Post/Author/DateTime	Post
theHenchman 06-18-03, 03:35 AM	I couldn't roleplay to save my life!!!!!!! No matter what sort of situation I might be in I can't seem to do a good job with roleplaying my character how I should. If I have an elf, I don't play him how an elf might act. Same with most other races, I can't do it. All my characters have the exact same personality, and do the same sort of things. THEY HAVE NO SPICE!!!!! HELP PLEASE!!!!!!!!
ThoughtfulOwl 06-18-03, 05:27 AM	At character creation, start by picking a handful (and no more!) of distinctive traits, like a peculiar behavior in a given situation; then try to include them in your interpretation; when you get comfortable, add some other aspects, and so on. While it is not assured to work, it is an incremental effort and should come easier than an abrupt start. Hope this helps!;)
Mr.Musgrave 06-18-03, 05:58 AM	In the 2nd edition book The Complete Guide to Bards there is a section called "Defining you bard's personality." If gives a great long list of character traits that you can incorporate into your guys. It might help you play them differently if their personality is loosly laid out on paper first.
Airsucker 06-18-03, 02:47 PM	Ok, next character, start small. Make something that isn't too different from you and one trait that you don't have. There's a list of some easy ones in the DMG. Do your best to act out that trait. Also, make a list of things that the character would never do, always do, and likes & dislikes. If you play a certain archetype, like an elvin mage, read fiction about elven mages. Playing a paladin? Read books about paladins. Playing a monk? Watch Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Also, if you're having trouble staying in alignment, copy the 'This alignment is the best' paragraph out of the PHB chapter on description and keep it with your character. Use that to help make your do and don't list for your PC. If you have old Dragon magazines, find the article on trademark phrases. I think it was one of the April issues. Good Luck! :D You can do it!
PyroMancyr 06-18-03, 03:57 PM	i've played with people who had similar problems....what i do now is ask players (when im DMing) to take time to write a bio of the character...from that bio, i'll sit down with them and point out a couple rp ideas from it....maybe even assign some stats to go along with the traits...like.... "family killed in orcish raid when young when house was burned down..." traits- hatred of orcs, pyrophobia stats- +2 attack, -2 armor against orcs(due to reckless hatred in combat), requires a Wil check, -2 penalty, against any fire based attack, normal or magical, failure means character is frightened (as per DMG) crit failure means character is paralyzed with fear now...your DM might not want to use these ideas, but maybe writing a bio for your character will help give you an idea on how it could be played
JDRoundtree 06-18-03, 06:40 PM	I've been both a DM and a player and have had a lot of problems with this. I've found that some of the best roleplayers are the people who know least about the rules, and vice versa. I think that character traits, quirks, defining moments and the like are all good choices for character development. Also, you might think about creating a character that forces a certain reaction in other characters, one that makes certain role-play decisions for you a must. Example, I once dm'd a campaign where a friend of mine chose to make a 1/2 elf mage/thief. Nothing special, right? He chose to make him half-drow, half human. He got NO extra game perks for being half drow, but he knew that it would be role playing challenge. It FORCED me as the DM and the other pcs to treat him a certain way and thus the "burden" of roleplay had to be shared. Thus, the interaction of the others that you play with can help you try to "roleplay better" It's hard to let go and try to be someone else. I hope this helps.
Otto the Bugbear 06-18-03, 10:45 PM	Great ideas so far, and well worth trying out if you feel comfortable with them. The one that worked well for me, way back 15 years ago, was playing a stereotypical character. My first real character was in the same vein of Conan of Cimmeria (sp?). Not really the Conan from the books as I hadn't discovered the joy of reading at that point, but more the one from the movies. You know the type -- big, dumb, brutish, thick accent, etc. People may laugh and mock that, but I know for a fact that it worked for me. Nothing can help get a new (and in my case young) player into the roleplaying mode faster than to mimic a well known character type, be it just another Conan, or the weasley thief, haughty wizard, or pompous cleric. The main thing is to just keep at it. Pick my method or one posted by the others and just keep trying and trying and trying. Eventually you'll get it. Cheers Otto
Dauntless 06-18-03, 11:50 PM	Play a human. You know how human's act right? All human's act the same, so it should be easy... ... ... See how silly that sounds? Why should all Elves or Dwarves act the same? As long as you're consistent with your character, they can be however you want. :teach:
CrimsonPhoenix 06-19-03, 01:48 AM	The best advice up there (in my opinion) is to write a short bio of your character. It has helped me in the past, and even though I'm rather good at RP now I still do that to further develope my character, even if nobody else really ends up reading it. For now, sticking with something mostly basic is a good idea as well, but that doesn't mean you need a new character. Just decide from now on how you think your character should act, write a little something on it, and have a few things your character likes/dislikes. That will give you a firm start.
Crust 06-19-03, 12:20 PM	Watch more movies and read more books.
JusticeZero 06-19-03, 11:37 PM	First, start by looking over some fictional characters. Completely avoid the fantasy genre altogether; look for some memorable characters from TV shows or movies who are reasonably simple and predictable. Then build them into a character that is very un-like yourself. Avoid strange quirks that make you "different". If you're a bookish lady IRL, make a plain dwarf male who likes ale and axes, dislikes orcs, and otherwise behaves like one of the guys on Baywatch or something. You don't need to pick a terribly strong character, even; you can make a pretty passable paladin mapped to Miss Piggy. You just need a solid archetype to work from. Avoid, obviously, the usual "bad RPer" cliches - no bisexual nymphomaniac vampire weretigers, for instance. Furthermore, steer clear of the loner types, as those always decay party unity. If you play close to yourself, it's too easy to drop back to yourself; if you try for too much "originality", then it's easy for things to come apart over time as these unconnected notorious wild elements come apart because there isn't a cohesive character holding them together. You want simple, plain, and stereotypical, and you want it not like yourself.
JusticeZero 06-20-03, 01:15 AM	Let me actually go into this in more detail. You want to maintain at least TWO THINGS DIFFERENT about you at all times that make it so people treat you differently that they would your player. Gender is an easy one. Race is pretty easy too. Otherwise you can use significant trends of appearance, behavior, etc that should be very hard to escape. THESE SHOULD NOT BE GIMMICKS! A gimmick would be something like "I always talk backwards", "I'm afraid of half-orcs and I AM one", or any other singular overwhelming peculiarity. A gimmick is often a crutch, and it's a bad one because by the third session it's usually become stale. The group has seen the barbarian freak out at the sight of mice twenty times already, now they're looking behind the mouse phobia and if you don't have something there, then you're just not going to be able to really continue. Instead of being enriched by the gimmick, you've become like the guy who makes bad fart jokes at every occasion - it was funny the first two times, but now it's old, they try to find out if it's just a facade behind a deeper story but nope - it's fart jokes all the way down. When you find a personality to put in, you want to pick a relatively static character. You want there to be some staying power to stay pretty much the whole period you're cribbing. Characters in a movie don't have to be kept around till next week, so they can be dynamic; you don't want to be switching back and forth "Well, he acted like he had an epiphany and gained true wisdom.. then lost it.. then it came back.. and there it goes again.." between places where a character who didn't need to be continued to begin with kept flipping back and forth. Then, you don't want to keep them too close. You're mapping the personality, but you don't want them to be a CLONE. So put them on a different character. When picking the stereotype to get your personality from, it's OK to pick a character who you have a lot in common with - SO LONG AS THOSE TRAITS ARE EXPRESSED DIFFERENTLY. Sure, it's okay if you are a pessimist like your character.. but maybe you personally are sarcastic and biting in conversation - your character is cheerful in conversation, but a bit paranoid and always worried about an out. Let's try an example. First, i'll find some points of difference. Arbitrarily, i'm going to chose gender, and make the character female. I think i'll leave the race human, out of personal taste. There's one difference. I go looking for personalities to map to. I personally don't own a TV, I haven't seen enough movies lately, and haven't read a lot of books in the past few weeks on account of classes, so i'll dig into webcomics. The fantasy comics I leave out unless something really jumps out at me.. just for argument sake, I pick Joyce (It's Walky). Female goodygoody, highly religious. Acts in a pretty predictable fashion and wouldn't be too strange. Since i'm an atheist, I keep the religious themes, there's two differences. With the religious aspect, she seems a shoe-in for a Cleric, possibly even a Paladin. Thus, I make her a Wizard. ;) I build the rest of the character accordingly, and poof, I have a wizardess who isn't a nymph, isn't unbelievable, and whom I can get into the head of to a reasonable extent. I know how she'll react to a lot of things and can predict most others, I have a number of ideas for mannerisms and the like. How about another one: This time, i'll stay male. This means I need two points of difference. I'll go with race. I start out by making a dwarf. Why not? Now, a lot of people would suggest adding gimmicks like claustrophobia. Nah, i'll just do the Dwarf thing. I like all the usual Dwarf things. Now I need a personality to map onto him. I wander back to my book collection and scratch my head. What do I have to get into here?.. Hey, look, a Spider-Man comic. How can I combine them? Well, obviously i'm not going to have a dwarf flipping through the air gracefully.. and that might make it too obvious. So I note that I will avoid "Rogue" and "Monk". However, it might be interesting throwing a constant stream of wise-cracks at orcs as I relentlessly mow them down with tactics and heavy armor.. and I can certainly feel that power comes with responsibility. I'll need some power. Some sort of fighter class should work fine. I need to have something different, though.. I won't go with a terribly bizzarre psychological gimmick, because it would hurt me down the road so.. I cut off his beard. I tie it into the 'power/responsibility' thing.. once upon a time in his training, he made some mistake which he regrets to this day, and until he can set it right, he has vowed to keep his beard shaved clean. (edit to cut off quote)
JusticeZero 06-20-03, 03:08 AM	Kathryn Lakefisher LG Female Human Enchanter Kathryn's first memories are of awakening in a tent, surrounded by the adventuring party who had discovered her near the site of some battle. Quickly she discovered that, though she seemed uninjured, her memories were gone. She travelled with the group and was released to the care of a church of Pelor (for she had been found clutching a symbol of Pelor's, albeit with no other sign of clerical investment) until she could recover. In the quest to learn more about her past (as it is her best guess that a spell was used to erase her memories, for some unknown reason), she spoke with a number of mages and priests, poring into the lore on magical means of mental command and control in her quest, finally becoming a mage in her own right. She is polite, optimistic to a fault, and well mannered, often mixing references to Pelor into her exclamations. She lives a very moral life, though on rare occasions her attempts to preserve her purity can border on the obsessive. While, when facing other people, she prefers to use Charm and other mind-altering magics to 'persuade' those who would harm her to leave her be, she has no trouble with unleashing powerful Evocation magics to blast her way through problems (and tends to spend a great deal of time studying direct damage spells). Modi Garant CG Male Dwarf Barbarian Modi was always one of the largest and best muscled warriors of his clan, and lived in a small dwarven town in the mountains. His skill with a greataxe was unparallelled. As he grew, his natural talent as a bloodsinger - a berserker - was discovered, and Modi found himself in line as one of the elite warriors of the clan. Given an axe, and allowing his adrenaline to sing through his blood in a euphoric high of battle, he was able to wreak awe-inspiring havok on the orcish attackers which would often plague his town. After one such battle, he returned to the bar to celebrate with ale, too proud to believe that the orcs might be anything but cowed by the victory. But that night, as he crawled back to his guard post, too intoxicated to act properly, a sneak force of orcs slipped into the town and slaughtered a number of villagers. In penance for his pride, Modi shaved his beloved beard off and left his town in shame, vowing never again to let his pride overrule his responsibilities. from that day forward, he has never let his beard grow beyond short stubble, in spite of the troubles it causes when the occasional bard travels through with tales of the 'dishonorable, shaven dwarven thug'. Modi is a methodical, careful adventurer at heart. Though he lets his instincts and his heart lead him from adventure to adventure, when it comes time to set foot in the cave, he is the one who makes sure there is enough torches and spikes. For each and every procedure he may do to stave off nasty surprises, he can explain what sort of mishap might befall from the lack of proper procedure. He has little patience for careless and 'green' adventurers making reckless mistakes in battle or on the road, and is quick to try to teach them the wisdom of proper preparation. Through his dwarven curmudgeonly ways, though, shines a warm and amiable soul. Modi has little patience for laws and the like, and feels that his defense against being arrested is simply to not want to behave poorly to begin with. He generally flits from adventure to adventure, or cause to cause, in a relatively random fashion, persuing the end of whatever evil has inspired his enmity most recently. In battle, Modi uses the finest in battle tactics, making the most of flanking and the terrain, all the while keeping up a commentary of light-hearted insults, advice to his teammates, comments, and random chatter through the adrenaline charged mania of his "rage". In battle, he is a horrible optimist, keeping a grin on his face in the face of the worst of odds. In spite of his good cheer, he remains a realist, and is fully in support of retreat from overwhelming odds if the tide of battle has clearly turned.
Kordak 06-26-03, 11:20 PM	One of the things that has helped me become a better roleplayer is to attribute known characteristics (i.e. real world characteristics) to a particular character. For example, I'm playing an Elf Sorceror who is an escaped slave from Sembia (in FR) and noticed the concept that Sembians (and by extension Chandathans) were like Southern slave owners in that they speak with a slow drawl...this really helped in differentiating the character in my mind. That really is half the battle...if you can make the character different than yourself, then he becomes much easier to play and seperates himself from the rest of the characters at the table. Try picking the stereotypical "Scottish" accent for a Dwarf and see how it works....or any of the strange English accents that we have...heck, try a French accent. When you start speaking like a known quantity in the real world, you can begin to overlay that with other personality quirks for a particular character. BTW, they all don't have to be determined beforehand. That is what character growth is all about....good luck.
Reverend_Chaos 06-27-03, 10:06 PM	I have a friend that uses a scottish accent for a dwarf. He has also used a russian accent for a dwarf also. He used a french accent for a halfling rogue, who wielded a rapier, and rode a war dog (always reminded me of the dog on the Labyrinth) Another friend of mine played a halfling on Dark Sun with a thick spanish accent. He sounded like a gang member. I had a friend who played an elf, who hated to be touched in any fashion by anyone. He would not shake hands, and if he was wounded, he would let the cleric heal him, but with much distaste. These are pretty simple, but very effective.
Kiarynh'Veil Duskryn 06-28-03, 02:36 PM	Originally posted by Crust Watch more movies and read more books. Well said :D
Kiarynh'Veil Duskryn 06-28-03, 02:38 PM	Originally posted by Dauntless Play a human. You know how human's act right? All human's act the same, so it should be easy... Now, THAT's well said:D
Kordak 06-28-03, 04:48 PM	Originally posted by Reverend_Chaos Another friend of mine played a halfling on Dark Sun with a thick spanish accent. He sounded like a gang member. I had a friend who played an elf, who hated to be touched in any fashion by anyone. He would not shake hands, and if he was wounded, he would let the cleric heal him, but with much distaste. That is hilarious! :rofl: Seriously, tho, very good stuff...I think I would have a hard time keeping a straight face playing with them, but isn't that what playing D&D is all about? Having fun and entertaining each other. A halfling cholo...gotta love it...hmmm...maybe if I... :)
theHenchman 06-29-03, 02:04 AM	Actually, not all humans are the same....... Thats why some people are mass murderers that kill people with a .44 because the dog started telling him to. Thats also why some people go into porno theatres and wank their willie...... Not all humans are the same.
Kiarynh'Veil Duskryn 06-29-03, 03:14 AM	Originally posted by theHenchman Thats also why some people go into porno theatres and wank their willie...... Hey, what's bad about that? :angel:
Daniel _the_Zodiac 06-29-03, 05:38 PM	Here's something that could help (Sorry for the long post though) 101 Questions You Should Be Able to Answer About Your Character Part 1: The Basics 1. What is your full name? Do you have a nickname? 2. How old are you? When is your birthday? 3. Where were you born? Where do you live now? Are you patriotic? 4. Who are/were your parents? (Names, occupations, personalities, etc.) 5. Do you have any siblings? What are/were they like? 6. What is your occupation? 7. How tall are you? How much do you weigh? 8. What color is your hair? What color are your eyes? 9. What is your race? 10. To which social class do you belong? 11. Do you consider yourself to be attractive? Do others? 12. What is your style of dress? 13. Do you have any scars? Tattoos? Birthmarks? Other unique physical features? 14. Do you have any allergies, diseases, or other physical weaknesses? 15. Are you right- or left-handed? 16. What does your voice sound like? 17. What kind of vocabulary do you use? 18. List three quirks or other defining characteristics. 19. How often do you bathe? Do you wear perfumes? 20. What kind of facial expression do you commonly wear (dour glare, wry smile, etc)? 21. Do you use body language? How? 22. Do you have a commonly used saying? Part 2: Growing Up 23. What is your earliest memory? 24. How much schooling have you had? Did you enjoy it? 25. Where did you learn most of your knowledge and skill? 26. How would you describe your childhood in general? 27. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? 28. When and with whom was your first kiss? 29. Are you a virgin? If not, when and with whom did you lose your virginity? 30. Do you have a notorious or celebrated ancestor? Does that affect you? Part 3: Past Influences 31. What do you consider the most important event of your life so far? 32. What do you consider your greatest achievement? 33. What is your greatest regret? 34. What is the most embarrassing or shameful thing ever to happen to you? 35. Do you have any secrets? If so, what are they? 36. What is the most evil thing you have ever done? 37. When was the time you were the most frightened? 38. Have you ever traveled outside of your country? If so, to where? Part 4: Beliefs And Opinions 39. What is your alignment? 40. Are you basically optimistic or pessimistic? 41. Do you believe in a god? If so, which one and why? 42. Do you believe in an afterlife? 43. What is your greatest fear? 44. What makes your character angry? Sad? Happy? Why? 45. Do you think people are basically good or basically evil? 46. What are your views on politics? Religion? Sex? 47. What are your views on gambling, lying, theft, and killing? 48. How far will you go to defend your beliefs? 49. How much do you value money? 50. In your opinion, what is the most evil thing any human being could do? 51. Do you believe in self-sacrifice for the greater good? 52. Do you believe in the existence of soul mates and/or true love? 53. Are you superstitious? 54. How much do you respect the beliefs and opinions of others? 55. How honest are you about your thoughts and feelings? 56. Do you have any biases or prejudices? Part 5: Relationships With Others 57. Who is the most important person in your life, and why? 58. Who is the person you respect the most? Despise the most? Why? 59. Do you have a significant other? Who? 60. Do you have a lot of friends? Who is your best friend? 61. How do you relate to members of the same race? Class? Sex? 62. How do you relate to members of a different race? Class? Sex? 63. Have you ever been in love? If so, describe what happened. 64. What do you look for in a potential lover? 65. How close are you to your family? 66. Do you want a marriage, family, and/or children? 67. Do you tend to argue with people, or avoid conflict? 68. Are you a listener or a talker? 69. How long does it usually take for you to trust others? 70. Do you hold grudges? 71. Do you tend to take on leadership roles in social situations? 72. Do you like interacting with large groups of people? 73. How well do you express yourself? 74. How quickly do you judge others? 75. Do you care what others think of you? 76. Do you have any enemies? How or why are they your enemy? Part 6: Likes And Dislikes 77. What is your favorite pastime? Color? Food? Possession? 78. What are your preferences in arts and/or entertainment? 79. Do you smoke, drink, go whoring, or use drugs? Why or why not? 80. How do you spend a typical Saturday night? 81. What is your most cherished fantasy? 82. How long is your attention span? 83. Do you laugh a lot? What do you find funny? 84. Is there anything that shocks or offends you? If so, what? 85. How do you deal with stress? 86. How much athletic ability do you have? Artistic? 87. Do you like animals? Do you like children? 88. Are you spontaneous, or do you always need to have a plan? 89. What are your pet peeves? Part 7: Self Images 90. What is your greatest strength as a person? Weakness? 91. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? 92. Are you generally introverted or extroverted? 93. Do you like yourself? 94. Do you have a daily routine? How do you feel if your day is interrupted? 95. What goal do you most want to accomplish in the next six months? Your lifetime? 96. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years? 20 years? 97. If you could choose, how would you want to die? 98. What is the one thing you would like to be remembered for after your death? 99. What three words would you use to best describe your personality? 100. What three words would others probably use to describe you? 101. Why are you risking your life to adventure? _ Hope this helps.