Ok long time power gamer in here again. So all of my friends are basically role players and I'm working on being better at it. So question is simple. How do I get better?
Please note. My dialogue skills suck. I am bad at conversation and voices sound stupid to me. I am not an actor in any shape or form.
Hrm, let's see. How to roleplay ....
First, roleplaying makes sense. Don't play characters who do things that aren't realistic. A big trap that roll-players tend to fall into is metagaming; as in, using knowledge the player knows that an NPC might not necessarily know. For example, it might be common knowledge that the big, fiery thing (fire elemental) is weak to cold attacks, but do you honestly think a low-Intelligence Fighter is going to have any idea what a "ghost touch" weapon is? Of course not! Learning how to separate your knowledge from your character's knowledge is the most important thing to do.
Second, pick one to three key aspects of your character's personality and play them up to the extreme. For example, one of my players has a character that's paranoia. In the middle of a big meeting between the PCs and their subordinates, she randomly got up and scouted around the town for intruders, offending several people and putting her comrades in a tight spot. It might have not been a good idea to interrupt the meeting from an out-of-character perspective, but because she was so paranoid, it made sense for her to do it in character. Sticking to one or two key adjectives is very helpful for beginners and it will help you learn to flesh out your character.
Keep your character's physical needs in mind when roleplaying. One of the most real things you can do that adds a surprising amount to a game is roleplaying the biological processes that tend to get glossed over. Having a favorite food or drink, for example, really adds an unbelievable amount of depth to a character.
In my personal opinion, unless you're an experienced Roleplayer it is a horrible idea to take the Leadership feat AND roleplay him/her yourself. You either A) don't have meaningful conversations with your cohort because you feel silly talking to yourself or B) steal too much time from your fellow players because you spend too much time talking to yourself. Personally, as a GM I roleplay my player's cohorts (if any) but let them handle the characters in combat when things pop up.
And never, ever, EVER try to fight your fellows for the "limelight," as it might be called. The game works better when everyone works in harmony together!
Every time I run into someone who is having trouble with the concept of roleplaying I have them play a Paladin.
Seriously. Roll up a Paladin. Powergame the hell out of it. It doesn't matter. You don't have to sacrifice any kind of power for roleplay (llok up the Stormwind Fallacy if you're not familiar with it)
Now that you've got your paladin, here's what I want you to do-
Approach the game from a standpoint of Why. Think of the character as an ethics experiment. Don't be lawful-stupid. Play a reasonable but intensely committed good guy. Superman, Captain America, and other hard core good guys are great examples to draw from.
Contemplating the morality of every single action practically forces roleplaying, especially when it inevitably ends up at odds with another player.
Then you argue. That's the basics. Everything else is just variations on that theme.
The more creative and imaginative you are, the more you can make a believable realistic world. Use lots of descriptions of areas using adjectives and color. Use the character's senses tell your characters that the dungeon smells like Manure, or smells like some magic smell has been cast to make the dungeon smell like flowers. Tell them they hear water dripping in the distance, and tell them how the mist feels on their cold flesh. Use different voices, forget about the real world and take your mind somewhere else and make the others believe in your world. If your going to use NPC's try to make different character's not just clones that all are like the same. It may take a little thinking and work but it will make the game lots more fun and realistic.
From my experience as a player and a rather proud power gaming munchkin.
The best advice I can give about how to role play is to really take another look at your stats and see what role playing opportunities can be started from them.
My current cleric has a 15 str. and a 14 intelligence but only an average 10 charisma. So I play him as a smart, and wise man that is used to doing things himself as opposed to being able to lead others through his charisma.
The next stat was his con of 18 and his dex of 14 so I made him a beneficiary of wee jas's healing magic at birth. His mother was in labor with him and both of them were going to die, his father begged the temple of wee jass for help and an aged cleric made a bargain with my father. He would save my mother and me if and only if I was given over to the temple at the age of 11 to begin my cleric training. Naturally dad agreed and that's how I wound up as a cleric to the goddess of death and magic, her blessing at my birth when I was neither fully alive and dieing gave me a superior constitution.
Now since I have just been forced to change my alignment from lawful neutral to lawful good I am at odds with the same temple because they have shifted to lawful evil( shackled city AP)
You can really use your stats to provide a basis for your characters outlook on life.
Another often overlooked aspect is get with your DM and see about a little character history. Don't go for the cheesy "I have a family enemy looking for me" or I'm a disposed noble/lord/whatever.
Try to imagine everyday folks and you are the one person that does something amazing.
My favorite wizard wasn't trained at a academy he was schooled in magic by his old auntie while she was living with his family. Everyone called her an herb witch and he was imagining his life doing the same thing, making poultices for the local folks, using small magics to help his village and then stuff happened. His use of color spray used to be for fairs and festivals and his unseen servant used to stir a cook pot not reload a crossbow.
The world of role play is a fun world that doesn't mean you can't be as optimized as any other cracked out munchkin in the world, it just means that you have depth that they may lack and a reason for doing what your doing beyond "I swing at it cause it looks evil"
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I have one player atm who dislikes talking in character and I've met several others. Many of them were good roleplayers nonetheless. Try a 'trick'. Whenever you would normally talk in character, describe what he is doing and what he is saying, not brieefly, but in detail.
'He kneels beside the weeping man who is sitting close to the battlefield and tries to comfort him, he asks him in a calm, soothing voice, what happened and who the unknown foe was, that didn't even leave a body on the field'
That is no less roelplaying then talking in character and trying voices, yet it will probably feel much less awkward to you.
From my experience as a player and a rather proud power gaming munchkin....
My current cleric has a 15 str. and a 14 intelligence but only an average 10 charisma.
But ... but Channel Energy! All the Cleric powers that rely on Charisma ... *head explodes*
There are also a LOT of cleric powers that don't rely on Charisma. If you don't give a s+@& about healing you can totally make a rockin cleric with a 10 (or less) charisma.From my experience as a player and a rather proud power gaming munchkin....My current cleric has a 15 str. and a 14 intelligence but only an average 10 charisma.But ... but Channel Energy! All the Cleric powers that rely on Charisma ... *head explodes*
Oh maybe I should clarify. I still play using 3.5 rules so the whole channel energy for healing thing doesn't exist.
Unless your running a very undead battling centric campaign the whole charisma thing is a dump stat. I go 8 to 10 games at a time and never use it.
I take divine meta magic to make some use of the turn attempts per day but load up on nightsticks and you never run outta turns/rebukes.
Rebuking is FAR superior to turning but that's a different debate.
As far as healing, sacrifice one 4th level spell and get lay on hands like a paladin. Charisma is great for sorcerers, bards and the "other" charisma casters but for clerics, not really needed.
An easy way to start roleplaying is to rip off a character you like from a movie, TV show, or book.
For example, if you thought Legolas from the Lord of the Rings movie was awesome, then make an elven archer build.
The idea with role playing over wargaming ("min-maxing") is not to have awesome stats, but an awesome character. All great heroes should have flaws. For example, Legolas really hated dwarves at the beginning, including Gimli, but he eventually became friends with him.
A suggestion for dialogue. You say your friends speak in character, but you find it a bit corny, particularly the voices. Well, try this idea. Everyone speaks a bit differently. Even two people who grew up in the same town will use different words while sharing a common background. Pick one or two things that are particular to your character's speech. For example, I had a character who absolutely never used contractions. Ever. Her every word was spoken that way. Why? She'd learned the common language from an academic tutor and thus had picked up certain habits. She understood them of course, but didn't use them. Made disguising herself more difficult at times, as people would sometimes figure this out. Another example can be found in the Princess Bride, the ongoing joke of "Inconceivable!" aka a catch-phrase.
I'll second what Steven Tindall said. In my current 3.5 game I'm playing a swashbuckler/rogue that started at level 5. I knew that was what I wanted to play, but I didn't know who he was until after I stated him out. I decided he was a rogue first (2 levels). He was still young when he got caught and the judge decided to go easy on him, so they put him to work on a ship where he learned his swordplay (3 levels of swashbuckler). The order of my levels affects how I play him. He fights like a swashbuckler and even picked up religion on the ship (he worships the god of travel and trickery, patron of sailors). But since he sneaked off the ship before his sentence was through he has been acting more and more like a rogue recently (which will be his next level). Of course, no one knows he is a thief currently because I've made extensive use of sleight of hand and bluff to hide it.
Sometimes I come up with the character first, but if you enjoy stating out your characters let it influence how you play them. Basically, all my roleplay decisions for this guy are based around the character's stats on paper, not the other way round. Though I did put ranks in profession sailor to account for his time on that ship so he isn't really optimal. :)
I take divine meta magic to make some use of the turn attempts per day but load up on nightsticks and you never run outta turns/rebukes.
Wow, your DM lets Nightsticks stack? Is he crazy?
No offense intended of course, but I don't know anybody who lets Nightsticks stack in real games. You can pick up +4 turns from a single nightstick, something like +3 from a special holy symbol (Magic Item Compendium I think, not sure though), and the rest is cha/extra turning feats.
EDIT: Also... Lay on Hands is based on Charisma, unless the feat/alternate class feature you're referring to specifically runs off wisdom instead.
If you check out the old 3.0 cleric and paladin source book you'll find that there is a item called greater holy synbol that gives you the empower turning feat, then you combine the item with one from the planar handbook( might be manuel of the planes) called a true holy symbol and you've got a kick but boost to your turning.
My DM doesn't let nightsticks stack he just let me have/create 4-6 of them and now heres regretting it because I am sudden maximizingn every spell.
Remember with a sudden feat there is no cost cause it's once per day, with divine metam,agic the cost is level +1 so I maximize flame strike or any of the mass cure spells to help everyone at a cost of 1 turn attempt per max.
Since I'm burning up my turns that way charisma really doesn't matter.
The lay on hands abiltiy comes from sacraficeing a 4th level spell outta the players hand book two. Trust me that has been a charecter saver more than once.
Um... Steven... getting turning attempts from multiple nightsticks is the definition of 'nightstick stacking.' If they don't stack it means no matter how many nightsticks you have you only get four extra turns ever from nightsticks.
Also, the idea of using Divine Metamagic on Sudden Metamagics is evil xD. RAW legal I think, though I'm not completely certain, but definitely not something most people want in their games.
Oh, OK I guess I am doing night stick stacking then, I didn't realize it was "stacking" because they came from the same type of item just different ones. Like having a healing belt with 3 charges per day and so you have at least two or three different belts you can switch into or out of.
In so far as the EVIL comment, I assure you I am 100% within RAW compliant( I pride myself on being a rules lawyer) but yes I am also totally 100% EVIL.
I am playing a lawful good cleric of Wee Jas in the Shackled City AP and I am using every single dirty sneaky underhanded trick I can think of to survive. We go through characters like they are crazy cool but my cleric remains standing because I optimize without fear or shame. It's good to be me.
thanks for all the advice guys. I'm still in here and reading this thing daily :)
All it takes to roleplay is to ask yourself "Why?"
Every character acts based on their motivations.
Inigo Montoya has a very clear motivation: He wants to avenge the death of his father.
Bruce Wayne has a very clear motivation: He wants to make sure that the criminal elements that killed his parents are brought to justice.
Both are very different characters with the same motivation.
Who was your character before he started adventuring? What people did he care about?
Minimus is a four page RPG I wrote designed to encourage roleplaying, and it works nicely as an overlayer for Pathfinder or D&D.
It's donation-ware. If you find it useful, send some cash. :)
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I love the suggestion about playing a paladin -- I'm sure any pure, ethics driven class (or one that can be interpreted as such) will do. for the sake of argument and illustration, I'll run with the Paladin example.
I suggest creating a personality -- or at least a speech pattern -- not too far from your natural bent.
You said you have trouble with conversations? Create a (in this example) paladin who has trouble with conversations. Run with that. Run far and hard.
Give yourself a 'why' for having trouble with conversations. Maybe you're character is a stuttering Paladin. Maybe you Paladin believes words are the devil's work. Maybe your gorgeous paladin suffers severe body dis-morphia, thinks he's ugly, and is shy around all those people so much more beautiful than he; ie everyone.
Whatever you come up with, if its riffed off your natural bent, it'll flow more easily in game.
Then prep it. For example, write yourself a list of one liners on a sheet of paper. Then read them woodenly at key moments -- precisely because your character is wooden. Play him wooden at _everything_ ...ordering a drink, asking directions, whatever it is.
Or if he's a stuttering, wooden Paladin then just break into a stutter every time you, the player, start groping for words. Maybe your Paladin laughs inappropriately and has a real honker of a hoot -- use that whenever words fail you.
Don't forget your 'why' for (for example) stuttering. Maybe girls make you stutter. Go stutter-nuts around the barmaid. Maybe your stuttering Paladin writes poetry. Write some. Then start stuttering in the middle of his wooden attempt to impress the barmaid (and your attempt to read it without laughing).
My point is to turn your speech pattern in game/life into a feature of the character -- then magnify it and make it larger than life.
Exaggerated is the key. Prep helps. A behavior pattern with a good 'why' and an exit strategy from conversations yet it remains true to the character? Those should help too.
Good luck!
PS I know paladins are supposed to be charismatic, which goes beyond looks. But I think its a much more interesting character and makes for more enjoyable RP when your Paladin is pretty but essentially suffers from Aspbergers (sp?).
One very simple way to start is to give your character a hobby (or a craft or a profession) and occasionally let him or her talk about it. One of my players plays a brewer who knows all about beer. He sometimes tells things about various kinds of beer, and of course as the DM I describe what kinds of beer they have in any new village they arrive in.
This is a very easy thing to do, much easier even than roleplaying a paladin with a code.
If your friends roleplay, then take your cues from them. Let your character react to comments their characters make in game. That is a good way to start.
thanks guys. Today I started Ausk, my crossblooded draconic abberrant sorcerer who has just clawed his way out of his exile into the underdark for the first time in 20 years with the urge to bring his draconic blood to full fruition in hopes of minimizing the effects of his abberation blood. He's a chaotic neutral crazy touch sorcerer whose very bad with people and prone to mouthing off at the wrong time.
Thanks guys I'm still not sure its great but I couldn't have gotten this far without you :). (btw I would have picked paladin but we already had a 2 handed fighter and a cleric and a ranger. we kinda needed a sorcerer or a wizard.)
Sounds like a good start.