Finding your roleplaying style

[Walking Paradox]

The proliferation of munchkincentric, rules-laden RPGs and the indie crowd's obsession with "rules, rules, systems, nothing but rules and systems" has distracted a lot of us from something obvious: We are supposed to be playing characters and our campaigns are supposed to have plots.*

What players and GMs both have in common is that, by and large, they all have their own styles of play which influences their characters' personalities and the kinds of games that they like to run. Here are just a few examples of the unique playing styles that I have encountered over the decades:

• "Drama Queens" who insist on being the center of attention in every scene and who take every situation as an opportunity to emote
• "Sleuths" who assume that every scene has a hidden core clue and won't move on until it's been decoded; including many things that were never meant to be decoded at all.
• "Breakers" who seek the easiest means to fracture a plot as quickly as possible
• "Vegetables" who think that "roleplaying" means quoting numbers on their character sheets (e.g. "I say to the merchant 'I should be able to recover this, because I have extensive experience in Spot Hidden items and in Climbing").
• "Comedians" whose characters utter one-liners, Monty Python quotes, Star Wars quotes, and various in-jokes at every opportunity.

What other common playing styles are there out there?


*I know that many of people are offended by the "P word" because if a GM actually wants something to happen, wants to plan for an eventuality in his game, or wants to spend as much time and effort into creating a campaign as players do into their characters, they cry "railroading," protest that what the GM has planned is always bad, and bemoan the loss of creativity. Please, save it for someone who hasn't heard it all before, and who doesn't find it boring.

 

[Thasmodious]

Nice offensive opening. Call Pathfinder players 3tards and compare 4e to a board game and I think you could offend pretty much everyone.

I'm not easily distracted, so I've had no problem continuing to play characters during this "onslaught" of wrongwayism, but I might just be extra special.

 

[Lanefan]

"Sleuths" are the best: they dream up stuff in your game you didn't even know was there, which you can then blend in and use against 'em...

I'd call "Breakers" those who look for advantageous loopholes in the rules.

Lan-"always the comedian"-efan

 

[Dice4Hire]

Yes, I know I play my game wrong, Paradox. But I cannot help it.

Seriously, a player does need to most find what they really like about playing. Is is \t puzzles, combat, roleplaying, being better than everyone else atthe table......

And once they know, they need to fin d a group that values that trait and communicate it to a DM that can scratch that itch.

Then there is a fun game.

 

[Jan van Leyden]

I'll add:

• Speculative Readers: these gamers actually enjoy a plot and want to see a story unfold. Speculative means that they are actively discussing plot possibilities, giving the GM great hints on possible developments.

 

[pawsplay]

Role Players: People who like to get together with their friends and create stories worth sharing, rather than spending their spare time on the Internet, complaining about everyone and everything.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

"The Pro From Dover" - It doesn't matter what character is played, the player wants them to be the best at whatever it is they do. Be it combat, magic, trading, whatever.

 

[Aus_Snow]

the indie crowd's obsession with "rules, rules, systems, nothing but rules and systems"

Huh? Not at all, the last time I encountered indie games and indie game designers (and gamers). Cite, perhaps? Or whatever has a chance of swaying the unbelievers among us?

our campaigns are supposed to have plots.

After the fact, yes. Otherwise, I disagree. I mean yes, they *can*. But I do not believe they *should* (other than via "emergent story" or whatever you might want to call it.


As for other common playing styles - I don't know, there's always "sane and reasonable".

 

[WHW4]

"Seekers" - People who just seek to enjoy an evening of relaxation, drinking a couple cold ones, laughing with their friends, ribbing each other, all while playing a game of make believe with dice attached to it.

"PooPooers" - People who come and poo all over everyone's fun by telling them they are playing pretend incorrectly.

Guess who gets invited back for session two?

 

[Umbran]

Here are just a few examples of the unique playing styles that I have encountered over the decades:

Interesting how every single one of them reads as... uncomplimentary. Are you intending this to be a gripe session?