How Do you Game? First Person or Third Person?

[Shadowslayer]

You feel a cold chill go down your back.
A sense of dread overcomes you.

In general, it should be avoided except where absolutely necessary, for example, when communicating to the player that they have been charmed and no longer have full control over the character.

Actually, if that's the definition of 2nd person, then I may be guilty of that as a player too. While I'd never tell anyone how their character feels or reacts, I will sometimes say something like "You guys see me reach into my robe and pull out a little bag of powdered something...etc etc"

I always enjoyed describing the actions of my characters to the other players, and have known other guys that were great at it too. The trick is not to go overboard...too much and you're grandstanding. I only do it when its something the other characters haven't seen mine do before.

That way, if I say" Im pulling out my baggie of bat dung and sulfur" The other PCs know its time to hit the deck.

Beats sayiing "fireball at the lead orc" IMO

 

[Lord Mhoram]

DM third person. I'll speak the NPCs as first, but any descriptions of action or whatnot are third.

As a player I tend to switch.. sometimes in the middle of a sentence. I speak first person when doing dialog, but if the play is more an overview I will go third person. In combat and tense situations I tend to describe actions in first person, but for non essentials (like going to rent a room at the in) I'll drop into third. If it revealing some past info about the character, but not in dialog, it's always third person ("She trained doing this" rather than "I trained doing that")

The more immediate the situation, the more prone I am, as a player, to use first person.

 

[steenan]

As a player, I usually describe my character and his actions in first person. It fits naturally with speaking in character. Sometimes, I use the second person when I address other players with something about their perception and knowledge (like in: "I say it slowly, clearly, with no sign of emotion. Having spent several years with me, you know that I sound this way when on a brink of deadly rage.").

There are some games (ex. Polaris) where we prefer to speak about characters in third person and in past tense, like in a tale repeated long after it all happened.

As a GM, I nearly never use first person outside of what NPCs say. I speak about NPCs in third person and about player characters in second. I use second person especially often when I describe PCs' perceptions and emotions and knowledge or ask about their actions. I use third person when addressing someone's PC only if players speak about their characters in third person too.

 

[Janx]

You feel a cold chill go down your back.
A sense of dread overcomes you.

It's pretty much a DM only perspective, when the DM needs to communicate a character's experience directly to the player. In general, it should be avoided except where absolutely necessary, for example, when communicating to the player that they have been charmed and no longer have full control over the character. I find second person is too liberally used in alot of descriptive text in published modules. IMO, the DM really shouldn't be deciding how the PC feels unless some magic is involved and a saving throw has been failed.

based on that definition, I use 2nd person to relay what is affecting the PCs.

Thus, 3rd person is used as the general mode.

I assume that when a player speaks, he is speaking his intent of action, not his actual action, which may be blocked or prevented by something on my side.

Thus, a player might say: I charge across the field to confront the orcs

But, unbeknownst to the PC, there was a prepared spike trap in the middle of the field. So I relay that alteration of action in 2nd person:
You race across the field to face the orcs. You realize the pit trap only too late. Make a Reflex save to avoid the trap.

Also, on a technical note, quoted speech is not inherently 1st or 3rd person. It's the stuff outside the quotes that determines if it is 1st person, by use of the pronoun I, or implied I because the viewpoint has consistently been from the character's perspective.

This is not the same thing as not using quoted speech, versus summarizing what was said.

For example, asking for directions:

Janx asks the constable for directions to the inn (3rd person)

I ask the constable for directions to the inn (1st person)

Janx says to the constable, "Excuse me, can you direct me to an inn?" (3rd person)

I ask the constable, "Excuse me, can you direct to me to an inn?" (1st person)

The first 2 examples are not using direct or quoted speech, and can be done in either 1st or 3rd person. Some folks seem to be confusing not using quoted speech as 3rd person.

What's probably better to ask, is do you prefer to directly state what charcters are saying, or do you accept summaries.

Generally, I prefer to directly state what a PC says, Though sometimes for expediency, summaries are faster.

 

[WayneLigon]

All of the above, depending on the scenario and needs of the situation. We go in for a quick trip to town, I say 'Evan goes to the chandler to pick up some extra candle wax'. We are tied upside down over a pit of lava while the drow mistress berates us for info we don't have, I go 'Madam, please, now.. this is an interesting story of how we came to be here...'

 

[BryonD]

I'm also "both" for DM, but rather than using 1st or 3rd for major vs. minor characters, it is more an ally vs foe thing.

I'll roleplay interactions in first person, of course. But when I narrate actions I take more of a impartial third party stance.

 

[Vegepygmy]

As a player, mostly 1st, but sometimes 3rd (and it doesn't put me off a bit).

As DM, always 3rd. I would never describe an NPC's actions by saying I do XYZ. But I will occasionally "speak in character" directly to the players (which I don't consider 1st person, but maybe it is).

 

[Bedrockgames]

You feel a cold chill go down your back.
A sense of dread overcomes you.

It's pretty much a DM only perspective, when the DM needs to communicate a character's experience directly to the player. In general, it should be avoided except where absolutely necessary, for example, when communicating to the player that they have been charmed and no longer have full control over the character. I find second person is too liberally used in alot of descriptive text in published modules. IMO, the DM really shouldn't be deciding how the PC feels unless some magic is involved and a saving throw has been failed.

I don't really have a problem describing events to players in second person. It is very easy to do without telling them what they are thinking:

--You see a man standing on the corning, eye balling you.
-- You walk up the stairs and a cold wind blasts your face.
-- You fall 30 feet off the cliff and the force of the fall crushes your ribs.
-- You hear a chorus of whispers behind the door.


Telling players what they sense, is different from telling them how they feel. I think the issue of whether it is the GMs place to determine the character's emotional state, is seperate from whether he is using 3rd or 2nd person. After all, I can do the same thing in 3rd:

--Lord Penderbrass walks up the stairs, his bowls churning with fear as he rounds the bend.
--Lord Penderbrass rushes to the aid of his beloved Tabitha. As he holds her lifeless body, his eyes well with tears, and his mind turns to memories of their life together.

In both the 2nd and 3rd person, the GM can force actions on the players by telling them what they do or think. There isn't anything wrong with describing a players' action, as long as the player has indicated what his action was supposed to be (player-- I attack him with my sword (rolls, gets an 18); GM--okay, you heave your sword into the orcs belly, spilling its inards onto the battlefield).


Whether it is the GMs place to tell his players

 

[Amphimir Míriel]

I use first person almost exclusively when I'm a player

When DM'ing, I use every single narrative trick I can think of to describe a scene or when running a conversation or encounter

 

[Desdichado]

Mostly first person, but we go in and out, depending on the circumstances.