And remember, folks: don’t criticize the behavior you want, not even sarcastically. Remember all the kids who hid in their rooms, because whenever they emerged, their parents said “Oh well look what the cat dragged in,” or “Nice of you to finally join us.” So if someone finally roleplays a little, or finally uses their abilities, don’t harp on them if it’s imperfect. You shouldn’t praise something that disgusts you, because lying hurts relationships, but come on... Don’t trim a wick before the candle’s lit.
Are they not the same thing... Expecting accents or deliberate voice changes is weird, but isn't the entire point of roleplaying to step into the perspective of someone else? Not an improv actor in the professional performance sense, but in the sense of playing a role.
I agree with/like most of this aside from the "plan where you want your character to be at the end". A direction is fine, but having a specific outcome leads to disappointment and railroading yourself.
I really enjoyed the advice! Honestly though, the best part is that intro- just because players aren't acting doesn't mean they aren't roleplaying. Have a couple of great players who are able to describe their characters emotions and desires, but do so in the Third Person, and it works really well.
I feel this and your " not speaking in character" video to my soul. Matt Colville talks about this. One of his The Chain players, Lars barely ever talks in character but he is an amazing roleplayer because he makes decisions he would never make but his character would.
Appreciate what you are doing. I have worked with a group of players on the spectrum... Using impro techniques, pro theater and story skills i have a group that now RP's with the best.... no lie... If they can get there anyone can.. I would add some stuff we do that seems to have a significant impact
When playing D&D with my friends, I have not thought much about whether or not they are role-playing their characters. Generally, I focus on having fun, game progression, reacting to what the players do, and how they are reacting to what I have presented. Great content! Thx! I just found your channel. Useful information that inspires me to get better.
At 9:10. Have you read Dale Carnegie How to Win Friends and Influence People? "Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement. Be 'hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise'."
Typically, I think most self-help/biz learning books (Who Moved My Cheese, Lean In, etc) are garbage even though I read them because they are the modern equivalent of having read Virgil. BUT, Dale Carnegie has the *excellent* insight that in order to change other people's behavior, your have to first change your behavior and attitude about others! Training and disciplining yourself to genuinely care about others is very powerful paradigm to adopt
We barely speak in character. Mostly it’s describing in detail what the character wants to say and the intention they try to carry out with the conversation their character is having. A lot of TV off screen explanations basically. Generally it’s just faster and more accurate than speaking in characters and then detailing the intentions the words have. What does happen is the player will say what he wants to attempt and then they may act it out if they’re really feeling it.
Wonderful video and very informative! You are so right about how so many players misunderstand the object of roleplay. Shows like Critical Role are great for raising the profile of the hobby but I really think they misrepresent the game at the same time. Potential players who are introverted and shy don't have the skill set to RP in the "Critical Role style" and may feel disheartened if they thing that's the way game shpuld be played.
My GM does this too. It feels so special when I earn it. Basically never happens because I'm still not that great with RP, but agree that it seems to work as advertised!
On the concept of desire/deny, I prefer to modify that. While its cool if players want that dynamic. Not everyone enjoys that kind of party tension. However I find it effective to get players to establish a desire/deny relationship with any character, PC or NPC. If its a PC cool, it works the way you described. But with an NPC it adds to world immersion and investment and blurs the lines between a character's party based life and their life outside the party adding richness to the setting. . Remember your original example of Trion and Tywin Lannister. They were emphatically not in the same party. Their tension was great. Sure you don't get that particular dynamic you mention in the party, but then players may not want that type of tension within the group. But those dynamics when applied between PCs and NPCs can be incredible.
Good point!! Being part of a TEAM of FRIENDS is very important to some players, and this purposefully stirs up drama in the group. The idea of doing it wit NPCs is pure gold though!
thanks a lot for this video. alot of thoughts i had (i think matt colville was once also making a similar video) due to alot of players in my circles have an obsession with CR (which is fine, i like CR). But they focus on the flashy stuff not the fundamentals.
Great advice as always! One thing I have started doing in my most recent campaign is asking players in the first few sessions to build up some “fore-story” along with their backstories. That is, when coming up with their backstories I ask the players what elements they would like to seed into future sessions, people, settings, etc. So if I have a player who is a monk from a lawful evil temple and they escaped from the evil brothers, of course I would expect the character traumatized by that. But also, I would work with the player to create the monastery’s villains like the head abbot who has ordered the monk’s death or the acolytes that are hunting them down. I would ask my player “what is your ultimate goal or payoff from opposing this group during the campaign?” and work at writing that into the story. This takes the guesswork out of my hands for coming up with relevant plot points that the player will encounter, and it avoids the dreaded unwanted kingdom effect of having the character reject the random conclusion I guessed for their character because they ended up wanting their character to go in a different direction.
THANK YOU! I'm so sick of people misattributing "role-playing" as play-acting. That's just theatricals, not even necessarily playing the character's role in a role-playing GAME.
good advice about rp overall, but imo this still falls into what I consider to be a bit of a trap that is forming in some dnd circles: treating in depth character rp as if it is the be all and end all of dnd gaming. There is so much more to the game than just rping your characters. Yes, having interesting and deep characters is fun, but if that's all your interested in why bother having dice and character sheets? I've seen groups do back to back sessions doing nothing but talking in character and can't help but think "we havent used a single dnd rule in hours, why bother calling it dnd?" Imo you can still fulfill the rp aspect of rpg by playing a generic adventurer who just wants treasure, there's nothing wrong with that. I'm not saying rp isn't an important part of the game, but imo the focus has shifted in the wrong direction. RP to me is most interesting when you're dealing with odd and eccentric npcs, dealing with bizarre scenarios, manipulating npcs for your benefit, etc. What my character is thinking or feeling is just fluff to me, it isn't the core experience, it isn't what makes a session memorable for me. I feel like people are starting to treat D&D as a single player game where they just happen to have to give their friends turns as well. Having 4-6 characters all with their own complex backstories and complicated goals is detrimental to having a cohesive party with a unified direction. I don't think encouraging people to roleplay is helpful, if that's what that player showed up for they'd be participating in it, if they aren't then clearly another aspect of the game caught their interest. You can try to trick them into rping more, or you can acknowledge that they like another part of the game more and make sure they get the opportunity to enjoy what they do like about the game.
I think it's important to remember that different people gain enjoyment from different aspects of d&d. I've had players that were far more interested in exploration, or talking in character than combat and skills and get unhappy if a session is primarily combat. I've gamed with actors who are happy to sit in a tavern and talk for literally hours. I've had players that only enjoy combat when it's directly related to the plot or their goals and can't stand random encounters. I've had players whose character is basically defined "Good at violence, hates demons" who just focus on killing things and looting things. None of these approaches are wrong, at least not for that player. Maintaining the balance between different players can be tricky but as ZD suggests the solution is to change the game and not to try to change your friends.
I really enjoy the advice on not needing to act cause this is a game not a Shakespearian play If you want to act out your character then no problem good for you but not a necessity
Great video as always. Question about Galder's Gazeeter: are you planning to also sell a PDF version, or will it be physical copies only? I'm in a faraway part of the world and most of my TTRPG collection is digital, but I'd love to still support the project.
If anyone is hearing the advice that the outside forces need to involve the PCs' own story bits, and then thinking "but that's too convenient and unrealistic!" remember this: When writing fiction, a cup of coffee is only worth describing if there's poison in it. This story (the one at your table) wouldn't be told if not for the importance it carries for the characters, so don't be afraid to grab PCs by their personal motives!
If a player wants to play a character who acts like River Tam from the Firefly series, they ought to be quite and not say much. A player of such a character should focus on descriptions of what their character is doing rather than voice acting.
Oh, and I set up a Discord server this morning 😎➡️ discord.gg/RZweRU2nGh
And remember, folks: don’t criticize the behavior you want, not even sarcastically. Remember all the kids who hid in their rooms, because whenever they emerged, their parents said “Oh well look what the cat dragged in,” or “Nice of you to finally join us.” So if someone finally roleplays a little, or finally uses their abilities, don’t harp on them if it’s imperfect. You shouldn’t praise something that disgusts you, because lying hurts relationships, but come on... Don’t trim a wick before the candle’s lit.
More people need to be talking about this type of stuff. We don’t need improv actors we need D&D players who play their character.
Are they not the same thing...
Expecting accents or deliberate voice changes is weird, but isn't the entire point of roleplaying to step into the perspective of someone else?
Not an improv actor in the professional performance sense, but in the sense of playing a role.
I agree with/like most of this aside from the "plan where you want your character to be at the end". A direction is fine, but having a specific outcome leads to disappointment and railroading yourself.
Plans are worthless, but planning in indispensable!
I like your preparedness to change. Maybe the player or even the character should “have an idea” where they want to be in the future.
An underrated channel recommending an even more underrated channel. Now THAT’S a good guy move right there. ❤️
I hate to see talent to unrecognized!
Praise is such awesome advice! Great stuff
something forgotten in the age of social media is the power of kindness and appreciation!
I really enjoyed the advice! Honestly though, the best part is that intro- just because players aren't acting doesn't mean they aren't roleplaying. Have a couple of great players who are able to describe their characters emotions and desires, but do so in the Third Person, and it works really well.
Just describing emotions is so powerful a RP tool! Really easy to do too once your players try it out
I feel this and your " not speaking in character" video to my soul. Matt Colville talks about this. One of his The Chain players, Lars barely ever talks in character but he is an amazing roleplayer because he makes decisions he would never make but his character would.
Thanks for that!! Not a lot of folks GIVE tips in this direction, so I like to fill in the gap
Appreciate what you are doing. I have worked with a group of players on the spectrum...
Using impro techniques, pro theater and story skills i have a group that now RP's with the best.... no lie...
If they can get there anyone can..
I would add some stuff we do that seems to have a significant impact
Best RPG channel on RUclips. No shade to other amazing channels, but this is platinum tier wisdom in just under 10 minutes.
You're making me blush! Now, go like, share, and subscribe so other folks can get in on the action! ❤️❤️
When playing D&D with my friends, I have not thought much about whether or not they are role-playing their characters. Generally, I focus on having fun, game progression, reacting to what the players do, and how they are reacting to what I have presented. Great content! Thx! I just found your channel. Useful information that inspires me to get better.
Glad you found it useful! Most of these are just little light nudges if you want to get more 'thinking in character'
At 9:10. Have you read Dale Carnegie How to Win Friends and Influence People? "Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement. Be 'hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise'."
Typically, I think most self-help/biz learning books (Who Moved My Cheese, Lean In, etc) are garbage even though I read them because they are the modern equivalent of having read Virgil. BUT, Dale Carnegie has the *excellent* insight that in order to change other people's behavior, your have to first change your behavior and attitude about others! Training and disciplining yourself to genuinely care about others is very powerful paradigm to adopt
I love your “reaction to role playing” reminder. I notice some players are not accustomed to being asked, “so what does Furin feel about that”
Love the index card idea. Things to ruminate on. Probably going to be stealing this :)
Let me know how it goes for you! In my experience about half of players love it, and the other half don't know what to do with it!!
Damn Zipperon you nail it every time! Looking forward to apply these tips next session! Thanks so much!
Let me know how it goes!!! I love hearing about how these tips work for other people
We barely speak in character. Mostly it’s describing in detail what the character wants to say and the intention they try to carry out with the conversation their character is having.
A lot of TV off screen explanations basically. Generally it’s just faster and more accurate than speaking in characters and then detailing the intentions the words have.
What does happen is the player will say what he wants to attempt and then they may act it out if they’re really feeling it.
Wonderful video and very informative! You are so right about how so many players misunderstand the object of roleplay. Shows like Critical Role are great for raising the profile of the hobby but I really think they misrepresent the game at the same time. Potential players who are introverted and shy don't have the skill set to RP in the "Critical Role style" and may feel disheartened if they thing that's the way game shpuld be played.
For positive reinforcement I really like handing out inspiration.
My GM does this too. It feels so special when I earn it. Basically never happens because I'm still not that great with RP, but agree that it seems to work as advertised!
@@nodiggitynotaobt I admit that I'm spinning enough plates as DM that I forget more often than not.
On the concept of desire/deny, I prefer to modify that. While its cool if players want that dynamic. Not everyone enjoys that kind of party tension. However I find it effective to get players to establish a desire/deny relationship with any character, PC or NPC. If its a PC cool, it works the way you described. But with an NPC it adds to world immersion and investment and blurs the lines between a character's party based life and their life outside the party adding richness to the setting. . Remember your original example of Trion and Tywin Lannister. They were emphatically not in the same party. Their tension was great. Sure you don't get that particular dynamic you mention in the party, but then players may not want that type of tension within the group. But those dynamics when applied between PCs and NPCs can be incredible.
Good point!! Being part of a TEAM of FRIENDS is very important to some players, and this purposefully stirs up drama in the group. The idea of doing it wit NPCs is pure gold though!
"Roleplaying isn't acting" LOUDER FOR PEOPLE IN THE BACK!
thanks a lot for this video. alot of thoughts i had (i think matt colville was once also making a similar video) due to alot of players in my circles have an obsession with CR (which is fine, i like CR). But they focus on the flashy stuff not the fundamentals.
Nothing wrong with that style or aspiring to be like CR, but its not the only way to RP!
Having been on the receiving end of these tips, I can confirm it's all truths here. Great video! So excited about the discord and the book!
Thanks for joining the discord!! I hope we get a cool community going over there
Your channel is highly underrated
Why thank you!! I think so too :P
Another great video. Underrated channel.
I think so too :P
hot damn. so much great advice here, and it's so dense. every line in this script was a nugget of wisdom, great job.
New to the channel? You're gonna like it here! ❤️
The note idea is so good!
Thank you!! Give it a try :)
Great advice as always! One thing I have started doing in my most recent campaign is asking players in the first few sessions to build up some “fore-story” along with their backstories. That is, when coming up with their backstories I ask the players what elements they would like to seed into future sessions, people, settings, etc. So if I have a player who is a monk from a lawful evil temple and they escaped from the evil brothers, of course I would expect the character traumatized by that. But also, I would work with the player to create the monastery’s villains like the head abbot who has ordered the monk’s death or the acolytes that are hunting them down. I would ask my player “what is your ultimate goal or payoff from opposing this group during the campaign?” and work at writing that into the story. This takes the guesswork out of my hands for coming up with relevant plot points that the player will encounter, and it avoids the dreaded unwanted kingdom effect of having the character reject the random conclusion I guessed for their character because they ended up wanting their character to go in a different direction.
Asking players for a "fore-story" is brilliant!
THANK YOU!
I'm so sick of people misattributing "role-playing" as play-acting. That's just theatricals, not even necessarily playing the character's role in a role-playing GAME.
So in other words; Behavior that is recognized and/or rewarded gets repeated.
good advice about rp overall, but imo this still falls into what I consider to be a bit of a trap that is forming in some dnd circles: treating in depth character rp as if it is the be all and end all of dnd gaming. There is so much more to the game than just rping your characters. Yes, having interesting and deep characters is fun, but if that's all your interested in why bother having dice and character sheets? I've seen groups do back to back sessions doing nothing but talking in character and can't help but think "we havent used a single dnd rule in hours, why bother calling it dnd?"
Imo you can still fulfill the rp aspect of rpg by playing a generic adventurer who just wants treasure, there's nothing wrong with that. I'm not saying rp isn't an important part of the game, but imo the focus has shifted in the wrong direction. RP to me is most interesting when you're dealing with odd and eccentric npcs, dealing with bizarre scenarios, manipulating npcs for your benefit, etc. What my character is thinking or feeling is just fluff to me, it isn't the core experience, it isn't what makes a session memorable for me.
I feel like people are starting to treat D&D as a single player game where they just happen to have to give their friends turns as well. Having 4-6 characters all with their own complex backstories and complicated goals is detrimental to having a cohesive party with a unified direction.
I don't think encouraging people to roleplay is helpful, if that's what that player showed up for they'd be participating in it, if they aren't then clearly another aspect of the game caught their interest. You can try to trick them into rping more, or you can acknowledge that they like another part of the game more and make sure they get the opportunity to enjoy what they do like about the game.
I think it's important to remember that different people gain enjoyment from different aspects of d&d. I've had players that were far more interested in exploration, or talking in character than combat and skills and get unhappy if a session is primarily combat. I've gamed with actors who are happy to sit in a tavern and talk for literally hours. I've had players that only enjoy combat when it's directly related to the plot or their goals and can't stand random encounters. I've had players whose character is basically defined "Good at violence, hates demons" who just focus on killing things and looting things.
None of these approaches are wrong, at least not for that player. Maintaining the balance between different players can be tricky but as ZD suggests the solution is to change the game and not to try to change your friends.
I learned more in this video then the sun total of all others. Bravo, sir!
Wow, thanks! Glad you found it useful!!
I really enjoy the advice on not needing to act
cause this is a game not a Shakespearian play
If you want to act out your character then no problem good for you but not a necessity
Sup fellow nerds
Sup 😄
Amen!
Great video as always. Question about Galder's Gazeeter: are you planning to also sell a PDF version, or will it be physical copies only? I'm in a faraway part of the world and most of my TTRPG collection is digital, but I'd love to still support the project.
You'll be able to get either a pdf or a high-quality hardcover + pdf bundle. I'm waiting on the printer now, its just around the corner!
If anyone is hearing the advice that the outside forces need to involve the PCs' own story bits, and then thinking "but that's too convenient and unrealistic!" remember this:
When writing fiction, a cup of coffee is only worth describing if there's poison in it.
This story (the one at your table) wouldn't be told if not for the importance it carries for the characters, so don't be afraid to grab PCs by their personal motives!
Thank you
Hey! Thanks for turning me on to Kahlyl Roberson!
No problem - LOVE his stuff, so fresh
Aweeeeesome!
Cowabunga dude!
Golden Chalice of role-playing advice
Taylor the game to friends you have not the one's you want or don't have 🎲😎
Silver Goblet: Find players of your style and turn them into your friends
How do we email you?
DMs are open on Twitter and Reddit
If a player wants to play a character who acts like River Tam from the Firefly series, they ought to be quite and not say much. A player of such a character should focus on descriptions of what their character is doing rather than voice acting.
Sorry improvisational..
What is Khalyl’s channel?
ruclips.net/channel/UC3I2kTgXD2X9U1GVDCYwoYg
Consider putting this link in the dooblydoo?