How Do You Foster Good Roleplaying?
When I was 13 years old, RPGs were all about killing things and taking their stuff. In a lot of ways, back then, D&D was a major precursor to today’s MMORPGs. Sure, we had some storylines back then, but they were usually pretty standard quests.
It was mostly “roll” playing, and less “role” playing. That was fine, for back then. Really, I didn’t mind.
But things changed. Eventually, I grew up, put off RPGs for a while. When I came back to them as a young adult, I found I’d changed. Suddenly, I was a lot more interested in the story than in the spoils.
Here’s the cool thing about RPGs: They are what you make of them. If you’re a 13 year-old boy who wants to slay dragons, go for it. If your a guy that wants to explore his feminine side by playing a female pixie sorceress, go ahead.
If you really must.
At any rate, my group today prefers roleplaying over hack-n-slash. Some days, though, hack-n-slash is all I’ve got in me as a DM. I’m sure you’ve had sessions like that, too.
So, let me put the question to you, both players and GMs: How do you foster good roleplaying?
I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve, and I’ll share those in due time. I’m curious, though, what you all can come up with first.
Interview with Harrison McLeod of Escaping Reality
Harrison McLeod (Harry) is a good friend and colleague, and one half of the Men with Pens team. I had a chance to spend some time talking to Harry about their latest project, a double-whammy initiative including the creative fiction writing site Capturing Fantasy and the game site, Escaping Reality.
Tell me a little bit about yourself and your history with RPGs.
I began gaming back in the early 80s. It started innocently enough; a friend of mine said some of the guys were getting together to play this new game called Dungeons and Dragons. I remember my mom saying, “Don’t get into anything weird.” Apparently, D&D sounded too much like S&M for Mom’s liking. I still laugh about that.
I rolled up a character, a basic fighter, but he had the highest charisma of the group. I found myself unanimously voted leader. There I was, clueless and leading these semi-seasoned players on one of the most memorable campaigns they ever had. I had a gift for gaming.
To this day, my old high school buddies still call me “Fearless Leader”.
I began writing down the events of each session like a story. By the time I graduated high school, I had three binders full of stories and a few illustrations, too. But gaming fell to the wayside in favor of karate and earning my college degree in illustration.
After a high school reunion ten years later, a close friend of mine introduced me to White Wolf’s Werewolf: The Apocalypse. This game was way better than D&D ever was (in my mind) and I loved the whole idea of modern day werewolves.
In 1998, I launched my first online RPG for WtA and it ran successfully for eight years before White Wolf decided to bring about the Apocalypse. I was also a storyteller for a LARP group at GenCon for a couple of years during that time.
I met James on an online D&D RPG during the last few years of my online game. We hit it off and after gaming together for a few years more we went into business together. Neither of us wanted to give up gaming, but we had work to do.
We always hoped that one day we’d be gaming again.
I hear that over and over again. Folks that take a few years off, sometimes as much as a decade, always wind up playing again. For my part, I think I’ll always be playing RPGs.
What’s your favorite game system, and why?
I’m a die-hard new World of Darkness fan. I know many people are still stuck on the original version of WoD, but I absolutely love the new version.
The nWoD takes the everyday and ordinary and twists it up. It’s horror in the old-fashioned sense. I’ve always admired the old horror movies, where the scenes played tricks on your mind. Hitchcock was a master and more contemporary versions would be Stephen King or M. Night Shamylan.
Another thing I like about nWoD is there is no clear-cut line between good and bad. You can’t tell the good guys from the bad guys, and the bad guys are just guys with their own agenda, one that doesn’t necessarily agree with the good guys.
In Forsaken (the new version of Werewolf: The Apocalypse), the good look no different from the evil. Both are what they are and only your point of view determines whether they’re good or bad. Shades of gray are everywhere.
Some people dislike nWoD because there’s no epic behind the scenes. They’re lost without the mega-plot unfolding in the background. I’ve never been one for mega-plot, or any other kind of plot for that matter. The source books for nWoD give you ideas and you run with them. The new system allows for freedom that is more creative.
I never had the opportunity to play too much in the old system, but I have to agree: from what I can tell, the nWoD really takes the game to a new level.
What are your thoughts (if any) on the new release of Dungeons & Dragons?
Honestly, I’ll probably never pick up another D&D book. A couple of years ago, I got back into it with a few friends from work and it was okay. But after being out of D&D for a good 20 years or so, I was lost with all the changes.
Maybe it was just the mindset of our group, but I find that D&D characters are too disposable. Every week, someone was rolling up a new one because some new class came out that he just had to have. True role-playing hardly happens in these games.
For me, it depends a lot on the DM, though. My games tend to be pretty role-playing intensive, but that’s taken time to evolve.
So, Tell me a little bit about this project you and James (your partner at Men with Pens) have developed.
Capturing Fantasy and Escaping reality are projects we have had in the works for a while. We love gaming and always will, but gaming doesn’t pay the bills. Then James came up with the perfect plan.
We found an audience in the very community our business blog speaks to and the fiction writers that also visit our blog. Many people are closet fiction writers as well. We were for a long time.
The response has been amazing. Our new game style introduced with blogging and into a non-traditional niche proved to be a breath of fresh air for everyone. Our site combines solid writing skills and techniques for fiction writers with the fun of creative role-playing and gaming.
The players, all of them writers, learn how to build and develop characters to be better novelists. They can practice their fiction writing – and have fun at the same time.
What makes your game different from any other play-by-post game?
Escaping Reality is more than just a game. It’s a game built by writers for writers. It’s a game built by adults for adults. We have a lot of fun, but serious business underlies everything. Our game is designed to help writers improve their skills, not just amuse themselves in a relaxing and exciting environment.
We challenge people to come up with great character concepts. We’ll make them think and stretch their creativity beyond what they believe they can do – because we know they can do more. We make writers push themselves beyond their comfort zones.
Everyone gets a good amount of personal attention and a chance to use this opportunity to be a better writer. That’s something you won’t find on most other game boards.
“By writers, for writers.” I like that. Fiction has never been my strong point, which is, in part, why I’m playing at Escaping Reality. Tell me some more about that part of it. How can Role-playing Games help with creative writing, and vice versa?
Role-playing games help creative writing in a number of ways. In an online game, you have to write every day, often several times a day. I think between 1998 and 2007, I wrote the equivalent of a chapter or two each day.
The more you write, the better you get. I look back at my old posts sometimes and shake my head in disbelief. Practice makes perfect.
Another advantage is learning through observation of how others write. What makes their work shine? How do they snag interest? Seeing the way other people write and how they use words gives you new ways of writing.
The interaction with other writers also makes you improve – with an audience, we tend to put our best foot forward. You also get instant feedback on what you write, as other players and characters react, so you can observe what you did and how readers perceive it.
If you really want the scoop on what role-playing can do for your creative writing, go download our e-book, How To Get What You Want Out of Role-Playing We tell you everything our game gives you and we tell you how to get a jump start to be involved in our game.
Is there still time for my readers join the game?
Sure! There’s plenty of time, but don’t wait too long. Places are limited and when we reach the cap, the game closes to new submissions until new slots open up.
To submit a character for consideration, just write out a concept with a detailed history and biography in a Word document and send it to us.
Very cool, Harry. I know that one of my community, Ixian/Scott C has already joined. I look forward to seeing some more familiar faces! Thank you so much for your time.
Role-Playing Games Writing Contest / Guest-Posting at The DMs Blog
Hi everyone!
Just a couple quick unrelated notes today.
First: you want to make sure you check out this week’s writing contests at Helium. There is a contest specifically on Role-Playing Games. I wrote most of the topics and can’t enter, so I’d love to see one of my readers get 75 big ones this week. There are other cash prizes, but really, you want the $75, right? I’ve got tips on winning those contests over at The Writing Journey. Good luck, all!
Second: I’ve decided I want to try to increase the frequency again with which I update this blog. if you’ve got something you want to say about D&D, RPGs or just life in general, please let me know and I’ll feature it in a guest post!
What If? On 4E and the Future
What if it sucks?
Worse…
What if I don’t think it sucks, but the rest of my group does?
I’ve been asking myself this lately, as I think my good friend Phil has convinced Randy and the rest of our local group that 4E is going to be bad. REALLY bad.
Aw, hell. It’s not fair to blame it on Phil. There are things that look like they might be bad.
At any rate, what happens if I like it and they don’t?
Way I see it, I’ve got 3 options:
- Keep playing whatever everyone else wants to play. This means I’m stuck with Spell Compendium (etc), and I get no rules reset.
- Play something different altogether, like Vampire or Savage Worlds.
- Find another group with which to play 4E. (Note: I’m not talking about dumping the guys; they’re my friends, and nothing will change that. D&D or no, we’re compatriots.)
So, is there something I’m missing? A fourth, better option? If not, which of these three is best? Your thoughts are appreciated!
Game Masters Day - Better Late Than Never!
I had intended to observe GMs day in much grander fashion than last year, but with Gary leaving us it didn’t seem right.
In retrospect, maybe he’d have wanted it that way. At any rate, my loving wife made a cake on GMs day. Here it is:
Will you always play DnD?
I want to tell you all about a couple of conversations I’ve had lately.
The first one is an ongoing discussion with my friend Randy. Randy and I tend to have these big idea discussions about D&D, about our group of friends, and about our lives. One discussion revolved around whether the people you play D&D with are your friends, or whether they are just the guys you play a game with (like a softball league, for example). That ongoing discussion tool us the better part of three years; by the time we came to a real conclusion, it was a moot point because all of the people we played D&D with were, without question, our friends by that point.
Randy and Me, deep in discussion. I’m the one with the hat. 
photo credit: ohhector
Anyways, that’s not one of the conversations I wanted to tell you about. That one was free.
The conversation Randy and I have been having for about six or eight months is this: Do you ever see yourself stopping D&D? If so, at what age? 50? 60? Will you be a 70 year-old man playing D&D? I think we’ve both, at this point, answered “No, I don’t see myself stopping. I might stop buying new stuff, but I won’t stop playing. I’ll be rolling dice as long as I can lift them.”
“I just rolled a nat 20, Bitches!” (Age-progression photo. You can tell, I still have the hat.) photo credit: Thomas Tribe
The other conversation I’ve had was with another D&D player. He’s decided to retire. He’s done, ready to move on. He wants to do some other things, and the 4E Malaise has really gotten to him. My suggestion was to wait until the 4E hype dies down and we all know whether we’re going 4E or not. He didn’t seem especially interested.
so, here’s my questions for you all today: Will you ever stop playing D&D, or will you retire? If not age, what would make you retire?
I. Hate. Slate. So. Much.
I take a few days of relaxation in regard to DnD, only to come back and be reminded of Why I hate Slate.com so much.
FRACK! Bastards. I expected it to happen eventually.
I am so pissed off right now I might just spit. Go over to Slate and tell the jackhole about himself, will you?
Thanks to Shamus for the tip.
The 4E Malaise
If your gaming group is anything like mine, you can’t stop talking about Fourth Edition.
Every blog post or article at WotC, every entry at EnWorld, and every goofy comment (no offense, boys) at Critical Hits and my guys are chatting it up. It is as if they are a knitting circle that just found out that the pastor’s daughter is pregnant.
Anyways, this whole thing has put us in a bit of a tizzy. Our other DM, Randy, hasn’t run Dungeons and Dragons in over four months, choosing to instead explore Savage Worlds and some other games.
For the most part, we’ve all stopped buying new DnD books. I bought the Wizards Presents books, but none of the other guys did.
The 4E announcement put us into a funk of sorts.
The question is, then, this:
If 4E doesn’t appeal to the group, will we start back up with 3.5? I don’t know about the others, but I’m liking the way 4E looks. In many ways, as goes the DM so goes the group. Still, there is the strong possibility of a peasant uprising if they don’t like 4E as much as I do.
How about your group? Are you all experiencing the 4E malaise?
We Remember Gary - PodCast
I was planning on kicking off my latest feature on the DM’s Blog today. I was going to start publishing a series of PodCasts on 4E. However, there are two things getting into the way of this:
1. I’m having a heck of a time getting the podcast software set up correctly, and
2. The first portion of the first PodCast, which we recorded last Thursday, would up being dedicated to Gary, rather than 4E.
Still, in some ways, I feel like it is probably fitting that we start things, one last time, with Gary. So, while I still haven’t worked the kinks out of the podcasting portion of the technology here is the inagural DnDReviews.com PodCast: “We Remember Gary” for your downloading pleasure:
For Gary.
Tributes around the web:
The Cimmerian: The Dungeon Master Has Died
Troll Lord Games Forum tributes
EnWorld Forums Memories and Tributes
And the one that made me cry:
If you’d like to send your regards and well wishes to the Gygax family, their friends have set up an email account at InMemoryOfGaryGygax@gmail.com.
See you all tomorrow.
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