Are you a good role player?

[Gospog]

Are you a good roleplayer?

My guy walks up to yours and says, "No."

-Tom

 

[Crothian]

so, who are these 4 people who are excellent role players and have few peers??

 

[JesterPoet]

Average. I find given the opportunity, I can be good, but I follow the flow of the gaming group I am playing with. Since most of the games are a bit combat intensive, it is very easy to forget about character personality, drive, etc.

Ditto.

I'd like to be better.

 

[der_kluge]

I'd say that I'm above average. But then, a lot of people I've gamed with I'd classify as "social" gamers, whereby, they're in it just for the socialization, and getting out of the house aspect. My current group is all a great group of people, and I like gaming with them, but there isn't a lot of deep role-playing going on. Oh sure, I struggle, but I try to take on my character's role, and talk to the other players as my character. I often find myself cutting off "metagame" arguments for what we should do, and focus on what our characters know. When I DM, I encourage people to "say what you intend to say", not "tell me what you say". In other words, in my game, I don't like when people do the following: "I go up to the king and tell him that I think his policy towards the orphans is unfair and unjust." Instead, I will insist that the player do the following: "I go up to the king and say, 'I think your policy is unfair and unjust!'" Subtle difference, but it encourages better role-playing, and keeps people in character.

 

[megamania]

I consider myself average when playing. I try like heck anyway. At various cons I have a total of three awards for role playing. As a GM, I am too careful what I say and how I say it. Average to a bit under then.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

Kinda like when they do the "What are your RL stats" and everyone has a 17 INT !

I noticed that in real life everyone seems to only has even stats. I think I was the only one who had a lot of 11's in the last thread I participated in. Damn munchkins!

As for roleplaying I would guess average. I make characters with sketchy but distinct backstories and they grow to have personality once I get some time to try them out. I resist the urge to hyperoptimize and end up with the odd feat or skill points spent on something 'cuz that is just what the character is like. I do not stay in character as much as I should, but I do better when we can arrange enough gaming sessions that I can get some regular practice and catch the swing of the other characters. I like bickering in character with the other characters in the party. I am respectful of the difference between character and player knowledge. I reasonably often make decisions purely based on helping another player have fun or helping that player get in some good roleplaying, even if it is the tactical/strategic suboptimal choice. (Call me a softy who is in it for everyone having fun.)

 

[fanboy2000]

What I love about DMing is the various bits of roleplaying I get to do over the course of a game session. DMing done a great deal to help me roleplay. Hasn't helped me actually be a better player though....

 

[howandwhy99]

I think I'm pretty good. But truthfully, I dont' think I have been up to par for a long time now. That has more to do with life outside of RPG's though. If you mean how good am I at playing the game, I would have to say about average. It's hard to understand what you are asking when the term roleplayer can mean both "gamer" and "staying in the role".

If you want to learn how good you are -really-, I suggest hitting up the big cons and seeing how you compare. Do a little looky-lou in the gaming pits of GenCon. There are some truly Great Players and Great DM's to be found. It also allows you to see how you rate with the other 7 folks around the table. If you play well, you'll know it. If you are humble enough to compare yourself to the others honestly, you should get a feel for where you rate. I haven't been back since '94 (grew up in Milw), but with 35K+ in attendance every year I think just about everyone finds themselves in the "middle of the road" category. Of course, a lot depends on your play preference too, so YMMV.

 

[neg]

I would say I am fair to average. If I don't get a background built on a new character, it becomes really difficult for me to craft it latter. The more time I spend on background, the closer to average, or around that area I become.

It really is an art to real get "into" your character and role-play it. My group is more of a beer & pretzel (w/o either) type of group that likes a good story, but only so far as it gets you to the next combat.

I would love to surround myself with better role players in the hopes of having some of it rub off on me. For my part, I try to commit to doing some background building before a character gets into play. That way our DM has something to work with and gives me a chance to do a few things.

All this being said, I am often a defacto party leader for some reason. I play 100% of the time because I fear DMing.

Sadly, like some I am a better tactician than I am a role-player. Though I don't know how I would fare at levels much beyond 8th as most of our campaigns don't get that far.

-neg

 

[Pants]

Eh, I'm average at best.

I rarely get to play as I'm the one who ends up DMing most of the time. I usually find it real easy to give NPC's some distinguishing traits that help them seem more 'real' and 'alive,' though this is usually a facade as most don't have much depth to them at all. Almost all my NPC's have some sort of 'stock' voice and mannerisms that I use. My players often remember old NPC's they've adventured with or fought against better than other PC's, so that must be a good thing, right?

Unfortunately, when I'm a player, I have a hard time distinguishing playing my character. Sometimes I won't play that 10 Int quite right (by making good tactical observations or something smart) or my actions might be a little less wise than what my character would do (I try to play low-average Wis characters as I often make... rash decisions that don't end up turning out that well).

I also have a hard time staying in character. Whenever I'm not involved with something, I usually spend my time BSing with my friends and I end up missing something important or pissing off the DM.

My characters usually have little depth, they almost always have some sort of agenda or goal, but little beyond that. No family trees or intricate history or whatever.

However, back before I started DMing, I used to be better. I think all this constant DMing has severely inhibited whatever roleplaying skills I had, so I try to do better, but... sometimes I don't.

So, I voted myself a 4/10 as a player and a 7/10 as a DM. Rounds out to about a 5 (I really don't care if that's right, that's what I gave myself damnit!).