the roleplaying they manage sometimes has me wondering why a couple of them aren't in film or on stage.
One in particular, James...he had this spectacular roleplaying moment when he and another character got in an argument. he is playing a utterly chaotic neutral don't care about anyone, crazy, joker wise crackin halfling rogue....
he just opened up on the other player with about an hour of concent...really..it was WORTH It....Me, as the DM was on the floor laughing...so much it hurt..everyone had fun.. he ended up making the other player cry..yes, she cried..cause she lost the argument so badly and was made to look like a fool (the character, not her).
she was kinda new and not ready for someone so hardcore into the acting aspect...it was perfect.
In the end everyone did great ...and they all got huge exp rewards (i give more exp for acting/true roleplaying, than combat)...James I think i gave a huge one time bonus of 10k or something since i've never seen a player get a standing ovation before
Even the girl who cried congratulated him on that ..she admitted she wasn't expecting that....now though, after dealing with..the 'hardcoreness' of my Dm style, etc...she has toughened up and is an awesome player in her own right
Sanjay
There is a player in my current group who is unique. Though he's currently playing a fighter since the campaign got tweaked, beforehand he would always play a rogue. What's unique about him is the way he plays his rogues. He'll certainly do roguish things, but his rogues are the most loyal, generous, friendly I have ever seen. Both in character with me playing Lawful Good and metagame player knowledge, I can trust his rogue with absolutely anything. There was one time he was holding party treasure of a great amount and came across a lucrative spending opportunity during his "alone time". He recognized the temptation, but he didn't succumb.
When it comes to party treasure division, he has his fetishes of a cloak of displacement, a bag of holding, and an item of teleport. Those items he wants. For anything else, he has no greed. In the previous campaign he insisted my cleric have two Tomes +4 (STR & CON) even though I was willing to share one with him because they were acquired in my "alone time" as the campaign circumstances of the time happened. He considered it my treasure.
My friend ran a campaign that lasted a couple years, and was simply the most enjoyable storyline I've ever run in. He had a way of making the characters come alive for us as players. He always told me that it wasn't the game or the rules that mattered the most to him, it was the stories that we as friends were fashioning for our own memories that were what mattered.
I really miss that big lug.
I just found the notes from a soliloquy delivered by a rogue who had goten his STR knocked down to zero by a shadow. He was starting to turn into a shadow himself, he had three rounds to go. His partner, the cleric, took the next go and delivered a critical killing blow to the shadow. The fighter and wizard wrapped up their combat with a greenspawn and came over to see about their friends. The cleric had cast Restoration to get the rogue's STR back up. What the heck, he was standing right next to him. The wizard, a very curious sort, asked what it was like to start turning into a shadow. What followed was completely ad lib:I felt like I was vanishing. I mean, my mind was there, but I felt like my body was fading into nothingness. I kept thinking about Julia and the plans we'd made and how they were never gonna happen now. I lost all sensation save sight and sound.
Then I saw you guys, still fighting, still moving, still feeling, still shouting, STILL ALIVE!!! And how I hated you for it. I loathed you. I despised you. I wanted nothing more than to suck the very life force from your bodies.
Some small part of me cried out that it wasn't your fault, that this was simply the fortunes of war. That part was getting smaller and smaller, and was soon replaced by an all-consuming hatred for life and all things living, things that dared live on, mocking me for the life I'd had... and lost.
[turns to the cleric]Even as you laid your hands on me, how I longed to drain your life force, your entity, and draw it into myself that I might once again experience life, even if only for a brief, fleeting moment. But as my vitality returned, the small, saner part of me got bigger and bigger. I was not draining your life force. I was borrowing some of its energy to boost mine back into me. My soul howled with joy as it found its footing again! And now, now that I live again, I can only wonder about the shadow that attacked me.
Who do you suppose it was?
It was a hell of an improv piece, and the player was going through the weak gestures of a man who has just been taken apart on the ethereal level and put back together. His voice dynamic was awesome, and his speech left us with the question of the undead. They were once living. Who were they?
Our resident artist hastily sketched an oscar award while we applauded. The rogue's player followed up with the "You like me! You really, really like me!" bit.
I was able to copy this because of my own personal shorthand that allows me to take notes during intense action without slowing down the game. It was pure genius! I think you can see better acting around many game tables than you could find in Hollywood on a good day!