Taking 20 Podcast - Ep 179 - Better Roleplaying by Letting Adventures Breathe

Episode Date: June 11, 2023

In this episode I talk about good opportunities for DMs to introduce PC-NPC and PC-PC roleplaying opportunities.   #dnd #rpgtips #Pathfinder #orc #DMtips Resources: https://www.reddit.com/r/DMAcademy/comments/xe1j4l/campfire_stories_to_deepen_players_backstories/   https://www.thegamer.com/dungeons-and-dragons-dnd-encourage-roleplay-tips-tricks/#social-interaction-is-more-than-talking

This week on the Taking20 Podcast. To better facilitate roleplay, players have to be given the opportunity to roleplay. The environment has to be right to roleplay, whether they are roleplaying with the GM portraying NPCs, or with the other players who are roleplaying their own characters. Thank you so much for listening to the Taking 20 podcast, episode 179, encouraging you to let your adventure breathe to encourage role-playing. I want to thank this week's sponsor, Krakens. The sea monster, not the Seattle NHL team.

Krakens generally eat a lot of calories every day. Their diet? Mostly fish and ships. Please take a moment to like, rate, and subscribe to the podcast wherever you found it. It only takes a few moments and it can really help spread the word about this podcast to people who maybe would want to find it. Hey everybody, I re-listened to episode 177 that I released a couple weeks ago and realized that I left some retakes and errors in the episode. Wow, did I screw up the editing of that episode. Going back and replacing

it, by the way, really messes with the upload stats. Thank you so much Podbean and YouTube for that. So I'm going to leave my screw-ups in the episode for three reasons. One, it screws up statistics to replace it. Two, it keeps me humble. And three, to show you what you already know. Even experienced DMs who've been doing this for years screw up, and it's really not that big of a deal. Earlier this week in a game I was running, I screwed up a noble's name. I thought I had all the players straight in my head, but I called the Countess Eliza Montegra the Countess Eliza de Maru instead. Complete slip up on my part

and when I used the correct name later, I had to just eat crow and say whoops, sorry guys, her name is Eliza Montegra. Forget the other name that I mentioned. The other name was going to be a last name of their point of contact for a secret supply run for an underground group that's fomenting resistance in a distant town, but I just pivoted to a name I had to make up on the spot. Countess Vertiginous Bandersnatch. And just like that, Countess Bandersnatch has become a table favorite. Now she's going to have to make a lot more appearances because I gave her a voice like Monty Python portraying a woman or Robin Williams' Mrs. Doubtfire. I mean, I went full on,

Hello! It's such a pleasure to see you, yes! Mistakes are going to happen at your table, and that's not the topic of the episode. But for those of you who were offended by the off-the-cuff, uncensored curse word and didn't enjoy the behind-the-scenes look at how bad I am at this, I apologize, and I'll make every effort to be more diligent when editing future episodes. Leaving the mistakes of my past in the, well, past, and back to the episode at hand. I received an email from Grant in Oklahoma asking me what I do to encourage role-playing at my table. Thank you so much for the question, Grant, and thank you for listening.

Sorry it took so long to get to it, but you want to hear it? Here it go. I love, love, love a good role-playing session. Only one of my groups really gets into role-playing, though, and they are an absolute blast. People's backstories and personalities really shine through. There are character arcs and growth. One of the players made a suboptimal choice for their character during a chase because it was a chance for him to get revenge on the city guard that harassed his younger brother. There were so many dramatic moments

and thrills during that chase, and we got out, but would Gallagher? I mean, he took that detour to go after that guard. He wound up having to hide out and leave the city a different way than the rest of the party did. The entire time we were split and role-playing the main group, all of our characters were worried about Gallagher. That potion of invisibility he had, by the way, came in really handy to get out of the city. My character, Delian, has grown from an angry, hedonistic, selfish loner

to one who genuinely cares for the people in the party, risking making those connections knowing he may be hurt in the future because he's opened himself up. He accepts that and will murder the hell out of anybody who hurts his adopted family. Imagine a protective grandfather with a great axe. That's Delian. But not all of my players in all of my games that I run enjoy roleplaying. Not all groups roleplay much at all, and that's okay. One of my gaming groups that I'm running mostly avoids roleplaying altogether.

That doesn't mean they're a bad gaming group. They just prefer the tactical side of RPGs with planning and combat and dice rolls and the like. That doesn't bother me in the least. If that's the kind of game my group wants, then that's the kind of game that I'm going to run for them with only the occasional roleplay moment included for the couple who enjoy it. But that's a key word there that I want you to latch on to. Occasional. Just because they prefer tactical, map-based, numbers-grinding battles that more closely resemble chess to anything cinematic doesn't mean that I don't drop roleplay moments into the story, even if only occasionally. And that's the point of today's

episode. If you want your players to roleplay more and they are interested in doing it, you have to provide your players the opportunity to roleplay their characters more. You have to give them the chance to roleplay. Well, duh, Jeremy. That's so simple and stupid that you're stupid and I hate everything about you. Understood, and thank you for the feedback. My question in response to that would be this. If it's simple and your players want to roleplay, why aren't you doing it? And if you are doing it, why aren't you doing it more? I've seen a lot of DMs run adventures like sprints from one exciting moment to the next. This combat, that critical interaction with an NPC, this other negotiation, another combat, frantic haggling at a shop, emergency meeting at the city council, a madcap

adventure to save the councilman's teenage son, etc, etc, etc. Action encounter after high-pressure scenario, after time-limited scene, after encounter where something is trying to eat the character's faces off. Hey, I get it. You want to drive the adventure forward, see progress in the adventure, accomplish something this session, and make the players feel like their characters are big damn heroes, and rapid-fire action is an easy way to do that. However, simultaneously, between sessions, that same DM will lament the fact that the players never speak in their characters' voices, they don't role-play as their characters or invest in the world, they don't learn the lore, take the effort to learn NPC names,

or feel like they're taking the game seriously in any way. Again, there's nothing wrong with constant action and focusing on those kinds of encounters in your game world. It's exciting. It's adrenaline pumping. It can make for a raucous good time. You may want more role-playing, but to be fair to the players, it's hard to think about the history of the Petrovian Empire when you're desperately trying to survive seven encounters per day in a town being raided by nomadic gnoll marauders. Using a phrase from work that I freaking hate. To level set, let me talk about what roleplaying is. Roleplaying is acting out the persona of your character. You, the player, are portraying the

personality of the character on your character sheet. It's not me saying something, it's Delian saying something through my mouth. I don't describe how I say something. I, the player, act it out. And what do I mean by that? Delian feels apprehension about opening up about his lost family and quickly changes the subject. He's third person. And while it opens up a little bit about Delian, the speaker's not really in the mind of Delian, speaking as Delian, really role-playing as Delian. You sound like a disinterested third party narrating what Delian is doing. Contrast that with, I don't talk much about my upbringing or family. It's embarrassing, really.

I mean, I was born fortunate. My family are well, were, owners of a line of shops and valuable property in Opara's Grand Bridge district. It was said that if my family didn't sell it, you didn't need it. We did well until... You know, it doesn't matter. I'm sorry. You trained at the Rondolero School of Fighting, did you not? Gosh, I envy you. I couldn't get in. You see how the second example

feels more like I am Delian, not just referencing what Delian is doing. Could two players have such a role-playing conversation mid-battle? Possible, but seems strange. I know in the movies Captain Barbossa once performed a marriage mid-combat repelling borders, but that is definitely the exception, not the rule. To better facilitate role-play, players have to be given the opportunity to role-play. The environment has to be right to roleplay, whether they are roleplaying with the GM portraying NPCs or with the other players who are roleplaying their own characters. DMs. If you want to give your players a bite-sized

opportunity to roleplay, get them interested in it, introduce them to it, then you need to get into the head of an NPC, and one of the easiest NPCs to use is a shop owner, tavern bartender, armorsmith, quest giver of some kind, or some other NPC where the interaction is largely transactional. Instead of asking the PCs what they'd like to buy when they go to the general store, act like the person behind the counter. Hi there, I'm Eustace and welcome to Hillside Spears and Blades. Oh, Eustace is here to help you. Your players may already be asking, did he just name himself twice in two sentences?

The answer, of course, is yes, but it makes Eustace memorable and easy to role play. You'll want some Eustace forged blades for your adventurosity you're going to have, and you'll know you got a good deal because Eustace is stamped right in the blade, see? And he holds up a dagger showing that, yep, there's the word Eustace, spelled U-S-E-T-O-U-S. Eustace may never appear in your campaign again, but you've given him life and rolled out the red carpet for your players to roleplay and speak as their characters if they so choose. You've encouraged them to do so. Now it's up to the players whether they speak in character and roleplay with you. If they do, great! Then they get to experience roleplaying and it has a fixed end point. Once your party sells and buys weapons

and gear, then transaction's over. You can now leave roleplaying and Eustace in the rearview mirror and get on with the rest of the session. The roleplay was only for a few minutes, and that's a great introduction to getting players comfortable roleplaying their characters, and it just might garner more interest in it around the table. However, there's a second benefit to this little roleplaying interlude. Most of the time, selling goods is not an action-packed scene with pressure and tension. However, there's a second benefit to this little role-playing interlude. Most of the time, selling goods is not an action-packed scene with pressure and tension. I guess it could be.

Put some dramatic music behind it, and maybe the negotiation for prices means the difference between life and death, or combat and not. I've never had a negotiation like that, but you might. Hey, go to town. Assuming it's a normal interaction with a merchant, though, your entire campaign and your players within it have just taken a deep breath during that roleplaying session and bled off some of the tension. In case you're unsure, that's a very, very good thing. It's not good to continually build pressure and build pressure and build pressure. It's much better for a story arc if the pressure bleeds off just a little every now and then. A touch of role-playing gave your

adventure a pause and opportunity for your players to catch their collective breaths, even if they're doing it while role-playing. However, PC NPC role-playing is only one type. What about PC PC role-playing when your characters are talking to each other? There are two times when I'd like you to consider giving your players an opportunity to roleplay. During exploration mode and when the players take a long rest or set up camp. Exploration mode is when the characters are moving from place to place. These are the times when the PCs are walking in the forest, taking a wagon ride, traversing the continent in an airship, and you don't play that in six-second increments. Characters can take the

time to talk and get to know each other, build relationships, positive or negative, and maybe choose to reveal part of their backstories or a little bit about themselves. Time is more free form and role-playing can take much more of a focus compared to in the middle of combat encounters. Similarly, the PCs decide to take an eight-hour rest while exploring the dungeon of the Gaping Maw or the Crystal Temple of the Interloper Asteroid. That's a prime chance for characters to swap stories or find out more about each other. But Jeremy, my character wouldn't talk to anyone because they're a loner. To that I would respond, I have a charisma of... like six.

There it is. My charisma's dog shit, and I've been on long work trips with people that I cannot freaking stand. And even I will talk to them during down or quiet times. Jeez. So how long have you been a raging asshole? My point is, even the most lonerific of characters will still interact with those that they're traveling with. So players, don't use I'm a loner as an excuse.

Please take a chance to possibly embrace roleplaying during those downtimes. DMs, if you want to encourage roleplay, the easiest times to do that are interactions with NPCs when you roleplay the NPC, during travel or exploration mode, or when the characters are camping. By giving your PCs an opportunity to roleplay, you're giving your adventure space to breathe. And by giving your adventure some less action-packed time, you give your players an opportunity to roleplay their characters. Add some downtime scenes to encourage some roleplay in your next adventure, and I'd be willing to bet that you and your players would have fun doing it.

Do you have a topic for me? Send it to me on social media or feedback at taking20podcast.com. Tune in next week when we'll hit the Back to Basics series again by talking about running good villains. Before I go, though, I want to thank this week's sponsor, Krakens. What did the landlord say

when he found out the sea monster wanted to stay in the apartment? Release the Kraken. This has been episode 179, Better Roleplaying by Letting Your Adventure Breathe. My name is Jeremy Shelley, and I hope that your next game

is your best game. The Taking 20 Podcast is a Publishing Cube Media Production. Copyright 2023. References to game system content are copyright their respective publishers.