GREAT PC: 4 Tips to Involve yourself when you're not, in roleplaying
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ก.ค. 2024
- How to involve yourself when you're not, in Roleplaying. Aka how to do something even if your character doesn't have skills in that area. Are you a non-fighter stuck in combat? What are you going to do? Let these tips guide you.
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My two copper pieces
1) Hippie pacifist nurse. Heal in combat keep the players alive. You have one job: it's your job to keep everyone alive, also know when to call for a retreat.
2) Communication's officer hack the enemy's commlinks see it they hooked up their communications to their main computer. Or hack their ship's intercom for some pranks or distractions or to announce abandon ship.
3) High speed chase, what's in your pocket's?
4) Tactics, do not make plans that exclude someone.
as the guy said, don't underestimate how often a character with a seemingly unrelated skill can lend his knowledge to people who are in their element.
My dwarven blacksmith/fighter (yes he's a trope, sue me) won't know jack all about magic rituals or how to stop them, but if the casters are lamenting about how an evil ritual in a temple is doing so much more than the scope of that ritual should do and can't figure out why, he might muse that like "How a smith forges multiple pieces of into one piece to make that piece MUCH stronger than any of them individually would be, maybe the same principle can apply to magic and their are other copies of the ritual strengthening each other nearby?" At worst, the theory falls flat, and another solution needs to be sought. Sometimes, though, something miraculous happens and the character who shouldn't have had any relevance suddenly becomes the hero of the situation.
NEVER, and i mean EVER assume that you can't affect the story, just because your character is out of his depths, it only does you and your group a disservice to give up.
I TOTALLY agree! I love this example very much as it speaks to a lot of principals that revolve around good playership.
I'm playing my first tabletop game using Dungeon World, and our GM took several classes from somewhere online and posted it in a Google Doc for us to pick from. I ended up picking Medic, a class which does exactly what it sounds like it does, heal people and just about only heal people, with a pathetic little D4 as the damage die. I was basically totally useless in combat, at least for the early game. So, while my party encountered some evil cultists, my GM asked me what it was I was doing while all they were smashing evil cultists to death. My response? I was cheering them on with encouraging words, of course!
When a friend got a particularly bad roll and was being held hostage, my character just picked up a nice rock and chucked it at the cultists face to free them from the grasp of that cultist. What a useful little pacifist hippie nurse! B)
Pacifist hippie nurse has a pretty obvious role in combat---medic! She can duck behind cover and watch for a party member to take damage, then rush in, drag them to safety, and apply first aid (risking her own life for her goals as the others already have to try to win the combat).
One time, wizard failed a skill check in a clave and was hurt so badly, he had to leave the cave, so I couldn't help with anything. So while outside the cave, I used my botany skills to look for healing and edible plants.
It also depends on the game system. I like systems where everyone can do (nearly) everything to a certain degree. I don't like systems where your character is defined by a narrow set ob abilities and can't do the things outside of that. Gandalf is a wizard, but he can swing a sword.
I like the mechanics of Star Wars Saga Edition because they are very enabling to characters.
How tf are you only 25k deep? I mean that’s a lot but the quality and caliber of this content smacks of 100k+ if not 1m subs
Great stuff. About midway through, I was reminded of that scene from Star Wars where the heroes just escaped the Death Star and had to fight their way through the TIE fighters. Princess Leia's entire role through that scene was to look worried and add gravitas to the moment. A lot of RPG moments could be made better by a supporting actor to add emotional weight to the encounter. I take the lesson of the video as, if you can't act, then look for a chance to make the scene better.
You hit it on the head totally. And I think truly good players look for the moments where they can really grow their character. These would be those moments. But great example yes! (And the reference is Star Wars A New Hope 1977).
We were following a group of orcs and found their camp where they'd burned a few guards who came after them and they'd left the fire burning when they left. I used cooking to figure out how long their bodies have been on the fire and we figured out they were here at most 15 minutes ago. So we're close
I experienced one of these moments in a combat scenario recently. I'm a Paladin with no real sense of stealth, parties with an Illusionist Warlock, a Monk, a dark Cleric, and a Wizard. The Monk and the Warlock were infiltrating an Orc warcamp, one nearly a mile wide, and the Warlock was concealing himself and secretly helping the Monk. I, the Cleric, and the Wizard were sitting outside whilst the Monk and Warlock got into a fierce duel with the Warchief, in which the warlock saved the monk multiple times from the shadows, the wizard set the camp ablaze to draw the orc's attention whilst the warlock backstabbed the chief before the monk ripped out his heart, and the monk survived only because of an HP buff the Cleric had given him. Meanwhile I sat there having no useful spells or skills, doing absolutely nothing, and that was one of the worst feelings in the world when it comes to D&D.
Indeed. Something you could have been doing was planning your parties escape route :) A camp nearly a mile wide... that's a lot of orcs. But you are correct. It is never fun to sit on the side whilst others are having an epic battle. Maybe quest for a teleportation stone so the sneaky ones can get into position then port in you?
>breaking into a high tech base and you only have gardening, cooking, and tracking
Easy.
Depending on how long you have, apply for a job as the base chef, then use your tracking skill to map out the guard patrols before the party infiltrates the place.
And maybe if you can, use your gardening skill to grow some useful plants, like something that would knock a bunch of hungry soldiers out upon consumption, but that could be pushing it.
#3 made me think of Jack Burton in Big Trouble in Little China flailing to get his knife out of his boot for one of the fight scenes and by the time he was ready the fight was over. That's a great thing for a non-combat character to do when he's unable to actively contribute to the fight.
That was a cool movie... even if a little dated by todays standards :)
nonsense! i watched it a few months ago and its way better than any transformers or the stuff they are coming up with theese days.
Well glad to see that I was able to make the exception in my first 5e game ^_^
Getting people coats, using help actions & creating attacks of opportunities for those who aren't wielding piercing weapons against skeletons.
The effectiveness of these tips relies heavily on the DMs discretion. I, for example, wouldn't allow such a broad interpretation of geology.
That said: if your character is good at at least two things, they can be useful in enough situations for not having to stretch interpretations. So if the wizard is researching something ancient, the knight could just ask around court and clergy if someone is knowledgeable about that kind of thing. In return, that wizard may research the local history and the significant noble families in advance and prove those information when that knight wants to pull some major strings at court.
I know that not every kind of situation allows this kind of problem solving. That's why I like your less "effective" ideas like holding something or just being the comic relief. They are good fall back plans.
It is dependent on the GM you are correct. I feel that a good GM should always be involving the characters or have a plan to involve them. And if they try to involve themselves player initiative should be rewarded with something. The point is often players rely on the GM for all the story and involvement hooks. So this was to encourage the kind of two way dialogue that these games should be. Perhaps I should got a GM video on helping players involve themselves ;)
Good idea!
A few weeks ago we started a weekly session with a group of about 7 noobs and a very experienced GM. It has been great fun and we ended up going full convoy of wagons trader style. Although this larger narrative gave us a unique way of going through everything, none of us really knew when and how to roleplay properly.
As a relative noob myself ill spread these video's and tips around the group! You already helped me a lot with your 'How to Loner' video. Many thanks.
That's why I like pathfinder 2e aid mechanics. You help people with relevant skills using anything you are good at to give them that +1 bonus to rolls. As long as you have a creative idea of how to use your skills in this scenario it can be great roleplay and mechanic moment.
In a Star Wars game I played, I had a bounty hunter who didn't do much outside of on-foot combat. During space battles, my character had him co-pilot to help my pilot navigate through blaster fire
Honestly I think you should explain how to properly integrate the far realm into a campaign
I'm playing a Dragonborn barbarian who is resisting the call to become a paladin of Bahamut, but one of their hobbies is cooking. It's sadly a thing that requires downtime to involve in the roleplay, but it's worth it when it does! When staying the night in a bandit/tent town, the Dragonborn and their druid companion made a feast large enough to share with the entire neighborhood.
Great advice. I shared this video with my players:)
That's super cool!
Seems a little advanced for my n00b group but I'll still mention these great tips.
Awesome! Let us know if they help :)
My GM has a bit of a problem with going from player to player and asking “What are you doing?” This ended up with my character, who is an apprentice blacksmith, running around the ancient and advanced forge we were in pressing buttons, turning valves, and generally just messing with equipment.
During another scene I performed a skill check on myself and narrated it in the text chat for the rest of the group to see. This ended with my character accidentally stabbing himself with a chisel, but also revealing important information to the story.
Summary: *Be creative*.
you are great, this suits a lot of different games, i loved the how to be a leader chapter
Glad you like the videos, and gratitude for your compliments ;)
Great tips!
Any other vids you'd like to see?
this was very helpful!
Very good, outside of the box tips! :)
I suggest a video detailing the combination of two very different kinds of play. My example if you choose to use it, is Dark Souls and role-playing. To go to the polar opposite, anything that isnt strictly combat such as mystery, investigation, character interaction, and good old story telling. (don't tell the party i dm for but) I'm planning on adding certain things from other universes into my game, particularly dark souls. I think its quite interesting to try and combine two very different universes in a not only compatible, but also story driven and compelling way, that interests the player even more because they feel a sense of familiarity and in depth interaction. :)
Let me know what you think :)
Awesome! I've already had a request for 'Mash-up' which is what I'd think this is really as a setting. So consider it added to the list! Thank you :)
My gnome has no escape artist, but she helped our slayer to escape by getting the witches to half release him so they could clip his toenails for potions. "Well, what ever you do, don't cut his toenails!"
Hey B B RPG,
I have got a question which I'd really love to have answered in yet another one of these helpful videos. In my weekly P&P group, there are one or two players, who just cannot participate regularly, because of work, family, what ever. Or they are there, just only every second week. One has to leave us for several months, so his character follows us in Mark-mode (Mark from "The Gamers", I'm sure you know it).
So How do you deal with absent players? How can one - GM or player - compensate the lack of a player, when their characters are with the others? Maybe in a dungeon, where you can't be like, in a city "Oh, he just went to a tavern and you'll meet him again once the player is with us again" Well, you get it. So long, thanks for making all these videos.
Email them and ask what's you character doing? Give them gold, loot, and xp so they don't fall behind the party. And load them up with side quest hooks or information or tidbits.
With my old group, I had more than a couple of these situations where I didn't quite know what to do. Usually, they occurred when I was just starting a new game that's rules I was unfamiliar with and there was a situation where I didn't recognize any way in which my character could do anything productive, so sometimes I would end up drawing a blank about what to do.
There was a member of the group who, whenever I said that, would scold me for not doing something and would give vague advice when I needed something specific. I didn't like him very much. I kind of wish this video was around back then.
My thief, when she's completely out of her element... if nothing else, she prays. She isn't a cleric or a priestess or anything like that, she doesn't have any magic, she's just a sincere, pious young woman, who happens to be a treasure hunter/jewel thief
Or even if you do have a disadvantage, still try and help searching, maybe you have the luck to throw a 20 and you might discover something. "Bronnie not smart, but Bronnie can help" for example.
I like to aid the one with the best perception skill if I have very little or no skill.
Awesome tips
Thank you :)
Over the last few months I have both played and Run tables
of larger size, a good 8+ players on the average. I used to play in smaller
groups, 3-5 players, the suggested standard party for a D&D book. Maybe a
good idea would be a three part series. Part one covering how as a smaller
group the player has to be “smarter”. Part two could go into how to safely
split the party at larger tables. Part three could be general tips for either
situation on how to help the party work together. Again all just spit ball ideas
but I feel strongly about them.
Great ideas! Consider them added to the list! But what a challenge. I shall have to think deeply on this. Curious that I've just been asked to run an 8 player game! Thank you.
Every character has something they can do. Otherwise, why are they there at all?
If you have ranks in Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering), and you're fighting in a clock tower on moving gears? Why not try and see if you can jam the gears, or point out a weakened part of the tower to the Big Dumb Fighter.
If you're the communications officer and there's a ship-to-ship fight going on, maybe check if you can get some of your communications gear rigged to listen in on what the enemy is doing, so you can gather some intel.
If you're a pacifistic healer in a D&D game, you've got your work right there in front of you. People are getting hurt, so make sure they're not hurting.
Sometimes, though, it's not so much that you don't know what to do. I've on occasion found it hard to express what it is my character would be doing, or I just couldn't get in-between the more proactive players to claim a role to play. That's something you just have to get experience with. Maybe sit with your DM one-on-one, ask them to poke you when you look like you've something to say.
rouge who hasn't seen this video and is left out of the action for some specific reason: "i dodge"
In my first game ever, I had a character who wasn't very charismatic. We went into a shop and the junk dealer wouldn't respect one of the PC, who was one of my celebrity idols. No body else was going to do anything so I stepped in and attempted to intimidate the shopkeeper by putting a knife to his throat. It was an abject failure, but it provided for a big laugh from the other veteran players. I shouldn't have done anything if I really wanted to expedite the story along, but I nudged myself into glorious comedy that defined our objectives for the next session because we could not at that moment get the item we needed from the shop. I put myself into the story and it was so much fun.
Though I did attempt to meta-game prior to my hostile action so minus 1 point. I kept say to everyone something to the effect of, "hold me back I'm about to do something crazy". I'll learn to do better.
always a bad idea to use intimidate in roleplaying games. DM loose their shit when you try to bully their npc's .its like they see themselves in every single one of them. :( so sick of shopkeepers and gardners and who could forget THE TAVERNKEEPER!!! who sasses and talks down at a paladin (who are suposed to be a higher authority than the ciy watch in every city IMO) or a huge scary half-orc barbarian thats wearing a yeti head-dress over a scowling tusked face that bears the scars of said yeti...yeah nothing more intimidating than a potbelly grandpa thats been serving people drinks and showing them to their rooms for the last half of his life!
As someone with proficiency in cooking, I would like to add that all animal flesh begins cooking at 55° C.
AH, so often I've done these types of suggestions and I can just see the GM's mind's gearbox overheat. He has designed an epic battle and his brain is full. "I scan the subspace field for any messages. Possibly to crack the enemy's command frequency". "Uhh...there isn't any signals". And back to the main event. Essentially, I guess to be a Great Player entirely requires a Great GM.
I think you might refer any players with hyper-specialized characters to rewatch "Don't be a Dick". As you advice, there is pummelling your brain to be helpful and involved while letting the some other players have a turn in the spotlight. Some players go one step too far and, essentially, become a jealous 4-year old demanding attention.
On another note, that is why I always design my characters with "something extra". To the confusion of some players, I will "waste" points by being a fighter who is also a bona fide whiz as a cook. (to name one). More often than not, I will find myself in the premise of your video and this side hobby/skill allows me to contribute.
It's a two way street really. Great GM needs Great Players and vice versa hence my desire to make both channels :)
I once got heat from someone for "wasting a feat on pure roleplaying" in a 3.5 DnD game. I game my monk the skill focus feat for his Profession(Painter) skill. Jokes on him, my DM gave me a payoff for that focus by letting me paint murals for the dragon that lived in the area so we could placate him and keep him from burning the village down.
That's it! It's thinking about the character not the function of the feats/skills/powers. And good on your GM for letting you use it!
Ha! good one! Also you can use communications to see if you can hack into their ship's computer. Is there a back door? Or ship's intercomms... heh.
How to deal with an overpowered party member? We have this one person in our D&D group that has pretty much wiped out the enemy by themselves in a single turn which has become frustratingly dull for some of us
An overpowered party member is more the DM's problem to solve - he needs to balance encounters around having the OP character. Odds are, there's a weakness to exploit which the DM isn't doing, so talk to him and say he should probably start doing so because there's a person dominating encounters.
I disagree, an overpowered player is a table problem if it is impacting on the fun on a entire table. This tends to be a bigger problem among DnD tables which characters can become huge statblocks of win, but if a character is wiping out entire encounters without much challange, it's worth asking two questions. What can the DM do to make for more challanging encounters and what can the player do to keep the fun going around the table? Sometimes reeling it back is much better then escalating the arms race and redefine expectations
I love being the comic relief, just be sure you don’t go overboard and derail the game
Most Common Things I Do During Combat: Shoot The Enemies, Fail To Stab The Enemies, Run Away, Try To Kill My Fellow Party Members For Killing An Enemy I Wanted To Kill, Almost Die Because I'm A Ranger With About 9 Hit Points.
This seems like a real danger to become a dick at the table if you do it wrong.
use google docs! automatic backup
*cough* I was using sticky notes for windows... but now I am on paper and pen and it's working great!
Reminded of when one of his (Person who made this video) player characters helped with an arcana check during a campaign of a wood box which had lude inscriptions because she was a professional mistress/madam. This is poorly put, but youtube and censorship etc. It was slightly helpful just about as much as you would think. Its good not to see hypocritical advice. Watch Bacon RPG in links of his channel for reference.
Star Wars WEG D6, a buddy plays a mechanic, zero combat utility. Qué, combat, GM asks mechanic what he's doing. Answer: He locked himself in the toilet with a gun in his mouth, with the intent of killing himself rather than being captured by the Impire.