How deep is the Division? Roll Player & Role Player

[Quickbeam]

I'd also characterize myself as both, although I'm much less of a hack & slash gamer than I was 15+ years ago. As time has gone on and I've endeavored to learn more about D&D in its full context, I've found myself roleplaying more and roll-playing a little less. I'm not saying that maturity (the wisdom of age) breeds roleplayers, while inexperience (youthful energy) breeds roll-players. However, I am saying that in many cases time does erode the singular joy of wantonly crushing skulls and severing limbs, leaving one wanting a bit more out of the game. Then again, I could be wrong .

 

[Eryx]

I'm fairly down the middle of the role/roll-player devide, but I lean more towards Role-Playing.

 

[bloodymage]

Yesterday I had an interesting experience concerning this question. Now I would say that, at least in D&D, most players learn how to roll play first. That's probably the easiest way to introduce the game. After learning the mechanics, hopefully most would blossom into roleplayers who still enjoy roll play. I try to provide ample opportunities for and choices between both.

Only 2 of my players were available yesterday so I had both roll up 1st level characters. One of the players is just learning the game but he does have LARP experience (no tabletop). So he's running a human rogue (thief) who is the frontman (diplomacy, bluff, etc.) for his elven wizard cohort. The thief is peeking into another wizard's house who teaches at the local university of magic. He's seen, gets run down and collared (literally) by the wizard who's brandishing a club and demanding an explanation. No problem. This ex-LARP player should have an easy time smooth talking his way out of this. The first thing he does is try to grapple the wizard! THUMP! Again he tries. THUMP! Finally he sputters, offers up some lame words that don't even rate a die roll. The wizard isn't satisfied of course and again demands an explanation. Thief goes for his rapier! THUMP! Thief wakes up in the bailey.

I haven't asked about the player's LARP experience (I know it was Vampire) but aren't those systems built around role-playing? I would have not been surprised at my player's actions as a beginning D&D player but his ineptness at role playing, given his experience surprised me. Maybe that's why he's an ex-LARPer?

 

[Green Knight]

Extremes of both usually bore me. If it's just a non-stop fight then it's dull, as I'd have more fun just playing a video game. If there's no combat at all, that bores me, too. I prefer both.

Though of late I've been pretty bored with the dungeon delving. Not that there's anything wrong with it. Just I've done it so many times with all sorts of different characters. Gets kind of dull. Also tired of the adventurers who travel around the world. Can't tell you how many times I've criss-crossed Faerun in Forgotten Realms or the Core in Ravenloft with various characters. I've recently become enamored of the idea of having characters set in a specific area and becoming local heroes, dealing with threats within that zone, rather than going all over the place, and only travelling out of it rarely. Bleh. Even if I were to try that I'd probably be dissatisfied with that, too.

 

[Hejdun]

Well, we are kind of forced to roll play. Simply put, that's the only way we can gain experience, literally.

Our DM doesn't give a single experience point outside of combat, and he complains that no one role plays. Gee, I wonder why. Would you rather talk your way out of combat with Joe Orc and get nothing, or beat him to a bloody pulp (very fun, by the way) and get 600 experience? I like to role play, sure, but I also like to get some noticable results as well.

 

[burdett]

70% Roll Player 30% Role Player

As the subject line says, I'm 70% RollPlayer and 30% RolePlayer. If the game didn't have combat, I wouldn't play.

As much as I enjoy the combat related activity in the game, I do like to have a reason to fight. Rescue, Search and Destroy, Recon, Capture and Hold, Cover a Retreat, all of these things are fun.

Mindless hack and slash does not interest me. In the same vein, a scenario where you talk, talk, talk while bowing and scraping before his lordship for 2 hours does not interest me. That's just as mindless and seemingly endless.

 

[Emiricol]

Depends on the players. As a DM, I try to give a balance of both kinds of RP Occasionally I will have a session that is purely roll or purely role (especially as my group is in a bit of flux right now), but I do try to balance it. Dice are fun. So is plot and substance. YMMV

 

[mirzabah]

Originally posted by Hejdun
Well, we are kind of forced to roll play. Simply put, that's the only way we can gain experience, literally.

Our DM doesn't give a single experience point outside of combat, and he complains that no one role plays. Gee, I wonder why. Would you rather talk your way out of combat with Joe Orc and get nothing, or beat him to a bloody pulp (very fun, by the way) and get 600 experience? I like to role play, sure, but I also like to get some noticable results as well.

This is a sad perversion of the rules, which clearly state that experience should be awarded for "overcoming encounters". IIRC the example given is getting past a guard. It doesn't matter whether you kill the guard, sneak past him/her/it, bluff your way past, tunnel your way in or launch yourself over the walls using a catapult, if you succeed in gaining entrance to whatever the guard is guarding, then you get experience for the encounter. The point is that you encountered a problem and dealt with it and so you should be awarded XPs.

I suggest you find the relevant paragraph in the DMG and shove it under your DM's nose. For best effect, do this next time he criticises you for not roleplaying more

 

[Drakmar]

the worst roll players that I have

ever met were and still are playing White Wolf.. I have never seen anyboy have their way with a set of rules that this bunch can.

As a player I like to think that I am a combination of both.. basically somedays I am in a gah...lets just beat the bejesus out of them and on others...well..lets see if we can talk about this.

I have found as a player that I manipulating the roll players into combat situations of my choosing tends to work beautifully. Ie...get them to have at least one or two driving traits that even they take notice of and play to them.

As a DM....well...um.. I think that I get a balance between both role playing and combat... I basically assess the playing style of all of my players and try to find a balance.. fortunately the person in my group who is a "Serious Roleplayer" is also a DM who understands that yes there are more than one kind of player in the world and that you have figure out what each PLAYER enjoys..cause that is why we are all there...to enjoy ourselves. At least the people I play with and I are there for enjoyment. dunno bout you.

 

[Mark]

This is a sad perversion of the rules, which clearly state that experience should be awarded for "overcoming encounters". IIRC the example given is getting past a guard. It doesn't matter whether you kill the guard, sneak past him/her/it, bluff your way past, tunnel your way in or launch yourself over the walls using a catapult, if you succeed in gaining entrance to whatever the guard is guarding, then you get experience for the encounter. The point is that you encountered a problem and dealt with it and so you should be awarded XPs.

I suggest you find the relevant paragraph in the DMG and shove it under your DM's nose. For best effect, do this next time he criticises you for not roleplaying more

DMG p 165

Hope that helps our friend...

In my experience until you actually play with someone, there is simply no failsafe way to tell if someone is a Roll-Player, a Role-Player or somewhere in between. You'd think that most people would be a little bit of both with leanings toward Role, since it is a Role-Playing Game but does require some dice Rolling. The difficulty of identifying people as one or the other (if that really needs to be done) is compounded by the fact that most players, if pressed to declare, will almost inadvertantly claim to be Role-Players...

...Most strongly, if they are indeed Role-Players.