Role Playing Games: General Tips for a RPG Player

The myriad world of role playing games(RPG) can be a bit confusing, for both player and game master. Everything from the wide variety of systems to choose from to how to find a gaming group can be bewildering at times, even for experienced gamers. I've been playing and running games on a wide variety of systems for about 20 years, and thought I'd impart some of the things I've learned to hopefully help clarify some things. Not wisdom, perhaps, but maybe it will help someone out anyway!

Quickie note: I use the male pronoun throughout this document, although that is not to say that females do not game. Being a female gamer myself, I know this pretty well. However, as the English language does not have a decent, neutral singular pronoun, deal with it.

For the RPG player:

1.There is Always Something Bigger and Badder than You.

I don't care if you have a newly created ranger or a god-level mage. It's the game master's job to challenge you, so beware the arrogance that can come with a character that you're proud of. That character is always one action away from becoming dragon chow. I don't care how good your regeneration is; trust me, that is not something you want to wake up from. Guess where you reform? It takes weeks just to get the smell out of your hair.

2.Don't Snub the Healers.

Okay, so maybe the healers in your party don't know the ancient Chinese art of whoop-butt, but they are the ones who will keep you up and slaying. Condescending to them because they don't "carry their weight" in battle or treating them like a drive thru heal-'em-up window is a great way to make sure you either don't have a healer for very long, or end up with a mysterious venereal disease. If it's your character's nature to be a boogerhead, that's fine, but don't freak out as a player when your character's nether parts start smelling funny.

3.Prolonged Arguments at the Table are Bad.

If you disagree with a game master's call, challenge them on it, but don't turn it into a protracted quarrel at the table. If the game master says they're sticking with their call, too bad. Deal with it at the time and then bring it up after the session. Don't belabor your point. The game master knows you don't like it, and good game masters will discuss the issue with you. If you feel that the game master makes too many bad decisions, then it's time to discuss it with the group and the game master outside of play time. If nothing changes, then perhaps you should find another group. Fighting things out during gaming generally accomplishes nothing but aggravating everyone else and making you look like an ass.

4.Rules Lawyering is Worse.

Everybody knows one. That one guy who has his nose constantly buried in the books calling out every departure from what's in writing. If you're that one guy, back off. Nobody appreciates it. In fact, if no one has said anything, they're probably too nice to point out what a jerk you're being. If you're so into reading every single item attached to a game, make sure you read the preface of the book. In every single system I've ever played, it clearly states that the rules in the books are guidelines, to be changed accordingly to add enjoyment to the game by the gamers. That's important, so I'm going to say it again. The rules are GUIDELINES. They are important because they lay the foundation mechanics that are necessary to streamlining game play. They are not the end all, be all of gaming existence as you know it.

5.Lone Wolf Characters Work Great in Movies and Books, Not So Much at the Table.

That one character who goes it alone, doesn't follow the rules, and is the dark broody misfit of society? That is so awesome in movies, but it really sucks when you try to pull one off in a party. There's a reason it's called a "party" and it's not because balloons and a conga line are involved. It's called a party because it's a group of people working together to accomplish a single or set of goals. Lone wolf characters tend to run off to do their own thing, not listen to other characters when it's obvious they're right, and enact a host of other obnoxious gaming behavior. Would you want to sit at a table for two hours while someone else, by themselves, snuck off to steal that one obscure item from the mayor's house? Didn't think so. Lone wolf characters epitomize the selfishness of individual players, players who simply don't or won't understand the concept of teamwork. If you are dead set on playing a lone wolf, find a game master who will run you through single player adventures or try an MMORPG. Otherwise, find a character that will fit in with the party dynamic. No one else at the table has fun when they have to sit through you running off to have a hot night with that barmaid.

6.Politeness is Not Outdated.

Generally, you end up gaming at someone else's house. That means you're using their bathroom, and usually their kitchen. Don't be a slob. Don't go through their stuff. Don't eat them out of house and home. If you smoke and they don't, smoke outside. Clean up after yourself. If you're using some of their gaming equipment, like dice or miniatures, don't mess them up. I once had a kid who was constantly poking and prodding at our miniatures with his pencil eraser. Totally screwed up the painstaking paint jobs we had done on them. After politely asking him to stop several times, we ended up politely asking him not to come back. Treat the site owner's stuff better than you would treat your own. Otherwise, you may end up having nowhere to play at all.

7.There Are Other Players at the Table.

As bad as a lone wolf is, worse is the time hog. This is the guy at the table whose character needs come before everyone else's, even if they just want to go replace their belt pouch and another character needs a resurrection at a nearby temple. Wait your turn. While you're waiting for that turn, jot down what you need to do so you can get it done all at once, rather than having to break in during someone else's time with an "Oh, I forgot I need to". Be organized in your character's needs. It helps with the flow of the game and keeps things moving. Got loot you need to sell? Got a spell you have to get from the guild? Have a mech you need repaired? Have everything you need to do ready to get done, and don't cut in line. Unless you just have a really bad game master, your stuff will get done. Really. Honest. There's no panicked rush to accomplish everything the instant you hit town.

8.Kill Stealing and Accusing Others of It.

Kill stealing is naughty. It foments bad feelings at the table and creates havoc in your party. Particularly if you're playing a system where experience is calculated on number of death blows. Then it becomes really horrid. Alternatively, accusing every other player at the table of stealing your kill when they manage to land a death blow is nearly as bad. Nine times out of ten they're just playing, not thinking about landing that fatal attack, merely attacking. When the beastie is finally dead, a player who immediately starts shrieking that someone stole his kill is generally not allowed to try and kill anything else with that group, ever.

9.It's Not "Survivor: The Role Playing Game"

Party politics can be a pain, particularly when you have two players in the group who don't like each other very much. Try and stay out of it. You're not Richard Hatch, to go running about making alliances and betraying other members of your party because of out-of-game politicking. That tends to ruin the fun for everyone else. If you do have players in your group who try and set other players against each other, bring it up and tell them to knock it off. If you are one of those players, you need a new hobby.

10.Looting Can Be Fun, Keep it That Way.

Ah, yes. Looting and treasure sharing. Inevitably in your gaming career, you'll run into that guy who wants to keep all the really great stuff for themselves. If you have a new or not very good game master, he may even get away with it. Loot pigs are another great way to tear apart a group. When the horde is being divided, be fair. It's not about "who did the most work". It should be about need. If a thief needs that dagger of venom, don't snatch it just because the thief failed every single backstab roll he tried. I've had players who kept spell scrolls, and they were playing fighters, when we had mages in the party. More selfish foolishness. Sure, they may fetch a great price, but the next time you come up against a Ancient Bignasty of Kebob and the only thing that can destroy it is a Blast of Killing Flatulence spell, but your mage doesn't have it because you filched the scroll and sold it, you only have yourself to blame. Besides, again, it angers the other players and makes you look like the completely unpleasant fellow you are.

11.Never Prepared, Except to Borrow.

Chronic moochers are annoying, but don't really seem to impact game play. Still, the fellow who shows up to every session with no pens, pencils, dice, paper, snacks, often even his own character sheet, and a ready supply of excuses gets really old, really fast. Is it so hard to keep all of your stuff in one place, fork out a couple of bucks on a few necessary dice, and remember to bring them to your gaming sessions? I didn't think so. There's a good fellow.

12.Your Character is Not a Real Person, I Swear.

Ever have a player who, when his character is killed, immediately pitch a fit, scream obscenities at everyone, swear he's never coming back, and storm out? Have you, yourself ever done that? Guess what? You character is not real. Sure, you put a lot of time and effort into designing him, but it's not real. You can make another one just like him (although I don't recommend it). Of course, it's devastating when a character is killed, especially to a fluke of a die roll, a bad game master call, or stupidity on the part of your party members. It is, still, just numbers and words jotted down on a form. Usually, his death is nothing personal. It sucks, but honestly, move on already.

Okay, despite all the insulting things I've said above, there are times when being something of a delinquent (as a player, that is) can be used constructively. This is usually done to correct behavior in a game master or player without having to find a new one. In order to behave badly to achieve a good end, you usually have to have the backing of your group, something I highly recommend. If your group won't support your endeavors, then you're probably in the wrong.

1.Linear Adventures? Try a Tangent.

Have a game master who is constantly trying to force you into a single line adventure? The "find bad guy, kill bad guy, get treasure" route can be fun for a while, but it pales significantly with overuse. Don't be afraid to make your game master think on their feet. When they present you with the news that the bad guy is to the north, strike up a conversation with the person that told you, find out more about them. Force the game master to flesh out this otherwise throwaway non-player character. If you found out from a guild message board or similar device, head to the nearest tavern and start hitting on barmaids, or even the bartender. Ask for more details about towns you visit. If someone mentions they have a farm nearby, go visit it. In other words, completely ignore whatever run-of-the-mill adventure your game master has all nicely planned and detailed. Make them improvise.

For Example: The very first adventure I ever ran I was so proud of. I had written out this very nicely laid out rescue-the-maiden-from-the-evil-wizard-in-the-tower scenario. I was also running it for very experienced gamers. Instead of nicely trotting off to the tower to confront my wonderfully built baddy mage after the local town mayor told them about it, they decided to get into a bar fight, demolish the jail, and go on the run from the local militia, kidnapping the mayor's daughter along the way. At the time, I was horrified. Oh no! I really had to pull stuff out of my ears! But I've been grateful to them ever since, because now I am much better equipped to roll with the punches and come up with adventures and run them according to the best way my players will have fun. Players who force game masters to improvise make better game masters, and better playing experiences.

My players didn't do this to be mean or obnoxious, they did it because they wanted me to fully utilize my creativity. They didn't WANT to go fight a stupid mage and rescue a simpering damsel in distress, and their characters weren't the type to (something I was too newbie to recognize at the time). They did it to make me expand on the great little town I had so carefully detailed, which had some very colorful non-player characters in it. At the time, I thought those non-player characters would just add spice to the scenario. They were set dressing, and I didn't take them seriously at all. My players made me see what kind of potential those non-player characters have. They've been blindsiding me ever since, and I love it. I'm now the reigning game master of my group, and have been for about 15 years. My players doing what they did by destroying my carefully designed adventure made me a better game master.

2.Obnoxious Player? Handle it In Game.

Have a player who is guilty of any of the offences I listed above, or something else that drives your group crazy? Do they ignore requests to shape up and fly right and for some reason you can't cut them out of your group? Do not hesitate to let your characters handle it for you.

For example: We had a player who thought it was a great hoot to, whenever we got into combat, start firing arrows into those who were meleeing. This is generally bad, because they'll hit you just as much as they'll hit bad guys. With the well known and documented Perversity of the Dice, usually they hit you MORE than they hit the bad guys. So, for a while, whenever the character woke up all his missile weapons were broken, and all his missiles were missing. We blamed it on imps, faerie dragons, pixies, brownies, anything and everything under the sun. The first time he ended up having to melee, one of our other characters stood back and began "helping" him out by shooting only at whatever bad guy he was trying to fight at the time.

It took several shots to his backside, but eventually the player got the gist of it and began working on his melee skills. He stopped firing into close quarters combat.

Another time we had a Loot Pig. Any time we had treasure to divvy up, he was first, middle, and last in line. This guy was so bad at snapping up anything even remotely good he managed to bamboozle our game master into letting his fighter have a Staff of Striking, a very powerful magic item, and extremely useful to non-fighter classes. His catchphrase for gaining this bounty was "Well, they don't REALLY need it. We'll just find another one." Appeals to our inexperienced game master did nothing. So, we took matters into our own hands. Anytime we got treasure, we let him have it. All of it. Down to the last copper. He was elated at the abrupt change in our group dynamic; that he was able to keep what was so rightfully his.

Then we got to a green dragon's horde. Hundreds of thousands of copper and silver on top of the really good stuff. We hadn't been to town in a while so we were all maxxed out on our carrying capacity.

Needless to say, he was amazed when he discovered not only did he have, literally, several tons of treasure to carry, he had to carry it all himself. When he first demanded, then asked, then finally begged us to help him, we simply shrugged. "Why should we? We don't really NEED it. We'll just find another horde."

He refused to leave the treasure behind, so we left him behind. His character was killed on his way back to town by a party of kobolds, attracted by the alluring scent of a single human with a lot of goodies. This character of his was a decent level, and one he was very proud of, so he was furious. It did, however, open the door for us to explain to him why, exactly, we acted the way we did. It did make him come around insofar as sharing loot with his future characters.

3.Killing Naughty Characters, Sometimes It's Okay.

I am normally adamantly opposed to inter-party strife. Fighting party members generally cause nothing but trouble. Every once in a while, though...

For example: We had a player who would ONLY play evil. Every single character was out only for his own best interests, and didn't care what he had to do to whom in order to further his own ends. In one or two characters, it can add spice to a game, and create very interesting party dynamics to role play. This guy created his sixth character from the same mold. The game master was extremely liberal and would not interfere with character design so long as it was "acceptable to party and game balance". Again, we decided to take matters into our own hands.

Before we even got out of town on our first adventure, we had a spell cast that would allow the caster to see evil. Mr. Naughty lit right up. The caster informed the rest of the party (in character), so we arranged it that during our very next combat, he had no support. We even had characters stepping out of the way of incoming bad guys and advising said bad guys to go after Mr. Naughty.

It took three more characters, but he finally got the picture and decided to come up not only with a new character type, but one that wouldn't betray us every time we turned around. He turned out to be the best cleric player I've seen in a long time.

I hope I've helped some with my previous advice. I've been guilty of more than one of these no-no's myself on more than one occasion, but fortunately, I've generally had good groups who helped me fix my obnoxious behavior. Annoying players who don't do anything really bad, but have one or two of the above ixnays can destroy a gaming experience, and even a solid gaming group.

The overall first rule for any gamer, be it a player or game master, is that it is a game. Games are designed for people to have fun. If you're not having fun playing, you need to ask yourself why. Is it you, another player, or your game master? Gaming can be a fun and rewarding hobby, help yourself and those around you keep it that way.