As much as I fully intend to conclude that this topic is a total nonsense, I thought it was worth addressing. Every new DnD guy has this thought in their head. Even some experienced folks think in terms of “this guy is a really good DnD player” or “that guy is a terrible player”. I’m going to do my best to elaborate, but it’s really quite simple.
This document assumes a familiarity with the concepts presented in Roleplaying : A Primer.
Before we can talk about getting better at roleplaying, we need to identify the goal. Most folks who say they want to “get better” probably think in terms of delivery. They think it’s the voices, the gestures, or the deep emotional moments that define good roleplayers. Unfortunately, that’s all just acting skill and has nothing to do with the skill of roleplaying.
The skill of roleplaying is your ability to explore a character and discover interesting things about them. The skill of roleplaying is tying together seemingly unrelated facts into a coherent character that is interesting. The way that’s measured is in how you’re moved by your experience. A good roleplayer is not the one who can name 1000 facts about his guy but the player who can tell you why each one matters.
While there is some joy in sharing a character you made, the biggest joys in roleplaying are about surprising yourself. If you ever watch a real pro, you’ll see his face light up with glee and maybe even catch a giggle as he discovers what his character would do in a situation. I promise that player never expected his orphan thief would leave the gold and exploring those reasons in the retrospective will be an endless feast of character development.
You should aim not to present better but to internalize more thoroughly. The more organic your character is, the more interesting it will become. Other players see and appreciate this. They want to go along for the ride with you, not on some ride you built for them.
“Good” is utterly useless without something to compare it against. It’s a touchy subject, but we’ll dive right in. The bad roleplayer is one who doesn’t “get it”. It’s the player that isn’t invested and doesn’t care about their character. They’re more interested in the stats and dice than any kind of story or discovery.
This attitude bleeds through to every aspect of the game and is toxic to the activity of roleplay. I’ve seen it entirely break up groups. More often, I’ve seen it weigh down an otherwise enthralled group that could have had a great time.
The only thing you need to do to improve as a roleplayer is to get more invested. It seems simple. It is simple.
Ask questions about lore bits that you’re interested in. Assert new lore. Work with your DM to flesh out the best bits. Ask him if you can draw up some clan emblems for the factions you fight most. Draw up a clan emblem for yourself. Start writing an in-character journal to better internalize the narrative of events each day.
This is not a cop out. This is not weaseling out by calling all the big parts “performance”. It’s literally this easy. Other players can tell when you’re showboating. They can also tell when you’re legitimately interested.
“Organic”, “natural”, “realistic”. These words refer to characters and not their players. Characters are where the meat is at. Overshadowing them makes you the bad roleplayer.
You’ve worked hard to get this far, so I’ll give you something. The most interesting characters (not players) interact with the world and other players’ characters in a natural way. They build spy networks out of quest NPCs, they train their allies, they build buildings, and always have something “else” going on.
Don’t go hard. Don’t be annoying. Just pass the DM a note here and there to keep your fellows wondering. “I want to try to bribe him into my spy network.” will catch your DM off guard the first time and then it will be your little secret.
It’s such a simple and misinformed wish that I really urge you to clarify for yourself: