Roleplay better by being personally accountable…

I’ve been doing a lot of reading on management-style topics lately as a result of my new job, and after you read several different books in rapid succession you start seeing patterns. One such pattern is that of personal accountability, and most of the books and websites that I have been reading are discussing this topic in preparation to become a better employee or to “go that extra mile” in order to make you stand out at the office. (Not that I need this advice, I’m already pretty outstanding, thank you very much!)

Be a better roleplayer by asking how you can make the situation better.

Many people complain about their roleplaying experience as a function of the shortcomings of the DM or the interaction of the roleplaying group as a whole. Blaming others is as natural as drawing breath for most people, and in some cases it may be warranted and deserved. I want to challenge everyone to stop blaming everyone else and take some in-game actions to get noticed and inject your character into the roleplaying mix.

Ask yourself the following question: “What can I do to get more actively involved with this story or my adventuring party?” By being personally accountable for helping to steer the story or interact with the other players, you will drive yourself to not be a victim of circumstance within your group. This may spawn a myriad of different results given your roleplaying group and DungeonMaster, but I’m sure it will open up some roleplaying avenues to make you a more satisfied player.

This also works for introverted roleplayers too!

As you all may know, the DM often has many things to juggle behind the screen and it can be quite easy to overlook the more quiet and subtle roleplayers in the group. If you’re not a very outgoing person and this is an especially hard challenge, ask yourself what you can do to support someone else’s strong roleplaying. Often, acting to support another player’s roleplaying will get you noticed because its so darned unusual that most DMs will take pause when you do this.

This advice should also help in groups with very strong roleplayers, and it will help safeguard you from getting drowned out by their bold style. Having fun is the first step, that should cause the DM to notice and throw some more formulated roleplaying/adventuring opportunities your way!