High Level Games
High Level Games
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Store
    • Storytellers Vault Products
    • Fantasy Adventures
    • DMs Guild Products
    • Snowhaven
    • Army Men
  • Podcasts
  • Video
  • Trusted Resources
  • Join The Team
  • About
  • Contact
    • Star Trek Adventures
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Store
    • Storytellers Vault Products
    • Fantasy Adventures
    • DMs Guild Products
    • Snowhaven
    • Army Men
  • Podcasts
  • Video
  • Trusted Resources
  • Join The Team
  • About
  • Contact
    • Star Trek Adventures

Welcome to the High Level Games Blog, News, and other stuff to take your games to the next level!

Best Selling RPGs - Available Now @ DriveThruRPG.com

4 Things You Can Do To Get Out Of The "Always Playing The Same Character" Rut

30/3/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
​It's really easy to get stuck in a rut, especially if you're a new player. When I fist began role playing, the first few games I played I had, essentially, the same character in every one. In one game it worked really well, but it wasn't long before my group, and our usual DM especially, got frustrated with me. Even looking back at some of my more recent games, after a 3.5 year break, I feel like I was still stuck in the rut with a few of my characters. So here are a few suggestions for what a player can do to keep from getting stuck in a rut, or to get out of that rut:
 
1. Someone creates a character for you.
One of the characters that I enjoyed playing the most was one that my DM had created. My three past characters had been male fighters or Knights. Imagine my surprise when the DM hands me a female mage. Yes, it was a challenge, but looking back, I enjoyed playing the character and it did stretch me into playing a completely different character. No longer could I run into a fight, sword blazing, now I had to stand back and think a little bit more. The character had to change too, no longer a good, tough guy, but I was inspired to go with a "valley girl" type of character with some questionable, and sometimes contradictory, morals. There have been other games where the DM made the characters for me, and every time I've had more fun playing them than characters I had created myself.
 
2. Pay attention to your dice.
This can be the hardest one to follow through on, but the best players are able to roll with their dice (I know, that one was pretty bad). We've all been there, you want to make a Rogue, but you just rolled an 8 on your dexterity, or a fighter and got a 10 on strength. Well, there goes that pipe dream. Now what? The temptation would be to force it, see if the DM will let you switch your stats around so you can salvage your dream. Or, you run with what you've got. Maybe you've got a great intelligence, or charisma. Ever tried being a bard? Neither have I, though I've heard it can be amazing fun. Or perhaps you become a Mage. Right away, the character that you always played is completely changed and something new and exciting can step forward. Now, this does mean that you have to listen to those dice that just killed your character, and you’ve got from the time that you created the character sheet to your first game to flesh out the character a bit. A challenge? You bet, but come on, you can do it. It all starts with that back story (and we’ve got another post in the archives that can help with that too). Don’t be afraid to go in a completely new direction, you never know, you might actually like what comes out of it all.
 
3. Ignore your favourites.
I know you really love swords. And I know you love calling on the animals to do your every bidding. But this time ignore it all. It doesn't exist. Picture just a big white space where those options are in the book. Don't even look at them. You're working on something new, remember? Go with a character that has completely different items, weapons, spells, etc. This gets you into a different frame of mind, out of your comfort zone, and now you have to figure out how your character is going to use these things, what kind of temperament that's going to mean for him or her. I used to pick fighters all the time. The first game I played was called Rifts (a Palladium RPG, if memory serves), and I picked a Cyber Knight (I wanted to be like a Jedi). It didn’t go so well, by the way. I was told Cyber Knights are hard for rookies to play for a reason. Then I was a fighter in a D & D game. Then, it was a monk, in D & D 3.5. A little different from a fighter, but still a fighter. So next time, I went off the grid, a cleric. This guy wasn’t going to be a meat shield, a big fighter, or stuck in that “strong, silent type.” He was a spell caster, a healer, with some combat skills, yes, but he couldn’t even last one round against a paladin. He was a rotund spiritual leader with bad breath (like really bad, and he always stood close to talk to you) and chanted his spells. I enjoyed that character, and it got me into new territory that I hadn’t treaded before.
 
4. Read, read, read, read. Read books a lot.
You can find so many characters in those books. Good writers will provide you with a wealth of characters that you can imitate and draw from. This has the advantage that you don’t have to come with something all on your own. You don’t have to re-invent the wheel, if you want to look at it that way. You can find a character right there in the pages of a book and plop him into your game. I found character in reading that I would love to play. He’s a wizard, but not the brave, “I can face anything with my strength of will, intellect, and quick thinking” type of wizard. No, this wizard’s a klutz, his feet are too big for his body, he’s uncoordinated, he’s bashful, he’s got absolutely no confidence at all, and has a habit of fainting in pressure situations (like random encounters, or when challenged violently). Unfortunately, he’s a quite powerful wizard and usually finds himself the wrong place, at the wrong time in order to do just the right thing. This character is totally different from anything that I’ve ever played before and I would love to have the chance to put myself in that character’s skin.
 
You could do the same with TV, or movies, only there are likely to be a lot of people who will notice exactly what kind of character your playing, and who you’re basing that character of off. That can cause some groaners around the table, but if you can take it, by all means go ahead. But if the character is unique enough, and most of people at the table might not recognize him or her right off the bat, go ahead, give it a try. You might even find you can breathe something new and different into that character over time that makes him or her your own, and all of a sudden, you’ve got something incredibly brilliant.
 
I've always admired other players who can create so many characters that are all so different from the other. I’ve found that I’ve struggled with that, not just in my role playing, but in my writing as well. Thus, I've created these tips for myself in order to get me out of my own rut and into a new kind of character. That way people don't get bored playing with you or you yourself getting bored with gaming. And then, after a while, you can go back to your favourites and breathe new life into an oldie from times past. And if you find a character that your DM pulls out for another game, you know you’ve found a winner, and the group will love to have that character come back for one more game, one more adventure.

Savage Worlds: Fast, Furious, and Fun! - Available Now @ DriveThruRPG.com
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    All blog materials created and developed by the staff here at High Level Games 

    ​

    Picture
    Click here to support our community for as a little as $1.00 for exclusive content, free downloadable stuff, and even discounts on role-playing game items.

    Archives

    April 2023
    February 2021
    November 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016

    Categories

    All
    13th Age
    2d20
    2nd Edition
    3.5 Edition
    3Deep
    4th Edition
    5th Edition
    7th Sea
    Acquisitions Inc
    Actual Play
    AD&D
    AdventureLookUp.com
    Adventurers!
    Aether Sea
    A+ Fantasy
    After Collapse
    Alignment
    Amazing Tales
    Amazon
    Anima: Beyond Fantasy
    Anime
    Apocalypse World
    Atomic Robo
    Australian
    Award Winning
    Basic Fantasy
    Belly Of The Beast
    Big Eyes Small Mouth
    Black Lives Matter
    Black Void
    Blades In The Dark
    Blood Pangea
    Board Games
    Book Of Exalted Darkness
    BrigadeCon
    Burning Wheel RPG
    Call Of Cthulhu
    Capers RPG
    Casual Roleplaying
    Changeling: The Dreaming
    Chaosium
    Character Arcs
    Character Creation
    Chris Spivey
    Cinematic RP
    Classics
    Comic-books
    Conventions
    Corvus Belli: Infinity
    Crawl
    Creators
    Critical Role
    Cthulhutech
    D100 Dungeon
    D20
    D&D
    D&D Beyond
    Deadlands
    Defenders Of Tokyo
    Degenesis
    Detako Saga
    Discord
    DMsGuild.com
    Dnd
    Dndbeyond
    Doctor-who
    Double-cross
    Dread
    Dresden-files
    DriveThruRPG.com
    Dr. Who
    Dungeon Crawl Classics
    Dungeons
    Dungeons And Dragons
    Dungeon Slayers
    Dungeon World
    Dystopia Rising
    Encounters
    Era: The Consortium
    Era: The Empowered
    Esper Genesis
    Evil Hat
    Exalted
    Faith RPG
    Fandom
    Fantasy-age
    Fantasy-flight
    Fantasy Grounds
    FATE
    Fate Accelerated Edition
    Fate Core
    Fate Rpg
    Fate-rpg
    Final Fantasy
    Forgotten Realms
    Fragged Empire
    Free League Publishing
    Furries
    Game Design
    Game Lore
    Gencon
    Ghosts Of NPCs Past
    GMTips
    Golden-sky-stories
    GoodmanGames.com
    Grognards
    GUMSHOE
    GURPS
    GURPS Lite
    Halloween
    Harlem Unbound
    Harry-potter
    Hero Builder
    Heroes Against Darkness
    Heroes-unlimited
    HERO System
    High Level Games
    Historical Fantasy
    HLG Con 2018
    HLG Reviews
    Homebrew
    Humble Bundle
    Indie
    Interface Zero 2.0
    Interview
    Invisible Suns
    Japanese RPGs
    JRR Tolkien
    Kickstarter
    KoboldPress.com
    KULT
    L5R
    Lankhmar
    LARP
    Lasers And Feelings
    Legendlore
    Legend Of The Five Rings
    LexOccultum
    LOTR
    Low Magic
    Mage
    Mage: The Awakening
    Magic And Steel
    MAID
    Mayhem
    Mazes And Minotaurs
    Meikyuu Kingdom
    Mekton Zero
    Mental Health
    Middle Earth
    Mighty Narwhal
    Mini Six
    Modern Adventures RPG
    Modiphius
    Monarchies Of Mau
    Monsterhearts
    Monte Cook Games
    Morra
    Mummy: The Curse
    Mutants And Masterminds
    Mythender
    Narrative Games
    Nechronica
    Night's Black Agents
    Novel
    NPC
    Numenara
    Odyssey Of The Dragonlords
    One Shot
    Online Gaming
    Orun
    OSCRIC
    Osr
    OVA
    Palladium
    Pathfinder
    Pathfinder 2.0
    PbtA
    PDQ
    Pire: The Masquerade 5th Edition
    Play By Post
    Player Tips
    Podcast
    Powered By Apocalypse
    Power Outage RPG
    Preview
    Promethean: The Created
    Pugmire
    Pulp
    Puzzles
    Questlings
    Ravenloft
    Ravnica
    Red Markets: A Game Of Economic Horror
    Research
    Review
    Review Article
    Rifts
    Risus
    Role Play
    Roll20
    Romance Of The Perilous Land
    Ryuutama
    Satanic Panic
    Savage Rifts
    Savage Tokusatsu
    Savage Worlds
    Seeds Of Wars
    Setting
    Settings
    Settlement Building
    Shadowrun
    SIGMATA
    Snowhaven
    Social Combat
    Social Systems
    Solo Play
    Standard Roleplay System
    Star Trek Adventures
    Star Wars
    Storytellers Vault
    Suited RPG
    Summerland
    Supplements
    System Design
    Table Top
    Tabletop Simulator
    Tales From The Loop
    Tales Of Equestria
    Talislanta
    Tariffs
    Teenagers From Outerspace
    Ten Candles
    Tenra Bansho Zero
    The Dark Eye
    The End Of The World RPG
    The Great Long Dark
    The One Ring
    The Very Important Task
    Titan Effect
    To The Temple Of Doom
    Trial Of Cthulhu
    Trinity Continuum
    TSR Marvel Super Heroes
    Ttrpg
    Twitch
    USTR
    Va
    Valiant Rpg
    Vampire: The Masquerade
    Video Games
    Villian
    Volo
    Vs Ghosts
    Warhammer
    Warhammer 40K
    Werewolf: The Apocalypse
    Westbound RPG
    Wild West
    World Building
    World Of Darkness
    Writing Tips
    Year Zero
    Zweihander

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly