be a decent fit. Ultimately though I think if you try and run it (and advertise it as such) you will find like minded players and perhaps even a DM you can switch off with.

 

[Uder]

Is there any hope for me, or are my days of RPGs over and I should just stick with WoW?

If you like playing games without the roleplaying, have you thought about trying some of the tactical wargames out there, like Mordheim, Necromunda, Squad Leader, Gangs of Mega City, Descent, Doom, or those sorts of things? A lot of them even have character advancement, have a "lite-roleplay" feel to them. Mordheim and Necromunda rules are even free, you just need a dozen or so figures for each side and some basic terrain for your table.

 

[innerdude]

Let me explain. I prefer my roleplaying in very small doses. I don't enjoy having half a session devoted to talking "in character", nor do I like having to speak in first person for my character. I like combat, I like tactical maneuvers, and I like killing things and taking their stuff

Roleplaying, to me, is something that should be the background and not the major focus. I don't want to "play stupid" with my character, and therefore make poor tactical decisions that hurt the rest of the group. Maybe it's because during the past year I stopped playing D&D and started playing WoW, but it's now my view that someone who hurts their party for "roleplay reasons" is a total jerk and doesn't belong in the group. I don't like being "forced" to speak in first person with my character; IMO it's perfectly acceptable to say "<character name> tells the guard blah blah blah..." and that is roleplaying. I don't have to engage in dialogue and be all like "Hail, my good man! I am seeking blah blah blah canst thou help me?" like improv theater. Sadly most of the people I've gamed with have not agreed and felt I was not roleplaying "properly" because I don't like speaking in first person.

My old group lost two of its members when my friend's sister and her boyfriend stopped playing (both said they weren't really "into" D&D and were just playing because the brother asked them to). So my friend wanted to try Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay and kept saying how great it is and hyping it. So I've given it a shot for about a month now. And I hate it. The system is alright and a unique take, but it encourages so much roleplay and "narrative" that it disgusts me. Since my friend is big into the roleplay aspect, to the point where he dislikes 4e for it's base "heavy combat, light roleplay" mentality, he finds this great. I find it boring as hell. I like my roleplay light and my combat heavy, since combat is where I have the most fun. My friend is the kind I described above, where it's not "roleplaying" unless I'm talking in first person, and he loves how WHFRP pushes the roleplay even to the point of this "party tension" nonsnese that hinders you if you can't agree on something. He even said he loves the system because it focuses on "the party narrative" which just makes me want to barf.

So... what can I do? I've noticed that lately, I don't even have a desire to play RPGs because I want to avoid the roleplay except where absolutely necessary (or the occasional witty remark during combat, things like that), and as far as the combat goes I feel I'd rather be playing WoW because there's no "house rules" to muck things up because someone doesn't agree with the RAW.

Is there any hope for me, or are my days of RPGs over and I should just stick with WoW?

I totally respect your viewpoint, and completely understand your personal preference.

They happen to run totally and completely counter to mine when it comes to my roleplaying preferences, but that's cool, it's what makes the gaming community what it is. Personally, I feel like combat is usually the least interesting way to resolve in-game challenges. It's much more interesting to me to find unique, character-inspired choices to solve problems.

I will say based on the responses to this thread that it seems like I'm in the minority for this preference, though, which was actually a little surprising to me. Maybe I've just avoided the "Bash heads, take stuff" crowd in my gaming groups so far, but most of my fellow players have been a lot more interested in having fun, interesting characters than in just kicking the crap out of stuff.

 

[Doug McCrae]

So, I'm curious...what do people in Scotland use for their Dwarvish accents? Do they speak normally?

I'm very much a traditionalist here. If it's dwarf it has to be Scottish. We usually do exaggerated Scottish accents for ours.

I know Tolkien thought of dwarves as Jewish but I really think Scottish is closer. Short, greedy, surly, drunk. If there's more to being Scottish than that, I'd like to hear about it.

Having red hair, that's the only other thing.

 

[Mouseferatu]

I know Tolkien thought of dwarves as Jewish

*blink*

At the risk of a complete threadjack... I'd never heard that before. Got a source/link? I'd love to read up on it.

 

[Doug McCrae]

*blink*

At the risk of a complete threadjack... I'd never heard that before. Got a source/link? I'd love to read up on it.

The wikipedia article on Middle-Earth dwarves has a fair bit about it, section 1.2-1.5. It has a couple of quotes from Tolkien himself on the subject.

 

[nedjer]

Short, greedy, surly, drunk. .

At last we know how Scots came to invent nearly everything

 

[nedjer]

There's plenty of crunchy 4e players out there. You might also be a 'shoe-in' for Games Workshop Minatures 40k or LoR. Maybe crack open a box of Axis and Allies too. There's an online version here but it's premium.

 

[rogueattorney]

The OP basically said, "I'm tired of funny voices and 'walking through a Ren-Faire' type gaming sessions." The amount of "go play WoW/you're a hack 'n' slasher/D&D isn't for you" type answers really amaze me, and I wonder when talking in a funny voice while playacting out haggling over a bolt of silk began to equate with rpg'ing.

 

[WhatGravitas]

I have no problem with exhibiting some of my character's traits and occasionally a quote, but I don't like to saturate the game with IMO overly complex narrative.

For instance, I have no problem having a fully fleshed out character (again, matching the overall plot, theme and tone of the campaign) with a personality, and personality traits/quirks, and interjecting that into the game (e.g. if playing a cleric and fighting undead: "I hold up my holy symbol and yell a prayer to Pelor to smite the undead"), as long as it doesn't require me to "play dumb", but I'm not a fan of narratives [...]

Yeah, that really seems to say that you don't hate roleplay, as the previous posters said here. It really, really sounds a lot like you're prefer to handle your character more like a character in a novel or film, just a little more interactive; less "pretend to be an elf", more "cooperative storytelling" - on the action-heavy side. And you know, that's totally fine - I prefer the interactive novel approach as well.

So something that might work (apart from CRPGs and other group with similar preferences): be a GM, it's a good way to scratch the story itch without requiring a lot of dedication to one single character and... well, you get all the combat - just get used to losing!

But finding other people with similar preferences would be best, they're out there.

Cheers, LT.