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Primadonna had some questions on how to better roleplay and I thought that there are alot of us who could use advice. Hence this thread.
Leave little tid-bits of how you get yourself into a role or some advice on how to make memorable characters here for all to use.
Here is some of my suggestions:
1.) pick an accent, speech pattern, or lisp that makes a character yours. Could be as simple as a fair Patrick Stewart impersonation, or a cheesy Irish accent.
2.) Give your PC a distiguishing characteristic like a limp, a missing fingertip, a cool scar that he/she like to scratch at when in dangerous sitches.
3.) Once you have a basic design on what you think the PC should be, practice. In your head, in front of a mirror, in public, whatever, just try to throw yourself into the role and try to get life from your PC's point of view and motivations.
I throw more in later.
FH
Come up with a soundtrack. My hubby, the GameMaster for my Beyond the Supernatural game, gave us all a "homework assignment" for our characters - come up with a playlist that reflected our characters up to that point in their life. Simple concept, but now I go back and play them to help focus my thoughts on how my character acts.
Picture! Again, simple, but even getting an idea of what your character looks like helps.
Contributor
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An old group of mine used to always ask "Who plays your charcter in the movie of this game?" Even without trying to do an impression of the actor's voice, if you think of how they would play your character while you are playing your character, it will subtly change you speech patterns.
And if you discuss this with your group (and have a group that are amenable to this line of thinking), they will more easilly interpret your subtle RP cues by associating them with the actor.
Just don't do what we did occasionaly and get bogged down for hours discussing who plays various characters and npcs ("Bruce Willis does not play your character!" "Yes, he does, or he did, but it was in his 'Moonlighting' days." "No. You can have Jerry Doyle. He looks a bit like Bruce Willis.").
Might not work for everyone, but it did for my old group.
I try to draw upon hidden aspects of my own personality. Okay, Lena is not so hidden, she's all me. But my fighter I'll be playing soon, she is going to be the hot, bad ass harley chick hidden deep inside everyone (okay, insert 'dude' if needed) It's great to allow certain parts of your self to emerge, sometimes I even surprise myself.
Two different threads on roleplaying help! Very amusing. They're presumably caused by the same request in another thread.
Here's my $0.02:
I myself am an actor from time to time, and I use similar techniques and methods to get into character for roleplaying. The primary one is just to find yourself in the character, or find ways in which to treat the character as yourself.
Other people in this and other threads have given great suggestions for finding your character, and figuring out who they are, how they act or speak, and generally determining what your character is about. The next step beyond that is to find ways in which your character and yourself intersect.
This will help your roleplaying because it will allow you to stop trying to think of what your character would say or do, and allow you to instead speak or react as you yourself would. This will come more naturally to you than trying to write dialog on the fly for a character seperate from yourself.
Don't worry so much about getting the accent or the speech patterns or vocabulary right. That will come with time. If you want a quick way to better roleplaying, start reacting the way you would react to things (if you were bigger/able to wield magic, and armed and armored).
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1. The next time you watch a good movie, really pay attention to the collection of movements and expressions actors use to make you believe they're someone else. I'm talking about looking for and taking note of the thousand little things we don't actively notice, because we watch a movie, typically, the way we look at a forest--big picture. Instead, focus on the trees, and how they group together to make the forest.
2. Read a book by Stephen King. He's known as a master of characterization for a reason.
3. If you're playing a rogue, start shoplifting and breaking into the homes of the rich or obnoxious. If you're playing a bruising barbarian fighter, start going to bars and picking fights, preferably by randomly throwing chairs over the heads of the most disgruntled or more-barbaric-than-you patron. If you're playing a wizard, watch all the Harry Potter movies and do exactly what he does. It can't be that hard, he's only fourteen.
Good Luck!
I try to draw upon hidden aspects of my own personality. Okay, Lena is not so hidden, she's all me. But my fighter I'll be playing soon, she is going to be the hot, bad ass harley chick hidden deep inside everyone (okay, insert 'dude' if needed) It's great to allow certain parts of your self to emerge, sometimes I even surprise myself.
That's how I form the core of a new persona -- I take three to four facets of my own personality that I'd like to explore in greater depth, such as Ambition, the Desire to do Good, Grim Perseverance, and Enmity toward the Almighty, roll them together and explain how that person came to exist and have whatever powers are associated with her class. In that case, it was my fledgling Dread Necromancer bent on achieving godhood because she believed the forces of light to be incompetent. Of course, you can also choose an interesting concept and then pick the core themes that you think will be appropriate.
Picking aspects of yourself as the core, building around them, and twisting them around a bit makes it (in my experience) a great deal easier to get (and stay) in character: instead of asking yourself "what would my character do?" the question becomes "what would I do, if I were my character?"
RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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Aheh.. hehehe... heh...
An hour and a half after me, and I left a post on the original thread to tell people that I was gonna do it (about 3-4 down from the one that you read to inspire you).
FH
Yeah, I didn't see yours down here and didn't go back to update the thread. I started typing my post before going to lunch, came back, and finished it before I took a look around.
:(
My timing sucks.
Well I don't get to play as a character much, but as a DM I need to roleplay lots of different NPCs. One of the things I like to do to quickly get into the persona of the NPCs is a technique I have borrowed from politics. For each NPC (or for your character in the case of players)I come up with a short list of 'talking points' - things that I want the NPC to say at some time during the encounter. I then use the list to pepper the action, say when they score a good hit on the heroes or when they are greviously wounded themselves (or gloat, or reveal their plans, etc.). You could easily do this before each session for your own character, until after a while, the kinds of things your character would say become second nature to you.
As has been mentioned before, choosing an actor to "play" your character is a good idea, and I'm going to try that soundtrack idea.
One thing I do is ask myself some quick questions about the character, like what his (or her) favorite color is, are his parents still living/when did they die, how does he wear his gear and why, that sort of thing.
If you could be anyone, who would it be? If you admire Albert Schweitzer more than anyone, be a healing cleric. If you love James Bond movies, be a rogue or an assassin. If you enjoy outwitting your opponents, think about maybe being a wizard. If you're a pyromaniac, sorcerer might be more up your alley. With more experience, all of us have aspects of all of these that can be tapped into, but start off with what you're most comfortable with.
But whatever you do, be passionate about it. If a character isn't cool to you, doesn't engage your excitement and admiration, then there's not much fun in role playing him or her.
If your DM doesn't ask for one, my suggestion would be a short background for your character. Check your skills & feats and when you're writting up the background you can explain why your character has those. It doesn't have to be anything long and elaborate but keep it somewhere so you can refer to it when you're having a hard time getting into character.
And the whole voice thing is a good one too. You don't even have to change your accent, maybe just speak slower or faster or louder or softer. Using a different speach pattern or accent also helps the DM know if it's your character that said something or just you making a side comment.
louder or softer.
As someone who's normal speaking voice is naturally quite loud, and is constantly being asked to speak softer, allow me to just make a general caution about getting too overzealous with using volume as a character vocal trait. Your fellow players will thank you.
Using a different speach pattern or accent also helps the DM know if it's your character that said something or just you making a side comment.
We also frequently make use of hand signals. Specifically that holding your hand in a fist by your forehead indicates that you are currently speaking out of character or out of game. Otherwise, you are considered to be speaking in character more or less at all times.
Both I and my characters (in the rare instances where I am actually a player) would be played by Paul Giamatti.
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Both I and my characters (in the rare instances where I am actually a player) would be played by Paul Giamatti.
Whoa--I just had a "Being John Malkovich" moment when I read this. I pictured a scene from a fantasy movie in which every single character had the head of Paul Giamatti and they all just kept saying "Giamatti" over and over again. Freakish.
thanks for all of these suggestions! They have really got me thinking. last session my fighter died, as well as two other players.
see Kikai13's greyhawk campaign for more info.
I was really sad. first time I had ever died (I really haven't been playing too long!), but amazingly enough I was resurrected. I got to thinking about how my character would be changed by this event (with much input from my husband) and so I thought I would go journaling my experience up to that point, explore my feelings on the actual exp. and get some insight on where I want to go from there.
I talked about my dying and waking up alive, and everybody who read it says that I sound too optimistic! even though that is not really how I feel. so I guess I gotta go digging deeper. I thought I was more detached sounding (at least that is what I was going for) than "ooh, I am so happy to be alive!"
so I think I am going to change weapons (those scimitars didn't save my life!) and kick some more ass.
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I tend to start with one or three things to exaggerate. Then, as the game develops I tend to "discover" the character...Sometimes there are things in the characters I roleplay that I don't like, but I always feel I'd sell the character short if I downplayed it.
As for the aforementioned exagerations, previous examples of accents, or mannerisms from a character in a movie or an actor are good starting points.
I tend to exaggerate the following sorts of things:
Phobias. Doesn't have to be a full-on phobia, but rather a strong dislike. Flint FIreforge's fear of water, B.A. Baracas' fear of flying, and Indiana Jones fear of snakes are all obvious examples. Taboos such as 'red is forbidden color' (The Village) are also good.
An Emotion. Pick an emotion, any emotion. Play your character as yourself but when roleplaying dictates your character would experience the emotion, exaggerate it either down or up. For example, say you picked love. Not a lot of romance going on in the dungeon, but after a few Diplomacy checks back in town, a possible romance lights up between your character and an NPC. So pursue that love more than you normally would. Write Poetry, Sing really bad songs, etc. Or perhaps the NPC is pursuing your character, and you normally would think this to be fun, but you've established the character to be exaggerate love down. That is to say your character avoids the NPC, shouts them away, hurts them (emotionally) even, despite maybe the character actually having feelings for the NPC, its just that he/she is bad wity love.
Gear. I had a cleric of Pelor (Stedd Grimwold, lol) that always used a moorningstar. Initially he had Everlasting Torch cast on it, then Flaming, then flaming burst, then disruption, etc. etc. Basically, it became a signature weapon. Kind of like indiana jones' hat and whip. There was no way in hell (literally at one point) he was going to leave that morningstar behind.
Insecurity. We often define our characters by their ability scores, but we tend to highlight the good scores and downplay the bad scores (rightly so), but what if you did the opposite froma roleplay perspective? Imagine a Barbarian with 18 str that has an inferiority complex about his strength. Or perhaps A wizard with 8 strength that like to arm wrestle, takes ranks in swim and climb, and refuses to let others carry his loot: "I'll carry my own weight, thank you!"
Only pick 2-4 things that won't interfere with your group every session. A person who hates elves with an elf in the party is not appropriate.
Unearthed Arcana has Quirks and Traits and these can be played up as well.
My wife always uses this method to create her characters. It seems to work really well, although it's a bit time intensive.
El Skootro
My wife always uses this method to create her characters. It seems to work really well, although it's a bit time intensive.
El Skootro
Hmmm. My post didn't really address the topic at hand (how to get into character vs. how to create a character) but the link still provides some sound advice.
El Skootro
My buddy running an Eberron game asked us to pick actors who would be "cast in the role of our characters." Neat idea, as it helped us--and others--get a better handle on what to envision.
I'm playing a CN shifter rogue in that game, as played by Steve Bucsemi. Whoa, daddy...
Well, I must admit that sometimes a certain song really helps me get into character and I get in the habit of listening to it over and over on my way to a game; but not always; sometimes there isn't a song, but it is cool when there is. Pictures dont usually do anything for me; though I am a trained artist; I tend to not draw fantasy much, but do like to draw faces. For me, most often I have a personae that I get into after a few gaming sessions, usually after I see what others are doing so that I dont pick one to close to what they are doing. To me each character has a life of its own complete with thoughts and feelings; goals and motivations. I generally keep a diary for each character to help me view their development as the game proceeds.
this is my reincarnated elf(mabye) what do you think?
copy ---http://somewrinkles.blogspot.com/2006/08/lineage-dark-elf-garage-kit-fro m.html---
this is my reincarnated elf(mabye) what do you think? Linkage!
Fixed the linky for you. :)
Here's my quick "How To Roleplay" guide that I liberally cribbed from Zen and the Art of Dungeon Mastery:
In response to questions on how to improve a character’s background and other roleplaying questions I’m posing a series of questions. Sit down and answer each of them carefully, and you’ll have a much better idea of who your character is. Turning a “character” into a memorable “person” is the one thing that separates true roleplaying from munchkinism (there’s that word again), but it can be done.
- Who were the character’s parents?
- Did they raise the character?
- If not, why?
- If not them, who?
- Did the character have any childhood friends?
- Any siblings?
- Where are they now?
- Does the character stay in touch with them or have they become separated?
- What was childhood like for the character?
- Calm and peaceful or turbulent and traumatic?
- Does the character have any or did the character have any role models?
- Describe them.
- What did the character do before they entered the story?
- Who trained the character to do what they do now?
- What are the character’s moral and religious beliefs?
- What lengths will the character go to defend those beliefs?
- Who or what taught those beliefs to the character?
- Does the character have any unusual habits or physical traits?
- How do others tend to react to them?
- What is the general reaction to the character of other characters?
- Why, in the character’s opinion, do they act that way?
- Can the character kill?
- Why would the character kill?
- Do they have any enemies at all?
- Would or could the character kill them?
- What kind of relationships does the character currently have?
- Do they have any close friends?
- If so, who?
- What are they like?
- Bitter enemies?
- If so, who?
- What are they like?
- Does the character have any mental problems (phobias, etc)?
- If so, what are they?
- What do they stem from?
- How does the character generally treat others?
- Do they trust easily, or not?
- What does the character look like?
- Do they have any scars or tattoos?
- How did they get them?
- What is the character’s normal daily routine?
- How do they feel when it’s interrupted for whatever reason?
Next, sit down with your DM and consider these questions:
- Was the character present during any key events in the history of the campaign world?
- How did that event affect the character?
- Does the character have a notorious or celebrated ancestor?
- What did they do?
- What do people assume about the character when their ancestry is known?
- Does the character actively try to live up to the reputation, try to dispel it or to ignore it?
Finally, consider these questions:
- What are the character’s dreams?
- Ambitions?
- Goals?
- How do they seek to obtain them?
- How does adventuring fit into this dream, or does it at all?
- Does the character ever want to have a family of their own someday?
- If so with who or what type of person?
- Has the character ever considered the possibility of their own death?
- Have they made a will?
Something the DM should consider is having campaign-specific questions to ask, such as Eberron's Last War, or the Time of Troubles in Forgotten Realms, or even the Age of Worms in Greyhawk (in other settings, the Tolkeen War in Palladium's RIFTS setting is a brief example). To emphasize the campaign specific angle, the Last War in Eberron only ended two years ago. What were you doing two years ago, but more importantly, what was your character doing two years ago in their life? Going to school? Watching their older sibling join the militia/army? Watching them come back with haunted looks on their faces?
Anyway, little idee-ers that help. :)