Image Source: Monte Cook’s World of Darkness d20 cover.
Hot on the heels of the ‘Why do you DM‘ post, and to address the 64% of readers that play at least some of the time, here’s the follow up questions:
Why do you play a player character in a tabletop RPG? What are the top 3 reasons why you continue to be a non-DM player in such games?
My answer on that will be rather short since I don’t often leave my post as DM.
When I step from behind the screen, I like to kick butt and find treasures. The rarer and more exotic the treasure the more interested I am. I also like to solve problems and play slightly insane rogue-type characters. Now let me tell you about Blix the Halfing rogue…. (Just kidding Jonathan).
I also am rather impatient and it kills me to see only a limited part of the plot. I have a tendency to over think and go on metagaming overdrive, finding and exploiting possible tropes and generally making myself a metagaming nuisance.
I’ll be playing a Demon in Franky’s upcoming McWod backup game (What a most stupid but oh so usable acronym! It beats Gurps in my book!!). Whenever we don’t get the usual quorum for our D&D game, Franky will step in as Storytelling GM and will give us X-files like missions in Monte’s vision of the World of Darkness.
I’m reading up on the class and Char. Gen. rules . So far I like it a lot!
Your turn now, Why do you play PCs?
Also, for those majority that split their time between DMing and playing, why don’t you chime in with the proportion between each activity and tell me which you prefer.
Cya tommorow!
Well, it gives me the opportunity to play characters that last for a while, as opposed to NPCs and enemies that die after an encounter.
While I get to run NPC allies and villains as a DM, I mean “play” in the crunch sense. Even the campaign-long villains only get played crunchwise a couple times. As a PC, I get to plan progressions and then enact them, which I really enjoy.
As a player, I’m a bit of a Powergamer, with a bit of Storyteller mixed in.
As for time spent on each, I haven’t been a player for about 3 or 4 years. When you consider that I only started playing around 1998, that’s a significant time.
Luckily, my fiance has decided to try her hand at DMing, so I’m playing a Dwarf Mystic Theurge right now.
Additionally, a friend that we haven’t gamed with in about 2 years is trying to get an Eberron game going. Unfortunately, due to work schedules, he hasn’t been able to get started yet. In that one, if it ever gets off the ground, I’ll be a Warforged Artificer.
I play because I want to put myself in the shoes of another person. Usually that person’s shoes are a lot wilder and more colorful than my own. When I play, I let my imagination run wild and figure out how the person I’ve decided to play would interact with the world around him. It’s my chance to be loud and to kick things in the nuts that displease me when I can’t do it for real.
D&D night is when I let it all hang out. As a player, prep time is usually minimal and my style of roleplay is pretty freewheeling. (Translation: it’s all fun with little work involved!) The character interaction and my ability to contribute to a story in my own way is what keeps me coming back week after week.
What treasure could measure up to this? 🙂
Pretty much as Vanir said.
I like the interaction with a created fictional world forging in it a compelling story. This complements what I like as a GM. (The creation of a fictional world.)
I prefer to be a player because it’s easier and requires a lot less prep time. Although I plan my level of progression, create large backstory for my characters and involves myself heavily with the GM’s creation (if he will allows it), this nowhere as close to the work required in creating my worlds. (My last tentative to GM had a word document of 45 pages!)
My RPG playing style is Storyteller/Tactician.
I DM seven times and play once a month. When I play, I play straight forward simple classes and want to be entertained by the DM. I’m not into character optimization – my current fighter is studying hard for his Craft (cartography) and Knowledge (geography) – and I don’t like too fight too much. Clearly, I’m a storytelling player. I like the DM to provide me with adventure hooks where I can pick and choose where to go. I like it when suggested additions to the game world and to the plot actually get integrated. I’m happy with DM fiat as long as it results in an interesting story.