Transcript
Speaker: with the coachman
Speaker: D20 Radio. at Your game is rolled.
Speaker: How will We Roll Gaming is dedicated to spreading enjoyment of great role-playing games. We hope to bring you insights into games you may not have played, tips to be a better game master and player, and share us stories of momentous events at our tables.
Speaker: Every game is a new story to tell. I'm Daryl. I'm Nick. And here's Robert. And this is How We Roll.
Speaker: Welcome back to the How We Roll Gaming Podcast, everybody. I hope that you have had an awesome two weeks since the last time we released an episode. Nick, Robert, how are you gentlemen doing?
Speaker: Doing well. This is Nick. I'm doing just swell, staying very cool in this devastating summer heat that we're all going through.
Speaker: ah Yeah, um I'm pretty sure we're getting close to eating the call in the ah cold miser for this one.
Speaker: Yes. Yes, I would love to call in the Cold Miser. um i would have loved the Cold Miser last Thursday. ah we we have kind of abandoned the whole what have we been doing this week segment, but really quickly, I attended, volunteered for to work at Rebel Scum Con, a local Star Wars convention, and I volunteered for setup day, not knowing that...
Speaker: volunteers at this con assist with vendor load So hauling loading pallets with the vendor's stuff from their trucks out on the street and bringing them in with a pallet jack through the dock in hundred and something degree heat for several hours.
Speaker: You were a trooper hero. I'm pretty sure someone who's like twice your age is going to that puts hair on your chest.
Speaker: I was definitely having a a Roger Murtaugh moment Thursday. Got a stockpile on water. Oh, i our volunteer coordinator was awesome. She was constantly bringing cold bottles of water out to us. And then those of us that those of us that went down in the first wave, ah she came down around...
Speaker: three o'clock-ish. We started around one. She came down around three, three thirty and grabbed us and like, I have four new fresh bodies.
Speaker: Go up to the volunteer room. You're done. That's someone who knows their job and cares about their people. me Yep. She was awesome. It was an amazing crew of people.
Speaker: And that's what you like to hear, especially if there's anything about conventions that I've always seen. It's like, when they're good, it's not just because they're efficient. It's because they they care about everyone.
Speaker: ah Con-goer, go or guest-in-service. Although something for us to think about for next year, potentially, and I haven't told either of you this yet, so your reactions will be genuine.
Speaker: They actually had a small gaming area. where they had where they had people teaching the Star Wars Unlimited card game. They had a couple of guys doing like miniature painting tutorials.
Speaker: And they had a ah few people running RPG sessions. um At least one or two of them from up are our friends and similar organization here in town, Forward RPG. Mm-hmm.
Speaker: So we might want to look into what it might take for us to run some games. at we opposed to that Rebel Scum Con next year.
Speaker: Or do or similar like yeah I'd be a bit open to this like a like yeah beginner games would be great for that.
Speaker: um i I briefly played... I was assigned to that section on Sunday. I briefly played in a a pickup game. Well, not really a pickup game. A a game of lasers and feelings.
Speaker: I've heard of that one recently. Which is... ah It's very rules-light. Yeah. It's very rules-light. ah but I've heard it's kind of similar to...
Speaker: and Not exactly, but like in terms of likeness, it's very similar to like ah the... ah I keep forgetting the name of it. That's... School... Schools... and The one on the...
Speaker: The one that other people, I completely lost it. I don't know. I don't know which you're talking about. am not following. But it was it was super rules light. um Basically, you have two sides. Lasers, which is anything kind of action-oriented. And feelings, which is anything character-oriented or social checks, things like that.
Speaker: And they're both, there's a single scale of two through five, and you choose a number on that scale. And if you're doing anything that is lasers, you're trying to roll below that number on D6. It all uses all D6s. You're trying to roll below that number to succeed.
Speaker: And on the feeling side, you're trying to roll a above that number to succeed. And the number of dice can be dependent on, know, you're making the check, of course. There's a die. If you're being helped, there's another die. If you have equipment, there's another die. Up to a maximum of like five or six dice. Okay. Okay.
Speaker: And since it was a Star Wars convention, We were all playing and Zelens. Nice. and And part of the character creation is, I don't know if this is part of the rules or if this is what he was doing for the game, but Robert, you'll love this part.
Speaker: He had random tables for the names. So we all rolled a D6 on random table for our names. we all rolled a D6 on a random table for the character type and for what our job was. The zoo?
Speaker: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Did that fall into temptation, Robert? Apparently, you he's throwing you to the dark side with with tables. and And random tables for the three pieces of of equipment, or the the three items.
Speaker: that we had.
Speaker: um hey From the look of it, it was a one-sheet rules rule set. Super rules light. If you happened to exactly hit the number, like, ah say, ice I selected three because my character rolled up to be the scientist.
Speaker: So most of what I was going to be doing was on the feelings side. And since I needed to roll above it, I wanted a fairly low number. So I i chose three.
Speaker: um And if if I had rolled an exact three, that's basically a critical success that lets you ask something of the GM.
Speaker: So I didn't get to play the whole game ah because um our our volunteer food showed up and I was hungry.
Speaker: But yeah, i I definitely need to find this game because I think our group of people would absolutely love it. Indeed. Indeed.
Speaker: We look forward to it. Lasers and feelings. It was a lot of fun. then again that that That does make me realize that the dark side doesn't need to offer you cookies or cool capes. It's just ah it' to offer you random dice tables.
Speaker: Robert, to turn you.
Speaker: I don't even dice tables. Just give me random tables. Yep. But then you'd also be like, ah you' you'll turn to the dark side, but you'd be like, you'd ask to flip a coin first.
Speaker: That's why I like Cyberpunk and The Witcher, because their entire character layout is, roll some die, and there's a table. Well, so i ah I realized that ah also along the lines of those random tables, Looking at the updates that I've been getting on the Justice League Unlimited RPG ah crowdfunding.
Speaker: Yeah, I've been at those too. That crisis table that I have in the quick start is just the crisis table for the quick start.
Speaker: It's growing. Because therere for stretch goals, they're adding... one-shot adventures and characters, you know, NPCs and things like that, each of which have their own crisis table.
Speaker: Like they unlocked the Joker the one. Oh, that'd be great. And the Joker has his own crisis table. I believe that there's a lot that the Joker has done. That the Joker can do.
Speaker: like and save us if we And save us if we get Emperor Joker again. yeah So, yeah. i I'm looking forward to that even more of Speaking of that, Lauren and I talked last week, and they already have their idea for my potential one-off or mini Lanterns campaign. Speaking of of the Lanterns show is coming out soon, and I'm really excited.
Speaker: We know you are, Nick. Yep, but that that's more the casual nerdy subject matter of casual nerdity. Our sister podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker: And speaking of podcasts, you got something to tell us, Daryl? Yes, we want to give a shout out to me and Steve Talk RPGs, another great show on the D20 radio network.
Speaker: I was actually a guest on the show again just a few weeks ago, talking with Steve about customizing published settings to make them your own. It was a great example of the kind of conversations that they have about making the games we play work for our individual tables.
Speaker: Dig into the idea, these experiences and challenges that come with playing and running tabletop RETs with plenty of practical advice and discussion along the way. It's the kind of show that can give you something that new to think about. And next time you sit down at a table, think about it.
Speaker: So if you're looking for thoughtful conversations about RPGs from customizing settings to finding new ways to approach your games, check out me and Steve Talk RPGs. Find them wherever you get your podcasts and check out their latest episodes from the D20 Radio Network.
Speaker: So let's get into our actual subject matter for this episode. ah Now, to give a little preamble, i don't know if any of our listeners have noticed, because if they're listening to the audio podcast, they may not have followed us on social media. We'll circle back to that at the end of the show.
Speaker: But if you follow us on if you follow us on social media or on YouTube, Since June, we've been releasing shorts under a minute with tips about different kinds of of elements of role-playing games. And one of the most popular ones, ah based on views, has been about role-playing and encouraging your players to role-play. So that's what we're going to be talking about tonight.
Speaker: Because a lot of people... joining the RPG community for the first time, sitting down at a table for the first time, seem to think that they're going to be expected to give an Oscar-worthy performance as their character. And that's kind of the double-edged sword. ah I'll go ahead and blame Critical Role.
Speaker: That's kind of the double-edged sword because it has hit the general public and it's popular with the general public. But those are professional actors. Professional voice actors who can do a wide range yeah of emotions and roles. right Theatrically trained trained theater kids.
Speaker: Yes. yeah We are going to tell you, you do not have to be a thespian level actor to play an RPG. And you don't have to then immediately become a purely role player.
Speaker: Yes, there are the other the other side of the table where people go there and expect that they're going to be rolling dice the entire time. Or yeah think that that's all they can do if they can't become a thespian.
Speaker: Exactly. In an afternoon over pizza. And you also don't have to be Mel Blanc. You don't have to be a versatile voice actor. You don't have to be a person of a thousand voices order do this. You don't have to be Troy Baker, Strong.
Speaker: you don't have to be a person of two voices. Yeah, you don't have to have the wide voice range of Gabriel Iglesias to play an RPG. Or Dee Bradley Baker, who can be the same guy, but different.
Speaker: He has a gift. a He deserves all the money. he's getting it Honestly, i'm I'm waiting for the game where he just voices everybody.
Speaker: Well, we have a show where he voices everyone except for one. So he's almost there. He is almost there. And he's in a game now coming out this coming out this month.
Speaker: zero company Yes, I'm going to hold off on playing that until I see more reviews. Everything that I've heard so far is it's great, but that's not what we're talking about.
Speaker: That's video game. XCOM on the brain. same sort Same type of system. But just as you said, you don't have to be a masterful actor, voice actor, ventriloquist, or throw your voice to be a role player.
Speaker: That would ventriloquism work in a game. Anyway, sorry. Going off on a tangent. Deception. Depending on the system, I would probably use deception.
Speaker: Like if it were Star Wars. Yeah. So to successfully deceiving your GM count is an automatic success. yeah But so... You'd have to f throw your voice. Encouraging role-playing at the table.
Speaker: getting Getting back onto track. Yes. Encouraging role-playing at the table. you First of all, and this goes for any kind of table, you you want to make the table a a place that your players are going to feel safe diving in, putting on that character's persona exact to do it. yeah like um It's easier with a group that of friends, but as has been met ben mentioned,
Speaker: That's not always a option, especially in joining in new... We're sort of approaching, mostly right now, at a new level. It's like getting comfortable with other people and seeing how to get used to each other can be a little bit daunting.
Speaker: Yes, and then you're expected to play somebody else with these people as far as your character is concerned, and that can always be... nerve-wracking and cause anxiety.
Speaker: Isn't it wild how that's something, role-playing like this is something that we all naturally do as kids? And for some reason, when we grow up, we become almost embarrassed to do it.
Speaker: Well, that's what happens when responsibility, school, the real world kind of just gets you. hits you right in the creativity and right where that part of you can just like forget for a moment that like i'm me and i can be anything now what i always try to do is i try to find a hook into the character that's gonna help give me an idea of their personality and like
Speaker: Robert, you and I actually mentioned this out loud a few sessions ago at at your Legend of the Five Rings campaign that I'm still trying to find... you know Granted, we're only, what, like four sessions in?
Speaker: Four or five. It's five. I'm still trying to find this character's voice. It's kind of a double-edged sword, no pun intended, but Legend of the Five Rings has an incredibly...
Speaker: detailed by design character creation system. Very rich. Very rich and extensive as we've all discovered. So it's given, it gives me a lot of things to work with. And if anything, I almost think it has given me too much to work with.
Speaker: that i I'm having trouble narrowing down, okay, which one of these things most informs his voice and how he interacts with people? Honestly, i want pick up on that. That's a fair thing to talk about.
Speaker: I want to pick up on that too. Same campaign. I think I made a rich and interesting character, but I always sort of, sort of aping off the idea that no no plan survives first encounter with the enemy. No character canuff can be fully formed until they hit the playing field. But I don't think I had my voice down until our so when Dante joined the game.
Speaker: Yeah, I did see you and he got into a rhythm with how your characters interacted. And I also think I like we are right yeah had a character that I liked, but I wasn't hitting off any, and I tried, again, to try and help with your situation, to try to interact with your character, but never sort of got... but Again, that's because I didn't know how to voice the character until Dante and other of our players got in there. It's like, now i I have everything behind the character that I like, and how I can...
Speaker: voice them the mannerisms the the the the verbal sparring not only that but i think where we are right now where you're actually interacting with your character's family like his little sister and his mother you will also kind of refined it a little refined it even more again not yeah again not at all criticizing the system which had amazing detail It just wasn't until these recent moments. I love the system, and I love the art they make. It's great.
Speaker: Keep doing it. but I can understand I was feeling the same sort of choice, for lack a certain choice, parallelization. It's like, what elements do I draw into? Until I was given a situation and a character that could really needle at me to like challenge it, that I was like,
Speaker: but like a furnace I was put into a to the to the hot seat. Yes, and I'll say, don't want to speak for you guys, but least for me as a GM, the fact that we run these games and sometimes have to juggle multiple multiple NPCs at once when we interact, and they have all, it some have distinct personalities, some don't.
Speaker: I find that helps me when I transition back into a player role because I've already done a wide range of personalities or personas or stuff like that.
Speaker: Yeah. And i'm I'm hoping that, see, i I've looked at the character sheet and the character creation sheet again, of the game of 20 questions. And I know the part that on paper,
Speaker: drives him the most and creates the foundation of his interactions with everybody else the most. But figuring out how that comes out in his personality is what's giving me the most struggle. But I am i am bound and determined to do it.
Speaker: and um'm Because I've learned that. I love the game. I can't wait yeah i don't think that's I think that's a probably like
Speaker: identifiable to a lot of people. but yeah like Once you get into something, you want to fine that. That's a sad idea. But it's like, be like, I like the character that I've created.
Speaker: How to role play them is what's they need to make the leap into, but it's like, they're not sure where that comes from. How to role play them rather than just saying,
Speaker: okay, my character says this, and then he's going to do this. Yes, and I'll say, as you're doing with Legend of the Five Rings, when we do your Walking Dead campaign, i really love Hank.
Speaker: So I really want to put into how he acts, mannerisms, who he cares about, the fact that he's saying wise things, But half the time, he's not really sure if they're actually wise things or just common sense. Oh, all of you are doing a phenomenal job in that campaign. That all of you and the way that you...
Speaker: so quickly took to all of your characters is what makes it so easy for me as the GM to just go into a session saying, okay, here's here's the hook of the session.
Speaker: Go. Well, it's mainly because it is like, and sort of the, it depends on the system or the storytelling. Walking Dead is a zombie apocalypse story.
Speaker: We literally, based off of AMC's The Walking Dead, there's there's nine seasons and about to be 900 spinoffs.
Speaker: But it's also the zombie apocalypse idea has been around since the late sixty s It's a storytelling trope that everyone it's a st storytelling trope that ever Just about everyone who's ever heard about like, who would you be during the zombie apocalypse? And like, what would be your archetype?
Speaker: Like, yes. And they're literally like called archetypes. It's like, you don't have a profession. You have an archetype. So the idea is pretty easy for you to get into. Like, even if it's like, all right, here's me If I was or or why And that's a good... that's Certain systems are great for that. Especially this one. is like It's like, okay, here's what if I was this type of character.
Speaker: Yeah, I'll say Walking Dead. and i also so feel Avatar does good with that as well. They basically have their roles as well. Well, technically we cheated. We're kind of spoiled with Avatar.
Speaker: We're kind of cheated with Avatar. They gave several games. We did because we we're using the pre-gens, and they are... they are i I stand by saying that they are the absolute best starter game pre-gens for any game that I have ever seen in my life.
Speaker: I have to agree. feel great Honestly, when i when I was reading them, it was like... Can we just have this have like a movie of these guys? Please?
Speaker: Please? Oh, yeah. Well, Paramount's getting back into it. Maybe they'll push them forward. Paramount. Not my biggest fan them. They already have the series after the next series in production.
Speaker: Yeah, they're at least doing something. and there is How do you feel about the movie aside... They're at least doing something with it. I mean, it can't... They can't... It already hit rock bottom when they when with Samal on it.
Speaker: Yeah, you you but that's a very nice low bar that you have to work to get under that. but Yeah, to actually try. For whatever it says, like, like oh, Korra is the worst part of this franchise? like no Back on track. We're we're not recording actual nerdity tonight. Well, I would argue what we were talking about, pre-gen characters, that's good, kind of a good intro into role-playing. Instead of going, starting with a session zero, have a one-shot with an already pre-designed one-shot with pre-gen characters. It tells you how they are, who they are, how they kind of act, and that could be a good practice.
Speaker: The great recent example is we recently did the Invincible by Free League League starter set. And you took to Rexplode really well.
Speaker: Yes, and I fully admit, I've seen scenes of it, but I haven't watched the show. But even so, I've seen. Or read the comics, so yeah. Or read the comics, though I've heard the show is much better to Rex than the comics.
Speaker: Oh, much better. much better. that And that kind of thing can be helpful, especially for a new player, because not only is that a pre-gen character, that is a pre-gen character that already exists in media.
Speaker: And one would presume that a new player is sitting down to play that starter game with the pre-gens because they are already somewhat familiar with and enjoy that source media.
Speaker: Yes. Be it, you know, invincible or, uh, the star Wars games don't really use the, the established main characters of movies, but it gives you an idea for what the archetypes are. The same with Avatar. You have an idea for what the archetypes are. Same with Alien. So that gives you a nice leg up in saying, okay. And it's of those the only advance that the quote-unquote having named quote-unquote
Speaker: characters is that they have usually a richer backstory and that someone who may not be familiar with them can be like you grasp onto Rexplode very well just by reading his brief blurbs. Yes, like I read his stuff, his personality. I'm like, okay, I can work with this.
Speaker: and And honestly, considering that he how little you knew, I was like, you did a great job. Well, and that's why one of the things that, and you've all seen this, um that I do this, one of the things that I like to do, especially if I'm having trouble finding a handle on a character, is i like to cast, air quotes doing heavy work here, I like to cast an actor as my character.
Speaker: um Yes. You know, I, one of my characters in a campaign of Star Wars that Nick has tried multiple times and has fallen by the wayside multiple times because it's a cursed campaign.
Speaker: ah It will rise again sometime. The character that I came up with, was like, okay, This character is a mix of Star-Lord and Owen from Jurassic World.
Speaker: It's your stereotypical Chris Pratt character. And that was my way in to him. Our Alien campaign, that our Colonial Marines campaign that's about to finish up, I cast Seth Green because that was the kind of attitude and voice that that I heard when I was creating the character. It really worked, especially because it went against eventual type as you were sort of saddled with more responsibility.
Speaker: Yes. And I myself, I'm really bad with act actor and actresses names. So instead of envisioning an actor or an actress, I just envision a character that I know from a show that's more of a broad thing. Like when I was, when I was doing,
Speaker: my Zeltron character in Galaxy's Edge, which is on a hiatus right now, I said, okay, it's a mixture between like Harley Quinn and Tyrion Kalos from RWBY. She's just crazy, sadistic, evil, but she can't help but for some reason like them, at least as as a character concept. You never want to see them in real life, but on the screen, you like to hate them.
Speaker: Oh, yeah. And again, like... well and That gives it to a good discussion of, like, playing against type as a person.
Speaker: True. Because... And granted, we're not saying the first time you play, be someone completely your antithesis. We're not saying that. But there are going to be some times where maybe you want to do that.
Speaker: Or that intrigues you and you want to try it out. yeah one of he said it's There's a reason why role-playing games are so integral and also have a place and also psychology and therapy. The idea that you can become another person in a safe environment. One of the most fun characters one of the most fun times I've had playing a character, I won't say the character was fun,
Speaker: was for our Star Wars Age of Rebellion special missions group because he was completely unlike most every other character that I've ever played.
Speaker: He was a spy who was a triple agent and found that the most expedient way to get the job done to take out the Empire for the Rebellion was just up-close wet work.
Speaker: And the moment... One of the most brutal characters. I still remember clearly the moment that cemented the way that character behaved.
Speaker: And... surprised everyone at the table because it was so against type for every character that I had ever played before. in that A village was being attacked.
Speaker: The village was run by basically a would-be warlord. And we were trying to convince him to use his forces to help repel the attack.
Speaker: And I successfully convinced him to do it. I think it was me that convinced him to do it with a social check. And as his soldiers rush off to join the rest of the group in repelling the Imperial Invaders... It's kind of Apocalypse Now, Heart of Darkness. yeah It was a tribal group that would have caused more harm if they weren't directed against the actual enemy.
Speaker: enemy and and me hi And so as they're running off to help fight the Empire, I stood next to him and I was like, put my arm around him. i I knew that you would come around and choose to do the right thing.
Speaker: And then I rolled a melee attack and slit his throat. Actually, I didn't even roll. You didn't even make me roll just because I did it so out of the blue. Yeah, the main factor was the fact that he was a villain.
Speaker: He was going to be a problem. He's basically Colonel Klink. He he had gone full like kt bananas. Colonel Klink would not have been a problem. You're right, Colonel Kurtz.
Speaker: And it was very much like, yeah, the he was going to be a problem, and the only reason you were able to talk him down is because That was the reveal of your story, but also I felt everyone didn't understand that at first they thought that you were bluffing.
Speaker: Because you were saying all the right things to get them to agree with you. And then they realized, yeah, you you were telling him the truth. I was. about not but Just not letting it's not about letting him control things.
Speaker: yeah Because again, he'd also done attacks around other abilities, and he would have been a liability, because he was a former rebel general who went all the way down. Yes, and I'll say for myself, the two most memorable I've done... two most memorable I've done is... well One was just something that happened in your... The Miserables limited campaign, Daryl. don't know. is yeah I decided I'm going to make a character that's a pacifist. He doesn't fight.
Speaker: Or at best, he does restraining stuff. And I don't know why it started going down this this let's train of thought, but I made him a pacifist kleptomaniac because he kept stealing stuff. stuff So much so. He could swallow things. that you you were looking at He was basically a cobra. so Or like a The sentient cobra, so I used it, and then... basically, I think it was, you were like, oh, I could store stuff in me.
Speaker: Yeah, pretty much. And that evolved into, like, I'm not gonna kill anyone. Yeah, i at best, I would, like, restrict them, like, wrap myself around them, and that's it.
Speaker: but you were in your own bag of holding. Yes. And my kleptomaniac got so much that I somehow got a Mandalorian Ironheart, and when you were trying to have like an Inquisitor cut through a through a vault, I kept putting it where the blade is. so Like, nope, nope, nope.
Speaker: And then somehow I got an animal contract for a giant mutated rat that has now been synonymous with our memories. it It wasn't somehow.
Speaker: It was a random table. it was Well, you chose what the beast would be. Because it just said I got like a beast license. yeah It was a beast license. What beast is on Coruscant?
Speaker: And the other character. Yeah, big rat. Stuart. My boy Stuart. Guilden Inquisitor. he like he he's He's one of the legends.
Speaker: If we ever make a pantheon, that should be a thing. Pantheon of PCs and NPCs. That can be part of our glory stories. Little trifecta. Mm-hmm.
Speaker: And then the other character, because i rarely I rarely play these, but kind of the boisterous, scoundrel, deceiving type is, of course, Verstanza. Verstanza.
Speaker: o Although one of one of my favorites that I'm enjoying playing right now is my character in your cyberpunk campaign, Robert. Daz is a lot of fun. I know that being a more social character in a more combat-heavy game makes it tough on you as the GM.
Speaker: I'm trying to make it work, and I think it's going well. oh But I am having a ton of fun playing her. Yes, and you've even said, because I kind of don't know what to do with your character, du you're kind of just free to interact with the rest of them however you want. I am just freestyling.
Speaker: and we love You're kind of the wild card, but also you're playing a rocker boy and yeah work was like the most iconic rocker boy all time is Johnny Silverhand.
Speaker: He's a wild card. But yet things like that, you know look at what look at what you've decided for your character. Look for inspiration in other media.
Speaker: Like we were saying, the Star Wars beginner games don't have the actual named main characters, but like Edge of the Empire has a smuggler.
Speaker: Well, just start off by playing Han Solo. And you'll be fine. And they have little traits and little pieces that you can like... there's ah But there's a whole lot of like you that you can put into those.
Speaker: Oh, absolutely. Or I found what's helped is if you're not doing a one-shot with pre-gens and you actually are creating a character, just think over the past, don't know, week, month, if you've seen a show or a movie or read something, what character...
Speaker: just made you think, oh, you know, if I had the chance, i'd kind of want to play someone like that. And just go with that. Yeah, because let's let's be real.
Speaker: Every single GM and player at some point in their RPG career, we steal from other media. We shouted out me and...
Speaker: Well, you said tell the that's the secret. Nick, it's not a secret because what I was about to say is that up at the top of the show, we shouted out me and Steve talk RPGs. And a while back, you know one, two years ago, me and Steve talk RPGs. art Our friend Steve, one of the Steves, also had our friend Brev from the Movie Defenders on, who is also a GM and player.
Speaker: talking about that the topic was stealing from media as a GM. Imitation. I believe that was the exact title of the episode, stealing from media. I'm sure we could find it.
Speaker: It's worth a Google. It is not a secret that it's done. so and Now, the the boring thing to do,
Speaker: is to continually just play characters from other movies and TV shows with serial numbers filed off and not make them your own.
Speaker: Because that's good. That can be a good start. But if you keep doing it, you're really simply limiting yourself. You're consigning yourself to only basically Almost like reading prompts off a screen.
Speaker: But luckily, that's sort of where the fun of an RPG assassin comes in. You can know a character and be like, I'm going to play X character.
Speaker: But what if they encounter scenario Z? Something they haven't had to encounter. Now you as the player have to be like, oh how are they going to interact with that?
Speaker: I got to think them, and then then it becomes more you. and Yes, or or what happened to me so what's happened to me sometimes.
Speaker: I have a persona in mind or a character I'm playing in mind, and then something comes up in the session be like, oh, I want them to react this way, even if it doesn't follow my inner idea of what they look like.
Speaker: And some people may try to stop that, but no. Go for it. See where it goes. You may find that you like it and the people around you like it. Again, like, the biggest hurdle isn't being like, can I portray this character accurately?
Speaker: It's simply like, what does my character do? It doesn't matter if you're going to, like, be on the on the world stage or days or have like a funny voice or something like that.
Speaker: think most you are how are they going to, it could be just as simple as like describing opening a door. I guess like I push the button in or like, does your character have like a weird tentacle arm? It's like, I slime it onto there. Like that little bit makes the character yours.
Speaker: Thinking about things like that, At the beginning of Lasers and Feelings at the con, after we rolled up our characters, the GM had us go around and introduce our characters to everyone.
Speaker: And the second person who did, although this wasn't on their items list or anything like that, as he was describing the character...
Speaker: the GM asked, what's your character wearing? And that kicked off a description of what the character looked like, what they were wearing that fed into the character's personality.
Speaker: And then it was my turn to go. And I picked up on that and, ah Although I had no clothing items that were rolled up on my items list, I was a scientist. So I was wearing a crisp white lab coat that no matter what happened to me, it was always crisp, white, and clean.
Speaker: And one of the items that was rolled up for me was, I don't remember how it was worded. It was basically, you know some kind of, you know, visual aid device. And he you know gave me examples, you know, binoculars or a spyglass or things like that, which then, as I'm describing what the character's wearing, because I started thinking of kind of an eccentric personality based on the crisp white lab coat that always stays clean, that spyglass that I had originally written down transformed into a i started describing it as being a variation of the Ghostbusters goggles.
Speaker: Oh, yeah. But it just has one lens on it. And when he presses a button on the side, it telescopes out absurdly long. To be the spyglass. You understood the assignment.
Speaker: And... um yeah When you factor in that all of our characters were Anzelans, and for those who can't quite think of it, the Anzelans are like the the little mechanic guys from The Mandalorian Season 3 and the movie, or Babu Frick from Rise of Skywalker.
Speaker: Hey! Hey! And... hey hey and one of the other players, I forget what it was, actually how it was described on, oh, ah one of the other items that I had was um a a stick ah or a leftover meat stick.
Speaker: And so i I worked that into the character. That that that was kind kind of his fidget that he was constantly chewing on it. And so one of one of the other players...
Speaker: His Anzelin, I forget how it was described and when he rolled the item, but it ended up being a stuffed bantha, but it was to scale for an Anzelin child.
Speaker: So that it wouldn't be a you know like normal full-size stuffed Bantha like from the holiday special that was larger than the character. Although I think that would have been funny as hell. That would have been funny. Also, wouldn't that be scaled up to a Wookie child? That's even worse.
Speaker: A regular child? And then this train of thought leads me thinking to up just this week, the Star Wars Explained YouTube channel launched their actual play series on their new channel, Hyperdice, that one of the PCs is an Enzelent.
Speaker: hu and the And the player, it's actually kind of funny, he called himself out for it. He started off doing an Anzelin voice, and about halfway through the first session, it turned into Cartman.
Speaker: yes And they're like, you're just doing Cartman now. He's like, yes, I guess I am. It morphed into Cartman.
Speaker: But... yeah you guys home Yeah, he he did. It shifted into Cartman voice. Not necessarily Cartman personality, but it shifted into Cartman voice until he corrected himself.
Speaker: and so iway like And hey, that can also be a thing about encouraging own roleplay. If you start leaning towards something, lean into it.
Speaker: Mix and match. That would be a great title for this episode. Lean into it. i I had a similar experience at the Star Wars Celebration where it's like, I was i like i asked the DMs, do I have any armor? It's like, you have custom clothing.
Speaker: um What is that for the custom clothing? It's just custom clothing. Well, was playing a smuggler and I was already workshopping sort of like a cowboy voice. All right, it's full of rhinestones.
Speaker: do Do I recall you saying that the GM was a Fantasy Flight Games slash Edge Studio freelance developer Keith Kappel?
Speaker: Yes. i love and i And I used during the adventure, it's like, we need a distraction. We're on Scarif.
Speaker: You know, the sunny tropical world. Scarif? They're going to Scarif? but So I pop out of hiding, and I am the rhinestone cowboy.
Speaker: Literally creating Did you ride out on a horse in a star-spangled rodeo? Unfortunately, he did not allow that. Yes, because everyone knows Cowboy's preferred biome is tropical islands.
Speaker: But, I was like, in order to create a distraction to their forces, I stepped out into the sunlight to allow my all rhinestone outfit to just create a A big old beam.
Speaker: You became a disco ball. Yep. Well, and leaning into things that happen is how I have ended up with some really fun characters.
Speaker: ah Nick had one particular of force and Destiny character. campaign that you know i was having i was having a little difficulty know coming up with know what my character was gonna be you know to i was having trouble figuring out the hook for the character and his personality but as things started to go on he became batman and i leaned i leaned into the batman of it all and
Speaker: And Bailey, normally you're great at coming up with a concept, but we were... That was our night level campaign pain group five, which was and experiment.
Speaker: So a lot of things were going on. it's still one of our favorites. He was fun character. was a fun character before that. Yeah, fun character before that. But when you... work but when you' really grasped onto the voice. That's when I really allowed you to cater to it as well and really defined the character.
Speaker: So much so that at one point I said to Nick, I want Batarangs. And there was nothing equivalent to Batarangs officially from FFG yet.
Speaker: Nick statted some out. One of the next books that came out. I saw, again, I looked back it's like, well, there's technically not something in the books yet, but in Legends canon, there are the Rodian throwing knives, which are Batarang's plus.
Speaker: And then there's like throwing knives that ill automatically return. Yeah.
Speaker: And one or two later, FFG statted them. And it's like, they weren't too far off. Just an extra advantage to bring them back to you.
Speaker: Or I think another character you had you have, and Daryl is in our Hopeless Situation Warriors, Erichris, where yes I don't know if you planned for him to want to collect all the mecha war crimes, but that's who you are.
Speaker: No, i I didn't set out planning that the first time or two. It just made sense, given that he's an artificer. It made sense.
Speaker: And you were specifically, you didn't say that. I want to take this and I want to tinker with it. And you specifically said that you were part of the Artifice House, House Ganon. It's like, you know the things, you know the stuff, but you aren't a noble of the house. You don't have the mark, but you're a tinkerer. You had that in that as well. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah. And I didn't, also didn't plan. Oh, go ahead. I was just going to say, the the first time or two, was just like, oh, let me go ahead and take this back and tinker with it.
Speaker: And then we started encountering larger and larger and larger Warforged and other constructs.
Speaker: And
Speaker: made role to actually here they developed I actually made the roll to get the Warforged dragon after we drove the evil essence out of it.
Speaker: So now I'm trying to figure out how to reactivate it without that. and And yeah, that started the collection of war crimes. Yes, and I... i so but then i fear what you will create at the end of this campaign from your collection. He's going to be ready for that moon. Yeah.
Speaker: That's right. i I am going to build a super laser. Yes. Because I already have a Star Wars DL fan. Oh. Oh.
Speaker: Robert. Yes. don' Don't let Nick hear me say this. Nick, go away. We're on the call. Mute your yourself. Don't let Nick hear me say this. we We know since Nick is planning on us, we know that Nick is planning on us getting to level 20 in this game, right? He is.
Speaker: No, this is just between you and me. Don't let Nick hear. So... There's nothing I can do to stop this. Next year, they're releasing the Star Wars crossover books.
Speaker: i I can make Star Wars stuff. beyond the DL-44 blaster that Nick already let me have just by re-skinning the laser gun from Eberron Renewed.
Speaker: Or not Eberron Renewed, Rising from the Last War. Eberron Renewed is another great podcast on the D20 Radio Network. which i have But, yeah, the Star Wars book or books will be coming out.
Speaker: You have access to Slim Shady. He is a multi-universe crossing merchant. I can pull stuff out of the Star Wars book when it comes out. You know, I had absolutely no reason to even want to buy that book, but now I do.
Speaker: great. And then my own character in that campaign, i didn't plan for some of the stuff he does, because We've talked about him before, Gundar. He is due to ah bad past and some actions he did.
Speaker: you personally cannot physically feel anything. he has to give his own journal for like, you need to eat, you need to sleep, you need to drink water, you need to go to the bathroom. Basically stuff like that.
Speaker: And i initially envisioned him, and I think he's still kind of this, of kind of a scarred man looking to be better than he was, but never believing he actually can be that better person deep down.
Speaker: But he still tries. Even evidence of the contrary. But the times that Nick makes my character feel something because of his connection to that demonic black dragon that that he's connected to because the eye, he goes completely out of character because he can feel something.
Speaker: And just in my head canon, someone who's gone... like a decade or so without feeling anything, suddenly feeling anything, even if it's immense pain, it's just enough to break his character. And he's just like, yes, yes, I can feel this.
Speaker: Give me more. we And I'm going to be completely honest. The eventual, which is yes, eventual confrontation with that black dragon.
Speaker: is going to be the most on you. I have no idea how your characters would react. I have no idea how that's going to go down. so excited for it. There's much that you can do with it. need to figure out how get my Warforged dragon up and running before that fight.
Speaker: Ooh. If I ride in on a metal dragon. Ooh. I like that. tur oof And you know, we're going to Sharn we're going to a university museum slash library.
Speaker: Who knows what's in there? we We're already going there to steal stuff. Don't tell Nick. Don't let Nick know that we're planning this. He's not going to know a thing.
Speaker: I'm sorry. I was i couldn't hear over over over over a drink over my drinking of Gatorade. We're We're we're we're making or making Nick drink. You know, we we have a shirt in our merch store that says, I'm why my GM drinks.
Speaker: Yes. Well, yes, everyone needs electrolytes from Gatorade. Yes, because that's why you have all that Gatorade, Nick. Just yeah for the electrolytes. Just Gatorade.
Speaker: Nothing else. not not Not mixed with anything else. Because that would be demodifiable. um But just just a quick aside.
Speaker: While we were talking, I went back and looked. That me and Steve episode with Brev is titled In Defense of Movie Thievery. And it is from January 28th of 2025.
Speaker: okay if we If we do an entire episode about stealing stuff, we need to call call it You Wouldn't Download a Car. Oh. And in the spirit of that title, I'm going to steal an idea that I heard. Because someone brought up something about like classical vampires.
Speaker: um they can't They can't be seen in mirrors or like they don't cast reflections. They can hypnotize people. They can turn into smoke or bats and go through stuff. so Where's my all vampire heist movie where they're robbing a mausoleum for their old stuff?
Speaker: Robbing the British Museum. Because then you could be vampires being like... Robert? Yes?
Speaker: You and I run... Now, granted, this is not as cosmic as usual, but you and I run Monster of the Week Delta Green interludes in our campaign.
Speaker: We do, we do. Night at the museum. hey Yeah. Or hey, if we ever actually wanted to do something with Vampire the Masquerade.
Speaker: Well, the traditional vampire rules do not apply to those vampires. True, true. You're right. It would have to be something else. It just stuck with me. It's like a group of vampires just robbing a museum to get their old stuff back.
Speaker: Now, see, if you want to apply the vampire rules from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it's not that vampires don't photograph. They just don't photograph well.
Speaker: There are multiple night guards if one of them is a werewolf. and it's a full moon. Or another idea I heard is that you know vampires can't go in without being invited in. did vamp Are vampires the ones who created the welcome mat?
Speaker: Because that bypasses the invitation rule. Honestly, that's a pretty fun fun... It's like, well... You put out the welcome mat. This is a welcome home.
Speaker: But it's like, this is your home. Oh no, that's... That's just the situation with the homeless situation lawyers. mean, like, well, technically you put out there, but it it says home. That's not his home.
Speaker: I was... She kicked me out, but by my stuff is still in there. But, yeah, we've ventured back off the path again.
Speaker: but Well, I think that... I think a good turnaround like... We've explained how there's different ways to roleplay, to lean into parts of the roleplay and bits and parts like that can be like how you get into your character, how you how do you expand them. It's like, oh, it's a little bit of a joke or like or it's like, no, that's something I'm interested in. That's expanding. That's building a character almost as much as like,
Speaker: writing down on on a character seat. It's like every little bit is like, hey, I remember this part and that's part of my character.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, we we always joke that most of the players, if not all of the players in our group, live and die by the bit. But little comedic bits have... Well, and they have led to some of the...
Speaker: most persistent character traits of some of our characters. Sometimes they start off small and like, oh, like, when you first were doing your, your Weckworks character, we kind of treated a little less seriously until that moment you said.
Speaker: When you truly became a cold-hearted Weckworks agent, but you were doing like stuff like that. It's like, Yeah, but you had like a little bit of comedic tone because they weren't important characters in the scene.
Speaker: That moment really cemented your character, but it's like, took a joke and turned and bit and turned it into an actual character moment to define them.
Speaker: Yes, and that's another way you can encourage roleplay when someone has that like shock scene or get into it scene. celebrate with them. if they do something great or cool or just something memorable, it's like, wow, that was really fun or great, or you really got into it, man.
Speaker: And again, like characters could react like shocked, scared, but also again, this is a game. There's a layer to it.
Speaker: And I you can pull back and be like, Oh wow. did Are you guys okay with that? It's like, When we were playing playing some games early on, and I feel bad forgetting the player, but when they had an argument with you, you, Daryl, during the Corellian game.
Speaker: I was just about to mention that, that he and I were riffing off of one another in character, and the characters didn't mesh.
Speaker: He and I are great friends. But the characters weren't meshing and we were going back and forth and I could see that Nick was getting uncomfortable.
Speaker: And so i you kind of, you know, time out. Time out. Nick, we're role playing. and that that help And I could see the relief flood you.
Speaker: Really because you were working way too well. and i and ah But it helped. And I wish they did continue with the rest of that campaign. But it's like, for what we did have, after that moment, it's like, I appreciated the intensity that you as two players could create.
Speaker: yeah I just needed to recognize that, like, okay, this isn't as intense as it is. Yeah, so I think there's been a few times Dante and I have gotten into it that you've kind of been like, you guys are still role-playing, right?
Speaker: Yeah. We're just like, this is good fun. Again, you guys are great. I'll admit that I've seen the bad results, but it was very extreme bad results.
Speaker: And I've been wary of it. Also, I'm not the best at social cues. So i've made a i but I've helped build them up through this through the entirety of roleplaying, seeing different social cues. And I've gotten better. like Okay, it's like... That's what this is for. ad That's what it is. like andre like Calm down. tea.
Speaker: let's ah let's take a peg a tea Well, one thing that I've noticed is you know we we've ventured off of the path of our discussion quite a few times while we're sitting here recording tonight.
Speaker: But I think that is indicative of the fact that it's happened because we have been talking about characters that we did get into and either playing them or observing the others playing them we have enjoyed and they've made an impression and it has led us to you go off on little tangents that are that branch off of memories of those characters it is and none of us are professional actors no none of us are voice actors no
Speaker: ah sometimes I am lucky to string a coherent sentence together while we're sitting here recording. The best acting job, that the only acting job ever had was as an extra on my my school's performance of Aladdin.
Speaker: Yeah, the only thing I've ever done on camera, like actually playing a role, was elementary school. I did KK News.
Speaker: where I was an anchorman. Okay, so I was a high school theater kid. but i was bit i was I was a big player for the high school theater kids. and Oh, you got one of those cool cool kid news.
Speaker: That's pretty cool. I was on my own desk and everything. Oh, did you have a tie? I think I did have a tie.
Speaker: But just you you you don't what we've been trying to emphasize throughout all of this is that you don't have to be a professional. You don't have to be one of the cast members of Critical Role.
Speaker: You can just have fun with your fellow players at the table and your GM. Just find a way into your character and relax and lean.
Speaker: Like we keep saying, lean into it, lean into the thing that makes that character interesting for you to play. That's the most important part. It's like, it could be just like how you choose see,
Speaker: the way it's in. It's like as simple as like, oh, I'm going to open the door. It's like, no, I'm going to slam the, going to like rip the door open.
Speaker: Yeah. Just you figure out simply how are your character would do stuff. and Yeah. stuff You know, and the more comfortable you get, the, you know, maybe try out a voice if you want to, or an accent or whatever.
Speaker: but The more to distinct voice is how you play the game. How you say it's like, oh, I'm the big tough orc, but you just say like, I gently opened the door.
Speaker: That's fine. I broke too many. Or you could be be like this the Hobbit who's like, I'm going to do a flying kick and just kick down the door.
Speaker: thought That's an accident, but still like That's defining a character, how they do stuff. And, you know, maybe, you know, throw throw something at one of your players to get a reaction out of them. you know, maybe something like Squirrel!
Speaker: What that? You know, like a squirrel, huh? you started out those species yet? ah but No, i haven't had a I haven't had a chance since we recorded. I'm pretty sure that that didn't exist there. I'm pretty sure, like, you did you hit your head a couple days ago? art are you something for you No, Nick, I even still have the book sitting right next to me from West End that I can adapt from.
Speaker: Yes. See, I still have it sitting next to me. I'm showing it to you on camera. I've never seen that. o So, I need to stat them out for for FFG Edge, and i need it I have been instructed by Stephanie that I must stat out Anzelans as a p playable species.
Speaker: was going ask that because I have an idea for... A fun one-shot concept. Tiny players. All silhouette zeros.
Speaker: We may not get our all Jawas, but we'll get our all Anzalans. Or at least all Silzeros. Yes. And with with with that kind of group makeup... They shenanigans once, they'll shenanigans. True Vax and...
Speaker: I believe that is a shirt that you can pick up on our merch store. Yep. think it it might be time to say all of that stuff.
Speaker: Have we bullied Nick? We haven't really bullied Nick enough. True, true. We could just report him to his HR department.
Speaker: Yes. We'll report him to his HR department. Nicole's asleep right now. I mean, that we don't have to do it right this second.
Speaker: Yeah, we're going to see you soon. Yeah. All we have to say is you're... Now, yeah which which would which would be worse?
Speaker: And I know the answer to this question, but I'm just saying it for funsies. Nick's HR department or reporting him to Dolores Imperial HR, who we saw at the con.
Speaker: He would enjoy the second one, so it's got to be the former. Stephanie got a citation from Dolores at Imperial HR.
Speaker: She got a citation from Dolores for having fun on the job. yeah Yeah, Nick would enjoy that too much. It's got to be the former. Yeah, we're going to report him to his HR. Yep.
Speaker: we just got We just got to tell her that...
Speaker: Nick's not going to feed her anymore. ni Nick's hiding cookies from you. Yes. Which he actually is. Because we know where the Girl Scout cookies are. Yes.
Speaker: Nick is silent. Nick is living in fear. So, we have sufficiently bullied Nick. All good. Yeah. like but The headache is closing. are So, head on over to HowWeRollGaming.com, your central hub for everything How We Roll Gaming. You'll find details on our current campaigns, our full podcast archive, plus quick links to our merch store, and all our social channels so you can stay connected wherever you hang out online.
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Speaker: um I'm not making a joke right now. It's already looking over from my staircase right now at me. And you said she was asleep.
Speaker: Right. yeah She heard us.
Speaker: And finally, we want to hear from you. We've got questions you want to tackle, topics you'd love to see on the know or it a legendary RPG glory story of your own in this year, drop us a line at podcast at howwerollgaming.com.
Speaker: Reread everything and your message might end up in the show. So until next time, give your character a chance to speak and see where it takes the story.
Speaker: Until then, Daryl. I'm Nick. And I'm Robert. And this is How We Roll. This episode of the How We Roll Gaming podcast is copyright 2026, How We Roll Gaming, LLC.
Speaker: All games and associated intellectual properties are copyright their respective owners, and How We Roll Gaming makes no claim of ownership by discussing them here.
