Questions tagged [roleplaying]

For questions specifically relating to the process of depicting a character in an RPG. Do not use as a general marker for any question.

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18 votes
9 answers
5k views

How do I help my player, play a cool character?

Similar to a previous question about playing smarter characters I'm looking for techniques and strategies for playing badass characters that are a lot cooler than me. Specifically I'm asking for a ...
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15 votes
2 answers
399 views

How do you LARP highly observant characters?

I'm designing a character for a World of Darkness parlour LARP who's supposed to be highly perceptive and observant. (A tad beyond human capability, at character creation.) What are your strategies ...
  • 151
3 votes
6 answers
529 views

My group says my roleplaying style is incorrect. How do I roleplay correctly for them?

I'm currently playing in a 5th edition forgotten realms campaign and I keep getting comments on how I don't role-play correctly. My character is a tiefling rogue hellbent on becoming a god but I can't ...
  • 3,395
12 votes
6 answers
6k views

I want to nerf my character for roleplay purposes, but I fear I might have the "My Guy Syndrome"

I could use some assessment of my current situation. Do you think my current behaviour falls under the My Guy Syndrome and how do I best proceed in this situation? I have a group of friends with whom ...
  • 866
18 votes
3 answers
2k views

What's the best way to roleplay a Beholder shooting with its many rays at a Major Image illusion?

We're running the Dragon Heist campaign and the party is facing Xanathar. The bard came up with an idea to distract the Beholder with the Major Image spell. The description of the Major Image spell ...
  • 1,667
23 votes
6 answers
4k views

How to respectfully roleplay sign-language without knowing it?

In my exploration based 5e game the group are about to enter an area where the local population (known as Forestfolk) communicate largely through sign language. I want to roleplay this effectively ...
  • 29k
21 votes
7 answers
3k views

How can I help players who have trouble interjecting into conversations and roleplaying?

After recently starting a new campaign with a group of players that I've had for separate groups before, I noticed that one of the players often struggles with the ability to interject when they want ...
  • 1,680
6 votes
3 answers
750 views

How to play Son of Ether without turning it into a comic relief?

According to the White Wolf Wiki: Key to the Sons' paradigm is Science (the word is always capitalised to distinguish it from the science of sleepers). Exotic theories of orgone fields, ...
  • 3,091
11 votes
1 answer
2k views

Game was fun for a year but suddenly is not? [closed]

So this may be a long story but my group and I have been playing “The Curse of Strahd” for a little over a year. It has been a really amazing and wonderful time. Everyone got a long so well and the ...
  • 119
28 votes
10 answers
4k views

Strategy to roleplay conversations between groups of NPCs?

I'm a newish DM, and I'm having a hard time coming up with a strategy to roleplay conversations between NPCs. For example, in the game I'm currently running, there is a "town council" ...
5 votes
1 answer
573 views

Would a sorcerer or a wizard make a better fake warlock? [closed]

I was wanting to build a character that was raised by a warlock before going out on their adventuring days. My question is if the character wants to cast spells like the caretaker warlock, which would ...
11 votes
1 answer
687 views

Translating in-game between player characters without breaking the game's rhythm

(I struggled to find a "decent" title that encapsulates the issue at hand, so if you have a title idea that fits the question better, I'll gladly take it over the current one) I recently had ...
  • 6,796
7 votes
1 answer
199 views

How do I roleplay this Tribal / Segregated Community Character?

I'm currently playing an Aarakocra Barbarian (Ancestral Spirit Guardian) that is the prophesied leader who will unite the scattered people. Standard Chosen One stuff. The Aarakocra tribes are not ...
9 votes
4 answers
655 views

Do all humanoids have a sex drive?

This question came up when I was using XGE's This is Your Life section for the first time, to discover and develop my kobold's backstory... rolling a 24 in Life Events which would have left me married....
  • 6,483
18 votes
6 answers
3k views

How to help a player create a character with more long term motivations?

I am currently DMing a campaign for a player that I will call Will and 2 others. To start off, Will is not really a problem player despite this question being tagged as such. He is engaged in the game,...
5 votes
2 answers
244 views

I want to know how my 5e homebrew compares to RAW, but don't really know where to begin [closed]

Alright, strap in because I've got an overly complex homebrew that I want to see how it compares to RAW. The problem is that I don't really know where to start this comparison or how to make it easier ...
  • 81
6 votes
0 answers
159 views

How to encourage players to roleplay how their Race/Class Combo engages with the world? [closed]

This one has been getting me for years and years, and it happens pretty much like clockwork. Group is doing their GNC renbu, and Low and Behold, a Kobold Barbarian! Or some other off-kilter ...
37 votes
8 answers
2k views

How can I roleplay a vulgar character without using profanity?

In my new campaign, I have an NPC who I would like to have the personality trait of being extremely and unexpectedly vulgar. However I also have a few players who prefer not to use to hear profanity ...
  • 29k
1 vote
1 answer
273 views

Ilithid-like player character - best practices, inspirations?

Background: I am starting to play a certainly chaotic, not necessarily evil (depending on your viewpoint) character, which is looking for a reason to go adventuring with a group of magic-using, but ...
  • 685
18 votes
4 answers
2k views

How to play a low wisdom character with these flaws and ideals?

I've been roleplaying as my Dwarven Warlock for a short while now, and I've grown quite attached to her as a character. She has a wisdom score of 8, intelligence score of 12 and a charisma of 17. She ...
4 votes
0 answers
313 views

How do elves, or other long lived races, act when confronted with much more potent members of the short-lived races? [closed]

Example situations: An adventuring party at the 3rd tier, mostly made of humans in their 20s, and plenty of raw power at their disposal. The Elves are interacting with dangerous individuals several ...
  • 49
2 votes
1 answer
517 views

Novice to Worlds Without Number: Advice on character creation and motivation [closed]

I got invited to join a role-playing group, who would like to start Worlds Without Number (WWN). The group is familiar with role-playing but for me, this is the very first time ever. Therefore, I came ...
  • 421
1 vote
0 answers
118 views

How best to roleplay an agent of the crown tasked with aiding the party [closed]

I am playing an inquisitive rogue joining a level 17 party. The party is already well established, having their own business ventures or terraforming land for their clan and whatnot. My idea for my ...
1 vote
2 answers
209 views

How do I roleplay Ziraj The Hunter?

Stipulated that the question in the title is an opinion so that's not the question I'm asking. Background: We are playing Waterdeep Dragonheist and, very temporarily, we are playing the Doom Raiders ...
23 votes
3 answers
5k views

My characters, though different classes/races/etc., always seem to have similar personalities. Is this a problem, and, if so, how can I fix it?

This is a question about something I've noticed in my own play style, asked because I want to make sure that I and those I play with enjoy the game as much as possible. I played AD&D and 2e ten ...
  • 1,967
12 votes
2 answers
1k views

Am I being unreasonable with my role playing of a cursed item?

If a player from my campaign sees this, please don't take any offence to it. It's just I'm really not enjoying the item and can't RP it in a way that other players will care about. My character ...
2 votes
0 answers
67 views

Im new to role playing games.Where should i start? [duplicate]

I've played Skyrim but I really want to know where to start for dungeons and dragons.
3 votes
2 answers
442 views

What would a character affected by Feeblemind be capable of in 2e?

I've looked through this website for answers but most of the questions pertaining to the spell are for 5e, like this one, where the spell has gone through many generations of changes. It doesn't ...
  • 111
14 votes
4 answers
3k views

How do you handle role-playing NPCs as a DM? [closed]

I DM a 5e D&D campaign. I've been playing D&D for under a year. In this new campaign I'm planning to have a few NPC allies. While I'm able to roleplay less important NPCs, these NPCs feel more ...
1 vote
0 answers
84 views

What is your favorite RPG for younger people? [closed]

I have played a lot of Dungeons and Dragons with my younger siblings, but I have found that they can lose interest quickly with all of the complicated rules and slow combat. They want more of the ...
15 votes
5 answers
2k views

How to describe & roleplay past torture, prejudice and gender discrimination without upsetting fellow players too much?

In the next adventure I'm going to play a drow male, who was casually bullied, whipped etc. by females of the drow society. That's how that society works, after all. It's in the books. He now has a ...
  • 22.4k
23 votes
3 answers
6k views

How can I show a friend of mine that his behavior is about to make me quit playing?

I'm currently playing at a table using Discord with some online and IRL friends, once a week. All's good in the world, but recently, another friend asked me to join, and after checking with our GM, he'...
  • 419
15 votes
3 answers
749 views

How do I roleplay Prejudice/Xism?

The world is not always nice place, and typically neither are our pretend ones. There are plenty of times in games where Characters may come across others who are prejudiced in some form. Perhaps ...
  • 2,911
2 votes
2 answers
761 views

How to handle a party's bad choices? [closed]

Not too long ago I started a campaign in Pathfinder 2e, and at a certain point I hinted at an enemy group's location and (superior) strength, while telling the party to go somewhere else and complete ...
  • 2,315
27 votes
3 answers
5k views

Herding Maids to stop being creepy

MAID is a rather fun setting thing. And from a game design standpoint surprisingly well made for a game that is focused around trying to be a funny, sometimes sexy, harem Anime trope. But I have yet ...
  • 34.6k
1 vote
0 answers
70 views

What are some resources/advice for GMs looking to hone improvisational skills? [closed]

In an effort to prep for a one-shot that I'm running next month, I'm looking for any guides, videos, podcasts, etc. aimed at helping a GM refine their improvisational skills. I'm giving our DM a ...
18 votes
8 answers
7k views

How should I play my character (who is motivated to betray the party) and keep the game fun?

My friends and I are playing a custom quest where our goal is to stop Asmodeus from reaching god hood. However, my problem is that I am playing a Warlock (Lawful Evil) who is evil and worships ...
  • 1,077
9 votes
1 answer
776 views

How do DMs roleplay the shamans in "Danger at Dunwater" from the Ghosts of Saltmarsh adventure book?

I am somewhat confused by the "role" of the shamans in the Danger at Dunwater module from Ghosts of Saltmarsh. I understand the politics as described, and obviously it is up to the DM to ...
  • 571
31 votes
7 answers
8k views

How should I as a GM handle a player character who has a bad memory?

There is a player in my campaign who's characters defining trait is that they have a bad memory. I like creating mechanical representations of character traits if it makes sense to do so. I've given ...
8 votes
2 answers
385 views

How does a low Strength stat translate into the narrative?

I'm having trouble with something. In a ADnD 2e campaign how should a low Strength translate into the narrative/roleplay of the campaign? It's easy to figure out how high Strength would work when ...
  • 111
2 votes
0 answers
152 views

On Role-playing True-to-Canon Elves Despite Fellow Players Promoting Orcs [closed]

While I have read all the 3.5 sourcebooks -- and had some practically memorised, I haven't played that many campaigns. One of the few that I did, I went with a Lawful Neutral Grey Elf Wizard, and as ...
8 votes
4 answers
4k views

Elves and Orcs canonically hate each other, but the table wants the party to stay together. What official guidance exists for handling this conflict?

Traditionally, many character races in D&D have been defined to have a race with whom they share a mutual hatred: elves and orcs, dwarves and goblins, and gnomes and kobolds, for example. With ...
  • 761
4 votes
1 answer
289 views

1st Edition Lawful Good woes

I have a few questions I’m hoping more experienced players can help me with. I’ve been playing in a 1st edition D&D game for about 1.5 years now as a lawful good human Paladin. I’m not super ...
30 votes
10 answers
4k views

Roleplay pacing in non-combat situations

I am running the Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus module and my players are taking very long to approach certain situations. To set an example: There is a gate with two guards who are checking ...
9 votes
3 answers
1k views

Group with split likes in D&D game: role playing and combat

I'm running a game for 4 people, 1 of which has played D&D before. I have only ran a first session. This session lasted for about 5 or 6 hours, and it seems that it was a lot of fun for them. I ...
  • 517
2 votes
0 answers
122 views

Roleplaying a rogue thief without stereotypical motivations? [closed]

My group started a Pathfinder 2E campaign at the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdown which was meant to be a throwaway bit of fun on Friday evenings. As time has progressed we've been playing on a such ...
8 votes
1 answer
248 views

As a player, how can I avoid stifling new players but also avoid letting things stall?

I have just started a Cyberpunk campaign. 2 of us are experienced RPG-ers, 1 hasn’t played in about 10 years and the other 2 are complete newbies. The GM is not new to RPGs, but is new to Cyberpunk, ...
  • 6,204
29 votes
3 answers
2k views

How can I balance slightly erotic roleplay and story based roleplay?

With the epidemic, me and my girlfriend ended up unable to have much contact (not even calls since her roommates are always in the house and it would be really awkward with them.) As a result we have ...
  • 19.6k
3 votes
1 answer
121 views

How would a steel devil act on its own?

Fiendish Codex II says that "[s]teel devils are consummate soldiers. They have no purpose or drive to do anything other than to march in step to battle" (138). However, steel devils aren't mindless—...
  • 7,628
8 votes
3 answers
2k views

How do I swear in Goblin? Orcish? [closed]

I have a character who speaks Orcish and Goblin in addition to Common. He's got a poor Charisma score, so I want to play him as being rather uncouth, adding a liberal amount of coarse language to his ...
  • 1,358

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