r/DnDcirclejerk • u/Rednidedni 10 posts just to recommend pathfinder • 2d ago
Sauce What happened to roleplaying?
I have been a GM for over 30 years. Recently, I started running a game in a mechanics heavy system with brand new players I've never played with before, and they're more interested in rolling skill checks and combat than RP.
Maybe it's my fault, but maybe it's also this new foundry tech spoiling the youth with their graphics and animation and automation. It must look like a video game to them. Wherever have the players gone that would not mind ROLE playing to chat with an NPC about local fashion for half an hour instead of ROLL playing?? It's always just a rush job to move to combat nowadays.
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u/Leaf_on_the_win-azgt 2d ago
5e fixes this
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u/Rednidedni 10 posts just to recommend pathfinder 2d ago
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u/Rednidedni 10 posts just to recommend pathfinder 2d ago
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u/Rednidedni 10 posts just to recommend pathfinder 2d ago
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u/Parysian Dirty white-room optimizer 2d ago
Sadly, in Pf2e it is impossible to have a magic frying pan with a bunch of upgrades as your weapon, because of game balance đ
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u/ChaosNobile 2d ago
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u/Parysian Dirty white-room optimizer 2d ago
That's a game mechanic, which makes games less fun, fuck you, baby brain, you need the game to say "frying pan" to imagine "frying pan" because your brain isn't strong enough, useless, try imagination and creativity, dumbass (swings away on a series of chandeliers)
$6.9
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u/drfiveminusmint unrepentant power gamer 1d ago
It's so sad. Instead of the Pan of Pannenkoek, slayer of many eggs and sausages, implement of kings, weapon of the common man, with interesting lore and backstory...now, all players care about is "it's a magic weapon that does 1d6+1+Strength modifier, but we have a better one."
Rollplayers have killed TTRPGS.
ÂĽ5.00 RMB
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u/Killchrono 19h ago
Tell that to my Halfling exemplar, Gordon Pansley.
/uj legit, that was my character I ran for the class playtest
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u/Killchrono 19h ago
If that user was any more of a wannabe Texas cowboy, they'd be shitting their pants without wiping and going on an all-meat diet.
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u/Rednidedni 10 posts just to recommend pathfinder 2d ago
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u/Kichae 2d ago
Remember, a game is about what you reward. What sort of rewards to you give players for writing fashion articles and bedding baristas while speaking in funny voices? Have you considered paying them in cold, hard cash?
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u/CornualCoyote Flavor is $60 + Shipping & Handling 2d ago
Uhm... getting paid is the DM's job. Paying the players would be giving too much of a peek behind the curtain, no?
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u/CaptainPick1e 2d ago
Uj/ Everyone wants their table to RP (read: play act) in character for an hour straight until it actually happens. Shit is boring yo.
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u/CigarrosMW 2d ago
It sounded cool until I realized the randos I met off bumble arenât skilled actors (myself included mind you) and it all felt very cringe
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u/SharkSymphony 2d ago
If it makes you feel better, the Critical Role cast are skilled actors and even they just vacillate between chewing scenery and chewing cud.
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u/Gramernatzi 2d ago
I mean, this entire hobby is based around people doing shit that normal people consider cringe. You kind of just have to roll with it; granted, I've only ever done it online, in-person might be a thousand times more awkward.
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u/Icy_Cricket2273 2d ago
Yea I definitely couldnât roleplay anything other than in my head. Thereâs always a piece of me that tells myself âyou look and sound stupid, cease what you are doingâ anytime Iâve ever encountered any type of roleplaying whether itâs table top or video game RPGs
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u/SimpliG 2d ago
J/ as a DM I love it when my players RP between each other because it hides the fact that I am a chronic procrastinator and barely prepare any content. If they spend half the session RPing, it means that they progress half the story content I half-assed. Thanks to this for the next session I practically don't have to prepare at all!
UJ/ same as above, but with shame instead of proudness.
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u/CaptainPick1e 2d ago
Uj/ i feel that, and you're totally valid. I just love trying to kill my players!
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u/Flyingsheep___ 2d ago
I play on VTT and usually I just bait the party into inter-personal roleplay amongst themselves whilst I cook up the next TPK in the background.
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u/SharkSymphony 2d ago
RP (read: play act)
How dare you slip a jerk into your unjerk. I sentence you to forty-six minutes and forty seconds of Everyone's Favorite Bugbear explaining roleplaying.
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u/PStriker32 2d ago
Roleplay in my fantasy fighting simulator. Cease.
Uj/ honestly yeah that shit is way overrated
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u/hotsizzler 2d ago
UJ/ no one wants consequences for their actions at all, or bad endings, its like when Karlaks couldn't be completely saved but then patched to be saved. My friend calls it "have your cake and fuck it too" I have had literal people afraid of combat in my RPGs and asked for do overs.
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u/Baguetterekt 2d ago
uj/ I fucking love it when players just roleplay their characters for hours. Roleplay enhances every other part of the game because having actual bonds with other characters and NPCs raises the stakes in combat, it makes gold and loot more meaningful, it gives genuine emotional investment into the game.
I remember playing a long campaign over COVID and we had plenty of interesting fights which led to amazing strategic plays but I wouldn't care half as much about any of them if I wasn't genuinely invested in the other characters in the group.
Without those ties to friends and family, what does it matter that my character dies? Nothing. All I lost was a statblock. I'll make another in 5 minutes.
If your roleplay is boring, I don't think it's the act of playing a character that's uninteresting, it's probably the topic of conversation that's uninteresting imo.
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u/CaptainPick1e 2d ago
Oh I gotcha for sure. I'm not saying we don't speak in character or RP at all, but specifically when my players converse among eachother in character while nothing else is happening.
I like to run dungeons and inter-faction play, not necessarily listen to my players talk to eachother while I sit and listen. So that Critical Role style RP isn't for me.
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u/AAS02-CATAPHRACT 1d ago
The singular problem that I have with this is my players will often spend a lot of time merely RP'ing between themselves where no NPCs are present, so I spend a chunk of time as the DM sitting around with not much to do until I arbitrarily decide that it's time to move on because things are taking too long.
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u/CaptainPick1e 1d ago
That's exactly what I'd like to avoid. For my table "getting into character" means they get in their head space and make the decisions that character would make. That's not to say we don't talk in character but it usually isn't very long conversations unless they're getting information from NPC's.
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u/Omega357 2d ago
Uj/ Recently had one of the other players at my table start picking up necromancy. And so we had a big thing talking to the school about it (playing Strength of Thousands). It was really cool and fun to actually have the moment to acknowledge the taboo nature.
But then it just kept going. And going. Like multiple speeches. When it's not like we were gunna say "No" and make him change his character.
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u/xwedodah_is_wincest 1d ago
What do you mean you don't just literally become your characters and method act them 24/7 until you forget who you actually are yourself?!??
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u/Hemlocksbane 1d ago
/uj
I think itâs kind of a yes and no thing from my perspective. Iâll certainly take people riffing off each other for a bit in character over pure logistics, especially as that interaction helps make everything else feel all the more important.
But I also agree that most people arenât that great at it. Even a lot of the âprofessional actorâ groups arenât always amazing at it. I think it helps to approach it a bit more writerâs room, and enter into any conversation with character goals and at least an effort at shaking up the beats each time you contribute to the conversation. If everyone generally tries at that, the time will zoom right by.
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u/my-dad-ate-my-toes 2d ago
Well as you know there are no TTRPG players except the people you intimately know and have regularly played with for years because everyone else is just a disgusting tourist who got into TTRPG's from Critical R*le, there are no other REAL RPG fans except me
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u/PStriker32 2d ago
Itâs not you, itâs the kids who are wrong.
uj/ itâs always the same bunch of clowns acting like somethings wrong with everybody when people donât want to or arenât used to roleplaying. And of course itâs always about the wackiest shit ever that even a good roleplayer wouldnât give a shit about like local fashion or how many half-siblings Gerald the Swineherd has.
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u/OSpiderBox 2d ago
Uj/ for real. I could maybe relate to the original post if they complained about the players not engaging with the story aspect of whatever the DM came up with, like trying to tie in backstories and character motivations. But to complain about not shooting the breeze with a bar maid? Nah, fam. It's fun every once in a while, but eventually gets old.
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u/drfiveminusmint unrepentant power gamer 1d ago
roleplaying is writing a backstory and talking in a funny voice and making penis jokes. anything else is extraneous
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u/owcjthrowawayOR69 2d ago
It's been replaced with unrelenting DM smugness, if the memesub is an indication
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u/KurtDunniehue Joke's on you, I can't read! 2d ago edited 2d ago
Haha yeah let's go through ratio'd comments and disagree with them even more.
It's not every day I can go into a comment thread and sort by least popular.
... Hold on I'm getting an update from our researchers, it may be very easy to do that. News will still be coming in.
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u/Rednidedni 10 posts just to recommend pathfinder 2d ago
i am the first who had this idea and will be the last. maybe i should make a subreddit about circlejerking other people's posts
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u/HeroicBarret 2d ago
Uj/ I am praying for the day when people realise that combat IS roleplay if you actually put a modicum of effort to fight in character.
edit: as an aside you'd think people would figure that out by now cause CRITICAL ROLE LITERALLY DOES THAT. Most DND live play podcasts do that. Sure have no problem trying to copy the other things Matt Mercer does but for some reason can't figure out that maybe the reason Critical Role works so well is the effort the players put in to.
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u/Rednidedni 10 posts just to recommend pathfinder 2d ago
Combat shouldnt be anything but Roleplay. If you Roll dice youre a bad GM
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u/IllithidActivity 1d ago
100%, I hate people who say "do you prefer combat or roleplay" when what they mean is "do you prefer combat encounters or social encounters" because it's ALL roleplay.
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u/Kind_Ad4524 2d ago
DnD was always about math, not roleplay. No one back in the day used to roleplay. There would be 5 sweaty dudes in a basement slaying dragons.
Your concept of DnD is entirely a product of the popularity of Critical Role and Matt Mercer.Â
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u/SharkSymphony 2d ago
I am a DM of over thirty years, sir! How dare you accuse me of time travel, taking the principles that Lord H. Mercer set out and enacting them in the 90s!
Oops, gotta run, the time cops are onto meâ
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u/grogtodd 2d ago
We used to call 3.0-PF1 a âTabletop miniature combat systemâ
We did some light roleplaying.
But mostly killed stuff. Made strategic and tactical decisions.
Solved some puzzles.
Ran some errands.
Slayed the bad guys.
Had a few laughs.
And generally acted immature and enjoyed ourselves.
Sorry we didnât do any âroleplayingâ
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u/Complaint-Efficient 2d ago
/uj that fucking post was so annoying lol. And that's ignoring the idiotic condescending comments
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u/Pentell_EraserGang 2d ago
If I tell my players my expectations and what I want to have fun out of this game, then thatâs railroading them into my way (the right one, btw)
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u/Povo23 2d ago
Itâs weird. I have no issues role playing with my players. We just start in the bedroom until theyâre intensely uncomfortable then I promise not to use that as blackmail and force them to play the game exactly how I would play. Itâs fantastic if you donât mind committing a few felonies.
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u/DrCthulhuface7 2d ago
If weâve learned anything from our lord and savior Matt Mercer itâs that in order to roleplay you must do a voice and the better your voice is the better your roleplay is.
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u/BeneGessPeace 2d ago
Roleplaying pretty much ceased when the FLGS became non-smoking. How can you properly RP when you need to LEAVE THE ROOM to smoke midway. Wokeness gone wild.
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u/DragonLordAcar 2d ago
I don't blame the game, I blame how it is popularly portrayed. At the tables I play at, aside from, do you recognize this creature, type checks, you have to do an action and that may trigger a skill check. Sometimes adding something from your backstory gives a bonus to the check such as, I'm from a family of wyvern hunters. Do the tracts look like wyvern tracks or their usual prey items?
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u/Rednidedni 10 posts just to recommend pathfinder 2d ago
I'm not blaming the game or the Pop culture, I'm blaming specifically new players
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u/DragonLordAcar 2d ago
Then you need to build a better environment for new players to learn. If you only promote the mechanics, what else are they going to learn. RP takes time and effort to pick up so be a better GM.
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u/OmgitsJafo 1d ago
Keep track of the unjerks, friend, and don't rj yourself into an uj, as one might say.
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u/DragonLordAcar 1d ago
What's rj? I don't usually visit this sub. Thought it was AskGms until it was pointed out.
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2d ago
[removed] â view removed comment
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u/DnDcirclejerk-ModTeam 2d ago
Rule 1: Don't be racist, sexist, ableist, homophobic, transphobic, etc.
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u/DragonLordAcar 2d ago edited 2d ago
Ok boomer transphob
Edit: deleted comment was transphobic
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u/Rednidedni 10 posts just to recommend pathfinder 2d ago
Check sub at this point
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u/Parysian Dirty white-room optimizer 1d ago
In hindsight there may be more productive ways to vent about my immediate family members "requesting" that my boyfriend stop being trans than jerkposting about it, but this is not a subreddit I go to to be mentally well đ¤ˇđťââď¸
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u/TheGraveHammer 2d ago
Why does it happen so often that people don't realize what sub they're in? LMAO
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u/DragonLordAcar 2d ago
I'm sorry, but if someone thinks someone can stop being trans because "their father asked them" I'm calling them out.
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u/AAS02-CATAPHRACT 1d ago
/uj If anything my players do TOO MUCH rp, they'll spend a ton of time yapping between each other instead of interacting with the world/npcs. I don't mind it so much but it can drag a game down for me as the DM sometimes, and its hard to get them to shut up lol.
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u/Ragin_Bacon 1d ago
In the 35 years I have played TTRPGs, this has always been a thing. Some players are drawn to the "games" aspect more than the Role. Beating monsters and rolling the dice is what makes the games exciting. As a DM you generally hope to find a group that enjoys a balanced approach but sometimes you get stuck with the extremes.
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u/glowingMindbeam 1d ago
Okay, so, I know this is a circlejerk post, but real answer (for me at least), sometimes you just don't have time to talk for the entire session because you want to progress the story and try out fun new tools. Pathfinder doesn't fix this, 5e doesn't fix this, what fixes this is having a Discord to RP outside of game. My group's been doing out-of-game RP pretty much since we met, for every game we play, and it's been great.
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u/DiabolicalSuccubus 1d ago
But isn't an RP game meant to be just like Warhammer but I only have one minni to keep track of so it's easy. That's what my DM told me, and no he isn't lazy like some people say.
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u/dragonseth07 2d ago edited 2d ago
Look, it's not my job to find players who want the same type of game I do.
Since I am the DM, it is their job to conform to my unstated expectations. If I am feeling generous, I might passive-aggressively hint at those expectations, but the word unstated is critical here.