05-26-2003, 11:06 PM
Here's my main advice for roleplaying in these games: write about your characters! Try to give them some real background leading up to the point at which the game starts. Flesh out at least in your mind what the character's personality is like: what do they look like, sound like, how do they greet a stranger, etc? As you plan your character's skills/spells/profiencies, create strong tie-ins between your character's background and his skills. In games like Baldur's Gate where you have some flexibility on how to complete quests, choose what your character would do instead of what would benefit your character the most. Then when something really funny or noteworthy happens in the game, take a few minutes after your done playing and write about it in character in the form of a journal entry,letter, or bar tale/song.
To me, writing in character is the best way to avoid falling into the trap of {pump the best stat, choose the best dialog, use the best item, end up with the same character I've played 20 times before}.
As for the hardcore stuff, some of it can help to make each game unique. If you take your stats at random instead of rerolling for the best of everything, you might have a peculiarity to your character that you can incorporate into his story. If you allow NPC deaths to be permanent in a game like BG (certainly not recommended unless you've played through the game many times), it can change the way your character's story plays out by forcing him to adjust. But these things on really on the periphery to the main issue, which is that you can't roleplay unless you really *know* your character.
To me, writing in character is the best way to avoid falling into the trap of {pump the best stat, choose the best dialog, use the best item, end up with the same character I've played 20 times before}.
As for the hardcore stuff, some of it can help to make each game unique. If you take your stats at random instead of rerolling for the best of everything, you might have a peculiarity to your character that you can incorporate into his story. If you allow NPC deaths to be permanent in a game like BG (certainly not recommended unless you've played through the game many times), it can change the way your character's story plays out by forcing him to adjust. But these things on really on the periphery to the main issue, which is that you can't roleplay unless you really *know* your character.