Archive for Player Tips

Distractions (Weekly YouTube Spotlight #6)

July 27, 2012 Eric Player Tips, Weekly YouTube Spotlight No comments

DawnforgedCast on YouTube brought to light how easy it is for players to get distracted and pulled out of the immersive experience of a roleplaying game. And he’s absolutely right! There are so many things in the world today screaming for your attention! The DM is asking you to make a death saving throw, it’s your turn in Words With Friends, and your girlfriend is sexting you. How do you ever expect to survive in the Unholy Temple of Elemental Motherfucking Evil? I think your character is dead…

It seems like the more things we try juggling throughout the day, the worse we become at multitasking (or is that just me?). A roleplaying game is no exception. It demands for you to be fully engaged. You can’t immerse yourself if you keep messing around on your iPhone or making fart jokes (Wil Wheaton, stop encouraging them!). It’s perfectly ok to enjoy yourself at the gaming table but when you aren’t engaged in the ongoing story, you tend to pull others out of the game as well, leaving the dungeon master playing with himself–er, roleplaying, that is–wishing he hadn’t worked so hard on this adventure for people who don’t even care enough to pay attention.

It all boils down to R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Respect is earned. And the DM has earned it with the shit-ton of effort he puts into creating and managing the game for you and everyone else. Being the dungeon master is a lot of work, not just in prep, but in management, and improv, and keeping notes, and all the other silly monkey hats he wears. The least you can do is show him your appreciation through engagement in the game (and offering him cookies).

Twist your character into the plotline somehow and talk to the DM about it. Game masters love it when a player shows interest in his +5 Campaign of Epicness. I’ve said it before that you cannot win in D&D, but seriously, here’s how you win: make the DM happy and he’ll keep running the game week after week! If he feels like nobody is engaged in the adventure, he’ll cry himself to sleep for the next week and half (I’m not the only one who does that, right?). Then it all comes crashing down. No more game. Your turn to DM!

So, enough ranting.

Players: limit your distractions at the table and stay focused on the game. If you notice another player causing distractions, help your super-awesome DM out and encourage said player to get-in-the-game (DM’s love it when players do their dirty-work).

Game Masters: politely inform the players that their help is needed in order to stay engaged at all times and keep the game moving. If you have to make a rule against electronics, set an example and turn yours off first.

Here’s DawnforgedCast:

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Four Dimensional Character

June 21, 2012 Eric Player Tips 2 comments

I’m sure we’ve all made stagnant characters at some point in our gaming career. My share of uninteresting characters probably number more than most. Tabletop roleplaying games are different from their video game counterparts, in that the players have unlimited choices at character creation. The reason a character in a video game is fun is generally based on how powerful–in one way or another–that character is. But in a tabletop game a character needs something more than just stats and powers to make him interesting. He needs to be more than three-dimensional. He needs a fourth dimension.

What’s the fourth dimension, you ask?

Motivation.

It’s easy to get bored with a character if he has nothing in his backstory that motivates him to drive the story forward. When he goes from dungeon to dungeon, adventure to adventure, doing nothing different from the last three characters you made, you eventually begin to lose interest again.

Does this happen to you? I’ve found that a fully fleshed out character can get much more mileage in a game. Here are some tips I use for making my characters four-dimensional:

I like to view the first three dimensions of a character as appearance, abilities, and backstory. While those three are vital for creating a believable and functional character, there is a missing element that will allow him to last an entire campaign (if he survives that long).

Just as some might say “time” is the fourth dimension in our universe, “motivation” in a player character can drive the story forward, transcending time. There are several different forces that motivate us to act a particular way.

1] Love: We all have love of some form or another. What would your character do to protect the things that he loves?

2] Desire: This could encompass greed, lust, and the many desires of the flesh. These things test our willpower, tempting us to take what we want. Is your character susceptible to selfish desires?

3] Vengeance: A very powerful motivator, vengeance can spell the end for many in the name of justice. Has your character been wronged by someone who must be repaid in kind?

4] Freedom: What meaning does life have without the freedom to make our own choices? Is your character struggling to break free from the bonds of law and society? Or does he aim to bring freedom to other people? Or is he held captive by the ghosts of his past that he can’t seem to shake from his conscience?

5] Truth: Some of us are driven to find truth in the universe. We need things to make sense, so we seek knowledge and understanding. Does your character need to know the answer to something from his past?

6] Mastery: The sense of accomplishment from getting better at something can motivate us to strive for more. Is your character trying to better himself, perfect a talent, or rise to a higher position in his field of expertise?

7] Purpose: We all want to feel like we belong, like we have a purpose in the world. We need to know that what we’re doing has some sort of meaning in the grand scheme of things. Is your character seeking his purpose in the world or is he questioning the purpose he has already found?

8] Power: In a fantasy world, power is something that many people struggle for. Some seek magic, while others seek position–political, militaristic, or otherwise. Is your character hungry for power? Is he desperate for control of something in his life?

9] Fear: One of the greatest motivators to sentient beings is fear. It can make us flee, or behave in a manner we otherwise would not. It can make us forget things or fabricate memories that never happened. Fear can even make us soil ourselves, paralyzing us to inaction. In its most common form, it causes worry and anxiety, leading us to protect ourselves or others from the dangers of the world. What does your character fear, and how can he overcome?

The list could go on but this covers enough ground…

What happens when your character resolves his motivating force? For example, he avenges his father’s death by tracking his killer down and putting an end to him. What’s left for him to do? The answer is simple: find a new motivation for your character. Motivation can change throughout the campaign based on events that affect him or other events that you’ve added to his backstory. Get creative! That’s the fun part of tabletop roleplaying games.

Players! What are some motivations that you’ve used for your own characters? The community would love to hear them.

Thanks for any comments and feedback, and stay tuned for weekly updates!

Next week’s topic: Adding horror to your campaign…