So I'm pretty new to PF, literally never played a D&D type game in my life. My friends have been very helpful with getting me into the basics like combat, stats, spells, etc.
My main weakness has always been the actual roleplaying aspect, for some it comes natural, for me I have a hard time thinking of things to say. My DM isn't requiring we roleplay, but I still would like to contribute.
I recently missed a mini session with one of my groups where they leveled up and I was informed almost everyone roleplayed their level ups. I have two groups right now, the one I missed is with my Deadly Courtesan, the other I have a Merfolk Druid.
I'm just looking for ideas and advice and how I can roleplay these characters so I'm not just sitting there with a blank look on my face the whole time.
The whole thing with roleplaying is being engaged in the game. You don't have to be a great actor or improviser, just go from the gut with what your comfortable with. In scenes though like between combats or during downtime try to think "what would this guy ACTUALLY do?" and then just describe that action.
Let's say you're playing a dwarf barbarian. He has the Drunken Brute archetype and specializes in a greataxe. His actions in combat then always rely on Power Attack, drinking to extend rage and slicing things. Apply all that to your roleplaying.
You're interrogating a goblin and your GM asks "what do YOU do?" Roleplaying would be you describing: The dwarf takes a swig from his flask, sneers, and shouts "TALK!" at the goblin. To emphasize his point he swings his axe and Sunders the stool in the corner.
Your dwarf has a "getting stronger" montage showing him leveling up from level 2 to 3. You intend to give him Improved Sunder this level. Your GM asks "what are you doing over this week in town?" You describe how your dwarf is using his Survival skill to find sturdy timber outside town. It's just him, his axe, and a keg of dwarven ale. He spends the week hewing trees, learning how to sunder them in a single blow, and throwing the spars over his shoulder to stack them like chord wood. By the end of the week he's seen dragging a skid of huge, uncut logs to the mill and waiting on his pay, leaving behind a dozen stumps and a bone-dry keg.
You don't have to make every roleplaying thing epic either. Give your guy a catchphrase or some action that's memorable. If he's the silent loner type, describe that. So long as what you say your character is doing somehow advances the scene or the story, you're golden. Hope all that helps.
I would suggest that you start by picking a favourite character or personality from film or television. It works best if you pick something that will work well with the other character personalities in the group.
Then once you have chosen your actor, change one or two things about it to make the character unique to your creation. For example, suppose that you choose Helen Mirren from RED or RED2 as the starting point for your deadly courtesan. You could change her accent (French maybe?) and her love interest to make the character unique to you.
It is also a good idea to make a list of what your short term, medium term, and long term goals are for the character. What drives her to adventure and motivates her to keep going? Then create a list of rights and wrongs for the character. What does she like and dislike?These two lists will help you identify role playing opportunities, and how she will react in a given situation.
Don't worry about sounding silly or picking the wrong word. Roleplaying takes lots of practice and it sounds as though you are fortunate to have a group that encourages taking this sort of risk.
Think about where the character came from and where he or she wants to go (not just geographically). He should have a past, motivations, some secrets, a personality flaw or two, and there should be situations that can make him behave in seldom seen ways. If it helps, write it all down and use a campaign setting book to get some extra details. Adopting a voice often helps.
The thing about role playing that is the most fun is being someone who is different from yourself. You will always shine through of course, but remember that you are pretending to be a different person. How is this person fundamentally different from you? Choose something about yourself and change it while you role play. Heck, you can make it the opposite if you like.
if you're new to it, nobody will blame you or snap because you are a little quiet, or because you feel you're faltering. The more you play, the easier it will come.
If you just sit through a few sessions, or spectate a few games, you'll start to learn how it's done.
Another easy way in, is to pick a stereotype, and stick to it. Even if it
s a bit simplistic (A Big dumb brute who always resorts to threatening people. In Arnold S. voice "Gib me de Armor, Or I will F* you ups!", or the blissfully unaware, naive halfling. "Oh look! a treasure chest! *opens it without checking for traps*) This pretty much goes with what Pappy suggested, in that most fantasy-type movies have established a stereotype for a kind of character - Gimli, Sam Gamgee, Gandalf, for examples - and stepping into that character is easier then coming up with your own true-to-life character from scratch.
By the time you play a few times, you'll start to feel more at ease with broadening your horizons. Just don't worry about "if you're doing it right" because truth be told, we were all that player at one time.
Think about where the character came from and where he or she wants to go (not just geographically). He should have a past, motivations, some secrets, a personality flaw or two, and there should be situations that can make him behave in seldom seen ways. If it helps, write it all down and use a campaign setting book to get some extra details. Adopting a voice often helps.
The thing about role playing that is the most fun is being someone who is different from yourself. You will always shine through of course, but remember that you are pretending to be a different person. How is this person fundamentally different from you? Choose something about yourself and change it while you role play. Heck, you can make it the opposite if you like.
I like this advice, particularly about character flaws; look up "human" in the dictionary, and you'll see that one of its definitions is "flawed".
sometimes, that huge warrior who is afraid of heights, or that halfling with a gambling problem, they can become very endearing to the other players. Just don't overdo it, because nobody wants to be in a party with a guy who is afraid of everything, or who freaks out every time someone buys a magic item. "OH MY GODS! don't you REALIZE how many poor people you could've just FED WITH THAT MONEY!? You're EVIL!" *smite*Work with the Gm, they'll usually be really helpful for fleshing out strengths and weaknesses - not just in your stats, but in your character's personality.
Also: catchphrases. Have a few, for oft-occurring situations. A swearing phrase, a battle-cry... stuff like that. It'll give the other players a quick idea what your PC is about.
Think about how your character would react to other PCs. Are they suspicious, friendly, flirty, guarded... How do they want to come across to people and what can they not help showing? Maybe they want to look like they're helpful but get bored easily or want to look indifferent but occasionally show that they do care really. Or they're freaked out by social situations but their actions show how much they value the others.
That's a good place to start. If you fill in some backstory (like Ciaran suggested) then it's a lot easier to get into character because you know who they are.
It can be helpful to have a secret, depending on the character. Is there something they don't want people to know, or just something they won't reveal until they know people better. That can make it fun for you if you know there's something the other players don't know. Make sure your DM knows, mind.
It doesn't have to be dramatic to be roleplaying. It could just be that all the other characters are delighted to be invited to hobnob with royalty, while your character is a fish out of water or finds the whole thing terribly boring. Just make it your own.
I'd imagine the group will be fine if your character changes a little as time goes on (you may re-assess or decide you really can't keep up that accent). Characters should develop anyway, and an unfriendly character can mellow / warm to people as time goes on (if you decide it's all a bit too unfriendly).
Also: catchphrases. Have a few, for oft-occurring situations. A swearing phrase, a battle-cry... stuff like that. It'll give the other players a quick idea what your PC is about.
My oracle is know to shout "Gozreh's beard!" from time to time. It translates roughly to "Holy s$&$!"
I like this advice, particularly about character flaws; look up "human" in the dictionary, and you'll see that one of its definitions is "flawed".
I used to game with a guy whose characters has no flaws and always made the right choice. No weakness, strong mentally and physically. Boring! My counterpoint to his characters was to play characters who might be stubborn, secretive, self conscious, alcoholic, irresponsible, oblivious, obnoxious, without ambition, secretly evil, clumsy, suspicious of gnomes, excessive, womanizing, or rude. I mean, not all at once, but there was always a fatal flaw or quirk. It's one thing to provide color to the story, and another to be a liability to the group.
The best way I've aways found to get into a character's head is to build a background:
* Why do you adventure? Most normal people don't leave friends and family to go out slaying monsters. What caused you to go out into the world?
*Why/how do you have the abilities you do? Are they learned? Were you born with them?
*Who were/are your family? How do you relate to them?
Once you have that, you can start building your personality/morals/ethics:
*What do you do in your spare time?
*What do you dislike?
*What is a line you can never see yourself crossing?
*What are you most ashamed of?
*What are you most proud of?
Hope this all helps!
One thing I like to do for a character is figure out what their Beserk Button is.
Everybody has at least one thing that will push them over the edge every time, and figuring out what that is for your character can help you discover out how they think.
My favorite character of all time was my Warforged paladin from Eberron named Crucible. One of the things that is really important to the character is his cohort, a young teen girl named Gwendolyn.
Not to get into all the backstory, Gwen is a hybrid daughter/mother/etc for him. She is his Beserk button, you hurt her, and you're going to regret it. In fact, she would be the reason he would fall as a Paladin. If you hurt her, or if you kill her, there is nothing in heaven or on earth that will save you. He will go through hell and tear down the gates of heaven to get to you.
That's important to knowing your character, imo. Know not just how they are strong, but know how they are weak. What is it that will make your character drop everything and just lose it?
It's the flaws that make your character real. A perfect, invulnerable character is boring, like Superman. It's the flaws that make them human, and it's only when they become human that you can really emphathize with them and really know what they would do.
So much advice on this yet nobody is really a master of it. The best roleplayers are professional actors and you're not likely to find them in one of your tabletop games. Take heart! The bar is not set that high!
Firstly, you can't let yourself be embarrassed. This is easy to say but hard to do. You've got to go all out and into the character. Don't be afraid. Some will make fun of you and you need to laugh along with them but remain stubbornly in character. You will get better at it and they will follow along.
Some easy first steps are to establish a few, let's say three, "rituals" or behaviors that your character always does in response to a certain situation. It has to get to the point where it's predictable, and your party members expect you to do it.
Bad but okay example: your stereotypical dwarven fighter character drinks to the point of constitution checks after a good adventure. No big deal, not that interesting, it's a trope but at least it's a detail.
So now what? We break our pattern to turn our flat character into a round(ish) character. After one combat where a party member dies, you all return and your dwarf does something else entirely: goes to the temple to pray. Why? If you made the previous drunken debaucheries memorable enough, they will notice and ask. You say something like: "My father drank himself to death and our friend's passing was yet another reminder of how mortal we really are. I will never drink again."
Boom! So simple yet you've done something 90% of role players have never done. You've put your backstory into the game in a way that flowed with the narrative AND you've had your character develop from point A to point B. Then you take a level in cleric instead of fighter, despite it being a poor mechanical choice, and never drink again. Instead after adventures, the dwarf goes to help the alcoholics (or whatever). The game world will feel more in depth and your fellow players and DM will probably thank you for it.
Anyway, I find that Pathfinder is a hard game to become a good roleplayer. There are so many rules that you are using up your brain's precious processing speed on the Game and less on the Role Playing. The more we master the rules, the more we can use our precious brain joules on some nice RP time. I'm not really a great role player yet but I'm trying to get better.
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Lots of great advice here! I really like what JJ is saying about development. Another way to get into character though is to look at their traits if that's a part of your game.
Lots of martials take Reactionary. Look at the fluff of the trait though
You were bullied as a child, but never quite developed an offensive response. Instead, you became adept at anticipating sudden attacks and reacting to danger quickly
So what does that tell you about your character? Is he/she a victim? If so, do they ACT like a victim? Do they look over their shoulder a lot? Are they bothered by loud noises/arguing? If so, maybe they avoid the tavern after an adventure. Maybe part of your "hero's journey" is to learn to stop being afraid all the time.
Think about your Traits, Skills and Feats less as mechanics and more as building blocks of personality. I made a halfling ranger with the traits Ambush Training and Trustworthy, Profession: Trapper among his other skills and the feat Point Blank Shot at 1st level. He was Bucky; a trapper in the town he grew up in and a deputy to his uncle, the sheriff. He learned his own brother had fallen in with criminals and helped track him down, earning him the trust of the townsfolk but the enmity of his own family. Bucky though was NG and a worshipper of Erastil and Saranrae, so he tried to get his brother to reform. When the criminals eventually came to overrun the town as part of a border war Bucky freed his brother so they could fight, side by side.
In the end Bucky's own journey was about making up for the sins of his own family. As the campaign started the young ranger was learning that several members of his family had been criminals and that his uncle was an extreme black sheep. Unfortunately the campaign didn't go far but the goal was to redeem his family.
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For playing him though I grabbed hold of the trait Trustworthy. Any time we had downtime I was using diplomacy to improve moods. I was in the tavern chatting people up, telling hunting stories or trying to bolster morale with the border troops. We only played a few sessions but I made a point never to lie (though I did omit some stuff on a report using the "bluff" angle of the trait).
I also jumped on the skill Profession: Trapper. Since we were on a few wilderness missions in rugged hills and forest terrains I started the campaign with some pre-made basket traps and snares and made a point of setting them each night around camp. My GM was like "y'know you need Ranger Traps if you're going to protect the camp with those right?" I just reminded him that I was trapping game for food and maybe to sell the pelts. I managed to catch a particularly rare fox that way and I chatted up the general store manager in character to help get a really fair deal when we got back to town.
Bucky would never introduce himself as a ranger. He'd always say "I'm a trapper by trade, and on occasion I do some hunting, no matter what the quarry is." He was helpful, smiled a lot and never discussed his family with anyone except his party. He was really fun to play but a lot of his personality came from having the traits, skills and feat he had.
So what does that tell you about your character?
Frankly, nothing.
The trait flavor text is just that, suggested flavor text. Reactionary would make just as much sense if it said you drank an entire pot of coffee every morning.
I don't know anyone that actually enforces trait flavor text any more than they do feat flavor text.
Are there improv groups/classes available anywhere in near you? Roleplaying is very close to improv, and while not all games are meant to be funny, the quick thinking, collaborative effort that is improv commedy massively overlaps with roleplaying.
In the end, all the background, or character development you create ahead of time doesnt mean much if you cant think on your feet at the table. Improv classes are a fantastic way to practice that kind of behavior. If there arent formal classes, look up some excersizes on line and see if you can get some or all of your group to practice some of them.
An old podcast I used to listen to Narrative Control did a short series on a couple 'icebreaker'/'improv' games tailered to the idea of roleplaying games.
Check out their Scalagrim the Barbarian Prince excersize around 4 minutes into the podcast here
So I'm pretty new to PF, literally never played a D&D type game in my life. My friends have been very helpful with getting me into the basics like combat, stats, spells, etc.
My main weakness has always been the actual roleplaying aspect, for some it comes natural, for me I have a hard time thinking of things to say. My DM isn't requiring we roleplay, but I still would like to contribute.
I recently missed a mini session with one of my groups where they leveled up and I was informed almost everyone roleplayed their level ups. I have two groups right now, the one I missed is with my Deadly Courtesan, the other I have a Merfolk Druid.
I'm just looking for ideas and advice and how I can roleplay these characters so I'm not just sitting there with a blank look on my face the whole time.
I don't know if it's been said before but here goes my advice.
Don't worry too much about it. All it takes is time and comfort. Once you get into the flow of things and having a goofy fun time with your friends the funny voices, catch phrases and overall demeanor of your toon will just come out of you.
Over thinking RP will eventually lead to personal stifling pressure.
As a great mind once said R-E-L-A-X.
Thank you all for the advice!
I've had two sessions since I posted this, and it's really helped.
I'm sticking to something that's more how I actually am myself instead of being the opposite for now. My two characters act closely to how I act in real life, with a bit more....attitude.
You don't need to be the opposite of you. Just pick something that is not you. I'm sure you'll ventue further as you play more characters in the future.
If you've found something you're comfortable with, great, play that and don't worry about anything else.
But don't stop thinking about it. Just have a little bit running in the back of your head that watches for cool scenes in movies and TV shows.
Don't be afraid of outright stealing personality traits from your favorite characters, as that can help a lot.
That paladin I mentioned earlier? His personality can be summed up as Optimus Prime mixed with Doctor Who. Has the big "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings" stuff from Optimus, with the dark "I don't want to talk about it" history of the Doctor.
Long as you don't carbon copy an existing character completely, you can have something that looks original, but which you can go look at how your inspiration characters reacted to similar situations and see if you can do what they did.
Just take baby steps. Go ahead and play yourself for now. Next tine, try recreating your favorite long running character. Then after that you can start combining characters, and then finally making them up from scratch.
Long as you're having fun, you're doing it right though. Just eventually you'll get bored of playing just one thing and will start getting ideas for other things.
If I read this correctly, you have two characters. It is very hard to roleplay two characters when you are experienced, let alone inexperienced.
You need to have a character background and concept that thoroughly immerses you and makes you want to pretend to be that character. If you don't have that you need to reconsider what you're doing.