There's been so much talk about what is or isn't good roleplaying lately, I thought I'd throw in my 2,234,045,941 cents worth about the actual definitions.
Being able to roleplay means being able to act and react as though you were in a certain situation and setting. Being able to roleplay well means being able to act and react as though someone else was.
A good roleplayer is able to craft a highly detailed, plausible character and assume that character's point of view. A great roleplayer is able to take a blank sheet of paper, or a handful of cues, and end up playing their character equally well as the good one. Either a good or excellent role-player should be able to enjoy playing a pregenerated character. They might not enjoy it as much as playing one they've created themselves, they might not enjoy it in the same way, but they still oh my goddess I have to go, Drusilla is on Buffy tonight.
ID:194267
 Jun 20 2001, 3:05 pm
|
|
Another is knowing when to lose. Letting your character occasionally come out looking the fool. I have great admiration for those who can show this generosity. I actually think that this is probably one of the single greatest factors of really great roleplaying. This ties into my belief that roleplaying and powergaming are mutually exclusive concepts, a belief I've yet to have anyone else subscribe to, but the short of it is that unless the character you're roleplaying happens to be a god in disguise or is personally destined to become the single greatest human being of all time, doing what's actually the most character appropriate is generally not doing what's the most character beneficial. | |
On 6/21/01 9:19 pm Leftley wrote:
Another is knowing when to lose. Letting your character occasionally come out looking the fool. I have great admiration for those who can show this generosity. ntoe he said occasionaly.. sometimes i play a charicter that is a drunk or a play a madman... even if i RP the charicter well (like the madman isent going to worry about the streanth of an apponent if he is rageing) most other players think even playing someone like this is bad RP. I once had a spell cast on me where i thought i was a monky. noone could dispell the magic so i play him as a monky. most of the other players said this was bad RP and i should have just given up the charicter instead of climbing trees and throwing poo at peaple.. in fact my charicter did rather well.. and gained 6 levels while it thought it was a monkey.. and after the party had found a cleric with a hight enof level to cure me i could throw darts, spears, bombs(or poo) with about 93% acuracy. another time i played a drunk and cocaine addict(i payed for this with the money i made founding the most secsessfull guild of prostitutes in Argidoth) and refused to do anything but sit around and drink. well the other players were pissed becase i wouldent do anything... perhaps the GM should have thought about how i RP befor giving methat sort of habbit (he likes to give bad habbits to players that make alot of money..) after they had draged me along anyhow and i ran out of drugs i liked to sleep for 6 hours a day.. and i would raid any orc home in order could find for alcohol. i also forced them to stop at every town to buy alcohol.. and at every town they would have to spen alot of time trying to get me out of the bars and back in the game.. well that time everyone also thoght my RP was Verry bad... | |
On 6/23/01 11:40 am jobe wrote:
another time i played a drunk and cocaine addict(i payed for this with the money i made founding the most secsessfull guild of prostitutes in Argidoth) and refused to do anything but sit around and drink. well the other players were pissed becase i wouldent do anything... perhaps the GM should have thought about how i RP befor giving methat sort of habbit (he likes to give bad habbits to players that make alot of money..) after they had draged me along anyhow and i ran out of drugs i liked to sleep for 6 hours a day.. and i would raid any orc home in order could find for alcohol. i also forced them to stop at every town to buy alcohol.. and at every town they would have to spen alot of time trying to get me out of the bars and back in the game.. well that time everyone also thoght my RP was Verry bad... I would have let you roleplay that, and gone on the adventure without you! GM: Ok, everyone roll initiative except Jobe. He's still asleep at the inn. | |
I would have let you roleplay that, and gone on the adventure without you! I agree. Jobe inadvertently brings up a good point: it doesn't matter how great a roleplayer you are if the subject matter sucks. Anything CAN be roleplayed, but in an adventure-oriented game, not everything is worth roleplaying. | |
Another is knowing when to lose. Letting your character occasionally come out looking the fool. I have great admiration for those who can show this generosity.
Oh, I gotta include this because it's a hoot... though maybe not as much of a hoot if you don't play GS... many regard the player of one "Bleeds" as the best RPer ever there. The character's retired now but for the recent Simucon the player composed composed this (http://members.rushmore.com/~mattfield/evil.htm) for the "pure evil" seminar.
Z