D&D General The adventure game vs the role-playing game

[HJFudge]

Thing is, sometimes it's fun to do stuff in the game where there are no pressing or important "stakes" involved; where for example we just roleplay the PCs sitting around the campfire telling stories of past adventures. Sure we might bore the hell out of the DM - unless the DM has an NPC in the party who can share in the campfire chatter - though I know if I'm the DM it just gives me a chance to crack open a beer, sit back, and be entertained for a bit.

Otherwise, if everything always has stakes attached all you're really doing is stressing out your players; and as people are most likely playing in order to reduce stress rather than add to it, this seems somewhat counterintuitive.

Yes! When my players go off on a discussion amongst themselves and I can tell its gonna last a bit, it gives me a (sometimes much needed) break and I use the time to adjust the next parts of the game to whats happened thus far this session. If it goes on so long that I start getting bored I'll interject and let my players know its time to move on/wrap things up. Either by putting in something that must be dealt with urgently OR reminding them of the deadline OR just straight up OOCly saying 'Friends, enough, Im bored lets move on' (which works better than you think).

 

[pumasleeve]

Roleplaying is just deciding what your character does. So it's roleplaying to swing a sword at an orc and it's roleplaying to try to negotiate with the king or to try (and fail) to have a worthwhile conversation with the lone wolf edgelord drow PC. This roleplaying might be active (1st person) or descriptive (3rd person). But it's all roleplaying. You literally can't play the game without roleplaying.

I like this definition. but i do think that the term "roleplay" has been conflated with acting in character. For example, there are many youtube videos entitled "how to get your players to roleplay" and what they are talking about is encouraging them to act in character. These videos actually bug me as they seem to imply that players who dont want to act are not playing the game right. Its up to the group to decide how they want to play.

 

[pumasleeve]

saying 'Friends, enough, Im bored lets move on' (which works better than you think).

lol - I have done this and it does work

 

[DemoMonkey]

"Roleplaying is just deciding what your character does."

That's a subject for an entirely different forum argument. I absolutely disagree with that definition, but even if I agreed with it I don't think it's relevant to this conversation.

 

[iserith]

I like this definition. but i do think that the term "roleplay" has been conflated with acting in character. For example, there are many youtube videos entitled "how to get your players to roleplay" and what they are talking about is encouraging them to act in character. These videos actually bug me as they seem to imply that players who dont want to act are not playing the game right. Its up to the group to decide how they want to play.

Yep. It's a problem in my view.

"Roleplaying is just deciding what your character does."

That's a subject for an entirely different forum argument. I absolutely disagree with that definition, but even if I agreed with it I don't think it's relevant to this conversation.

It's how the most recent version of the game defines it at least. It's not how a lot of people use it though. I do think it's relevant to this conversation because @pumasleeve is absolutely roleplaying when playing the role of a dungeon-delving fighter battling the forces of darkness and how. He or she just may not be acting it out the same way that, say, Matt Mercer might.

 

[DemoMonkey]

There is a difference between role playing, and playing a game in which you have a role.

sigh Nit-picking pedantry AND semantics. This will be a dark ride. I have only myself to blame.

 

[Lanefan]

... OR just straight up OOCly saying 'Friends, enough, Im bored lets move on' (which works better than you think).

Bored DMs are dangerous DMs, aren't they?

 

[iserith]

There is a difference between role playing, and playing a game in which you have a role.

sigh Nit-picking pedantry AND semantics, This will be a dark ride.

Hey, I didn't write the latest rules of the game. But that's how it's defined - playing a role, the player determining how their character thinks, acts, and talks. It can be active or descriptive.

Where this runs into problems is that a lot of people conflate it with portraying the character in accordance with established characterization ("what my character would do") and then saying people who might not give this as much consideration are not roleplaying. If people just understood that it's all roleplaying, we could actually have a meaningful conversation about different, fun ways to communicate that roleplaying.

 

[DemoMonkey]

If your definition is that, when playing an RPG, you are by definition roleplaying, then that is not a constructive way to approach the discussion.

If everything is roleplaying, then nothing is not roleplaying.

I would submit that describing your characters actions in purely mechanical terms is not roleplaying.

"I move 15 feet towards the goblin and then make an attack roll. I get a 17, which hits it's AC of 14 that you declared last round. It takes 6 damage."

That's NOT roleplaying, by any definition that is useful to this conversation. Descriptive, accurate, a perfectly fine way of playing the game, yes. Not roleplaying.

 

[iserith]

If your definition is that, when playing an RPG, you are by definition roleplaying, then that is not a constructive way to approach the discussion.

If everything is roleplaying, then nothing is not roleplaying.

I would submit that describing your characters actions in purely mechanical terms is not roleplaying.

"I move 15 feet towards the goblin and then make an attack roll. I get a 17, which hits it's AC of 14 that you declared last round. It takes 6 damage."

That's NOT roleplaying, by any definition that is useful to this conversation. Descriptive, accurate, a perfectly fine way of playing the game, yes. Not roleplaying.

It's not my definition. But I do think it's a useful one, particularly as it shuts down arguments over who is roleplaying and who isn't. We all are, full stop. That's nice and inclusive, allowing for a diversity of approaches.

Some players are going to communicate their decisions, such as to attack a goblin, by referring to their actions (as in your example) with active or descriptive roleplaying with some mechanical elements. Others will do so with active roleplaying with more fictional elements (e.g. "I move toward the goblin and attack him with my sword!"), then wait for prompting by the DM. Others will do more or less the same with descriptive roleplaying (e.g. "Ragnar moves toward the goblin and attacks him with his sword!"). Some players might decide their character doesn't move toward the goblin because they have a flaw that says they have an irrational fear of goblinoids and so they instead throw a javelin, even if that is not as effective as close-quarters with a sword in context. This can be communicated actively or descriptively and is playing in accordance with established personal characteristics (trait, ideal, bond, flaw) and could be worth Inspiration.

Most people in my experience will do a combination of the above. But it's all roleplaying.