Some help with role playing - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Some help with role playing

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
mooninite99
Feb 26, 2010 21:18:05
So, I recently started playing D&D and my DM is running a campaign with a good balance of encounters and role playing. I'm not shy or anything but, I was hoping that you could give me a few pointers too make the game run a little more smoothly for the both of us (we're running a solo campaign). If it helps at all I am a lvl 2 Paladin, 3.5 edition. Any tips at all are appreciated.
#2
sillen
Feb 27, 2010 3:15:23
Play around with voices, try to find a voice or speech style that differs from your own and suits your character.
This way it is easier to determine whats said "in character" or not.

For example: I tend to play grumpy and gruff dwarves, so when I speak in character I use a darker grittier voice. And the DM knows instantly if "Where is the halfling ?" is a question spoken by my character, or a general inquiery from me as a player regarding the battlemat or somesuch.

One drawback of this I have noticed is that my throat starts to get bothered by the dwarven voice in prolonged speeches etc.
#3
kuonji
Feb 27, 2010 22:28:05 Think about who your character is and how they would react to certain situations. For example: a nobleman knight who took paladin vows will probably react differently to a perceived insult than a peasants son who donned a deity's colors. If you haven't already, detail a background for your character: where did you grow up? family? friends? etc.

What are your character's goals? How are you working towards them? These types of questions can help you and your DM focus the campaign in a certain direction and provide focus for role play encounters.

#4
bronski113
Feb 27, 2010 23:38:33 As it has been said just create a detailed background. Think up as much stuff as you can. After a while the character will speak to you. Different stuff in your character's past would cause him to act differently in the present.
#5
nikitadarkstar
Mar 02, 2010 14:58:10 I currently play in a solo cmpaign over msn, so this might actually work better online than irl but still, it helps.

Get to know your character, a simple background, goof around with various scenarios out of the game, just to figure out howyour character would react in them.

Write a background. Ok so I mentioned this already, but it's worth mentioning it again, keep it SIMPLE! Just a few lines of where he or she came from and his or her motivations and any big events in his/her life. Don't make it to detailed, that will just make it more awkward to play, instead keep it simple and don't be afraid to fill in any blanks that might be answered later in the game.

Since I play online, I talk to my DM almost every day, and obviously we talk alot of D&D and just generally mess around with eachother, but to me this also helps me get to know my characters,a nd helps him get to know them to, for example out of our latest three campaigns (so we jump around abit.... we like it that way ^^; ) both of us know exactly how all our (both mine and his) charaacters would react in most situations, ina solo campaign this is a pretty good thing in my opinion.

Don't be afraid to act on an impulse. If your character would do something exceedingly stupid in a specific situation, let it! Possibly give your DM a heads up that you will do something thats not very smart, but still go ahead, at the very least it could turn out damn funny. (For example my teenage thief recently went and tried to stab an npc that was getting close to the epic levels in the back. I know it wasn't smart, my DM knows it wasn't smart, but would a pissed of teen with a dagger and anger managment issue care? Not likley. My thief got abit of a thrashing and learned abit of a lesson, and we had a very good laugh at her expense.)

Stop treating battles as a Turn Based Strategy game. Personally I hate this, I try to stay in character even in battles, do what your character would do in the situation (and remember your character will not have that nice battle grid to look at...), sure it might make battles abit tougher, but I see solo campaigns more of joint story telling, and I prefer trying to stay IC during battles then, that and it makes it easier to get back to RP'ing after a long battle if you never stopped in the first place.

Don't be afraid to base a character on yourself. Seriously, there's nothing wrong with playing what you know, especially if you get to exxagerate abit, and it makes it alot easier for you to relate to your character. Like my teen thief? Yhea she's a brattier version of me when I was 15, loud, obnoxious, somewhat prone to temper tantrums (not to often though, cause that gets frustrating) and a goofy sense of humor. Or my necromancer. Calm, collected, hates violence (but will resort to it if forced.), loves furry things (cute animals lover flaw actually.), slightly morbid sense of humor, and abit of a book collector. He's closer to how I am now, obviously not an exact copy of me, but enough common traits for me to be able to relate to him and thus know how he'd react in various situations. (Everything from battle, to poking fun at friends.)

Just for fu you could try to do various online personality quizzes and answer them from your characters point of view. Don't bother much with the results of the tests, but instead focus more on the questions themselves. (I have a habit of doing this for all new characters I just rolled up. Helps me get through that first one or two slightly awkward sessions.)
#6
j_steele
Mar 02, 2010 22:07:47 When I first started playing, I found it difficult to 'get in to' character.

I just posted some character background stuff in my blog that helped me a lot.

A detailed background helps. Sometimes answering some general questions can help you develop a more rich background.

Good luck!

~ Syana
#7
beowuuf
Mar 03, 2010 17:06:15 Don't be afraid to make discoveries about your character on the fly as you get to know them. With a 'young' character, sometimes the reaction you choose in the moment for fun or because it just seems right then dictates who that character is, not the other way around.

From the other side, certainly its best to look at things like the stats and skill point choices, and try to read between the lines. You might have put skill points into sense motive, but why would he have developed that in his youth. Does he distrust the world, or did he used to be a shy kid who watched instead of participated? In both cases, there are personality consequences now for those, and interesting backgrounds beats to be developed to explain them. He might have a dex of 8, but does that mean he's clumsy, or does that mean he simply thinks or even overthinks things? Or does he just have an inabiity to 'let go' and act on instinct? Once again, once you determine how your ability scores are flavoured, figure out why.

Interesting ability score synergy - like high intelligence and low dexterity for someone who overthinks things - can suggest character beats which in turn can suggest background things.

As long as you play your scores, and stay true to what your character would and would not do, it makes RP easy. And don't be afraid, once you start getting a handle on your character, to try and spot how they will evolve given what they have experienced as an adventurer.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 mooninite99 Feb 26, 2010 21:18:05	So, I recently started playing D&D and my DM is running a campaign with a good balance of encounters and role playing. I'm not shy or anything but, I was hoping that you could give me a few pointers too make the game run a little more smoothly for the both of us (we're running a solo campaign). If it helps at all I am a lvl 2 Paladin, 3.5 edition. Any tips at all are appreciated.
#2 sillen Feb 27, 2010 3:15:23	Play around with voices, try to find a voice or speech style that differs from your own and suits your character. This way it is easier to determine whats said "in character" or not. For example: I tend to play grumpy and gruff dwarves, so when I speak in character I use a darker grittier voice. And the DM knows instantly if "Where is the halfling ?" is a question spoken by my character, or a general inquiery from me as a player regarding the battlemat or somesuch. One drawback of this I have noticed is that my throat starts to get bothered by the dwarven voice in prolonged speeches etc.
#3 kuonji Feb 27, 2010 22:28:05	Think about who your character is and how they would react to certain situations. For example: a nobleman knight who took paladin vows will probably react differently to a perceived insult than a peasants son who donned a deity's colors. If you haven't already, detail a background for your character: where did you grow up? family? friends? etc. What are your character's goals? How are you working towards them? These types of questions can help you and your DM focus the campaign in a certain direction and provide focus for role play encounters.
#4 bronski113 Feb 27, 2010 23:38:33	As it has been said just create a detailed background. Think up as much stuff as you can. After a while the character will speak to you. Different stuff in your character's past would cause him to act differently in the present.
#5 nikitadarkstar Mar 02, 2010 14:58:10	I currently play in a solo cmpaign over msn, so this might actually work better online than irl but still, it helps. Get to know your character, a simple background, goof around with various scenarios out of the game, just to figure out howyour character would react in them. Write a background. Ok so I mentioned this already, but it's worth mentioning it again, keep it SIMPLE! Just a few lines of where he or she came from and his or her motivations and any big events in his/her life. Don't make it to detailed, that will just make it more awkward to play, instead keep it simple and don't be afraid to fill in any blanks that might be answered later in the game. Since I play online, I talk to my DM almost every day, and obviously we talk alot of D&D and just generally mess around with eachother, but to me this also helps me get to know my characters,a nd helps him get to know them to, for example out of our latest three campaigns (so we jump around abit.... we like it that way ^^; ) both of us know exactly how all our (both mine and his) charaacters would react in most situations, ina solo campaign this is a pretty good thing in my opinion. Don't be afraid to act on an impulse. If your character would do something exceedingly stupid in a specific situation, let it! Possibly give your DM a heads up that you will do something thats not very smart, but still go ahead, at the very least it could turn out damn funny. (For example my teenage thief recently went and tried to stab an npc that was getting close to the epic levels in the back. I know it wasn't smart, my DM knows it wasn't smart, but would a pissed of teen with a dagger and anger managment issue care? Not likley. My thief got abit of a thrashing and learned abit of a lesson, and we had a very good laugh at her expense.) Stop treating battles as a Turn Based Strategy game. Personally I hate this, I try to stay in character even in battles, do what your character would do in the situation (and remember your character will not have that nice battle grid to look at...), sure it might make battles abit tougher, but I see solo campaigns more of joint story telling, and I prefer trying to stay IC during battles then, that and it makes it easier to get back to RP'ing after a long battle if you never stopped in the first place. Don't be afraid to base a character on yourself. Seriously, there's nothing wrong with playing what you know, especially if you get to exxagerate abit, and it makes it alot easier for you to relate to your character. Like my teen thief? Yhea she's a brattier version of me when I was 15, loud, obnoxious, somewhat prone to temper tantrums (not to often though, cause that gets frustrating) and a goofy sense of humor. Or my necromancer. Calm, collected, hates violence (but will resort to it if forced.), loves furry things (cute animals lover flaw actually.), slightly morbid sense of humor, and abit of a book collector. He's closer to how I am now, obviously not an exact copy of me, but enough common traits for me to be able to relate to him and thus know how he'd react in various situations. (Everything from battle, to poking fun at friends.) Just for fu you could try to do various online personality quizzes and answer them from your characters point of view. Don't bother much with the results of the tests, but instead focus more on the questions themselves. (I have a habit of doing this for all new characters I just rolled up. Helps me get through that first one or two slightly awkward sessions.)
#6 j_steele Mar 02, 2010 22:07:47	When I first started playing, I found it difficult to 'get in to' character. I just posted some character background stuff in my blog that helped me a lot. A detailed background helps. Sometimes answering some general questions can help you develop a more rich background. Good luck! ~ Syana
#7 beowuuf Mar 03, 2010 17:06:15	Don't be afraid to make discoveries about your character on the fly as you get to know them. With a 'young' character, sometimes the reaction you choose in the moment for fun or because it just seems right then dictates who that character is, not the other way around. From the other side, certainly its best to look at things like the stats and skill point choices, and try to read between the lines. You might have put skill points into sense motive, but why would he have developed that in his youth. Does he distrust the world, or did he used to be a shy kid who watched instead of participated? In both cases, there are personality consequences now for those, and interesting backgrounds beats to be developed to explain them. He might have a dex of 8, but does that mean he's clumsy, or does that mean he simply thinks or even overthinks things? Or does he just have an inabiity to 'let go' and act on instinct? Once again, once you determine how your ability scores are flavoured, figure out why. Interesting ability score synergy - like high intelligence and low dexterity for someone who overthinks things - can suggest character beats which in turn can suggest background things. As long as you play your scores, and stay true to what your character would and would not do, it makes RP easy. And don't be afraid, once you start getting a handle on your character, to try and spot how they will evolve given what they have experienced as an adventurer.