So, I've decided that I hate roleplaying

[Nifft]

DM: The guard approaches you and motions for you to stop. "Halt! Where are you going in such a hurry?"
Me: "Pardon me, my good guardsman. I bear an urgent message for the Duke. My companions and I discovered a tribe of vile goblins massing and they threaten to overrun our fair town! I implore you, let me be on my way!"
DM: Make a Diplomacy check

The second one feels, I hate to say it, like way too much time and effort. The first example is much more my preference, and still involves "role playing"

The second example is not the definition of roleplaying. It's a type of very hammy roleplaying.

Here's how I'd do it (in the first person):

The guard approaches you and motions for you to stop. "Halt! Where are you going in such a hurry?"
Me: "There's a bloody goblin horde coming! Rouse the Duke, you fool!"
DM: Diplomacy or Intimidate, roll either.

- - -

This reminds me why I enjoy RPGs so much: it's quite fun to trash-talk in character. This can be accomplished during combat with no loss of combat.

Cheers, -- N

 

[ExploderWizard]

The second example is not the definition of roleplaying. It's a type of very hammy roleplaying.

Here's how I'd do it (in the first person):

The guard approaches you and motions for you to stop. "Halt! Where are you going in such a hurry?"
Me: "There's a bloody goblin hoard coming! Rouse the Duke, you fool!"
DM: Diplomacy or Intimidate, roll either.

- - -

This reminds me why I enjoy RPGs so much: it's quite fun to trash-talk in character. This can be accomplished during combat with no loss of combat.

Cheers, -- N

Yarp. Improv theater style is only one way to approach dialogue in the first person. It isn't the only way.

Sometimes just blurting out something on the spur of the moment without taking the time to process the thought enough to convert it to 3rd person can lead to very memorable quotes.

(From a GURPS fantasy game years ago. )

DM (as the NPC): "You don't seem to realize that there are 30 of us with crossbows and that you are surrounded."

Me: "You don't seem to realize that I'm crazy!"

 

[Dausuul]

The second example is not the definition of roleplaying. It's a type of very hammy roleplaying.

Damn straight. I like roleplaying, and as DM I expect important conversations to be played out in first person (you can summarize minor side conversations), but for the love of God, leave Ye Olde Butchered Englishe at home. Unless you've studied medieval literature, you aren't going to sound anything like a real medieval person... in fact, if you did sound like a real medieval person, nobody else at the table would be able to understand you. Just use modern English and leave it at that.

 

[Pbartender]

Just use modern English and leave it at that.

Although, I must say, in the right circumstances i can thoroughly appreciate a thick, campy, stereotypical accent. Just don't overdo it... Use it for occasional emphasis of a character's personality. Constant use of such accents and silly voices can get real old real fast.

 

[maddman75]

An important part of enjoying gaming is knowing what you want and what you really enjoy. I'm near the opposite of you, nothing but combat bores me to tears. I don't mind a good fight, but I want to know who I'm fighting and why I'm fighting them. Most of my games feature a single fight, and occasionally none at all. But that's okay because my players are on the same page - we recently had a game with no violence at all, and the players considered this a great victory. Fights in this style of game are generally a sign that something has gone wrong.

So play WoW, or specifically look for a 'kick in the door' hackfest. Don't play a game you don't enjoy just to be gaming.

DM (as the NPC): "You don't seem to realize that there are 30 of us with crossbows and that you are surrounded."

Me: "You don't seem to realize that I'm crazy!"

Awesome

I've never experienced the third person thing, and would find it very offputting. But to each their own.

 

[Darrin Drader]

I think there are a couple of issues going on here.

Let me explain. I prefer my roleplaying in very small doses. I don't enjoy having half a session devoted to talking "in character", nor do I like having to speak in first person for my character. I like combat, I like tactical maneuvers, and I like killing things and taking their stuff

I've been playing and running games for twenty-six years now, and I really don't enjoy the funny voice thing either. One of my friends describes the way I handle NPC interactions as "meta" because I don't speak first person unless every word they say is important, or we're dealing with very short responses. The PCs, in-turn, respond in a similar way. Not everyone is interested in being an amateur thespian, but you can still have a full range of interactions without having to get into the exact wording or phrasing. When I do quote their exact words, I put it in quotes, as you would see in a novel so that there's no confusion between my words and a character's words.

There's nothing wrong with this approach and you can have a perfectly satisfying game that way. On the other hand, if you like to RP in first person every encounter, going so far as to do the haggling with a merchant over a non-magical mundane item, that's cool too - but it wouldn't really fly in my group. Other groups will vary.

Roleplaying, to me, is something that should be the background and not the major focus. I don't want to "play stupid" with my character, and therefore make poor tactical decisions that hurt the rest of the group. Maybe it's because during the past year I stopped playing D&D and started playing WoW, but it's now my view that someone who hurts their party for "roleplay reasons" is a total jerk and doesn't belong in the group.

This, I think, can be an issue. It really depends on what you mean by playing stupid. Roleplaying was originally conceived as a means of simulationist immersion in a fantasy world. Sure, it has evolved to mean different things to different people, even varying by the particular game you're playing, but the one rule I do keep at the table is that there needs to be a wall between player knowledge and character knowledge. Just because you know the Achilles heel of a monster doesn't meant that your character knows it, and I frown upon players ignoring that fact in my games. Granted, sometimes it is a bit frustrating to pull out that killer move right when you need it, but not doing so makes the game function on a more authentic level, or at least that's the way I see it.

 

[Neonchameleon]

You're looking for 4e Encounters or possibly Delves, the Descent boardgame, or Kick In The Door style RP. (Again, probably 4e).

 

[broghammerj]

A bit off topic, but this is where Morrus needs to sweep in and unveil that gamer map application he is working on. I believe the idea is that it would show Enworld members and where they lived so you can find people in your area.

I would even go so far as to say it should have a profile with each person ranking certain qualiities (like roleplaying vs. combat), games played, genre preferences, etc.

Back on topic.

My advice is go to a local gaming event if you can find one. Having never been to one, I moved to a new area and said what the heck I'll go. I hadn't been gaming for 6 months so I figured I would try it out. The game was mediocre at best due to mostly environmental issues (artificalness of venue, limited time, etc.)

It was however, a great audition. I played with 8 guys at a table. Two were sort of people I thought I would cross the street if I saw them coming at me in the dark. The next 2 were people I would consider playing with or tolerating until I knew more about them. They are the sort of people if you wanted to invite another 1-2 people to a current group you could try them out to see if you meshed. 2 people were those that gamed entirely differently than the way my old group did. It was not bad/wrong/unfun it just wasn't my cup of tea. (this is a fascinating topic in and of itself).

The last two were guys who seemed to like what I liked, had personalities to hold a socially normal conversation with a total stranger, seemed to have reasonable jobs (a good gage for normalcy, economic downturn not withstanding), and had interests that were common outside of DnD. They were in the same group. I asked if we could get together and the rest is history.

 

[maddman75]

On voices - I have a rule. Don't do an accent unless one of the following are true

1) You can do the accent very well
2) The character is meant to be humorous or not taken seriously

If its a serious character and you do a bad accent, you'll make it laughable at best or painful at worst. Its okay for goofy characters - if you're doing an Austin Powers inspired spy game and have the Secret South American Nazi general spout off "Vee have Vays of Mayking you Talk!", that's pretty cool. If your wise old mentor from Germany sounds like Colonel Clink, not so much.

Playing Stupid is a perfectly valid playstyle as well.

I like games because they let me play out the kinds of movies, stories, and shows that I love. Sometimes in those shows people do stupid things. I really like games with some kind of Story Point award. Yes, it is dumb to open the door to the barricaded house because your dog Fluffy got out and the zombies might eat them, but it leads to those kinds of stories. I strongly prefer it when its the player's choice - you can do Dumb Thing that's appropriate for your character and get a Story Point out of it to help you later.

Some games it works for all the PCs to act like a highly trained tactical unit. Other times its not.

 

[Oryan77]

Is there any hope for me, or are my days of RPGs over and I should just stick with WoW?

Well, it is a role playing game (RPG). I can understand not being interested in roleplaying. But if you're so heated about the roleplaying aspect of the game, you're going to be annoyed as long as you are playing D&D unless you find a group that only hack-n-slashes. Roleplaying is a part of the game.

Have you tried getting a group to play the DDM skirmish game? It's a lot cheaper than warhammer and you can either get older minis and use the 1.0 or 2.0 rules, or you can still get newer minis and look online for the fan made conversion rules for new minis.

DDM is pretty much D&D without the roleplaying.