How to Avoid Terrible Roleplaying in D&D 5e

Great points. Thanks for another video

I'm only half way through the video but the section on seeking adventure helped me crack a huge block I'd been having in connecting with my character concept!!! I've finally figured out the change I needed to make to her recent backstory so that she really resonates with me

This video is super informative but is shying away from what the title is actually saying.
I've seen good roleplaying but where that player completely overshadows other players to the point where some characters are left on the backburner just because they are being played by more introverted players

I feel like if youre in a town/village setting, having characters go off and be motivated by their own ends works really well, but when you're on quest, you have to agree a bit more

On the note of seeking adventure, there's also a level of like realism that you want to be able to hit

Like, if you're being hired for a thing in character it makes complete sense that you you know, bargain for your price, if you're being severely undercut it makes sense that your character in game would be like, hey, I'm not going to work for severe undercut

That can even lead to things like the other members in your party arguing against it for the purpose of my like morality or something

My step son (21) has been playing for a few years now, and I had limited prior experience when i was a teen (49 now). He came to us (his Mom, myself, and his 9 year old brother) asking if we would be interested in playing as he learns to DM, and we have been having a blast! His Aunt even plays with us now and our table ranges in age from 9 to 60, each of us having very unique role playing styles. I say all of this to say that your videos have helped so much in the evolution of our game play. I appreciate you guys so much. Thank you.

Just created a actor bard named “Hal Pacino”. Easiest time I’ve ever had roleplaying.

I'm sorry but in this day and age it is absolutely necessary to speak in a bad Scottish accent if you're playing a dwarf fighter. Other than that though, no accent required.😅

So, this comment is a bit late. Im doing my first campaign, and the dm wanted us to start as undead (as chaotic evil characters) in a world that a artifact was used to flip the earth and make half of it always dark half of it always light. After we got brought back with the help of the closest thing to a god walking the earth, she asked what we wanted to do now since she hadn't planned after this. I suggested we try and fix the earth. No one else really said anything, so she assumed they were okay with it. My character, having seen this walking god in action, decided to worship him, fearing his wrath. Little did I know when we got brought back and all of our alignments got returned to normal half, the party was neutral and one was already evil....then 3 of them made a deal with a devil prince in a rp scenario... turning the only good one neutral and one of the neutral ones evil... then the neutral one took the hand of vecna and put it on himself.....turning fully evil...here I am a lawful good monk cleric like 😱. We go to town, and one of the first things one of them does in a bar fight was make a cloud of daggers "human blender." Now, as a LAWFUL GOOD CLERIC TERRIED HER GOD WILL MAKE EVERYONE FEEL HIS WRATH, she sees little choice but to knock the evil sorc out and help the guards. The other party member with the hand was talked into just knocking the people in the tavern out. The dm told me I should play it normally when they first turned evil since group conflict can be fun. But Im worried eventually this is gonna escalate, im not worried about any of us as friends not getting along. But its kinda hard to rp a lawful good character with only 1 neutral and 3 evil characters, im not sure what to do because I feel having a neutral character would make this infinitely easier to play since id avoid situations where id have to fight with 1+ people in the party, any suggestions for this? Side note, one of the characters is a kender who steals from everyone. My dm being a genius gave her a table of useless things shed randomly find on us every time she pickpocked us. That way, she didn't get anything we actually use (like 3 dead flies, a 10-foot pole, a random rock, etc. Kenders dont care what they steal they just love to take things.)

I had a case when my PC refused to go with certain stuff, and eventually decided that it would be easier to just create a new one. Long story short, he took an oath not to get involved to a certain civil war, and eventually we were asked to intervine, and not in a very... Right way? It was given in a different light, but we basically had to assassinate the rebel leader, and one who asked us to do it wasn't even from the country where the war took place. I initially intended to go with "I will only agree to go there and deside for myself after I see what's actually going on", but I would have to constantly come up with reasons why he wouldn't nope out of it, and it would require changes to the character that both wouldn't make sense and I wouldn't like.

"If your character would not be in the party, then okay, they leave the party. Now make a new character that will be a contributing member of the party".

Feel like the title of this could also be “understanding different types of roleplayers and learning to accept them”

This vid really helped me, thanks dudes

I watched this before I ever played, now that I have 10ish sessions under my belt, I'm back to check if I'm a problem

My current character is a fighter who is similar to Cell Saga Vegeta-overly confident and absolutely sure of his power, right up until the moment he gets his ass handed to him

the whole voice change and accent thing was never "the roleplaying" for me it was just a totem for my character. because i associate my character with that voice when i use the voice i behave more similar to how my character would. in the same way reading over my characters personality traits, ideal, bonds, and flaws reminds me of my character and makes roleplaying him easier, a voice change or accent i heavily associate with that character makes roleplaying as them easier.

the problem is when i'm the DM and the campaign has like 30 important characters.

Idk if the following is a DM fault or a player fault but we have a rather big group of 6 players and one of the characters isnt alligned with the rest at all. Causing him to separate from the group and do his own thing. The party got into a big battle one day so we spend a lot of time on that part while the loner player was just sitting in the library forging a document. I actually felt sorry because the player didnt get any interactions that day. But the player even now continues to make solo decisions and refusing to work well with the paladin. The paladin even had to act out of character in hope fix a little of this inter-party conflict.

I dont mind inter-party conflict at all, its fun and causes some new dynamics but it imo it needs to be done tactfully enough so that everyone can atleast contribute to the main goal. Players separating from the group and ending up doing nothing because they themselves havent even thought about what to do if the party that went together takes more time than they thought.

My moon druid occasionally wild shapes mid conversation if he gets flustered. He has 8CHR, so he's very easily flustered lol

I don’t have the best wording for this, but I might explain the “shared experience” to less empathetic players by emphasizing that Roleplaying is a dialogue between two people. You don’t Roleplay at the game. The backstory you write before the game or the characterization that’s only inside your head don’t count until someone else engages with it willingly. That’s why monopolizing the DM, being a loner, and ignoring/forgetting the plot are seen in a bad light.

I just started my first ever campaign. Super excited. Was told to watch the second campaign of Critical Role. Loving it. However, if anyone in my group tries to spend half a session giving a goblin and bath while the wizard looks for a smutt store I think I'd get super frustrated, I have to skip ahead a lot on that show cause they kinda do go too much at times.

Say "maneurism" one more time tho 😅

With my current campaign, everyone (including the DM) at the table does theatre (except me), which initally gave me a lot anxiety because I felt like I needed to act and role play like them (with voices and really more theatrics than I'm comfortable with) - my character is more of the moral center of the party (Redemption Paladin who's a reformed criminal and new follower of her deity) and gives off a lot of mom energy - she's basically herding a bunch of wild, hyperactive children. When the party goes kind of off the rails, my paladin will sneak a swig from a flask hidden in her armor, with a sigh and headshake and it's sort of a running joke during sessions.

Hey hold on charisma is my dump stat

the bit about voice acting is good, people often forget that the people in dimension 20 or critical role are entertainers first, players second, but in a typical DnD campaign it's quite the opposite, you're players first, entertainer then comes some place after

objects are def good for getting into character, that's why I have a set of dice for each character! No other reason haha I don't have a problem.

Fantastic video!

I find that a lot of people confuse "accents" with "voices." As you noted, changing the pitch or speed at which you talk makes a huge difference -- and prevents the stupidity of all dwarves being scottish. You can also change the rhythm or melody of your voice. In fact, when learning a foreign language, learning the "music" of the language is an exceptionally strong tool. Making one up is just as viable. The same goes for picking up expressions or rhythms in an British accent, for example.

That said, I find both accents and voices quite difficult to maintain. While I could just give up on it, I'd rather learn how to get into character (will be googling it right after this). Yet even before knowing how to get into character, I can see how important it is to do so. If you know how your character would be feeling, or what they might be thinking about in the back of their minds, it's much easier to decide what they might say or do in response to events around them.

I also like what you said about tropes and cliches. But it's also fun to subvert them -- which is a cliche in itself. As a player, I think it's good to flip some aspects of a cliche, at least part of the way. I've also found, though, that 5e gives you so many more tools than earlier editions, when creating your character. Even just reading the description of a race or subclass can provide inspiration. Then tying that in with their origin, ideals, etc can be incredibly rewarding. Interestingly, I feel the DM may not want to know all the detail of your backstory. Better to give them just a few hooks. In fact, some DMs will ask players to answer a number of questions out of a list. Asking, "what's your favourite drink?" led to me concocting a story of bullying at my monastery that led to a dare to enter a forbidden forest to gather berries for my favourite wine -- which ended up awakening my Shadar-kai heritage!

Now for that Google search... ;)

Starting from a celebrity or preexisting character impression is great advice. I've played a grave cleric who is basically the Medic from TF2.

session 0/some kinda discussion beforehand is really important; im in a campaign where my character is a strong believer in violence as a last resort, and my two companions are morally questionable zealots. Last session i had to keep myself from blowing up at one of them after he punched a story-relevant commoner in the face for saying god isn't real (hes from the curse of strahd so thats a reasonable conclusion to reach lol)

No, you should absolutely try an accent.

Everyone will have a better time.

It's obnoxious when you just use your normal voice or narrate instead of roleplay.

Do a voice, any voice, modify it somehow, everyone will have a better time.

Also, if you're shy, perfect, what better way to practice confidence then while playing a game with no consequences?

You can choose to do things that aren't easy or comfortable, get better at them, have more fun, make lifelong friends,

Or

Never try, never get good at anything, punish other people trying to have fun because their success and confidence make you uncomfortable, demand the world stops and caters to you. See how many people can stand being around you after that, see how much fun you have in an unlived, safe and comfortable life without a single step ever taken. I'm sure you'll look back on your life with fondness later on, right?

I do agree that there needs to be more than money to keep a party together because it doesn’t take long to get enough money to retire and live like kings. Which is especially tempting when you consider that what a pc usually does is risk their lives to get gold to buy items to enable them to risk their lives against more dangerous monsters long after they are set for life. If your character is a magic thrill seeker that explains a lot, but it is usually something more personal.

Roleplaying a loner might be an acceptable trope but it is bad for a team game. If you have no bond with the team it is all the harder to make them fit into the group dynamic. Maybe if you are wild magic sorcerer and you keep your distance because you love them that will work but please make that clear in the roleplay so to do not come off as a brooding loner.
I much prefer a character who’s personality fits the game we are playing. Cooperative and maybe even dependent on others. A great thing you can do as a player is to ask others especially the quieter players what their thoughts are. Prompt their involvement instead of hogging the spotlight. As a character this is a person who is deeply concerned with what the others in the group are thinking. You say your peace and speak your mind but then look to the next pc and say “But what do you think?”

My friend and I had a similar role play to the sibling one. My name is Full Blank and he is Blank Full, but we’re not related. I’m a death cleric and he was a life cleric. We just happened to meet at a tavern and teamed up. At the end of our Out Of The Abyss campaign, his character had a “stroke heart attack aneurysm” and died. Then his characters brother, Half Empty, came into the campaign. He’s an armorer artificer. Now, he and I are close back I knew his family. Also, I wear Blank Full’s ashes on a gem necklace!

To the Seek Adventure part I'd add that, much like with rail-roading DMs, if you have a very specific character and story you want to roleplay that disrupts the progress of the campaign, then maybe you shouldn't play D&D but write a book.

"Manyeurisms."

On the "Not wanting to join the adventure, refusing to be cooperative in general or being openly hostile"... some people just seem to find fun in being a pain in the ass on everyone else. If I was DM and I spot a troublesome individual that is going to sour it for everyone from the get go, I would have them removed from the table, if they can be thrown into an actual dungeon the better. Edgelords trigger me.

Totally dig Jill’s food refs. Please pass that in . So perrrrfect lol

improve works well, i remember watch Whos line is it any way and that's how I run with my character. Right now I have a brooding Blood hunter who just wants to kill monsters and get paid to do it but all the wile haunted by the one Lycian that killed is elvish girlfriend

"Don't make fun of other players" with a tone that says 'I didn't think I needed to bring this one up but here we are'

If you can't be bothered to learn a voice so we can distinguish between you and your character... then you are a lazy player and probably don't deserve a DM who had to learn 10+ voices. Sorry but true.

Your character is not made of stone... Unless they're an earth genasi or a goliath.

DM: Who are you?
Me: In a deep gruff growling voice I am Monk-man!

I had a character who I gave a specific way of speaking to. She always spoke in short and simple sentences, preferring to use complicated words over longer and more descriptive sentences. It was sort of like a hermit unused to speaking, but didn't shy away from social interaction. Every time I started playing her, I fell into the role just by that. It made her come off as calm or careful depending on the situation, and from what I was told it worked out very well for others.

Last night, my party was looking at a list of official missions offered by the local branch of our adventurers academy. There were various missions ranked copper, silver, gold, and platinum, by difficulty. We were still level one, but among the gold missions was a group of children who had been kidnapped by vampires. Aaaaaand although I knew a level one party maybe shouldn’t take a mission rated at the second highest difficulty involving vampires, my (somewhat low intelligence) cleric couldn’t bear the thought of children in danger, and so he enthusiastically took the bait mission and convinced the rest of the party to do so as well. And we saved the kids and killed, like, four vampires, and skipped over level 2 entirely in one mission!

My point is, Garry knew damn well picking that mission was very risky (and our rogue was very nearly killed in the first attack of the first encounter) but Farin, son of Hannar, couldn’t very well risk the lives of children in a possibly time dependent situation.

Nice

I'm a new player and I thought I was being weird basing my character off of a tv show character I like, good to know its normal lol. I just figured it would be easier to know how to react if I was already very familiar with who I was playing.

I respect the other person's/player's methods, but I personally am strongly opposed/repelled by Third-Person Perspective type of play.
Additionally, with the DM thing and the players' refuse their initial plot hook that can be the fault of the DM not providing a good one.

I recently gave the advice of "Strive to be a part of the team, instead of apart from it." to one of my new players. Great video.

I want to play a tiefling warlock that speaks like Bob ross.