On Tabletop RPG's and Writing - Being a Player and Writing

 Hey! Welcome back!

 So, how's it going? Still wrapping your head around the whole GM thing? Don't worry. Took me forever to figure all that stuff out myself.

 I know it can sound daunting and complex, but really, it's not that bad.

 Now sit back and relax, and we'll talk about how it is to be on the other side of the barricade - one of the cats the Game Master is trying to herd all around his world and his plot.

And believe me, it's a fun place to be.

Give it some time. When you'll foil the GM plans enough you *will* become like this.

 Let's begin, shall we?

Being a player - What do I need and what do I do?

 Every roleplaying game usually has between 2 to about 6 or 7 other players other than the GM. 

 Of course, the more players are involved, the more schedules you need to sort out when we're talking of a tabletop game, so it usually settles to about 4 players max.

 You're gonna be one of them.

 As a player, you're gonna be required to own at the very least the player handbook of the game you're playing. If you're playing on an actual physical setting, you will need your own set of dices as well.

 Since this is more of a broad overview of roleplaying, I can't tell you exactly which system you will be playing with, but don't worry - the manuals are usually pretty clear on the basics and you're not alone. The GM at the very least should already know the basics of the game to help you create a character and know what to roll and when. After that, repetition is the base of engrained knowledge.

 And trust me. There will be repetition when it comes to rolling dices. To the point you'll immediately associate certain things with those terms.

"On Will, Constitution or Reflexes? I NEED TO KNOW!!"

 Don't worry. No one will expect you to know every single rule of the game the first time you play it. The only thing we're gonna ask for is just the will to learn, and all decent players will know everyone starts from somewhere and lend you a hand.

 With all that, your next step is gonna be creating a character. As for the GM and the introductory adventures, every system decent enough will have some 'example' character sheets that you can pick from to start playing the game right away and get familiar with the system.
 Or, as with adventures for the Game Master, you can create your own from scratch - give him or her a backstory, a reason to adventure, and basically make your 'alter ego' in this world. Needless to say, it's the one I think it's more interesting, and the more useful as a writer.

 The Character Sheet is basically....everything about your character. To keep the game balanced, most of your character's capabilities (how good is he/she at picking locks, at combat, at magic, how much he/she knows) and actual features (strength, intelligence, charisma, dexterity and so on) will be represented by numbers. You will have either a number of points to allocate on,  or will have to roll some dices, to determine these numbers. All this is to avoid characters that can do everything ever in the history of the universe - because remember: it's a group game. Everyone needs to have fun.
 Thus, most characters will probably specialize in this or that aspect - in D&D, for example, a typical party is comprised of a warrior to soak damage and physical feats, a mage for the arcane knowledges and combat spells, a rogue to find traps and scout ahead (and usually stab people with pointy things) and a cleric, knowing about religion and faith and being able to heal the injured.

 All of these things are usually done through the roll of one or more dices. As we covered yesterday, each system has its own rules for dicerolling. In D&D, a general roll is made on a d20 and adding or subtracting scores on your character sheets. The higher the number, the better, with a 20 on the dice being a critical success and a 1 on the dice...

"Omae wa...mou shindeiru."

 A critical fail. Oddly enough, despite the statistical possibilities of getting a 1 and a 20 being the same, you'll swear you see more 1's than 20's.

 So these games are fun and break the fundamental rules of probability and the universe! Neat, huh?

 And thus, after you and the other players finish making your characters, the game proper can start. The party comprised of the new imaginary people you created will venture in the world the Game Master devised for you lot, and in such world they'll grow in power, notoriety and wealth as they adventure through the setting and face weird and dangerous situations of all kinds.

 And probably die in a ridiculous manner. There's no such thing as an 'old' adventurer, after all.

An example of Player-Game Master interaction

 As yesterday, I'll make up a short scene between me, playing Zoe, the wizard, and Liam, this time with him acting as the GM. To ease the whole thing, we'll assume the party has been split up, so we'll keep this interaction short, with a guest appearence from Ann, playing again Irene, the Rogue.

 Liam (GM): "Alright. So. As Irene is scouting ahead in the ruins and searching for traps, you told me you wanted to take a better look around the main hall of the ruins, if I'm not wrong. As you roam around and look at the various walls, you can notice quite easily something on the floor. What you first noticed as lines decorating it and running all the way to the walls seem to be, actually, a set of very thin, elegantly scribbled runes that create the patterns around the main hall."

 Me (Zoe): "Huh. Go figure. Aight, I try to follow one of the lines and decypher what the language is. I'll cast 'comprehend languages' on myself to make things easier."

 Liam: "You recognize the language as ancient Aelish, something that hasn't been used for centuries to this day. After you cast the spell on yourself, the words are much easier to make sense of, and you can start reading the first branch of the line. This one seems to be speaking about the creation of this place, called 'Irid Daelochis', a military outpost of sorts to keep in check some unknown armies mentioned in the script. It details how the greatest engineers of the Aelian civilization laid down rings of defenses throughout the structure, with some specifics on the traps they set up to make the position more secure. Roll me perception."

 Me: "Zoe would frown reading all this and look at the corridor Irene started exploring. Trying not to give away our position too much, she'd just take a pebble and send it rolling on the floor to make a possibly natural noise and recall Irene here. As for the perception check...WELP. Fuck me. She can't hear shit. It's a 1."

 Liam: "Yeah, no, your character is absolutely certain everything is fine, and that around her there's dead silence. Is she gonna read another branch?"

 Me: "Yep. Allll perfectly fine, innit. Nothing to worry about. God damnit. Anyway, yeah, since it gave us some intel on the possible traps of this place, I'm gonna have her read the branch that goes towards the northeastern corner of the hall."

 Liam: "This branch seems to be detailing how the Aelian civilization started its conflict with this still unnamed faction. It goes on a lot on how they started becoming so paranoid that they had to secure everything from the enemy spies. Even the..."

 Me: "...Oh come the fuck on. Don't say it."

 Liam: "Even their writing and their history. Yes. Would you roll a will save, please?"

 Me: "I knew it...Aight. It's a 15?"

 Liam: "Just passed it. The more you keep reading the passages, the more you can feel something prying back in your mind, but you manage to shut it down just in time. You do realize though that something just awoke. And it's not very pleased with you lot."

 Ann (Irene): "Am I back yet?"

 Liam: "Yeah, I'd say by now between the noise of the pebble and a quick looksie you're back. What is Zoe doing?"

 Me: "As Irene comes back, I'd say she can see Zoe widening her eyes, flinching and scuttling back from one of the lines on the pavement. She definitely doesen't look pleased. 'Right. Quite sure something fucked up.'"

 Ann: "Irene will look at her. '...What did you do?'"

 Annnnd scene.

 Now, as a player, I want you to notice something here, that will help you a lot when interacting with the Game Master and the other Players during the game.

 In all of this, I never decided the outcome of my major actions (looking at the writing, and so on). I give the Game Master the intention of what I'm going to do, and where its needed, the Game Master is the one controlling what happens next - if I have to roll some dices, what I see, and so on.

 As a player you can't just autodetermine your outcomes, i.e. 'I look for a secret door and I find it on the east wall'. You just look for the door. Determining if it's there or not, or if you find it, is the GM's job.

 Same thing goes for interacting with the other players. What my character can do when it comes to them is attempt something. After that, it's either rolls, roleplaying or common sense dictating if the GM will let that attempt go through. Zoe can try to shove Irene to provoke her, but I can't say "Zoe pushes Irene to the ground" just "Zoe tries to push Irene angrily". If I roll a 1 on my check to push her, she'll just mildly annoy the rogue.

Typical example of your average D&D wizard attempting any kind of physical conflict.

And, pray tell, what does this have to do with writing?

 I'm glad you asked, it seems like you still haven't lost your amazing wit from my 'Hello World' post.  It's almost like...

 Ok. No. Used that joke already. I'm not that cruel.

 As with the GM side of things, being a player in a roleplaying session, aside from being awesome fun, can be incredibly useful for your writing - only, in this case, in the aspect of characters and character interaction.

 First things first, you'll have to make this character: this means figuring out what sort of person someone living in this setting could be. And the adventures this character will go through along with his or her friends will shape their personality in a very organic manner, making them fleshed out as they go. How will they react when put in front of a morally ambiguous situation? How are they standing on certain issues? You will find yourself having to answer these questions as you go along.   Just remember not to take arguments too far - a good rule of thumb is, when the party is starting to get really divided on something, take a step back. It's all for the fun of all the players after all.

 But, as long as you stay in that sort of 'boundary', there's another very important aspect to all this: you will be forced to think outside the box. You will be met with situations that might very well be common, but, unlike in the real world, you will have very uncommon ways to deal with it - magic, weird capabilities, and so on. This will help you even when you're writing your own story to devise interesting and innovative uses of powers we usually see exploited only in very limited ways.

 Think about this: how will making breakfast change if you had access to fire magic? How would society deal with it? There are a lot of nuances that you'll find yourself thinking about as a roleplayer that will help you make your worlds a lot more believable because you'll be used to think at normal things with unusual stuff to face them with.

 Not to toot my own horn, but to make an example, in Tiogair magic resurfaced in a technologically advanced world, and became common. What did that do? There are chefs in the best restaurants testing alchemical cooking, using essences and magic to give spice to their dishes. Astral projection is used in prospecting for minerals and other industrial applications.

 Just little aspects like this can help make your worldbuilding a lot more complete, because those capacities are not just that 'special power' - but an intrinsic element of your characters, or even society as a whole, affecting their day to day life.

 Another good aspect is the fact that your characters will grow, and you'll have a chance to build firsthand fantasy/fictional dialogues with other people. And that's amazing. Because it can help you give the characters in your story more natural, realistic banters and reactions to situations - because you saw it play out in a similar situation somewhere else.

 And, last, but not least, one of the most important lessons of them all in my opinion: your character can't do EVERYTHING EVER. Yes, in RPG's we usually stick to one role, while in books your main characters tend to be a lot more...'proficient' than others. But let's be honest: we all know the danger of falling into the Mary Sue/Gary Stu trope. Having to move your character in a setting you don't directly control, with other characters you don't control, will help you realize just how much more fun it is when there's actual, genuine interactions not only between characters, but between fields of expertise as well. And when you aren't writing the story, yes, sometimes even your character can fuck up. And get hated by someone. And that's healthy. A good character isn't a perfect in everything character. They'll need help, they'll give help to others, and sometimes they'll even get their ass kicked and have to go home with the tail between their legs.

 So!

 With all this being said, I really hope I've whetted your appetite for roleplaying games. And if that's the case, tomorrow you'll be able to find various informations on where to get started: roleplay resources, sites, and so on that can help you delve into this amazing world.

 And if you ever have any questions, you can post them on the comments below and I'll be more than happy to answer what I can!

 Toodles!