From: kdelgado@loligo.cc.fsu.edu (odagleD niveK)
Subject: Re: Role Playing
Keywords: Kenders, and clerics, and death...oh my!
Organization: Florida State University Computing Center
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 92 16:47:49 GMT

In article <4NOV199219311463@venus.tamu.edu> tap2368@venus.tamu.edu (Saufferin) writes:
>
>  I would like to know what role-playing is like, just once! Every campaign
>I have been in, with the exception of a short lived Robotech campaign, has 
>been nothing more than, "you see 30 orcs backed up by 40 hill giants in front
>of you. what do you do?"  Every one else replies,"kill them"  Is there a single
>campaign out there that actually involves role-playing?  Are there any DMs out
>there who have figured out what _role-playing_ is?
>  Just curious and sick of hack and slash.
>
>
I truly feel sorry for you. You have had the unfortunate experience of joining
a gaming group that has no imagination. They miss the whole point of the game,
role-playing. Role playing is simply that...playing the role of someone whom
you are not. In order to do this u must detach yourself from yourself and 
become that character. You must think like he/she thinks, act like he acts,
talk like him...whatever...develope a personalti for the character. The key
ingredient however has to be interaction. If your DM does not provide the
chance for the players to interact with each other as well as NPC's, then I
suggest that you either find another group, or perhaps start DMing and create
this kind of atmosphere yourself.

Role playing is not some mysterious, complex entity looming over the game 
world. It is a simple, basic, fundamental part of the game that makes it worth
playing...makes it enjoyable. I'll give you a brief example of how role
playing can be...it's nothing really complex...just basic talking (I may not
be able to remember all the details of this occasion but what the hell).

The scene: The party has been in camp after a long day's journey. While some
of the PC's have been asleep (including my own), the gnomish tinker decides
that my character's staff (which my character...a hick of unequalled 
propotions...had named Bocephus. Bocephus was his prize possession) needed to
be fixed (ie. messed up...after all he _is_ a gnomish tinker). All the while
the gnome was tinkering with my staff, the kender in the party decided that 
my character needed to be washed (my character had a 5 comeliness, due to 
being tortured by some evil priests...lots of scars and tatoos), in order to
try to remove the "ugly", as he called it. The kender was going to use his
"magic" soap to do the washing...figuring the soap would do the trick. Now,
this soap was anything but magic. The kender had found it in a paper box that
the mage in the party had detected as magic (the paper was magic origamy
paper...the soap just soap). The kender insisted that the soap was magic.

Kender to DM: "I'm going to go over and start washing Nycademus's head. I have
               this magic soap and I'm sure its going to work."

DM: Ok, you go over to him and start to gently wash his head. (oh yeah, I
forgot...my character was bald too)

Me: I start swatting around my head as if swatting flies...then I roll over
    and start mumbling...and go back to sleep.

Kender: "I go over to the other side of him and start washing again."

Me: waking up suddenly..."GODDAMMIT....WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?! Is
    someone pissin' on my head....stop that shit."

Kender: "no need to get so upset...I was just washing the ugly off of your
         head." kender again tries to continue washing my head.

Me: "Stop that!" 

DM to me: "you notice that Bocephus is missing"

Me: "BOCEPHUS!!! BOCEPHUS!!! SOMEBODY DONE STOLE BOCEPHUS!!"

(gnome had by this time slithred away)

DM: "you notice Bocephus laying over against a tree...the metal shodding has
    been partially removed."

Me: "GODDAMN!!! Someone done killt Bochephus! Murderers!" My character runs 
    over to Bocephus and examines the damage."

DM: you all now here some rustling in the bushes.

Party in unison: "SHIT!!!"

(long battle ensues with hoblgoblins...we all get banged up but survive)

Fighter to my cleric: "Oh man, I'm fucked up. I need some healing."

Me: "I'm out of spells...but I can give you some help" (herbalism/healing )
    "Hmmm, now where did I put those herbs....damn, looks like I'm out of 
     medicinal herbs."

Kender: "Hmmm I have some plants in my pocket here (my herbs of course), will
         these work?"

Me: "Hey, great! Those are just what I need! Damn, these Kenders are right
    usefull...wish we had a couple more in the party!"


It continued on from here, unfortunately the party was wiped out later by
more hobgoblins. But you can see, role-playing is really just simple inter-
action. Make things up and have fun.


>################################################################################
>Saufferin              |"No, light speed is too slow, we must go...
>tap2368@venus.tamu.edu | LUDICROUS SPEED!" - Dark Helmet
>Texas A&M University   |"Yeah, you go to pieces so fast people get hit by the
>                       | shrapnel." - Ford to Zaphod
>================================================================================
>Warning: The Surgeon General has determined that reading this sig may lead to
>         cancer, heart burn, head aches, tumors, or learning disabilities.
>################################################################################

Kevin.