How to get into character

[Vaar'Raash]

So I've recently got together with a new group of players, and their role-play is on point! However I've been having a really hard time matching up with them. I designed a cocky Bard who is secretly a thief and smuggler, which is very charming and also lazy. And while that's all.good and we'll, my typed out actions feel so very bland, quite unlike a goofy Bard. Does anyone have any tips for better role-playing?

[Erulasto]

So I've recently got together with a new group of players, and their role-play is on point! However I've been having a really hard time matching up with them. I designed a cocky Bard who is secretly a thief and smuggler, which is very charming and also lazy. And while that's all.good and we'll, my typed out actions feel so very bland, quite unlike a goofy Bard. Does anyone have any tips for better role-playing?

For starters, I'd suggest making a real quick list of adjectives that describe the character. You've got a couple already....Charming, Lazy, etc.

I assume, since you mentioned your actions are typed out, that this is a some sort of text-based game like here on the forum? If so, use some of those adjectives in your posts.

Example: <insert name here> grins lazily as he kicks back in his chair, polished boots crossing somewhat arrogantly on the tabletop as if he owned the place.

One thing I think bears mentioning...a bard who is secretly a thief and smuggler is probably not all that goofy...and smugglers - in my experience - generally don't want to draw attention to themselves. Han Solo being, perhaps, an exception.

So if this is a charming, lazy smuggler...there's a few things you can do to help get into character, in my humble opinion.

1. Don't do anything strenuous unless you absolutely have to. Ever. You're in town and need some supplies? Pay a couple street kids or someone a few silver to go and collect everything you're looking at buying. Need help hauling loot around? Hire some laborers to do the heavy lifting for you.

2. Pick flowers, buy nice perfumes and colognes in big cities and offer said flowers to pretty folks with some semi-smarmy comment about how their eyes are more beautiful that the Goddess of Loves, or their smile brighter than that of the Sun God. Also...send perfumed love notes to people.

3. ALWAYS be on the look-out for get-rich-quick schemes. If there's a town you frequent the most, start paying the street kids to keep their eyes and ears open for you about news and gossip. Especially as a thief and smuggler, it pays to know whats going on. Especially things like if there are wealthy visitors in town, or something similar.

4. Complain when adventuring about how crawling through the swampy lair of X is going to absolutely RUIN your new trousers (boots, doublet, cod piece, etc).

5. Spend time buying rounds of drinks for the whole tavern when you stop in town. For the same reason as #3. People will be a lot less likely to point fingers at you when something goes missing if you're chummy with half the hard-working peasants who frequent the inn. Especially if you've been funding their drinking habits for a bit.

That's all off the top of my head.

Hope it helps.

[Jay R]

I strongly recommend a repeated catch-phrase. My ranger often says, "I will never understand you city-folk," -- especially when the strange thing that just happened had nothing to do with them being city-folk.

My gnome make regular reference to the "daft biggers" around him. He also calls humanoids "gnomoids", and recently referred to a goblin skeleton as "normal-sized" and an elven one as "larger than normal sized".

It doesn't sound like much, but when combined with a focus on his own goals, it helps set the character apart. And you can use it even when there is no particular character-drive action available.

[TerryHerc]

I would consider cocky and lazy to be challenging values to get along with in a roleplaying environment. If you character has these values that are opposed to the other characters, I would suggest trying to find some common ground. What could you share with the other characters, so your character can be more relatable? Its good to be unique and different, and you should also be mindful about how you will get along and cooperate.

What are your characters other values? How do they support positive interactions with the other characters, and drive the narrative forward? Why would other characters want to interact with your character? What holds them all together as a group?

[Vaar'Raash]

So, I love the idea about using descriptors in my posts, thats actually brilliant! pretty much everything you said there was awesome! Someone asked why we stay as a group, and what qualities we share, for one, were all chaotic/something, and one lawful evil, which is fine since none of us are good. We've already committed high sacrilege and are on our way to being fugitives!

It also doesnt help that im mostly playing on mobile during my down time at work, so my sentences arent quite as long, and I have an uncanny way of getting my messages across quickly. My roleplay isnt BAD in any way shape or form, in fact I would say I'm above average when it comes to getting into character, but these guys are SO descriptive that if feels like im reading a fantasy novel!

I feel what I need to do is give my character some ground to stand on. By that i mean design some more of his backstory into the universe, who my criminal contact is, how I became a thief yada yada yada.

[Malphegor]

If it helps, I find getting into anti-character on the way to D&D games helps me get into character during the session.

Anti-character- the opposite of your character.

So whilst I play a moody tiefling wizard in the session, on the way over while driving, I'm cracking jokes in a high pitched voice because "I'M THE GLITTER GNOME, BARBARIAN PRO WRESTLER! LOVER, thrower of glitter in people's eyes, AND ALL AROUND FUN GUY"

For some reason my Glitter Gnome character, helps me focus on what I'll never do in front of other people, because it's the antithesis of the kinds of characters I like to play. Think 'David Bowie's Laughing Gnome' in voice.

[Rhyvurg]

I use music. For every character I make, they have a theme song I listened to while writing them up, it reminds me of the mindset I was in at the time.

[xkcd44]

If it helps, I find getting into anti-character on the way to D&D games helps me get into character during the session.

So whilst I play a moody tiefling wizard in the session, on the way over while driving, I'm cracking jokes in a high pitched voice ... my Glitter Gnome character, helps me focus on what I'll never do in front of other people, because it's the antithesis of the kinds of characters I like to play. Think 'David Bowie's Laughing Gnome' in voice.

This is.... actually pretty cool. On paper the mechanism's super basic; you exhibit contrary personality traits that contrast with your characters', making them stand out just a bit more to the other players. It sounds simple enough, although I guess it's kinda proportionate to the time you spend kicking about before the game (or RP) starts.

But I have this nagging feeling that, in real life... it'd somehow be even cooler. It's one of those things that I suspect nobody would even catch on to, just a subtle emphasis to your roleplaying that can't quite be pinned down. Kudos to you, as a RP tactic this is really original, never heard anything quite like it.

[Pauly]

It helps if you base your role playing on a real person or persons you know.
Think about how they do things and what they say.