Roleplaying Advice

[Raduin711]

Ok, I'm no newbie to D&D or roleplaying (I've spent nearly every saturday playing D&D for I think over 5 years it seems) but I think I've hit a rut.

We will be ending our eberron campaign in a little bit; players are starting to talk about what we are playing next. Our next campaign will be taking place in goode olde Greyhawk. I'm feeling rather uninspired to come up with my next character concept.

I went to a Convention a few weeks ago and played with some other gamers and, while I wasn't the worst roleplayer present in a game of Spaceship Zero (a cheesy but amusing RPG designed to work like a 1950's pulp sci-fi radio program) I wasn't the best, either. It kind of made me realize that as highly as I respect good RP, I'm kind of... lousy at it.

I think my biggest problem is that my characters, no matter how I originally imagine them, seem to adapt my personality over time. Maybe its because my characters aren't that far removed from me in the first place.

more memorable characters of mine:
Laucian Orksblood, a Half-Orc Paladin. At heart, his personality was similar to mine, but his code of ethics and an unrequited love for another PC (something that never came to full fruition in the game) and his anti-type personality (an introspective warrior and paladin of Ilmater) made him fun and memorable.
Raduin Nimblegrund: A gnomish Wizard from Lantan. His style made him more memorable (a wizard who made gizmo-like magical items and fought with firearms) but his personality again was essentially mine again.

But most of my other characters are not so memorable. The one I am playing now, an Abjurer named Markon Ir'Valtrek, is me. I tried to spice him up as a mage with a hedge-mystic style of spells, somewhat at odds with the world around him, but in the end it was all forgotten and turned into me in a robe with some spells. My character is invaluable to the party, yes, but a dissapointment from an RP perspective. Most of my characters are either LG or NG.

So what do you do? I kind of get the sentiment from my fellow players that I tend to play the same things repeatedly... Goody-Goody Wizards.

Anyone have any advice on how to spice up my Roleplay?
Any character concepts you can recommend, that you think could be fun, but not disruptive?
How much does Alignment and Class factor into a fun RP?

 

[LostSoul]

There's nothing wrong with "playing yourself", except when you don't enjoy it. Is that it? Or do you feel like you're doing it "wrong" somehow, and that feeling makes you have less fun?

edit: me grammer suck.

 

[KenM]

This is totally orginal: A male CG Drow ranger that dual welds scimitars.

I usally like to take a streotype and twist it just a bit to make it fun to play.
An elf that likes orcs, ect.

 

[Mystery Man]

Play a female.

 

[kigmatzomat]

Well, don't play a goody-goody wizard.

Go for something significantly different with a role model you can always fall back on. A barbarian (Conan), a swashbuckler (Errol Flynn's Robin Hood), a not-so-trustworthy rogue (Alex Krychek - XFiles), etc.

Whatever it is, not a wizard. Better, not even a caster.

 

[Stormborn]

So what do you do? I kind of get the sentiment from my fellow players that I tend to play the same things repeatedly... Goody-Goody Wizards.

Anyone have any advice on how to spice up my Roleplay?
Any character concepts you can recommend, that you think could be fun, but not disruptive?
How much does Alignment and Class factor into a fun RP?

Well, if you like spellcasters try a Warlock (CN fighting of that E) as a new twist. Dark and driven doesn't sound like you so far, so this could be a new path. Your PC wants to be good, he is just have trouble sometimes destinguishing between what is Good and what is Good For Me. A little too "Ends Justify the Means" kinda guy. But he can get the job done.

I played, in one shot, a zealous Cleric of a God of Adventurers who was alwasy going on about "The Forging of Our Souls" - a path to enlightenment and ascendence that occured through the testing of your abilites and spirit in difficult persuits. The Cleric carried a big hammer and would wave it at enemies, NPCs, and fellow PCs and ask "Are you ready for the testing of your sould and the forging of your destiny?" or the like. Ranks in Perform(oratory) and i might have enentually taken levels in Marshal or Bard. Very fun. Think of it as an evangelical Thor.

Are you starting at 1st level? If not how about a Goblin Rogue/Paladin who has seen the error of his ways and has turned to good. Of course, using SA + smite is perfectly allowable if you follow someone like Cuthbert, as long as its against the badguys. A feat in COmplete Adventurer might allow you to advence in both classes, as an outcaste paladin of the streets -not fitting in anywhere but determined to make the world a better place with his trusty riding dog at his side.

I think most people either tend to play themselves or play their altar ego. I am always the high CHA leader (like real life) where as my wife, the careful and meticulous editor, always wants to be the fighter. While it can be one diminsional, try and take a character from fiction and apply it to your PC. Play at being that character and not you and over time the result will be somewhere in between. Batman as an Urban Ranger or Rogue/Monk. Angel and a teifling (or vampire)Paladin. Merry or Pippin as halfling rogue/bard. Van Helsing as the quentisential Cleric/Ranger. Sherlock Holmes as a Rogue/Investigator.

 

[jdrakeh]

Anyone have any advice on how to spice up my Roleplay?

Try some purely freeform roleplay. If nothing else, it'll give you a chance to do some immersive character acting and, rather than relying on dice rolls to inform your reaction, you can merely react as if you were the character. If you suck at it first time out, don't get discouraged (it can take some getting use to). I'd suggest that you start by downloading the following two FREE games/systems:

Formless
Wraiths

The former file is more a system framework that covers basic organizational tenets of freeform roleplay, as well as giving some examples of how to and different ways to approach it. The latter is a systemless game about military special-ops personnel (I've used it and Formless for a few Delta Green: Operations games).

 

[Raduin711]

Thanks for all the replies, everybody. =]

There's nothing wrong with "playing yourself", except when you don't enjoy it. Is that it? Or do you feel like you're doing it "wrong" somehow, and that feeling makes you have less fun?

edit: me grammer suck.

Playing myself just isnt satisfying me... I stay out of inter-party conflicts because when I am RPing myself, it gets a little personal. Not that we have that many, but still. And as I'm a rather thoughtful, socially conservative person, I don't end up DOING that much. And there is the angle that I kind of think of RPG's as a higher form of gaming than say, video games (which I do love) because its also a creative exercise. So yes, I feel like I am doing it "wrong" and that makes it less fun.

 

[Raduin711]

This is totally orginal: A male CG Drow ranger that dual welds scimitars.

I usally like to take a streotype and twist it just a bit to make it fun to play.
An elf that likes orcs, ect.

Done it before with Laucian. (half-orc raised by elves who grew up to become a paladin) I'm kind of afraid of using that sort of thing as a crutch, though. But I suppose as long as it's plausible and interesting in more ways than just one I might use a character concept like that.

 

[Raduin711]

Play a female.

Kind of afraid of the consequences of screwing that one up... two players are women and one is rather annoyed with guys playing female pc's badly. Plus I'm kind of gender-blind, and engaging in the stereotypes might feel kind of sexist.