Does roleplaying satisfy?

[Smithers10030]

You know, that creative little imp inside all of you? And not just those usual Anime/Canon roleplaying, but maybe something a bit more diverse, like world-building, etc?

 

[Base groove]

Extremely satisfying.

 

[NormannTheDoorman]

I might do it a little too often.

 

[Cognisant]

Life is roleplay.

 

[Ex-User (9086)]

world-building is not roleplaying, very enjoyable nonetheless.
Unless you roleplay a world-builder, but the purpose is different.

 

[Jennywocky]

if you're the GM, you're a world builder.
If you're playing a character, you're a story builder and actor.

But there's something be said about social interaction, joint creative efforts on the fly, and also the strategic and problem-solving aspects of roleplaying.

 

[SpaceYeti]

Extremely.

 

[redbaron]

Only when it's subtle and not obvious to the majority.

 

[Pyropyro]

Yes.

 

[Smithers10030]

Thank god, I'm not the only one.

As for the world-building issue, I somehow manage to create distinct utopias with specific rules and details.

Only to find me and my other partner distracted by an even better idea and leave the old idea to dust.

What about references though? Do any artistic people here draw the characters themselves?

 

[Trebuchet]

It's great. Friends, fun, creativity, a chance to be someone else, I love it. We recently started a Pathfinder campaign with our 9-year-old because she has been begging to try for years. She is surprisingly good at it, if still very inexperienced.

It is really important to have the right group. We played with a nice fellow for a while but it didn't work out because he liked inter-party conflict more than we did and kept trying to hog the spotlight with extreme violence. Our group is usually more into cooperation and complicated politicking.

I don't draw characters, Smithers, but I have made minifigs of them out of LEGOs. Does that count?

Instead I categorize them by MBTI. Twice I have played INFP and had the character crash and burn. But ESFJ went astonishingly well. There are four types I haven't played yet.

 

[Smithers10030]

For me and my other friends, violence is definitely a plus :P

If only I had that many legos, I'd be creating figures of my characters, non-stop. And probably losing/destroying them the next day.

However, I think drawing my characters (got a little bit of practice over the years) are better. But I don't particularly draw humans, and more or less they are called 'organics'. Animal/creature like creations with quirks to their personality. Much like my icon, right now.

 

[Redfire]

The last time I played RPG with a couple of friends, we had to kill a guard's son, who was about 8 years old. No witnesses. It was the most fun I had in months. It was also the first time in my life I played a character younger than me (I played a 15 years old rogue and I'm 20). That was kind of sad, but whatever.

A couple of years back, with the same friends on a different campaign, we killed a bunch of pirate slavers and took their ship. Only to become slavers ourselves! Good times

So it can be fun, but you need smart friends to play. Generic D&D campaigns are boring.

Next time I want to play an old human necromancer.

 

[Trebuchet]

Well, I'm older than 20 so maybe that changes the violence ratio.

We just like to come up with clever solutions and leave stuff un-destroyed, rather than the usual kick down the door, spray bullets, and loot the room. Also, in SF games, violence is super dangerous. You get one hole in your hull, or a plasma blast to the chest, or even a warrant for your arrest, and you are in deep trouble.

But we have left alive a surprising number of villains over the years, in a few cases convincing them to join our side, and in a few others joining theirs.

I'm not saying that we never get violent. We definitely do. But our players all have to have at least one interpersonal skill, like diplomacy, fast talk, intimidation, streetwise, persuade, something like that. That way, everyone can play during the talky scenes.

 

[Redfire]

No: I don't play like a kid. I value my character's life very much. Survival is primordial. The character I played for most years was a mage who knew a lot about geography and was in the slaver ship in order to map new regions of the world and improve scientific knowledge. I would then get finance for the group going to nobles, because all of them wanted to be the first to discover new areas.

Then again: I also sometimes use RPG as an outlet to play out violence and power fantasies. Which I think is also ok, since I'm a very nice person in real life (too nice, in fact).

Just think about it: there aren't any heroes and villains in real life. Just people. Our characters didn't have fun killing a kid, our DM even gave our characters nightmares later on. Since we didn't have proper sleep, we had penalizers to some attributes. In real life: I was laughing because the situation was very funny.

 

[TimeAsylums]

You know, that creative little imp inside all of you? And not just those usual Anime/Canon roleplaying, but maybe something a bit more diverse, like world-building, etc?

IRL (physical/corporeal) role playing does nothing for me (does not satisfy)
The greater majority of my satisfaction derivations (aside from basic needs such as sleep food and water) is pure meaning. Meaning that I either derive from, or give to.

If monotonous, routine, or plain boring situations bore me, I simply change the meaning of everything in my head...and voila...fun-ish. Alas, I still exist in the corporeal form and can't dissimilate my being into my imagination fully, so eh.


All the role playing I ever take part in is always in my head, very satisfactory.

 

[Redfire]

I was just thinking: you can get sex in real life. You can talk to people. You can solve problems with interesting solutions. But you can't do violence in any way, and we all have violent impulses, even if buried so deep within our unconscious minds that we don't even realize we have them. So RPGs are an outlet. So are videogames and movies, which are also full of violence.

Or maybe since I'm a coward in real life I get a kick out of being violent in RPGs. In which case it's a totally personal thing.

 

[TimeAsylums]

you can't do violence in any way [in real life]

sure you can:

Boxing Wrestling UFC American Football

sports in general / join a local 'fighting sport' gym

enlist in the military

 

[Jennywocky]

Or maybe since I'm a coward in real life I get a kick out of being violent in RPGs. In which case it's a totally personal thing.

I'm so bored tonight, running my level 10 Superstitious barbarian w/ my +1 Furious Frost 2H sword, and it's pretty much been a "talking/planning" night with the spellcasters gabbing.

 

[Redfire]

Boxing
Wrestling
UFC
American Football

sports in general

enlist in the military

lol, no, I don't want to actually get hurt. And besides: I'm just horrible when it comes to anything physical. Except swimming, maybe.

Besides: it's hardly the same as poisoning a well and killing a whole town just to make them undead minions.

I'm so bored tonight, running my level 10 Superstitious barbarian w/ my +1 Furious Frost 2H sword, and it's pretty much been a "talking/planning" night with the spellcasters gabbing.

lol...
Well, I do like planning ahead. But my friends never listen to me so it rarely works out in the end.

Just out of curiosity, have you ever played a male character? Chicks always get away with it, but most men aren't mature enough to handle a man playing a woman without making stupid jokes. That's quite unfair.

 

[BigApplePi]

Yes if it releases the hidden you; no if it is untrue.

 

[Jennywocky]

Just out of curiosity, have you ever played a male character? Chicks always get away with it, but most men aren't mature enough to handle a man playing a woman without making stupid jokes. That's quite unfair.

I'm the only woman in my group, and a few of the guys there from time to time run female characters -- the player age range is probably mid/late 28's up through age 50 or so, and the group handles it maturely, even if everyone has a lot of fun with it. Some players roleplay more than others (it's usually the roleplayers who cross-gender characters).

I haven't done any male characters in this group. I have tried from time to time to run a male character, years back in AD&D, but I don't tend to enjoy play males much as I don't identify with the characters a ton.

I did have a male pixie waaay back that was fun (Bixby the Pixie) -- he specialized in Enchanting and was going to be the World's Greatest Enchanter. He tired me out to play because he was non-stop talking (mostly because I wanted to make him as annoying as shit), and he bragged all the time about how awesome he was and how he could do anything. Best scene was when he got stuck in a bag of holding, triggered another magic item inside while screwing around that created a dimensional rift, and I actually rolled his limited magic resistance score to escape the void sucking him in. He had big things ahead of him!

My next character I want to play is one I've used in limited settings, a creepy-ass witch with prehensile hair, flying, and has a nasty spell assortment.... she's not quite as evil as she seems, but still very unsettling and enigmatic. I want the other players in my group to not know exactly what she might do next.

 

[Ex-User (9086)]

I'm so bored tonight, running my level 10 Superstitious barbarian w/ my +1 Furious Frost 2H sword, and it's pretty much been a "talking/planning" night with the spellcasters gabbing.

Take a piss on their spellbooks and break a few chairs on their backs smash the table a few times, they should be earning their bread and not wasting your time.

 

[BigApplePi]

sure you can:

Boxing Wrestling UFC American Football

sports in general / join a local 'fighting sport' gym

enlist in the military

Physical force is not the same as destructive force. The latter can be done irl anytime but you will find yourself risking being restrained if you try a repeat.

 

[Redfire]

I haven't done any male characters in this group. I have tried from time to time to run a male character, years back in AD&D, but I don't tend to enjoy play males much as I don't identify with the characters a ton.

Hm. I can identify with all sort of characters, I just can't play them. I'm not a very good actor. So all my characters end up being quite similar to me.

My next character I want to play is one I've used in limited settings, a creepy-ass witch with prehensile hair, flying, and has a nasty spell assortment.... she's not quite as evil as she seems, but still very unsettling and enigmatic. I want the other players in my group to not know exactly what she might do next.
l.

And she is actually 721 years old, because she is a dream-witch, who possesses other people by invading their minds in their sleep. But it only works if those people trust her, and that is the true reason why she joined an adventurer's group.
No?
Ok.

 

[Jennywocky]

Hm. I can identify with all sort of characters, I just can't play them. I'm not a very good actor. So all my characters end up being quite similar to me.

Well, I'm not the greatest actor either (I'm a better writer). But I try to at least create characters that are different, even if I'm clumsy at my attempts to play them. It makes it more interesting to me.

And she is actually 721 years old, because she is a dream-witch, who possesses other people by invading their minds in their sleep. But it only works if those people trust her, and that is the true reason why she joined an adventurer's group.
No?
Ok.

huh?

That's probably too ethereal for her.

She definitely has her own purposes in mind, though... even if it's as low-key as collecting personal ingredients for some nefarious purpose, testing people to see their responses, etc.

Take a piss on their spellbooks and break a few chairs on their backs smash the table a few times, they should be earning their bread and not wasting your time.

uh... YEAH!!! *smashes axe in middle of table a la Hamish from Braveheart*

Can't trust those slimy little magic tinkers anyhoo.

 

[Smithers10030]

I think there's two types of roleplay brought here.

The first one being the thing with the classes and stuff, (Mage, Dwarf, Etc) and then the other one with either the Anime/Canon thing.

Well, I usually do the other, less-known type. Creating worlds, and making a new and completely unique character. It's not exactly furry, but more or less I do animal/creature based RPs.

A sassy, one eyes snail? A toxic, floating, cream puff? An orange rubber alien? Got em right here in my head.


That aside, I also want to know if any of you guys are up for roleplaying with me. It's probably a given that all INTPs have unique ideas, and I want to see how it's incorporated in a roleplay.

 

[Trebuchet]

I'm with Jennywocky, it is more interesting to play different characters even if they are a bit clumsy.

About a quarter of my characters are male (I'm female). Sometimes it fits the game system better, sometimes it fits my mood better. No one in my group has any problem with characters of any gender or orientation. I think all but one of us has played both male and female characters, at least.

I agree, the point of RPGs really is to try stuff you couldn't do in real life. Violence is one, and it certainly can be fun. I have certainly had very violent characters. But there are so many other things I don't do in real life, which I have had characters try. A pushy salesman, a bureaucrat, a drug dealer, a religious fanatic, a bear, a person who heard voices and sometimes couldn't tell what was real (due to a severe allergy in an SF game), an adrenaline junkie, a traitor, a semi-ethical doctor, and a socialite. They were all playable characters, surprisingly. Getting them right, making them feel like real people with convincing motives and actions, is very satisfying to me.

Using Smithers' distinction, I pretty much only play the kind with mages and elves, or possibly engineers and aliens.