How to Play Good: The Next Part

What with releasing Toxandria and everything (you didn’t notice?! GO SEE!), we kind of dropped behind with our How To Play Good series. Let’s make up for lost time!

First up: Be Ready to Go on Your Turn!

This is an extension of having good fundamentals and paying attention.

When you get the ball, have a play in mind. Pay attention to what your fellow players are doing so you can anticipate a course of action when your turn comes. Pay attention to the battle map (if your group uses one) to know who’s where.

It often happens that you develop an awesome plan and the player who goes before you does something which makes your plan non-viable. That’s not an excuse. If you’re actively paying attention, engaged with what’s happening, chances are you’ll still have some idea of something to do, even if that’s just firing your crossbow at the bad guys.

Being unprepared slows play. Strive to avoid it! Sometimes you’ll get stuck sure, but you should always try to be ready when your turn comes up.

Here’s a great method you can use to help: Make a list of things your character can do.

If you have trouble getting your character involved, refer to your list. It’s common to create intricate, subtle characters who make little impression in the game itself. The characters exist on the page, but have a hard time making the leap to the stage where a game’s action happens. Here are some things you can do to correct this:

• List three things your character will do whenever possible.
• Review the list at the beginning of each session.
• Pick the thing that best relates to what’s happening in the scenario.
• Do the thing.

If you can’t quite do the thing, try to manipulate events in the story so you can do the thing. Communicate privately with your GM if you must, but it’s better to work together with your fellow players to make the thing happen.

Memorable characterization occurs when a character actively moves the story in a new direction, not when he fails to act or prevents others from acting. Let’s go to a Joss Whedon Firefly character for an example of this: Jayne Cobb.

In the episode “Ariel,” Jayne sells out Simon and River to the Alliance. The party’s quest is a simple “out and down” dungeon crawl, where they’re supposed to be stealing medical supplies. As a side quest, Simon takes River for a diagnostic, with Jayne providing security. Somewhere along the way, Jayne calls the cops, everything goes sideways, and drama ensues.

Caveat: Don’t spring that on the other players! Work it out ahead of time, at least the basics. Hanging your fellow adventurers out to dry is a total dick move. Work with the other players (and your GM) to develop an outcome that doesn’t breed resentment. Remember how “Ariel” ends!