You make a good point Chris and it does serve as a good reminder. Hell, it can be looked at as advice to spice up those multi-hour combats!

Obviously all DMs are different. But unless your DM totally hates role playing, I think the easiest way to get more role playing into the game is for a player to lead the charge. We’re social animals and it takes a lot of energy to constantly be separate from the pack, so a DM who is trying to role play with a group that lacks the energy is going to have a really rough time. However, if one or two other people really get into it, the DM can usually build off that energy and make cool stuff happen. And once two people do it, you might be surprised who else will let their closeted role playing side come out and play.
.-= Sarah Darkmagic´s last blog ..Designing a Street Fight =-.

Geek Ken: This is absolutely right. I allow my players to creatively bend the rules all the time. Sometimes what’s good for the PCs is good for the monsters, too. But that just ends up creating a dynamic field of play.

Scott: Sounds like the way I play 4e, which is loads of fun. Thanks!

Federico Figueredo: Excellent points. Everyone should read Federico’s comment.

Michelle: The rogue wasn’t really in danger–the villain had two defenders on him. Although the rogue was wounded, the player was just playing the character with uncharacteristic timidity. The uncharacteristic part made me saddest.

You’re right on when you suggest the rogue didn’t have as much emotion tied up in the fight, though. It’s a strong point.

The creativity you displayed with your character’s background being meaningful to play is exactly what I’m talking about. Cool! Thanks for sharing.

Yan: That’s what I’m talking about, but see Unwinder’s comment and my response.

Unwinder: Thanks for making these points. The article assumes a default style of 4e D&D play. (It’s also too short to make every point I might have made.) And the word “hero” isn’t intended to mean “paragon of goodness” or “superhero with powers far beyond those of mortal persons.”

Replace hero with the word protagonist if you like, and the semantics might work better for you. It really does seem like a semantic issue, so I’ll try to keep that in mind in future posts. The word “hero” has too much baggage, perhaps.

Even in the campaigns you describe, decisive action is good. That’s the point of the post, more than “heroics.” The PCs are still the central protagonists. The players’ boldness will pay off.

I think you and I actually agree. Even a timid or cowardly character can be played boldly. As you rightly point out, “Playing with gusto is always appropriate, and always makes a session more fun.”

Dixon Trimline: One must play to the group, it is true. But hamming it up might get others to do so, too.

DrJones: Without going into too much detail, she is forthright even if it might offend. She needles people who are rude or insulting. She hurls barbs at braggart enemies. She does what she what she thinks is right, even if the other PCs disagree. She ignores options she thinks of as cowardly, and so on. Flip side, she (boldly) follows the customs of her people. This includes deference and humbleness when appropriate, but it also includes openly questioning those who fail to uphold the tried and true. Her boldness has kept the PCs in fights from which others had suggested flight. The results have been beneficial, so far. Also, as I suggested, the other players seem to really like it.

@Chris: Awesome piece man, as always.
.-= ChattyDM´s last blog ..Mighty Anthropomorphin’ Power Rangers =-.

It is easy for people to fall into Roll vs Role playing during combat. I’ve found that usually if I, or the DM, instigate the Roleplaying, or encourage and reward boldness, the players are more than willing to take the hint and push those boundaries as well.

Even if we assume we’re playing heroic fantasy, combat oriented, 4E games, it’s not always like that. Players love playing an evil campaign once in a while. A good story often requires the PCs to be everymen tossed into rough circumstances rather than superheroes. Even in the grittiest, most action packed games, it’s quite common to have one player who’d rather be the cowardly comic relief than the Chosen One.

That said, while it’s sometimes fun to play a timid character, there’s nothing to be gained from being a timid player. Playing with gusto is always appropriate, and always makes a session more fun.

In our last campaign, my dwarven cleric “had a hunch” that an airship would be both more defensible and safer to ride around in if we added boarding nets around the sides. She had never been aboard a waterborne vessel or an airship previously, so I said the idea was inspired by the nets her clan used to quickly (though temporarily) block off passageways during running skirmishes in cave systems. Sadly, the nets were not deployed the one time when they would have been truly helpful…

1- Do you know what your character dramatic needs is? (what is his purpose, his most present goal)
2- Do you know what the next obstacle to achieve that purpose is?
3- Do you know why your character is chasing after that goal? (what does he believe that makes him act so?)

In most cases, the problem lies within one of those questions.

Note: If the player knows what to do, but doesn’t know how, I always recommend either setting a scene with the goal of finding out, or just testing the character (rather than the player) for ideas. Stopping the game dead is not an option.
.-= Federico Figueredo´s last blog ..Gaming News – April 14-10 =-.

I’m running a system at the moment with the catchphrase “Not what you can do, but what you want to do.”

Basically any cool idea i run with, any idea i work with. Everything about the game is pointed to making the players feel ‘cool’ about their amazingly heroic cahracters and what they can do.

Thanks for this Chris, i will be printing this article off and handing a copy to each of my players.

Awesome article.

Scott

I implore DMs out there. Let your players do cool stuff. Encourage them to be heroes. Sometimes there is a fine line between being heroic and reckless, but don’t grind them down in the dirt because they tried to have fun.
.-= Geek Ken´s last blog ..Thoughts: Player’s Handbook 3 =-.