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11 Things To Help Your Players Be Better

Roleplayers

September 6,2013

Posted by Phil Vecchione

Earlier this summer there was an awesome article on the LOOK, ROBOTblog about 11 Ways to be a Better Roleplayer . The article was full of soli,player!oriente a"ice. # li$e it so much that # sent the lin$ out to all of thepeople # play with, as well as posting it on %&, an sa"ing it in E"ernote. 's# thought about it, # reali(e that e"en if a player reas that article anta$es e"erything to heart, it will be for naught if the %) gets in the way. *otoay, my tribute to that great article is to gi"e the %) corollary.

The GM Side+ou are best off reaing this article sie by sie with the original. # wrotethis so that my ele"en items are the matching %) a"ice to the ele"enplayer items. #f you are unable to put them sie by sie, then ta$e amoment an re!rea the original article. aught up- ere we go/

ONE. Let Your Players Do Stuf 

+ou nee to let your players o stuff. 0ont write your sessions such thatyou ha"e alreay figure out what the players nee to o to complete ascene. ome up with the problem, butne"er come up with the solution. *et

the scene an then as$ the players what they want to o, an play off ofwhat they say.

There are going to be times when players o things that are not going to fitwith what you preppe in your notes, an that is OK. Be fle2ible, aaptwhat you prepare, an $eep the story mo"ing.

 'n acti"e player is an engage player. ' passi"e player is 3ust watching aplay.

TWO. Create Opportunities For Players to Epress TheirChara!ters

*ome players lo"e ma$ing elaborate bac$ stories for their characters,other players come up with comple2 personalities, accents, or e"en propsfor their characters. That is awesome. +ou cant fault a player forenthusiasm. Embrace this by fining ways to let the player showcase theirwor$ in the game.

 ' goo player is going to try to wor$ these things into the game, but ithelps if you can create situations that bring those things to the spotlight. #f

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your player has an elaborate bac$ story, then pull an 45 from their pastto show up une2pectely. #f another player has a character who is a greatorator, then gi"e them a moment in the game to ma$e a speech.

reate the openings for the players to showcase their characters, ma$ing

them more real to e"eryone in the group.T"#EE. "elp to $eep Thin%s Mo&in%

*ometimes the player sie of the table bogs own in iscussion, o"er!planning, conflict, etc. Ta$e your %) screen an brea$ up that log 3am. 'sa %), one of your responsibilities is to ma$e sure that all the players arebeing hear an that no one at the table is being tal$e o"er, or negate.When that happens, often by accient in the heat of the moment, ta$econtrol of the table an guie the play forwar.

Wor$ with the players to buil tension an rama in their scenes. *teerthem away from actions which bring things to a halt, an embrace the6+es, 'n/7 approach. +ou want the players actions to buil off of eachother. 0ont be afrai to assume a little narrati"e control to ma$esomething more ramatic. 't the same time, be careful not to halt thingswith your own actions.

The way you a3uicate actions in the game sets the flow, so $eep the flowpointe towars the ramatic.

FO'#. Get (n The Chara!ter)s "eads

haracters ha"e moti"ations, but nothing is more boring than playerstelling the table what their player woul or woul not o. 's %), you nee

to ma$e it about the haracter, not the player, bringing their moti"ations tothe spotlight an letting it play out at the table for e"eryonesentertainment.

 's %), you can be the "oice in the characters min, 8uestioning theirmoti"ations an actions. E"en better, bring in an 45 who 8uestions thecharacter an challenges their con"ictions an beliefs. )a$e thecharacters moti"ations an acti"e part of the game.

haracters are part of the story, an their personal struggles a epth toa story.

F(*E. Prote!t Your Players

The %) is often the de facto leaer of the gaming group. 5art of your 3obas leaer is to ma$e sure that no one gets hurt uring the game. #f you seea player about to o something that is going to harm another player, haltthe game an 8uestion the player. +ou are better off brea$ing immersionan heaing off a problem, than sitting bac$ an letting things unfol thatresult in a player harme in some way.

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The best way to protect your players is through a social contract anthrough the campaign framewor$. #n both of these structures you canoutline what types of beha"ior is acceptable to the group as well as thecampaign you are running. *et e2pectations an then hol e"eryone tothem.

4othing is going to ta$e a game own faster than players who are ma ateach other. elp $eep the peace.

S(+. $no, The Syste-

+ou ha"e a lot of wor$ to o in managing a campaign an preppingsessions. 0espite all of that, you still ha"e to learn the game system youare running. +ou nee to $now the core mechanics, the o"erall combatsystem, an you nee some unerstaning of all the other action rules9falling, chases, s$ill challenges, etc:. #ts a lot, but in orer to ha"e thegame mo"e forwar you nee to be able to $now what rules apply an how

to use them.There are lots of things you can o to help with this. ;irst, you ont neeto memori(e the ancillary rules as much as you nee to $now how to get tothem fast. *econ, you can put rules that you $now are going to come upright into your prep, sa"ing you from ha"ing to loo$ them up. Thir, you canstuy< crac$ the spine of those rule boo$s, rea an re!rea. ;inally if youcannot $eep up with the rules of the system you are running, consier asimpler system, which you can master.

Loo$ing up rules brea$s immersion. The more you can a"oi this, thesmoother your games will flow.

SE*EN. Mae The Ga-e (nterestin%

#n the worl of smartphones an tablets, you are fighting for your playersattention. )a$ing table rules that ban e"ices an ma$e e"eryone watchyour e"ery mo"e will only go so far. #f you want to $eep e"ices off anattention focuse, be Interesting .

)oulate the "olume of your "oice uring e2citing scenes. 0ont be shyabout 3umping up out of your seat to pantomime a great attac$. 0escribethings with e"ocati"e imagery. 'lso, $eep the game flowing. This goesbac$ to rule si2, if you ha"e to $eep loo$ing up rules uring the session,

you are creating that ea air that ma$es people reach for their phones.+ou are li$e a stripper behin that screen. Keep ancing, screen mon$ey,an ont let them lose woo.

E(G"T. Mae Sure E&eryone (s Co-/orta0le

%oing bac$ to social contracts an campaign framewor$s, it helps toiscuss an come to an agreement upon some of the egier things thatcan happen in a game= se2, graphic "iolence, torture, etc. The last thing

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you want to ha"e at the table is for someone to ta$e an action that ma$esa player or e"en you uncomfortable. 'gain, as the de facto leaer of thegroup, the responsibility falls to you to ma$e sure that e"eryoneunerstans the groups position on these things.#f something oes happen that ma$es someone uncomfortable, pause the

game an tal$ it out before continuing. #f you are the type of group thatli$es to rie that ege of what is appropriate, then consier the >!ar sothat your players ha"e a mechanism to ob3ect an to feel safe.

We are all here to ha"e fun, so ma$e sure that its the $in of fun e"eryoneis comfortable with.

N(NE. Tell Stories Colla0orati&ely

 's %), you are telling part  of a story. While you ha"e the lions share ofroles 9as 45s an narrator:, your part is no more important than theharacters parts. )a$e sure that you wea"e in their contributions to thestory.

%i"e some control of the etails of the worl to players. #f the characterstarts tal$ing about the 0war"en Rites of the 0ea, an it oes not toppleanything you ha"e preppe, then let it rie. E"en better, ta$e that inputfrom the player an recor it in the campaign materials, so that it can beuse again at a later ate.

The best things in life are the results of collaboration.

TEN. Mae Failure (nterestin%

;rom a players perspecti"e, failing suc$s. ;ailing for no goo reason suc$sthe worst. There is nothing worse than failing a spot chec$ for a clue anha"ing the mystery coming to a halt, or failing a strength chec$ to open aoor, only to ha"e to try o"er an o"er until it opens, 3ust to fin the room isempty. That is the $in of play that ma$es players reach for a smart phone.

There is a great rule when it comes to s$ill chec$s= unless both thesuccess an failure outcomes are interesting, 3ust say yes an mo"e on. #nother wors, ma$e failure interesting. Rather than ha"ing the faile spotchec$ mean missing the clue, ma$e it mean that you ont fin the clue intime to stop the ne2t $illing. # wrote a lot about this a few years ago< chec$it out.

*$ill chec$s are li$e spice. ?se enough to ma$e things fla"orful an onto"eruse them.

ELE*EN. (ts Our Ga-e1Not Your Ga-e

# ha"e a pet pee"e when %)s say my game. #ts not your game, its yourgroups game. +ou are only one part of the e8uation. +es, you win upoing more wor$ than the players, but that oes not entitle you to a bigger

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share of the game. +ou play the game as a group, an as a group youshoul be creating memorable stories together.There are times when the players are going to ta$e an action that is goingto unermine your story. 5erhaps they foun a way to reach Baron @onBaass earlier than you wante, or they ecie to go to the he2 to the

4orth an not to the East. Let them o it an play to see what happens. 'lways thin$ about what is best for the game.

(t Taes 2 Ta0le To Mae 2 Ga-eThe best campaigns are the ones that are a perfect storm of %) anplayer input. They are the ones where the group is in harmony an theactions of the players are meaningful an ha"e impact on the game worl.The combine actions of the group bring about a story that you go on to tal$

about for years.

#ts li$ely that you are oing some, if not all of these things, but we can

always o them better. What tips resonate with you the most- What oneswoul you li$e to be better at- Which ones o you isagree with-