This tag refers to the aspect of RPGs that relates to the enactment of character roles, sometimes contrasted with combat mechanics.
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19answers
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How do you help players not focus on the rules?
Background - My Group's Gaming Style
When I GM, I run games loosely from a rules standpoint, and do not feel bound to adhere to what the rulebook says when it doesn't make sense in a given situation. ...
37
votes
15answers
2k views
How do I roleplay an intelligent character?
What are some strategies and techniques for role playing a character that is more intelligent than you actually are? It's pretty easy to pretend to be someone who is less intelligent, but the reverse ...
33
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6answers
739 views
What is a good way to become a better NPC/monster actor?
One of the biggest problems I have as Game Master, (going on 30+yrs) is in portraying NPC and Monsters in any RPG. Is there a good resource for becoming a better 'actor'?
Instead of just saying... ...
16
votes
11answers
710 views
How can you find a balance between effective/optimised characters and creative characters?
When creating characters, I often face a dilemma between making a character. It feels like they can either be optimized so they can "pull their own weight" or having a character I think is creative ...
23
votes
8answers
915 views
Suggestions for decreasing metagaming and increasing player immersion?
This question is posed in a great way over on the Paizo boards, where I hang out since I play/run a lot of Pathfinder. Immersion is one of the key parts of the RPG experience to me, so I loved the ...
52
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10answers
6k views
As a man, how can I roleplay a woman better?
I rarely play characters of the opposite sex, and I find that I'm not very good at it, at least in my own estimation. This is hampering when I GM because it limits my range, and makes things hard ...
22
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10answers
1k views
How to make magic items more interesting?
We all read about the little person finding a magical ring and the GM basing
his whole plot on that little ring. That was a cool example
of a MacGuffin.
Earthdawn has a system in which characters ...
23
votes
8answers
423 views
Creating emotions
In the group that I GM, I ran an adventure a few months back that was generally considered very good by everyone involved (Including myself, which does not happen often). It included a little girl ...
17
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7answers
1k views
How can I encourage my D&D Encounters group to do more role playing?
I'm a new player to D&D 4e. I've been participating in D&D Encounters since Season 1 and have even run a couple of sessions in Season 3 when the regular DM couldn't attend. I don't play in ...
16
votes
8answers
500 views
How do you deal with a player that's determined to play the game in a way that is detrimental to the advancement of the story?
I GM a Dresden Files campaign, and I have a first time role-player that has become a problem in terms of advancement of the story. At first I chalked it up to inexperience, but its become more and ...
15
votes
4answers
807 views
What are some resources or tips on dragons as PCs?
Our DM is preparing a new D&D (3.5) campaign in which we all have to play as a (True) dragon. We're all going to play non-evil dragons (we're allowed to pick chromatic ones and change their ...
12
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0answers
263 views
As a GM, how can I create and role-play diverse NPCs better? [duplicate]
I am new to GMing (and role-playing in general, for that matter) and I am having a somewhat difficult time making plausible and interesting NPCs. This is especially true with NPCs who are not "typical ...
22
votes
5answers
475 views
How do I increase role-playing during combat?
Right now, the group that I GM for is very, very tactical combat focused. To some extent we may as well be playing a dungeon crawl boardgame for all the role-play we manage.
Now, in itself that's not ...
29
votes
6answers
552 views
How to maximize the opportunities of roleplaying military rank in a PC group, while minimizing the limitations on the players
Some games come with a predisposition toward the characters having military rank. This is typically an element of the setting material, and is intended to aid immersion, and produce interesting social ...
21
votes
12answers
679 views
How can you encourage players to role play in line with their culture?
How can you encourage players to role play in line with their culture, either fictional or realistic?
For example in a campaign with American players playing mainly European characters, I've noticed ...
19
votes
9answers
580 views
How can you encourage players to portray a “realistic” reaction to in-game stressful/traumatic circumstances?
This question came to me while I was thinking about killing people in pen-and-paper rpgs.
When a character starts his career, in most systems, he is somewhat young. As an example, when you are first ...
31
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8answers
2k views
As a girl how can I roleplay a male character better?
I am one who wants to play both female and male characters. Up until now I have played two male characters but only for small quests (5 sessions max). At the moment we are playing "Shackled City" and ...
25
votes
7answers
1k views
Staying in character and taking it all seriously
I have always liked the idea of a roleplaying intensive campaign, where everyone strives to be in character, and everyone takes the story seriously. I try to set a good example for everyone when I'm a ...
18
votes
4answers
279 views
How to run an encounter where PCs have different observations of the same events?
Some of the discussion in this question got me to thinking about an encounter design that sounded fun but I couldn't figure out an elegant way to pull it off:
In some situation where one or more PCs ...
11
votes
5answers
400 views
How do I encourage player-GM storytelling collaboration without “breaking” my game?
I've DM/GM'd for several gaming groups, young and old, and have found that one of the things that separates my younger players from older players is their eagerness to elaborate/collaborate in the ...
17
votes
8answers
582 views
How can I motivate my fellow players?
Although I'm very much enjoying the one of the games I'm in, the other players seem to be flagging and losing interest. This is a bit disheartening as their lack of enthusiasm is bringing down the ...
11
votes
5answers
1k views
Playing as, not with, ourselves
A few of the members of our gaming have had the probably-not-unique idea of statting ourselves as if we were player characters in a campaign. Our problem is trying to find a basis of comparison for ...
20
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4answers
360 views
How to become better at descriptions of what your character is doing?
A (very) common GM question is "What is your character doing?"
How do you, as a player, describe effectively what you character is doing?
What techniques do you use to evoke wonder and spark ...
17
votes
6answers
730 views
How to encourage a player's creativity without breaking the game?
I've just started a new D&D 4e campaign with a new group of players. One of my players came straight from 2nd edition, and has never played 4e before. She doesn't seem to grasp the layer of ...
16
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20answers
1k views
Which RPGs primarily reward roleplaying your character?
In what games (either in-print or out-of-print) are the rewards for playing your character's role or depicting your character's behavior the primary means of character advancement, as opposed to ...
14
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4answers
2k views
What does Deep Speech look/sound like?
My character picked up the Deep Sage feat, so he can now speak, read and write Deep Speech. But I haven't been able to find any examples of what it may look like when written or sound like when ...
6
votes
4answers
212 views
Are there any groups that use role-play games as performance art?
After listening to podcasts of the Penny Arcade folks playing D&D, I've been wondering, has anyone else tried to turn their role-playing sessions into performance-art pieces? Are there any ...
13
votes
6answers
380 views
How can I make downtime interesting?
My group is running a set of published adventures, so there's a pretty linear path between them. But between modules, there is the opportunity to go back to town, spend some money, and get some good ...
7
votes
7answers
519 views
What is a good way to explain the difference between a Chaotic Neutral character, and a character who is just crazed?
When I first started playing with a group of completely new players, one of the first things I did was to explain the alignments as best I could at the time. When describing Chaotic Neutral, my exact ...
0
votes
2answers
397 views
What are the main Creative Commons powered tabletop RPGs out there? [closed]
I am kinda new to these tabletop RPG games, and since I really love the Creative Commons philosophy, I wanted to know what are the strengths & weaknesses of the main CC-powered RPG games, mainly ...
