Recently, I put together some guidance on how to be a good tabletop RPG GM, which I discussed on my blog and podcast. This was collated from a range of received wisdom over time and put together in one place as a resource for others.There was no claim to being either comprehensive or original, only having the advantage of being succinct and highly accessible. This guidance was targeted at convention play, but the principles would apply to GMing any RPG session.
I think there is just as much value in exploring good play from the perspective of the player. So, please find below some top tips for being a good tabletop RPG player. This selection is inspired by the excellent guidance delivered by Becky Annison of Black Armada Games.
Becky’s Blog: https://blackarmada.com/how-to-be-ttrpgs-most-valuable-player/
Checkout Becky’s series on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMs5q7TAqXk&list=PLxzETbg_EJH32qfJ9ehHKnjdkzqgZ5Zzq
I thought it well worth ‘reincorporating’ many of Becky’s excellent thoughts, with some of my own thoughts and words, and boost the signal.
As before, let me know what you think? Have I included the main areas that you would? Is my emphasis and tone OK? What would you add or take away from the points below? For extra fun, I invite you to play along with the guidance, and reflect on your own play. How well do you shape up? Is there anything here that you feel are strengths or weaknesses, and how are you going to step up and improve?
I make no pretence to have mastered everything here. As with my own GMing, one of the delights of the hobby is a continuous improvement, with forgivable lapses, in the way we play, and a recognition that insights on best practice continue to evolve over time.
Without further ado, lets dive into 11 examples of good play…
1. Be Ready to Play
Everyone around the table (or online screen) is responsible for making the game session great. Take a moment to check in before the game starts, noting your mood and energy levels. Ideally you will be ready to play. Are you ready to focus on the game for the agreed duration of the session? Able to apply your energy to the game and leave the demands and distractions of the real world behind for a while? It will make the game better not only for you but for everyone else.
We aren’t machines or always in perfect shape to play an RPG. That’s allowed! However, it is always worth having a mindful moment before the session starts to check how well you can apply yourself to your character and the group. If you are going to play then play!
Apply yourself.
2. Know the game
Especially if you are playing in a campaign or extended sequence of sessions, then learn the rules of the game that affect your character and play. This may not be for session one, but take the time to understand how the game works by the end of the first few sessions. If there is anything you are uncertain of, or need help understanding, then reach out. Grab the quick reference sheets and have them to hand in play. Understand how your feats/talents/abilities alter gameplay and the benefits they give you. If there are tactical options, then learn them, so that you can apply them quickly. When it is your turn in a combat scene, be ready with your character’s actions and any rules that underpin them.
Support others who need some help with the rules, including the GM!
Learn the game.
3. Completely commit to the premise of the game
Embrace the premise of the game and play 100% to whatever it is the group is trying to achieve. If you are not sure what the premise of the game is, have a word with your GM and find out. Defeating hidden cultists to save the empire? Get on it! Rescue the Ten Towns from the oppressive evil of the Snow Queen? Wrap up well and sort it out! Traders and freebooters, selling shoes across the sector and undertaking side quests to keep your heap of junk flying? Learn the trade rules, ship mechanics and enjoy the feisty relationships that build amongst the crew.
You’ve hopefully had a session zero, where the premise of the game has been outlined, to give a sense of what the player characters are to do. Build a group consensus on the drives of the game and play strongly to them.
Play to the premise of the game.
4. Embody your character
Immerse yourself in the world view of your character and experience the world through their eyes. RPG play flows continuously on a number of levels, from the inner world of the setting, the unique perspective of the character, to the player, to the game rules and on to the outer world. Though we continue to navigate our own world during a session, great play produces that sense of ‘other’, as you enact your character’s perception, their passions, their cultural drives and personal insights.
The premise of most RPGs includes high stakes encounters that may include character mortal danger. With a character you are invested in, it is easy and understandable to be over cautious, trying to manage risk, optimise every encounter and tactical decision. Play your character, not you managing your character. Don’t be too hesitant and over protective when it comes to your play.
Make a last stand against all the odds, make alliances with the doomed or the dreadful, stand in the place of an endangered fellow character. Follow your character’s heart and not your head, you will have great enjoyment dealing with the consequences of your character’s own actions.
Play your character strongly, but not at the expense of anyone else. If, after a highly destructive or sabotaging piece of play, you hear the words “Ah yes, but that is what my character would do”, then that’s just being a rubbish player. If your character was a lone wolf, probably a moody one, then why are they now in a group? What strengths are they looking to lean on that have been found in the other characters? Why have they recognised that the group is more important than them being alone? Play up uncertainties and insecurities. Build trust and transformation in the character. Delight in it burning down in a satisfying conclusion. If your character is an impetuous and hot headed bravo, that’s great, and getting people into trouble is all part of it, but how are they seeking to hone their nature to the betterment of the group?
Be your character.
5. Elevate others through your play
Your character is rarely alone, generally part of a company, as played by your fellow players, all seeking to achieve common or related goals. Listen to what people say about their characters and reinforce this directly through your character’s voice and actions. Have your character acknowledge and reinforce the strengths and foibles of the other characters. Is someone the ‘hottest pilot in the sector’? – give them the controls and don’t tell them the odds! Is someone a doomed champion of a forgotten god? – speak out their deity’s name as the horde descends, and put your faith in their axe. You will absolutely make the other players’ day.
There is something powerful about one player celebrating the truths of another player character. It deepens the sense of characterisation that you build together.
Lift up others.
6. If another player impresses you with their play then tell them!
Just as you may highlight another character in play, also celebrate another player as they produce imaginative, signature moments at your table. A cunning plan, a memorable speech, a niche rule well applied, generous play supporting other players at a crucial moment, a huge damage roll, the list is endless.
Your appreciation gives the group a boost, tells everyone what you like, and makes your friend feel on top of the world! It’s catching, they are likely to reciprocate. Your openness and generosity adds immeasurably to the enjoyment of the game.
Let players know when you enjoy their play.
7. Bring other characters into your spotlight scenes.
It can be quite difficult if your group is carrying a player who struggles to engage in the game, insufficiently active in the scenes that you are playing out. Encouraging such players through character interaction, may bring them to the fore and build engagement. Be supportive by making direct game suggestions to the player to bring them back into the play. At the same time, someone might just not be able to apply themselves this week, and needs a quieter session. Respect that.
In many ways, much more difficult is the hyper engaged, competitive, lone wolf player who is all about winning and being central to everything that is happening in play. That’s usually poor play. impressive play involves that strong commitment to the session, with highly engaged play, while also drawing others into their action and choosing to hand over to others at critical moments, so that the spotlight moves equitably across the group.
The lone wolf often has compelling backstories that they don’t want any other player to be involved in. Rubbish. If your character has a personal plot, a dark and moody secret, a long lost evil twin? Involve other players in your character’s personal problems! It is so much more fun.
It’s not just the responsibility of the GM to share the spotlight around during a session.
Share the spotlight.
8. Listen and revisit narrative elements through your play
Note the situations and character details provided by GMs and players throughout your game session. Reintroduce these details back into the game session through the words and actions of your character. When you do this you reinforce the fiction that they have introduced, make it even more real, and support other players’ characters so that they can shine.
People love feeling that you have listened, remembered and thought their idea was so good that you brought it back into play. This makes the game world feel richer as well.
Listen to others and incorporate their play in yours.
9. Be mindful of what your other group members bring to the table
We all bring somewhat different needs into a game session and a good player will be both vigilant and respectful of that.
Use CATS, Lines and Veils, and Session Zero to work out what your fellow players are looking for. Collectively, these tools provide a neutral framework to set out a group contract on the content to be included in your game sessions. It won’t be flawless, but provides you with the narrative landmarks to stay vigilant on the content you can introduce. A game is rarely so narrow that you have to include the one thing someone said they really hate.
Play safe.
10. Understand your group dynamics
Be an active collaborator in hitting the right atmosphere at the right time. If you are in a tense and dramatic scene then lean into this, be alarmed, focus on the moments, and respond accordingly. When there are moments of light-hearted fun, possibly breaking out of character, transition to that, and be ready to switch again when the game focus moves back to play.
This may not be instinctive for you, not everyone can pick up on the tonal shifts and react quickly to changes in the mood of the discourse. If you need to, ask another player to help you with this, providing a cue to help when those tonal shifts take place in the group dynamic.
Read the room.
11. Know when you’ve had enough
There is a rich variety to tabletop RPG gaming and styles of play. It is quite understandable that, sometimes, you can find yourself really not enjoying the game.
This realisation that the game is not for you can be for many reasons, and might come to you early in the game or after many sessions of play. This could be due to any number of reasons related to the game or to yourself. Perhaps a thoughtless player, a change in tone of the campaign, a feeling that you have had enough of the game, or a campaign that is significantly over running from its anticipated session count? People’s circumstances and needs change. Perhaps this regular commitment no longer fits?
The convention game you’ve arrived at might just not gel with you at all, despite the game system and the promotional blurb. If there are enough players left to make a viable game, then sometimes it might be necessary to stand up, apologise (British), say the game is not for you, and leave.
As difficult as this is (at least for me!), it is perfectly OK to leave a game if it is not for you. It is better for you to get up and go and prevents you from inadvertently dampening everyone else’s fun (if there is any!).
Know when to leave.
GMs and players alike will be hoping to get into groups with players who live and breathe these (and other) good practice aspects of play. How did you get on with these? Find some of these instinctive? Others a work in progress? Perhaps check in with a trusted gamer friend and see where you could ‘up your game’!
We are always able to improve how we play. These 11 principles pick out some key areas, and there are so many more. Play, reflect, and play again.
Let’s summarise:
- Apply yourself.
- Learn the game.
- Play to the premise of the game.
- Be your character.
- Lift up others.
- Let players know when you enjoy their play.
- Share the spotlight.
- Listen to others and incorporate their play in yours.
- Play safe.
- Read the room.
- Know when to leave.