[Any] Playing between dicerolls

[AvatarZero]

How do you DM/play between combats? How do you relate to your fellow players (DM included)?

I was hoping to get a few stories about how other people play RPGs when the rules aren't a factor. I realize looking back on the games I've played that most of the game is spent talking between players and the DM, planning, getting descriptions of rooms, etc. Different groups have different ways of switching the focus from player to player, from rota-style systems to loudest nerd wins. I've known very informal DMs, as well as those that demand reverent silence whenever they talk.

What makes your gaming group/style cool or unique? What do your games look like when the books are closed and the dice aren't moving?

[Canadian]

We mostly tell jokes and laugh a lot.

[Satyr]

Players act their characters. Breaking of character is heavily shunned upon and somewhat penalised. Incursions of the rules are dealt with a quickly and subtle as possible and are activities of the background which should not take place in front of (or even instead ... shudder) the impersonation of the character.
The Gamemaster colors the (physical, mental and social) environment, builds suspense and a storyy arc and tries his best to let characters and players sank to their knees in awe, make them cry, make them proud and overall makes the session as unfforgettable as possible. It is better to have a total party kill with everybody feeling deeply sad and heroic than triumphing about a dull enemy without any dramatic.

[Grail]

Dialog.
Story arcs and tension.

The spellcasters generally sit there flicking through various tomes.

Oh, and lots of yummy treats for the awesome DM.

[ericgrau]

Players act their characters. Breaking of character is heavily shunned upon and somewhat penalised. Incursions of the rules are dealt with a quickly and subtle as possible and are activities of the background which should not take place in front of (or even instead ... shudder) the impersonation of the character.
The Gamemaster colors the (physical, mental and social) environment, builds suspense and a storyy arc and tries his best to let characters and players sank to their knees in awe, make them cry, make them proud and overall makes the session as unfforgettable as possible. It is better to have a total party kill with everybody feeling deeply sad and heroic than triumphing about a dull enemy without any dramatic.

Where does your group game and is there an opening?

[Raum]

In many ways the time between die rolls is the game. All the die roll does is tell us how something turned out - was it successful, how much did it hurt, etc. But the game is in the choices you make not in the numbers you roll. The choice of whether or not to jump, whether or not to attack and how to do so, which path to take, what to say or ask, even who to talk to...that's the game.

[Maerok]

Traveling (sailing, lost a lot of boats), plotting, finding out you had a wife you forgot about (dwarves...), suffering the results of a Wand of Wonder (I am now a permanently pink dread necro human), and watching the cleric suffer from soul-based Multilpe Personality Disorder (has the ability to form items out of spines; kind of a roving MBEG when she goes haywire). And diplomacy with dragons, zombies, and pirate governments who cavort with demons.

Also, my DN is planning on killing the newly resurrected Tiamat as a side mission (was killed by my DM's older party from a while ago).

[Satyr]

Where does your group game and is there an opening?

Opening are managable, but we are playing on the eastern side of the Atlantic, more specifically between Hamburg and Münster, Germany.

[Kaiyanwang]

Even if my campaign is sometimes combat-heavy (PCs are well optimized, even if always well in-charachter -you can do it ) we can spent several sessions without drawing a sword.

Few examples(all role played not narrated):

- Trading
- Crafting
- Travelling
- Exploring
- Dance with Elves
- Have a Beer with Dwarves (Last Man Drunk challenge)
- Talk hours with the local Druids/Rangers knowing what happens in the wilderness
- Political Plots
- Getting involved in Ousiders concerns (this lead to combat anyway)
- Try to be seduced by a Fey (Driads and Yuki-no-Onna preferred Wild Hunt generally)
- Have a dinner with an Halfling trader knowing gossip about Giants King Daughter
- Built a fortress
- Try to teach Haiku poetry to Orcs
- Be invited to a party by a nobleman and find something to wear.

[horseboy]

Players act their characters. Breaking of character is heavily shunned upon and somewhat penalised. Incursions of the rules are dealt with a quickly and subtle as possible and are activities of the background which should not take place in front of (or even instead ... shudder) the impersonation of the character.
The Gamemaster colors the (physical, mental and social) environment, builds suspense and a storyy arc and tries his best to let characters and players sank to their knees in awe, make them cry, make them proud and overall makes the session as unfforgettable as possible. It is better to have a total party kill with everybody feeling deeply sad and heroic than triumphing about a dull enemy without any dramatic.

I try to hold myself to his level, but I'm too easily distracted myself. It's bad when the GM is the one disrupting the game.

[Oracle_Hunter]

Where does your group game and is there an opening?

See, this kind of game isn't that rare - it all depends on your system.

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Some games (3E+ D&D for example) can get very tightly bound to the rules; most everything you do is managed by them somehow. This makes a focus on the rules-of-the-game natural, which can inhibit free-wheeling RP somewhat. Plus, if you do a lot of "dungeon crawl" type games (AKA "Beer & Pretzel gaming") then folks are playing to go romp in dungeons, not to do improv.

Meanwhile, other games are nothing but Improv. These can go from complete freeform to "storyteller" systems (ex: World of Darkness) where RP is wired into the ruleset. Here the story is more important than "winning" so there's a lot more opportunity for "what the heck" gaming rather than "what's the rule" gaming.

If you'd like more RP in your games, try a new system. World of Darkness (WoD) is probably the most easily commercial system for this, but you may want to try your hand at some "Indie Games" such as Mountain Witch or Bliss Stage. Both of these games are very RP focused, but they also provide great guidelines for getting into the spirit of the games - this makes it easier for "Beer and Pretzel" types to transition, in my experience.

But me? Jokes around the table are the most common, though side conversations (about other games, or current events) happen too. Most of the games I play (including D&D) usually have some sort of RP component in them, and I have been known to engage in spirited discussions with innkeepers over what to have for lunch

[Satyr]

I try to hold myself to his level, but I'm too easily distracted myself. It's bad when the GM is the one disrupting the game.

I think it is more of an ideal than a status quo fo almost everybody. I'm not perfect either, and when things do not go well or some real life issues are at hand, this ideal is not easily achieved. The important thing is trying, I guess.

See, this kind of game isn't that rare - it all depends on your system.

Nah, the system is much less important than the imvolved people. "Serious Business" roleplaying like this works with every system when the involved people are inclined to; it is certainly easier with an unobstrusive set of rules, but not in a completely decisive way; a group of people who just want to hack and slay will do so as well with a more narration-focused system - especially the World of Darkness, where it is extremely easy to create pure buttkicker characters.

[Oracle_Hunter]

Nah, the system is much less important than the imvolved people. "Serious Business" roleplaying like this works with every system when the involved people are inclined to; it is certainly easier with an unobstrusive set of rules, but not in a completely decisive way; a group of people who just want to hack and slay will do so as well with a more narration-focused system - especially the World of Darkness, where it is extremely easy to create pure buttkicker characters.

People are very important, but you can make a system where RP is more important than others.

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For example, WoD has Natures and Demeanors. These are character traits which, when followed in a very specific way, can restore your Willpower (a general re-roll pool). Since fulfilling these requirements usually requires RP action rather than dice rolling, even the biggest munchkin is going to pay attention to his character's personality.

A better example is Bliss Stage. Literally between dice rolling are sequences known as Interludes in which you can "repair" and "upgrade" your health & weaponry via RP. It so happens that your health & weaponry are built upon the levels of trust and intimacy in your relationships with other PCs and NPCs (also run by PCs). These are resolved by having a short RP interaction (very much like an Improv game) between two players, and then having a third player judge what kind of interaction resulted - trust building, intimacy building, de-stressing, or personal therapy.

In D&D, few mechanics rely upon RP (alignment, not that many take that seriously anymore ) so there is little mechanical incentive to pay attention to RP. In such an atmosphere either people who like to RP do so, or the DM imposes new mechanics to encourage/enforce RP (ex: RP Experience).

Now, this is not to say that any system discourages RP - that is completely up to the players - but some systems can encourage it more than others.

[valadil]

Asking what happens between dice rolls is kinda like asking what happens on a TV show or in a book. People talk, take in knowledge, then talk to other people. Dice come into play when there is a conflict between two or more entities. In dungeon-centric games, there's a lot of conflict. Maybe it's conflict against the monsters that have taken up residence. Maybe it's a conflict between the rogue and a locked trasure chest. Dungeon crawls are focused on getting through these conflicts and challenges.

Other games are more story based. And by other games, I don't mean other game systems. Just other instances of RPG playing. The game I've been running since November hasn't seen a dungeon yet. And there aren't likely to be any dungeons over the course of the game. The game is set in George R.R. Martin's Westeros. One of the players is the second son of a minor lord. That lord and his first son have gone off to war, leaving that player in charge of running the castle and keeping the homeland safe. The other PCs are his friends and/or servants.

Most of what goes on in this game is players talking. Usually an NPC brings them information. Usually the information is about a new threat to the castle. The players try and resolve it. Two weeks ago the harbormaster told them that the Greyjoys (think Vikings in longships) have been raiding closer and closer to the homestead and that the players should recall their fleet to deal with this. Instead the players sent out letters asking for aid. This was a wise choice as the harbormaster is an enemy spy who is trying to keep the PC's fleet away from the real battle, but they don't know that yet (although one of them knows there is a spy in the castle). This week the players will be getting a letter back saying that if they change sides in the war they can have protection from the Greyjoys. I don't think they'll switch sides, but it's possible.

At any rate, going through the letter and theorizing about what's going on will be most of what the players do this week. There are other plots going on too, some of which involve the whole group, others are just for one character. And there's also the flow of information to consider. Most letters arrive by raven, and one player is in charge of managing those ravens. He gets to edit the messages as he sees fit before bringing them to the guy in charge. Two of the players have secrets that they don't want the others finding out about. I can drop hints about those secrets and see if anyone else catches on or see how the players deflect those hints. It's a much more social game than the standard hack and slash affair.

[LibraryOgre]

We tend to have a lot of chatter, semi-IC, discussing things that are going on and plans we're making. Every so often, someone will say something COMPLETELY OoC, usually throwing up moose ears* when they do so. If things get too far OoC, someone (usually me or, if I'm the one pontificating, Hzurr) will remind us that there's a game on. We roll dice for a lot of social interaction tests, and the occasional strike roll (when we gently interrogate people by bashing their faces into the table... ours is not a gentle group).

In my Palladium game (currently, we're playing Ninjas and Superspies as neither Ninjas nor Superspies), there's simply a lot of discussion. Last game, while the GM ran some hacking with one character, the rest of us sat around maps, trying to figure out geography in Calfornia and Oregon, how to get to Klamath Falls, and where the UFO sighting was.

*Moose Ears: Putting a thumb against your forehead, with the fingers splayed out beside your head. It signifies that you're speaking OoC, and also, neatly, draws attention to yourself so you can badger the DM with silly questions.

[Tengu_temp]

People are very important, but you can make a system where RP is more important than others.

Spoiler

Show

For example, WoD has Natures and Demeanors. These are character traits which, when followed in a very specific way, can restore your Willpower (a general re-roll pool). Since fulfilling these requirements usually requires RP action rather than dice rolling, even the biggest munchkin is going to pay attention to his character's personality.

A better example is Bliss Stage. Literally between dice rolling are sequences known as Interludes in which you can "repair" and "upgrade" your health & weaponry via RP. It so happens that your health & weaponry are built upon the levels of trust and intimacy in your relationships with other PCs and NPCs (also run by PCs). These are resolved by having a short RP interaction (very much like an Improv game) between two players, and then having a third player judge what kind of interaction resulted - trust building, intimacy building, de-stressing, or personal therapy.

In D&D, few mechanics rely upon RP (alignment, not that many take that seriously anymore ) so there is little mechanical incentive to pay attention to RP. In such an atmosphere either people who like to RP do so, or the DM imposes new mechanics to encourage/enforce RP (ex: RP Experience).

Now, this is not to say that any system discourages RP - that is completely up to the players - but some systems can encourage it more than others.

On the other hand, someone who has no interest in roleplaying will not suddenly start doing so when playing an RP-encouraging system. Usually. And you can still have a completely non-roleplaying, hack'n'slash Kick The Door campaign in such a game. Just like you can have deep roleplaying in a game without any RP support at all (like you said).

For me, the systems that encourage roleplaying most are those that give you immediate bonuses for roleplaying - Exalted would be a prime case, where you get extra dice and recover essence for performing your actions in a cool way.

I personally would never play in a game that consists only of HNS and no roleplaying - RPGs are all about creating a kickass, interesting story for me. Although I'd have little interest in a game where absolutely no dice are rolled and there's no combat, as well.

[Oracle_Hunter]

On the other hand, someone who has no interest in roleplaying will not suddenly start doing so when playing an RP-encouraging system. Usually. And you can still have a completely non-roleplaying, hack'n'slash Kick The Door campaign in such a game. Just like you can have deep roleplaying in a game without any RP support at all (like you said).

Yeah, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink

But, I have to say, playing a game which links RP to mechanics can produce a lot more RP out of people you always thought were just hack 'n slashers. Honestly, I'm thinking about using Mountain Witch as a training system to encourage more RP out of my player base in my other games.

Once you go RP, you never go back

[Hzurr]

We roll dice for a lot of social interaction tests, and the occasional strike roll (when we gently interrogate people by bashing their faces into the table... ours is not a gentle group).

It's actually impressive the amount of social situations that y'all solve through violence (or threats of violence). I mean, I realize that this is d&d, where all problems are solved through violence, but still...

*Moose Ears: Putting a thumb against your forehead, with the fingers splayed out beside your head. It signifies that you're speaking OoC, and also, neatly, draws attention to yourself so you can badger the DM with silly questions.

Moose ears are a wonderful invention that should be adapted by groups everywhere. In theory, everything not said with moose ears is IC, but for some reason I usually let it slide (typically so whoever they're talking to doesn't try to have all the PCs locked in an insane asylum)

[Satyr]

Now, this is not to say that any system discourages RP - that is completely up to the players - but some systems can encourage it more than others.

I am actually not so sure that a strong support for roleplaying is always a good idea, from the actor roleplayer perspective, as it sometimes shoehorns the characters into certain roles and more dimensional characters disappear in favor of playing a certain archetype; the natures & demeanors of the storyteller system for example included such a problem. For those who 'know' how to play their characters, such an assistance is rarely necessary, but for those players who would profit from a helping hand it can be very tempting to reduce the act to the personification of a two-dimensionaal stereotype.
A few years ago, I regularly mastered World of Darkness games on cons, and I faced more thinly veiled battle monster characters than I want to remember.

And the basic roleplaying pays out mechanism - you get bonus points for all activities you can describe in a new and awesome way - works with almost every system.

Bliss Stage sounds very interesting, though. From the background, it doesn't sound too attractive to me, but the mechanisms you described are sounding very interesting and would so require the right people to play with; I have normally no problem to play romantic scenes with people I know and feel comfortable with, but with people I hardly know (or just cannot really relate to) this would be an awkward intimacy.

[Samakain]

We take nothing seriously,

When the DM talks, we do listen,
When the DM rules, we do obey

but for everything else? open season! mysterious elf lady asks us to find a rare plant to cure a disease, we ask if its syphilis, or worse, a tumor. we meet a magical fey i'll put ten bucks on the table that one of my party wants to eat it, another wants to mate with it and the third one wants to fashion its wings into some type of hat and the fourth one actually wants dialogue, but only to see if it knows where something valuable is.

You present a BBEG to my group, you will never instill fear, maybe some healthy respect for his abilities, but they never show it. Once had a lich BBEG, level 15 wiz, 15 cleric and i believe for the majority of the campagin the party refered to him as "Spanky McSpankSpank, the Wonder Bitch" ><

all jokes and fun aside, my players are quite capable when they stop screwing around and start asking questions, our 'roleplaying' mainly revolves around trying to pry more and more information out of NPC's (either the easy, hard, or moderately firm way) and physical clues such as tombs or artifacts before finding what we need, which may very well lead to another set of information gathering

We may not proclaim loudly that we are Chair, the fourth lord of Table from the magical realm of Kitchen, but for the most part the party takes those options most likely for the character there playing to take, but thats as about as my actual "role" playing as we do, where more "roll" players, and frankly i wouldn't have it any other way.

[Oracle_Hunter]

Bliss Stage sounds very interesting, though. From the background, it doesn't sound too attractive to me, but the mechanisms you described are sounding very interesting and would so require the right people to play with; I have normally no problem to play romantic scenes with people I know and feel comfortable with, but with people I hardly know (or just cannot really relate to) this would be an awkward intimacy.

It does require mature players (or at least ones who can really separate player from character) but it's a great system. Yeah, the setting seems to rub a bunch of people the wrong way, but the system is just made for the "angsty robo" genre.

I will agree with you about WoD - I don't like them either. However, they can be very helpful for novice roleplayers and can help provide some structure (and variety!) for skilled ones. "Points for RP" is a fine system too, but for me it always seems to smack too much of "amuse the DM."

I used to give out RP XP, for example, but over time I realized that one or two players were getting all of it and everyone else got very little; if I were the player in that situation, I know I would be getting irritated. So I started trying to spread the XP around, but then I realized that my awards were even more arbitrary since some people just weren't really doing anything. So I stopped. Maybe it just wasn't for me.

[LibraryOgre]

It's actually impressive the amount of social situations that y'all solve through violence (or threats of violence). I mean, I realize that this is d&d, where all problems are solved through violence, but still...

Hey, judicious application of violence solves a lot of problems.

Relevant quotations:

4. Close air support covereth a multitude of sins.
6. If violence wasn’t your last resort, you failed to resort to enough of it.
8. Mockery and derision have their place. Usually, it's on the far side of the airlock.
12. A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head.
13. Do unto others.
27. Don't be afraid to be the first to resort to violence.
30. A little trust goes a long way. The less you use, the further you'll go.
37. There is no 'overkill.' There is only 'open fire' and 'time to reload.'

[Satyr]

It does require mature players (or at least ones who can really separate player from character) but it's a great system. Yeah, the setting seems to rub a bunch of people the wrong way, but the system is just made for the "angsty robo" genre.

There is an angsty robot genre? Somtimes I feel as if I have missed something signigifcant. For me, "giant robots" is mostly connected to Battletech and stuff like clan invasion, successor wars, Xin Sheng and Solaris VII...

I used to give out RP XP, for example, but over time I realized that one or two players were getting all of it and everyone else got very little; if I were the player in that situation, I know I would be getting irritated. So I started trying to spread the XP around, but then I realized that my awards were even more arbitrary since some people just weren't really doing anything. So I stopped. Maybe it just wasn't for me.

I know the problem and there is no perfect solution for this. I have tried several several approaches and faces the almost exact problems you described, which wasn't working well for me either. Now, I am going over to give XP not specifically for roleplaying, but fot the deication to the game and have democraticised this process- every player has a small amount of XP they can grant other players for cool stuff and innovative ideas, besides, people get experience points for all kinds of stuff like co-GMing in certain scenes, baking cakes for the game, etc.
I am quite happy with this apprioach because I think it is unfairer to treat those ones who really put a lot of effort in the game the same as those who just don't. And since these bonus XP are not limited to one aspect of the game but cover a very broad form of contributions to the game, tit is not as disadvantagous for the more introvert players.

[Tengu_temp]

There is an angsty robot genre? Somtimes I feel as if I have missed something signigifcant. For me, "giant robots" is mostly connected to Battletech and stuff like clan invasion, successor wars, Xin Sheng and Solaris VII...

Three words: Neon Genesis Evangelion.

[Oracle_Hunter]

Three words: Neon Genesis Evangelion.

QFT

Man, I didn't realize that Angsty Robo was an obscure term! Yeah, most things Gundam fall into this category, as does RahXephon (AKA The Lighter Side of NGE).

Bliss Stage can, in fact, be fairly described as "Neon Genesis Evangelion: The RPG." It's one reason I love it so

[woodenbandman]

If we're not cracking wise and insulting each other in jest we're arguing vehemently or battling fisticuffs.

I have a high energy group.

[Bosaxon]

Between dicerolls, we persue individual agendas for our characters (ie my Dread Necromancer would be creating undead for his future necropolis, the rogues would be stealing, the dwarf drinking)

With dicerolls, we act toward party goals, such as the Dread Necromancer distracting the town guard by assulting the local station to get back seized property.

[metagaia]

It really does depend on the nature of the game. In puzzle dungeons (my favourite in RL) I prefer just to sit there with a smile on my face while the PCs discuss the puzzle. Speaking only to get the conversation back on topic if it drifts, answer questions if asked, or give hints if the players starts beginning to look a little fustrated.