DMs of?

What do you most fervently wish of your players when it comes to character creation, and roleplaying?

And what do you despise the most out of your players that you most fervently wish they should never do when roleplaying?

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  1. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    >What do you most fervently wish of your players when it comes to character creation, and roleplaying?
    I don't care, I don't have any strong preferences character-wise, or else I would be playing characters.
    >And what do you despise the most out of your players that you most fervently wish they should never do when roleplaying?
    People not treating the game seriously and turning everything into a joke. I hope that none of you had to experience this, but, unfortunately, I have on several occasions and it's the absolute worst thing that can happen. One or two guys are having the time of their life, the rest of the players are disengaged and sidelined, and I'm the butt of the joke.

    Thankfully, I've found the secret of avoiding this outcome, and the secret is strictly banning your friends from inviting their friends.

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      >People not treating the game seriously and turning everything into a joke.
      This is agonising and I sympathise deeply.

      https://i.imgur.com/vvNMHXP.png

      What do you most fervently wish of your players when it comes to character creation, and roleplaying?

      And what do you despise the most out of your players that you most fervently wish they should never do when roleplaying?

      >What do you most fervently wish of your players when it comes to character creation, and roleplaying?
      Accept that there will always be disaster on the horizon because if everything goes just fine then there's no game. Either do dangerous ambitious things that might fail, or I have to lob metaphorical hand grenades into the setting to spur you on.
      >And what do you despise the most out of your players that you most fervently wish they should never do when roleplaying?
      I fantasise about shooting our power gamer in the face. If you put significantly more mechanical effort into the game than the other players or GM want to, you just ruin it for everyone else. I've more or less stopped including combat in games because nobody else gets to have fun the whole scene. I suspect it's because he doesn't have a real job so he has lots of time to netbuild, the gay.

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        >Accept that there will always be disaster on the horizon because if everything goes just fine then there's no game. Either do dangerous ambitious things that might fail, or I have to lob metaphorical hand grenades into the setting to spur you on.
        I fricking hate players who play everythinv safe. I was in a Curse of Strahd game a couple years ago and one of the other players refused to do or try anything because he was terrified something might happen.

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        >I fantasise about shooting our power gamer in the face
        Sometimes I wish to do that as well with my min-maxer. He does lots of good roleplaying, supports the party and likes to work together. However, he becomes an issue when his "perfect combo" goes down the drain when I set a challenge he can't beat the shit out. The man can't stop complaining.

        >Accept that there will always be disaster on the horizon because if everything goes just fine then there's no game. Either do dangerous ambitious things that might fail, or I have to lob metaphorical hand grenades into the setting to spur you on.
        I fricking hate players who play everythinv safe. I was in a Curse of Strahd game a couple years ago and one of the other players refused to do or try anything because he was terrified something might happen.

        Why was he playing Curse of Strahd then? This setting is supposed to be quite lethal. You can play safe with smart thinking and a good build, but refusing to do anything is ridiculous.

        • 3 months ago
          Anonymous

          My power gamer doesn't do any of those good things. He builds to do one rigid thing (usually handing out damage) and sulks whenever the scene isn't about doing it. He also plays aggravating Paladin type morality characters who then want to fight the other PCs or sulk in character while he sulks OOC.
          I personally think of him as the reason for the Stormwind Fallacy. Sure it's not a _law_ that power and roleplay are opposites but he's the poster boy for the type of player who's only here to get praise for high numbers.

          >Accept that there will always be disaster on the horizon because if everything goes just fine then there's no game. Either do dangerous ambitious things that might fail, or I have to lob metaphorical hand grenades into the setting to spur you on.
          I fricking hate players who play everythinv safe. I was in a Curse of Strahd game a couple years ago and one of the other players refused to do or try anything because he was terrified something might happen.

          This is one of the reasons I think OSR is so divisive. Some groups can handle pressure and some can't.

          • 3 months ago
            Anonymous

            >pressure
            The thing about OSR is that there's actually very little pressure. If your guy dies, just roll up a new one. More meat for the grinder.

            • 3 months ago
              Anonymous

              If you don't care if your guy dies, why are you playing? Why not just free associate about neat ways you might die, or might win?

              • 3 months ago
                Anonymous

                I care, but not so much that I'd rather sit out by the dungeon's entrance and do literally nothing instead of... you know, playing the fricking game.

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      >People not treating the game seriously and turning everything into a joke. I hope that none of you had to experience this, but, unfortunately, I have on several occasions and it's the absolute worst thing that can happen. One or two guys are having the time of their life, the rest of the players are disengaged and sidelined, and I'm the butt of the joke.
      This is a pretty foundational step to learning how to play RPGs. It's a way that the vast majority of adults are going to treat the game when told "it's make believe with dice, now pretend to be that person."

      I get the annoyance. But you've got to bring them into it and they've got to play enough to get comfortable. I think it happens with prolly 90% of new players.

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        Yeah, the only cure is time, and pairing them with experienced players to learn from. Comedy is often used to hide or soothe their anxiety/awkwardness about roleplaying, so you shouldn't try to stamp it out unless it persists for too long or steps on other players who are taking the game more genuinely.

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        >This is a pretty foundational step to learning how to play RPGs. It's a way that the vast majority of adults are going to treat the game when told "it's make believe with dice, now pretend to be that person."
        This may have been true... well, before I was born, really, but now every young person has played RPG videogames, or at least they already know what an RPG is and what you're supposed to do there.

        • 3 months ago
          Anonymous

          >at least they already know what an RPG is and what you're supposed to do there.
          I take it you don't actually play ttrpgs. Sitting in front of a computer "RPing" in a video game is absolutely nothing, at all, like getting together with friends or acquaintances at a dining table and pretending to be a wise elven mage. It's not remotely the same thing. I semi-regularly run games for new players at an FLGS or my house and easily 90% of them try to hide their RPing behind jokes.

          • 3 months ago
            Anonymous

            >I take it you don't actually play
            Stop reading there. Take your bad faith somewhere else, chum.

            • 3 months ago
              Anonymous

              The thing is? I'm right.

        • 3 months ago
          Anonymous

          Completely moronic opinion.

          >I take it you don't actually play
          Stop reading there. Take your bad faith somewhere else, chum.

          He's absolutely right, dipshit.

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      I had it happen when I tried to run dnd in space station 13 and security arrested us one game, a blob attacked us in another, and one of the players played sex addict and kept trying to frick the other players' mom and big sister, respectively

  2. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    Stick to the schedule.
    Crossplay.

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      What exactly is Crossplay?

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        [...]
        Yeah, when I see crossplay, I think of cross platform play for vidya games. Are you talking about meta gaming or something? Or people trying to play things out of genre (like a cowboy in your bronze age setting)?

        Men playing as women characters and vice versa.

        • 3 months ago
          Anonymous

          Nah nothing wrong with that so long as it isn't just the player version of magical realm.
          I know it's basically always magical realm shit but that's the real problem.

        • 3 months ago
          Anonymous

          [...]
          Like crossdressing but with characters instead of clothes.

          Thanks

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        [...]
        Yeah, when I see crossplay, I think of cross platform play for vidya games. Are you talking about meta gaming or something? Or people trying to play things out of genre (like a cowboy in your bronze age setting)?

        Like crossdressing but with characters instead of clothes.

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        redflag for a bad gm

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      What exactly is Crossplay?

      Yeah, when I see crossplay, I think of cross platform play for vidya games. Are you talking about meta gaming or something? Or people trying to play things out of genre (like a cowboy in your bronze age setting)?

  3. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    Creation-wise, just don’t be some cringy anime protagonist wannabe or anything like that. The important things is that players should have self-agency and try to move the game forwards.
    And don’t try to turn the game into some MCU-esque reddit quip fest where nothing is treated seriously. If you do this, you WILL see everyone around you die a horrible death or get enslaved. If you are a murderhobo, you will get zucced instead.

  4. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    >What do you most fervently wish of your players when it comes to character creation,
    Ask me about the setting details inherent of chargen, what roles are fitting the game, what's the general tone, that sort of things. Also making a character that would fit a group, with clear motivation to keep working with one.
    >and roleplaying?
    Interact with the world, be proactive, do not be a dick towards the group. If you manage to do this much you filled your quota.

    >And what do you despise the most out of your players
    Automatically assuming their expectations fit the game, having a character concept even before knowing the game details, not being open to different genres/games/playstyles other than the ones they expect

    >that you most fervently wish they should never do when roleplaying?
    Monopolising the table's time with meaningless actions or being just pedantic in decisions, throwing senseless wrenches in the group dynamics/plans only because makes sense for the character, splitting from the party a lot for futile reasons, interpreting a gimmick/lolsorandom/lonewolf/batshit-insane character.

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      >Monopolising the table's time with meaningless actions
      >being just pedantic in decisions throwing senseless wrenches in the group dynamics/plans only because makes sense for the character
      >splitting from the party a lot for futile reasons
      >interpreting a gimmick/lolsorandom/lonewolf/batshit-insane character
      You've described every roleplaying scenario possible. Like you want to save as much time as possible and as a strawman argument I could argue that having a rogue is meaningless since stealthing and picking locks just wastes time when you could have just picked beefy fighter instead. Break the lock, use your actions to swing twice and if there's magical locks let wizards to wizard stuff.

      You can also a GM just flat out tell them that they succeed/fail in the things they do. You don't have to force rolls because "that would make sense". If you feel like that they are throwing a wrentch then make sure to say that it's a wrencth. You are THE being that explains what happens when a player wants to frick with the world. If that thing backfires then describe how badly it backfires. If it kills them, then kill them. They are the one doing the risky action and if it is seen as failure, it is their responsibility to suffer the consequences.

      Also I believe that every encounter could have meaning. What if you forgot that you had a druid that wants to study the random wolf encounter and your stubborn-ass sees no value in studying it. Or how about having a wizard in a party? How many times you just give out spell scrolls or tomes to them to find so they could change their spells optimally? We could also take a nihilistic approach and say that anything players do doesn't matter in the end. Why give them a hand when in the end they are just going to frick with you. If a guy is Simple Steve compared to Curious George. Don't favor Steve just because his needs are easier to fulfill. But these are just strawman, so.

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        >You've described every roleplaying scenario possible
        Yes and i also specified multiple times this is bad when done against the group interest. I know it's meta in a way but i think that players should always priorise two cardinal points: 1) this is a social game so while may make sense that your character is going to do a bunch of shit on his own it may be better for the whole table enjoyment to think a way to make that something group relevant (or simply paraphrasing the whole endeavour for the sake of brevity), instead of, you know, making a whole table of people sitting on their asses waiting for you to finish, and 2) this is a game with obviously designed scenarios, not a virtual simulation run by a flesh computer (the gm), humouring some obvious hook may be the smooth thing to do in approaching the whole experience instead of prodding everything that gets remotely described existing or forcefully injecting something in the same way.

        Sure, the gm can and should easily circumvent all of the above but having a modicum of awareness and showing some fricking courtesy doesn't automatically detratcts from engagement.

  5. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    >character creations
    Play in the format of the game and setting as outlined as we make characters. Don't make one head of time.
    >roleplaying
    Remember its just a game and you're not play acting as the character.
    >despise
    Flaking or otherwise not understanding other people's time, using rpgs as 'therapy'

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      >Flaking or otherwise not understanding other people's time, using rpgs as 'therapy'
      This right here. I don't care about your shitty job or personal problems. You want to tell stories? Do it on another day when I'm not here. Change jobs if it's that bad. No, I don't care, get over yourself.
      FFS. I don't want to spend hours, each and every game waiting for one or more morons to b***h about the same fricking problems before we start.

  6. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    >character creation
    If I say a class or race isn't present in my setting, don't complain about it. There's a reason I don't want it.

    >roleplaying
    don't get upset when I don't do a funny voice for every single NPC. I'm not a voice actor and you're not paying me to do this.

  7. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    >What do you most fervently wish of your players when it comes to character creation, and roleplaying?
    To think out their character beyond "guy with sword, was a soldier". I want beliefs and values, and things that are important to you.
    >And what do you despise the most out of your players that you most fervently wish they should never do when roleplaying?
    Meta jokes and referential meme humour. They're fine on their own and I like them, but the current people I play with make them all the time and it gets tired.

  8. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    >What do you most fervently wish of your players when it comes to character creation, and roleplaying?
    That they talk to each other and create characters together.
    >And what do you despise the most out of your players that you most fervently wish they should never do when roleplaying?
    That they want to play Tieflings.

  9. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    >wish of your players when it comes to character creation and roleplaying
    Don't build around a gimmick if you're going to have trouble roleplaying the character. This isn't a video game: you've got to haul that equipment around from settlement to wilderness and back again. Retraining costs time and money and some players have had to learn that the hard way.
    >despise the most out of your players that you most fervently wish they should never do when roleplaying
    This goes beyond roleplaying, but it directly impacts it (and combat readiness): using spreadsheets to store inventory during sessions instead of simple text files. Everyone does data entry differently and there's nothing worse than having to chase down which tab has accurate numbers while one of the characters or henchmen is bleeding out. Spreadsheets are fine for domain-level organization, but not for hex exploration and dungeons.

  10. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    >What do you most fervently wish of your players when it comes to character creation, and roleplaying?
    Stick to the schedule, learn the rules relevant to your character, if I need a character sheet or some input in between sessions from you don't send it five minutes befor the start.

    >And what do you despise the most out of your players that you most fervently wish they should never do when roleplaying?
    Trying to introduce major changes into the world building without asking.
    Decision paralysis on trivial matters.
    Good ol' cheating.

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      How should I handle things when I need to say thing about the world that haven't been established yet? Playing a wizard wizard would suck if I couldn't technobabble when talking about magical stuff with the rest of the table, and playing a cleric would suck if I couldn't quote scripture when making social checks. I can't read my DM's mind so contradictions are bound to happen.

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        Technobabble and minor details like quotes from scripture aren't major changes.
        I was talking about inventing nations and major historic events with relevance to the story.
        Examples from my table:
        >Character backstory has her lead a rebellion in the country where the adventure is set
        there was no rebellion in that region of the world
        >Making up a backstory for a race without regard for existing lore

  11. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    >botspam thread
    >people reply

  12. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    >And what do you despise the most out of your players that you most fervently wish they should never do when roleplaying?
    The people who try and play a character who is 'stoic' or 'mysterious', because that often just means that they end up as an absolute wallflower and tend to just shrug off any attempt at engagement. It makes it very hard to tell as a GM as to if someone is enjoying the game, other than the fact that they keep showing up each week.

    >What do you most fervently wish of your players when it comes to character creation, and roleplaying?
    Mainly that they give me something to work with. More often than not, that comes in the context of people, either as friends or enemies. I don't care if a backstory is special snowflake as long as it actually gives me some allies and rivals or a sense of your character's opinion on some major factions.
    All that makes it easier to actually offer up engaging plothooks when a character has a vendetta against a group, belongs to an organization, or otherwise ties themselves to the world, rather than feeling as though they existed as an antisocial hermit until 5 minutes before the campaign starts.

    Basically, if I wanted to see a blank-slate protagonist who never speaks, I'd play a vidya.

  13. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    >What do you most fervently wish of your players when it comes to character creation, and roleplaying?
    For character creation, work together to decide how your characters know each other. I hate the "I met this guy yesterday at a tavern and we've done one battle together so I guess I'll go wherever you go and die for you" shit that happens when all characters are made independently. For roleplaying, take it somewhat seriously, have some gravitas. You don't need to be super cereal 24/7 but you shouldn't play as Bobo the clown who throws pies and tries to seduce every woman he sees.

    >And what do you despise the most out of your players that you most fervently wish they should never do when roleplaying?
    Pretty much what I described, lolsorandum bullshit and trying to be wacky and funny by doing the most shallow and boring shit.

  14. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    >be me
    >based DM goes on roll20
    >I get together a discord group of trannies with anime icons and pronouns in bio
    >what could go wrong?
    >"Alright! This is a SERIOUS, GRITTY MEDIEVAL CAMPAIGN. You got that!?! No Black folk or furries allowed!"
    >They give effeminate yawns as I ping them over and over again. That means they're listening.
    >The next day, I see their characters. Finally, they will have made the most historically accurate characters ever!
    >Bessie the Lactating MILF Minotaur
    >Priapus Maximus the futanari satyr
    >Nesnahsirhc the e-girl high elf
    >I gasp
    >there was no way I could have seen this coming
    >how could they do this!?
    >rage builds up in my bladder
    >their AIDs infected voices desperately try to make excuses
    >a vein explodes on my forehead, drenching the portrait of Mordenkainen I have pinned on my wall
    >time for them to face retribution
    >I ping them all with the "You will never be a woman" copypasta
    >Gunshots ring out in unison as they all join the 41%
    >Arneson rises from the dead to give me a high five
    >Heidi Gygax sucks my dick for my glorious defense of the hobby
    >and everyone clapped

  15. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    >What do you most fervently wish of your players when it comes to character
    1. No freakshit
    2. No "fighters are boring" mindless whinging. Go play MTG
    3. No backstories that involve you being a noble.
    3. No names that have nothing to do with the tone of the setting
    4. No modern clothing or equipment on your character.
    5. No cringy revenge backstories
    6. No "trigger warnings" or refusing to write a will for your character because you refuse to accept if your character dies
    7. No moronic character quirks that detract from the setting and don't constitute a personality
    8. No in-game references to memes or YouTube crap

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      >2. No "fighters are boring" mindless whinging. Go play MTG
      Fighters are in fact boring
      >I decide to swing my sword, now I'll swing my sword again
      >I decide to shoot my bow, now I'll shoot my bow again

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        >Fighters are in fact boring
        No they aren't and there have been plenty of systems in nearly every edition of D&D to prevent this. No different from spellcasters spamming the same cantrips over and over or rogues sneak attacking every round. The fact you find it boring is because you think having a whole bunch of "options" when in reality just one or two are actually the right choice, is somehow interesting. Choosing your fighters Power Attack in 3.5 required more brainpower than choosing the right spell in 90 percent of cases.

        • 3 months ago
          Anonymous

          >Choosing your fighters Power Attack in 3.5 required more brainpower than choosing the right spell in 90 percent of cases.
          Well, when you've only got two or three spells it does narrow the options down somewhat.

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        The complaints department phone is ringing again. Can somebody answer it?

        • 3 months ago
          Anonymous

          I hate answering the complaint phone, the complaint phone sucks.

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      >No names that have nothing to do with the tone of the setting
      How does this one work?

      I use fantasy name generators and modify the names generated as starting points for making names.

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      What's the line between a cringe and non cringe revenge backstory?

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        How you play it. It can be done well. But it'll never have anything to do with what you wrote down or how you incorporate it into your character, or what that says about your character, or what it means for your character.

        It'll always come down, solely, to how you play it. Which is why your backstory is irrelevant in the first place.

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      I agree with all of the above, but why no noble backstories?

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        NTA, but I would hazard a guess at either trying to have lots of political pull "You can't arrest me! I'm the Barron's son!", more money than most small kingdoms or starting magic items and such.

        • 3 months ago
          Anonymous

          I'm fine with such perks. If they want them they can dump their feats and character levels, or points, into having them instead of something else.

          3e? Noble's Handbook, maybe Dynasties and Demagogues, or a couple options in PHB2.
          TDE: compendium 2. Gonna have to use Google translate, it's in German.
          GURPS: there are advantages for that.
          Shadowrun 4: group allies.

          D&D5? Probably need a 3pp like for 3e. No clue which one.

          • 3 months ago
            Anonymous

            what makes you think a player that wants to start with those extra benefits would be willing to dump anything into getting them? They put it in their backstory because they want it for free.

        • 3 months ago
          Anonymous

          I was kinda thinking the same thing in terms of whats the worst a player could do. These are still things that can be limited by just saying "don't do this" no?

        • 3 months ago
          Anonymous

          I always make my nobles poor and unimportant but with massively inflated sense of self-importance, reciting comically long names and dismissing differing opinions as "peasantry" will always be a blast to RP

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        In older editions, playing a noble was discouraged because the entire point of the game is that your PCs go from level 1 commoners to level 20 heroes. Fighters became lords at level 7, so being a noble is basically "on par" with 6/7 free levels.

        In more narrative games, it's not as much of a problem, but you still want to make sure it puts your PC on equal footing with everyone else. A noble PC who uses his position to take over the story is no fun at all.

  16. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    >What do you most fervently wish of your players when it comes to character creation, and roleplaying?
    That they make a character they actually want to play and will enjoy roleplaying as. Make a fricking character that is engaging to you. That's all I fricking want.
    >And what do you despise the most out of your players that you most fervently wish they should never do when roleplaying?
    Saying "I don't know" or going silent when playing the fricking game. We're here to play. Pay attention. Ask questions. ENGAGE WITH THE FRICKING GAME. When you give me the goddamned fluoride stare after I tell you what happens in the game, it makes me want to get up from the table and walk away.

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      basically this, just show up regularly and care about what you're doing, I'll put up with practically anything of you're just trying to hit those two points in good faith

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        It's really a very low bar and I've still seen people get out a shovel and trench crawl under it and then act like it's my fault they chose to have as little fun as possible.

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      What I wish is that they take their time to get in the headspace of what kind of character they want to make. I don't have any requirements or judgements as to what a character looks like, but I don't like it when a player ends up making a character they don't seem to be able to conceive of as a real person. A character is only as good as how well it is played, and I want players to keep that in mind when they settle in for a character that might last dozens of hours. I had a doctor character played by a guy with no medical knowledge, but who read up on it just so his doctor could seem more knowledgeable. That was fun to play along with.

      What I wish wouldn't happen is that a character gets roadblocked or fails in some task that's important to them, that the player takes that personal or as an excuse to sulk. It sucks to suck, you rarely want your character to fail, but it's going to happen and dice being what they are it is likely to happen often. Take it with a smile, laugh at the character's misfortune, use it as a roleplaying opportunity. I had an early experience with a character being styled on by an NPC, and the player played it off as their character's pride being wounded and obsessing over it for weeks. It was cool. In my current game one player in particular gets quiet whenever their character is made to look small or foolish, it really drains me as a GM. I never try to make my players seem like fools, so it sucks that they'll disengage from playing for several minutes when I am trying my best to make sure they have fun.

      >Player doesn't engage with their own character
      >Player does not ask any questions about the world
      I feel your pain, intense and cold.

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        >I feel your pain, intense and cold.
        I'd take a table full of overly engaged players causing problems on purpose over a single disengaged silent shithead.

        • 3 months ago
          Anonymous

          The ones that don't participate I can stomach in small quantities. I can ignore them, and focus on the ones that do engage - the silent one being just a piece of muscle for the "real" players. But if they impact the mood of others they are fricking poison. Telling some c**t that they need to relax and stop their shenanigans is at least a problem you can work with.

          I wish they would fricking think farther than their next masturbatory power fantasy. I've got players complaining that boss fights are too hard despite not depleting even a sixth of their resources. Black folk, nothing you've faced even comes close to challenging you, and you're still b***hing, how fricking dumb are you? I want to quit.

          You can't solve stupid. If "But you didn't even use all your resources." doesn't make them stop to reflect, all you can do is protect yourself by not caring what they think. Alternatively maybe they are unable to understand themselves what their actual problem is and you could try to figure that out, but that's a slippery slope.

  17. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    >chargen
    Don't come to the table with a concept or a backstory; just sit down, roll stats, pick a class from the list of what's available, and let's fricking go. Your 1st level guy is a blank slate; your backstory will be the tale of how they earned their first 10,000 XP. Your "build" will be the stuff you find along the way that you decide to keep and use.
    >roleplay
    Roleplaying is controlling an avatar and interacting with the campaign milieu. It's the identity and capabilities of the specific avatar that make it a "role," not how the motivation or psychology of the avatar's persona differs from your own. Roleplaying isn't playacting, it isn't performing, it isn't improvising dialog in character, and it isn't thinking or making decisions in character. Those things are optional: often laudable, but never a requirement.
    If you play at my table, it's none of my business how you justify your decisions. Get "into character" or don't, perform like a thespian or don't, that's all up to you. Just don't b***h to me that you think some other player is "roll-playing" or "meta-gaming" or not meeting your artsy-fartsy improv method-acting standards. If it isn't my business, it sure as shit isn't any of yours.

  18. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    >what do you despise the most out of your players that you most fervently wish they should never do when roleplaying?
    a player asking "Where is the adventurer's guild?"

    I always have to explain why it is not a thing in my worlds.

  19. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    > What do you most fervently wish of your players when it comes to character creation, and roleplaying?

    I want the players to come up with interesting *characters* capable of self-motivation, not just combat builds with names attached. I realize that my style of game is unusual, but the best groups literally work where I can just set up a scene and then sit back and do nothing for an hour besides some narration or npcs because the players talking to each other *is* the scene. Figuring out what to do next, going over what they have found or what they know, silly bullshit, whatever.

    > And what do you despise the most out of your players that you most fervently wish they should never do when roleplaying?

    Mistaking genre-awareness for being at all clever or fun. When the player is constantly trying to 'outsmart' the GM and dodge every plot hook or story beat because they read TV tropes and think they are being cute, it really just means they are not engaging with the story and making sure that no one else CAN. Which might be fine, except that then when you tell them that their prize is nothing happens they just 404 their brain.
    Yes, smart guy, you have decided not to accept the quest from the shady guy selling fake dungeon maps. That means you are not going to go down the path I laid for you, but what DO you want to do instead?

    >uhhhh... well what else have you got for me?

    Motherfricker, I *made* you a meal. You chose not to eat it. If you want me to whip up something else on the spot you got to give me something to work with.

  20. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    Character creation
    >make a character that fits into the world but doesnt have a long backstory, the story comes from gameplay
    >also dont make a loner
    Roleplaying:
    >pick a role and stick to it
    >character growth from stuff that happens in the campaign is great and can subvert the archetype
    >you watching a new anime and subverting the archetype to be that animes Protagonist is not great
    It really isnt difficult.
    The best character in my campaign can be summed up with „dickass thief“
    And he still has the most character development out of the lot of them

  21. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    Not taking the world seriously is a big no no just like breaking character during a session.
    Also monty python jokes but I learned to tolerate those.
    Oh and if your want to erp get the frick off my table.

  22. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    >What do you most fervently wish of your players when it comes to character creation, and roleplaying?

    Engage with the world and setting. I have a house rule to help with this for each character to make 3 connections to a group, faction, organization, etc. so the characters have a better tie to the world. Doing this in creation helps make campaign plot points and gives me tools to work with throughout the game. In roleplaying most of my players tend to fell like they are playing character's with IRL morality and philosophies rather than in world characters. While if one can justify this I am fine with it most of the time that isn't the case.

    >And what do you despise the most out of your players that you most fervently wish they should never do when roleplaying?

    Making everything a marvel joke. Like I am fine with and even make more lighthearted characters and situations. Even some that are meant to be somewhat humorous. And during down time and travel there will obviously be jokes and banter. However in combat and moments of story importance I do feel irritated when players can't just settle for like 5 minutes. This goes double for a character's moment in the spotlight. I give each PC a personal quest to explore and during those moments I try to make things a bit more serious. Luckily this stuff has only really happened once or twice because of my filtering but the times it has have been lightly frustrating.

  23. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    Don’t be a c**t about it we’re trying to have fun

    Being a c**t about it

  24. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    >most fervently wish of your players when it comes to character creation
    Make characters down to earth, nothing too flamboyant.

    >and roleplaying?
    Let everyone else roleplay too, don't hog the spotlight.

    >most fervently wish they should never do when roleplaying?
    Flirt with NPCs.

  25. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    I only care if my players actually enjoy the game, because I put a lot of effort into it.
    Conversely, I hate it if they seem disinterested or distracted.
    I don't care if you don't do cool voices or go into detail on what exactly you're saying, but man. If people aren't having fun, I'm not doing things right.

  26. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    1. Build characters that fit the campaign you signed up for and agreed to play. Know how your character functions mechanically. Play that character.
    2. When they pitch a fit about #1, or bait and switch me and start playing disruptive shitbags that are not the character they pitched for the campaign.

  27. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    They play something other than Chaotic Inactive.
    When they play inactive neutral.

    Like jeez guys, do *something*. When a guy tells you the rumour that a big bad lich with a casket full of gold and magic is over the next hill, that's a fricking hint. I shouldn't have to make a guy with a bunch of gold to pay you to do it.

  28. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    >What do you most fervently wish of your players when it comes to character creation, and roleplaying?
    That they read the fricking handouts and characters biographies I wrote for the setting. It's all there, organized and explained for them. If they don't understand something, I can answer, but please read the goddamn thing.

    >And what do you despise the most out of your players that you most fervently wish they should never do when roleplaying?
    Trying to contradict my saying on a rule or lore I expressely said time and time again I altered or didn't use.

  29. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    >What do you most fervently wish of your players when it comes to character creation, and roleplaying?
    Don't put mechanics first, but don't put them last either. We all know the gimmick build with the lame personality tacked on, but a "roleplay build" often ends up with the player feeling underserved because they're incredibly niche. Make a character with a few strong personality traits and a simple, easily identifiable drive. We're playing with a bunch of people in whatever crazy world I come up with, so bold flavors work well. And while I obviously have no problem involving character backstories, it'll be easier for both of us if your character doesn't require my assistance to actually be a character.
    >And what do you despise the most out of your players that you most fervently wish they should never do when roleplaying?
    I once had a guy who had Cool Guys Syndrome. Though his character was the coolest guy, and got upset when it wasn't confirmed in game. Also perceived ownership of the world. As in, someone says his character is connected to some group or another which he makes up. Fine. That's the sort of character detail we like. But then they get to a new city and he's all like "no no, my group are the biggest players in town here". I mean, involving your character background is all fine and dandy, but building my entire world around them isn't. I've got my own plans and ideas. Stuff like this is why I do the much-feared Session Zero these days. If players think it's neat to have their shit at the heart of the setting, we can work that out.

  30. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    >What do you most fervently wish of your players when it comes to character creation, and roleplaying?
    Make sure that the character doesn't stick out like a billboard in the middle of a serene landscape.
    >And what do you despise the most out of your players that you most fervently wish they should never do when roleplaying?
    Not taking the game seriously.

  31. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    I wish they would fricking think farther than their next masturbatory power fantasy. I've got players complaining that boss fights are too hard despite not depleting even a sixth of their resources. Black folk, nothing you've faced even comes close to challenging you, and you're still b***hing, how fricking dumb are you? I want to quit.

  32. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    >What do you most fervently wish of your players when it comes to character creation, and roleplaying?
    please bite the plot hooks and give me some threads to put plot hooks on.
    bonus points for collabing with the other players though I can understand not being able to assemble for that.
    >And what do you despise the most out of your players that you most fervently wish they should never do when roleplaying?
    "why should my character care?"
    my Black person you made the character, why did you make a character who doesn't care?
    >tl;dr if you want to play the game, make a character that makes it easy to get to the fricking game

  33. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    >What do you most fervently wish of your players when it comes to character creation, and roleplaying?
    -Make characters that fit the setting
    -Make characters that have personalities outside of combat
    -Make characters that can work together as a team

    >And what do you despise the most out of your players that you most fervently wish they should never do when roleplaying?
    -Metagaming (this isn't a video game, you're not supposed to look up everything ahead of time so that you can speedrun the adventure)
    -Flaking (you are a fully grown man, you should be able to understand time management by now)
    -Tactlessly inserting their politics into the game ("my character is named adolf trotsky and his mission in life is to inspire class consciousness in all the poor oppressed tieflings so that they rise up against the racist homophobic slaver humans who control the banks and world governments!!!!!!")
    -Tactlessly inserting their fetishes into the game ("this is uhh my character footeralla the half-orc barbarian and she goes around barefoot everywhere and she has really nice feet and she really likes showing her feet to people and")
    -Complaining about their lives during the game (boo fricking hoo Black person, i came to play a game not to listen to you whining about shit nobody cares about)
    -Making characters that are xeroxed from whatever anime they're watching at the time ("this is my original character joku and his backstory is that he's an alien who was sent to destroy earth but he forgot and saved the world a bunch instead with martial arts")
    -Making lolsorandum characters ("hai guiz mai caracter is cald teehee teh macaroni of d00m and his favrite thing in teh w0rld is ch0clit-c0verd fryed pickels eksdee!!!")
    -Making the same character over and over again ("alright so this is bob fighterson, not to be confused with the other bob fighterson who just died and had the exact same equipment, backstory, and personality")

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      The repeat character at the end can be based if the DM is being a c**t. Reminds me of that greentext story of Earl who wound up being quite prolific as the DM took out his anger on him.

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      >Metagaming (this isn't a video game, you're not supposed to look up everything ahead of time so that you can speedrun the adventure)
      I wish I didn't have to do this, but my DM is a moron who literally won't read spell descriptions or monster sheets so I have to read them to correct him about the mechanics of his own game
      I wouldn't mind if he changed mechanics on purpose but it's accidental every time

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      >Making the same character over and over again
      I have a character who does this despite trying and we all love him for it.

  34. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    >What do you most fervently wish of your players when it comes to character creation, and roleplaying?
    I don't have problems when it comes to "free creation" (when I run cyberpunk 2020 or Pathfinder) I just want that they create a well balanced character, while when I run other systems yeah I create rules of creation but because I want characters made for the theme but they always got it right and never derailed or done a character they hated (from what I percived but we made a lot of campaigns stil lpalying with the same group for 5 years)
    >And what do you despise the most out of your players that you most fervently wish they should never do when roleplaying?
    They would stop asking to describe sex scenes or make me role prostitutes, maybe because i'm shy on the context of sex (I have gf and had gfs but speak in public of sex is not my thing or even a sex scene ina movie make my eye divert)

    • 3 months ago
      Anonymous

      >They would stop asking to describe sex scenes or make me role prostitutes
      The frick? Your players make you describe how they slap around the princess with their +5 longsword of piercing?

      • 3 months ago
        Anonymous

        Well not like I explain a whole sex scene or an etnire conversation, but you know like
        >Okay you arrive at the hamlet, what do you wanna do?
        >Go to a brothel(always that one player even if sometimes are 3 of them the group is made of 7 people toatl with me the GM)
        >Me: okay...... so.... you enter the taver they offer prostitues, various from dwarf to orc, no humans but half and half
        >Orc player: I want to ram the dwarf
        >Okay..... Hey big green, do you have a little pee or a full pod down there?(while cringing internally and see evryone snicker and giggle at the table)
        >I'll show to you. So what do I have to roll for sex?
        >Just constitution to see how much you last.
        >18
        >Okay so you frick about for 18 minutes before you cum, since the body is really short you handle her like you want, you know frick and carry, agaisnt the wall etc etc.
        This is a way I narrate the events or how it goes down usually, writing is one thing saying out loud for me is hard.

        • 3 months ago
          Anonymous

          Bro just put your foot down, or just say “okay you go to a brothel, anyway anyone else want to do something?” If they’re buttholes they’re doing it to get a rise out of you. It’s always the same guy? Just stop engaging with that dickhead.

          • 3 months ago
            Anonymous

            I don't think they are trying to get a rise out of me, the same guy is my best friend, it's the type of guy who's in real life a real masculine type(like a henry cavil, a gym bro who happens to love ttrpg) and always make characters who are "fighter/barbarian/brawny" loud type the one who goes in the tavern and scream for a arm wrestle a gamble or beer or prostitues, I liek to make him roleplay, but outside of him, Yeah I don't like to role those parts, but I like to roleplay, I tought our job as masters was having fun and make the game "real" and make "expiriences" to the players, what I mean not always role infact if there are boring parts or useless parts I ask "You wanna role or just skip?" Usually we skip like parts of "shopping list/talking with merchants" if it's for random equip yeah if it's magical stuff I role the transaction. What I mean as you can see is "I don't liek to role but it's my job and I just want my player and me to have fun, what I felt unconfortable for 2 minutes in a game of 3 and a half hours and in those 2 minutes everyone was havinga blast? man up."

            • 3 months ago
              Anonymous

              Your friend is vicariously enjoying the idea of having sex with you in a way that means he can't be accused of being gay, because not only did the sex not happen, also you were roleplaying a woman. Double un-gay.

              Sometimes it is good to take a moment to reflect on what kind of person we are.

              • 3 months ago
                Anonymous

                >Your friend is vicariously enjoying the idea of having sex with you in a way that means he can't be accused of being gay, because not only did the sex not happen, also you were roleplaying a woman. Double un-gay.
                Noticed too late I'm talking with a schizo, frick.... Well to give a serious answer, my Best friend we know eachother for like 13 years, we play a lot, he has a GF i have a GF why would he frick me? Why would my player want to frick me? He just like to play a barbarian who likes to frick.
                >Sometimes it is good to take a moment to reflect on what kind of person we are.
                Well that's IG good advice. outside of TG I mean

  35. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    I am more of a sandbox-DM and I want my players to actively try to do things. I don't want them to be passive. I dislike it when all they do is what they think I expect them to do. Why are they even here if they aren't going to have an impact on the outcome? I want to be surprised.

  36. 3 months ago
    Anonymous

    >What do you most fervently wish of your players when it comes to character creation, and roleplaying?
    A well thought background can really flesh out the campaign with hooks involving your character. Don't get too detail oriented though as it it makes it harder to fit it in and can lead you to feeling disappointed when the isn't happening exactly as you envisioned.

    >And what do you despise the most out of your players that you most fervently wish they should never do when roleplaying?
    RPGs are a collaborative effort. Don't treat the session as a minstrel show you can just enjoy passively. Engage with what's going on in the session. Think about what happened in the previous session and have some idea on how to proceed in the next.

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