Hi all, FOC here
I have done so much roleplaying by now that I am beginning to become an expert on what not to do as a player (what not to do as a GM I will cover in a later blog post). It's easy to screw up in a game in a myriad of ways and that's fine, we all make mistakes. There are some cardinal rules however that we should all follow when gaming. For instance:
1) Never split the party: This is such a serious screw up that I named the blog after it. Splitting the party is never a good idea. An adventure assumes that the party is at full strength for encounters. Monsters are built to take account of a party of 4 not a party of 2 and 2 others exploring the latrines. Splitting the party therefore increases risk of death exponentially, don't do it.
2) Don't create a contrary jerk: So the party consists of a bunch of go getting good guys? Don't play a sadistic murderer. It's that simple. You should be allowed to play what you like sure, but creating a concept which directly goes against what other people want to play is selfish. They will have to adjust to accommodate you and that's not fair.
3) Pride cometh before a failed saving throw: Just because you have a 95% chance of success doesn't mean you can't fail. High chances of success can often lead to a sense of invulnerability, don't risk it, you will just end up looking like an idiot.
4) Character backgrounds should be short: The GM is writing a story with you and the important stuff happens during the game, not before it. Writing a detailed 4 page background for a starting character is too much. A GM looks for inspiration in character backgrounds but if you swamp him with too much detail he will miss things that are key to your character, which in turn will lead to resentment from you. 500 words max for character backgrounds is enough, preferably with bullet points.
5) "It's what my character would do" is an excuse for being a dick: When I acted as a youngster I remember someone objecting to a line in a play we were doing. "My character wouldn't say this!" came the cry to which the director replied "but he does say it so find a way to make it work."
That always stuck with me and it is a useful piece of advice for roleplaying. "Sorry guys, it's what my character would do" is a horrible phrase. It usually means that player has just screwed over the party. How is that fun for anyone else? It's selfish roleplaying and actually shows a lack of imagination. Don't do it.
6) You don't have to describe everything you are doing: No one else wants to hear you describe exactly how you are picking the lock. Make the damn roll and get on with it.
7) The GM is eventually right: By all means debate rules interpretations but once the GM makes a call accept it and move on.
8) Accept death like an adult: So you are dead? Deal with it. No one likes a whiner.
9) Don't do other stuff whilst playing: Don't play on your laptop, do work, read comics etc. It's rude to the GM.
10) Always fill in your character sheet: It's extremely irritating to have to work out your to hit modifier on the fly. Work it out, fill it in and save everybody a lot of needless hassle.
There will be more of these in later posts as I think of them.
Your resident rule monkey
Fall Of Camelot
Ironically I think the only one I'm not entirely in agreement with is the title item. For things such as d20 pre-writtens, I'd very much agree, but on the opposite end of the scale you have more socio-political games, especially a lot of the White Wolf ones, where splitting the party is kinda par for the course. There's definitely circumstances where I'd say it is far from unreasonable to do so.
ReplyDeleteExtra agreement with points 2, 8, 9 & 10 though! 9 especially, as I've encountered two people recently who seem to be unable to not text people & check facebook on their phone every 10 mins.
I think the only one I have a major disagreement with is 5 - if a character has a personality and background then 'it is what the character would do' is justified. And I don't think your theatre comparison is valid - a role in a play has already been written, whereas a PC is a work in progress.
ReplyDelete@portilis. Depends on the game or situation. but going Awol in a hostile environment is asking for trouble. That's true in any game.
ReplyDelete@trizia. Actually that's the one I feel strongest about. I feel that a good player always finds another way to deal with their situation rather than screwing the rest of the party. IWMCWD (can't be bothered to write it out in full) is fine when it doesn't screw the party but it is so often used as an excuse for disruptive prima donna behaviour at the expense of the rest of the party. It's selfish IMHO, the game is not about one person so find a way that will not mess up the game for everyone else.
A good actor will tell you that a character in a play is a work in progress just like a PC.