PROPER ROLE PLAYING

What is roleplaying? It is a process of "acting" your Player Character. Assuming that you play RPGs, you will certainly remember a moment when

your DM (an expression commonly used in The AD&D game, in other RPGs it's the fellow that runs the whole thing) was furious because you "misroleplayed". Why?!! How!?? When?!? you must have been asking yourselves at that moment. Most DMs will gather their roleplayers, and they will explain them in grave tones that misroleplaying is a mortal sin, which will lead to Experience Point Penalties, and eventually, to one's losing the DM's favor.

 

Enough dramatizing. Seriously, misroleplaying is the most common problem unexperienced roleplayers have to deal with (except, perhaps, being killed too often). Among the people that play RPGs, roleplaying is the theme of their noisiest discussions. Not once has it been known to happen that members of a gaming crew went home angry and disappointed after such event. Every DM react to misroleplaying differently: some weep, some scream, some take the offending roleplayer's hand, and then explain them in motherly tones where the poor guy went wrong.

As the time passes, most roleplayers improve their abilities, but those who don't shouldn't be shunned. The DM should let them play until they figure out themselves that they are not cut out for that kind of gaming. Some DMs are never satisfied with the roleplaying quality his crew presents (HRIZIP, for example, although it seems he has given up AD&D in favor of Quake2).

There are many kinds of misroleplaying, and I'll try to explain the common cases.

For one thing, you should roleplay your character's alignment, race, class and age right. That means that your paladin will not beat up the kid who tried to pickpocket him, or your wizard won't prefer a sword to his magic. Also, you must take care of roleplaying your ability scores as well. That means that your fighter (INT8, WIS9) won't actually be a distinct intellectual.

Here's an example: two brothers, the older one is a fighter, and the younger is a necromancer (any similarity with Raistlin and Caramon is purely coincidental). They came in possession of a small wooden box that seems to be hollow inside, and are trying to open it.

The conversation:

The Necromancer: (with the expression that would make Lord Soth piss in his trousers) BREAK IT NOOOOOOOOOOW!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Fighter : (with the voice of a man who spent his best years studying archaeology) Perhaps there's something fragile inside...?

See what I mean?

The other common problem is "overroleplaying". That's when you roleplay your character too much.

Example #2: Bard, Human, AL CN, 4th lvl, STR12, CON16, DEX17, INT14, WIS9, CHA15. After a massive pickpocket he got locked up. Got out after his crew mate (PALADIN!!) vouched for him, and then repeated the procedure three more times. After that (by that time the DM was very angry), the crew got the job to hunt down the pervert who made obscene messages (majikwise) to a rich merchant's daughter. The offending party was supposed to appear at the young lass's wedding ceremony. After casting the grease spell under the high priest's feet, the mad bard called the bride "a stupid, spoiled brat". At that moment the DM went wild, and the crew mates reached for my neck (yes, you've figured it out, it was I) in an honest try to murder me.

The third problem the lightest of all, but also, it is the most common mistake in roleplaying. Does your character have a personality? If you think so, try to analyze it. Is he tall, handsome, and intelligent, or is he a fat little nitpicker of a priest? Was any of your characters an alcoholic, an adulterer, did any of them commit an act of self sacrifice, or he is, actually, a selfish, power-greedy bastard. Try to imagine a character who's views of life are totally opposite to your's. Create such character. Try roleplaying it. Believe it or not, the hardest thing in the world (of RPGs) is to continuously roleplay a character who's personality has nothing in common with your own. You should experiment with your character's personality, and after a while it will start being fun. And your DM will be very content with you.

Those DMs who think they are capable of teaching their players to roleplay properly should do that this way: A DM must have some TSR novels, or at least, some other fantasy novels, but similar to those distributed by TSR. Give those to a player whose roleplaying could improve a little (or a lot). It would be wise that the characters in the novels resemble those currently roleplayed by that player. If not, the novels should be about the campaign setting you're currently playing. That should do the trick. If it doesn't, than try thinking of some other method, but in most cases this one will succeed.

Well, that's about all I can think of roleplaying right now. If you have anything to argue about, please feel free to EMAIL.

Oh, roleplaying is spelled role playing, but gamers use it as a one word.

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