The group that I have joined is from what I have heard mostly interested in running around in dungeons mixed with serious roleplaying a little now and then.
As my character I created an Half-Orc monk serving Hextor the god of tyranny. I know that he is Lawful Evil and has an immense hatred against undead but I don't really know why.
So what I wonder is two things, could anyone give me any tips about how roleplaying works in the US and also if someone are up to the task some help with building up my characters background.
It's kinda somewhere between an actor taking on a role for a movie and when a little kid plays pretend. You're trying to play a personality - usually not your own - that befits the character. If it's a Barbarian, it's likely to be more blunt and savage. In your case, as a monk, your character would be more restrained and law-abiding.
What that means is that your character, for one thing, has a set of rules he follows to the letter, as Lawful Evil person. This may be simply following society's laws, or following his master's laws, or following his own set of personal laws. And the actual roleplay application of this sort of thing is simply a matter of saying things a person of that nature would say at that time.
So let's say your group discovered that the mayor of a town - who had raised it from the ground himself, and made it into a successful land - was actually a vampire who also fed on the lives of villagers every few months. Your monk might say "He must be tried for murder!" if he feels the laws of the land should be followed. If he has his own laws, he'll probably act accordingly.
If you have to take anything away from this, just think of how a half-orc monk would actually behave, and that is what roleplay is; having your character saying things as he/she should in the D&D world. HOWEVER, it should be known that your duty as a player is to never put the group in a situation that is awkward for everyone, such as becoming an enemy because "that's what your character would do".
Are there any special quirks with roleplaying in the United States?
In Sweden roleplaying had som problems during the 80s when a pair of influential journalists wrote a book that potrayed roleplayers as a part of a large conspiracy whose purpose was to take over Sweden.
These days, it's much more relaxed, and while some people still have such feelings, it's mostly accepted or ignored.
Unless you're in an extremely conservative religious community, there shouldn't be any problems.
In any case, Ogre4Hire is right. Unless you're in a small town with really hardcore religious fanatics, you shouldn't have any problem with roleplaying.
In Sweden roleplaying had som problems during the 80s when a pair of influential journalists wrote a book that potrayed roleplayers as a part of a large conspiracy whose purpose was to take over Sweden.
-Were they?
-Were they?
Nope they were not true.
But it resulted in a large media circus with people screaming about the horrible effects of roleplaying...
