Player Advice: Other Characters are Important Too

By D. Fleming

The vast majority of advice on how to play TTRPGs is geared towards running the game. Game Masters tend to be worried about what they can do to make their game better. They usually spend much more time than the players working on the game away from the table. Preparing the story, the dungeon, the battles, and the NPCs all fall on their shoulders.

But when a PLAYER goes out of their way to improve the game? That’s a recipe for an epic, fun, and memorable campaign. If you’re a player and you’re reading this, you’re already one step ahead of the pack! Thank you, and welcome to RPG Counterpoint. Here’s your next instruction:To improve the experience of everyone at the table, get invested in the other players’ characters, not just your own.

In general, people love talking about themselves. If you want to get to know someone, ask them questions about their life and things they care about, and just listen to them talk. I find this is even more true when you ask someone about their TTRPG character. When the other player figures out that it’s not just them and the GM that cares about their character’s story and skills, they get even more invested. They may even reciprocate, asking you questions about your character. However, some might find it difficult to get invested in a character that isn’t their own.

How can you get invested if it’s not your character? What if you really don’t care about the other characters? One way around this is to “fake it till you make it.” Ask the player questions about their character outside of the game. Or, even better, have your character ask their character about their backstory in-game. Where’d they get that scar? Who taught them how to use a sword? Why did they leave their home? It’s daunting to get that conversation started, but it becomes much easier once the ball is rolling. And who knows? You just might find yourself caring about what happens to someone else’s character.

If your playgroup doesn’t like roleplaying that much, you can show interest in other aspects of the character. If they pull off an awesome combo in combat, let them know how cool it was! Out of game, you can ask what their character build is. It might be something completely new to you.

There are also some things NOT to do, like telling someone what the optimal combo is. Let them figure it out on their own. Remember the moment you realized how cool your favorite combo is? Would you have wanted someone to tell you, or are you proud of having figured it out yourself? If you just tell the player what the best option is without them asking, it could drive a wedge between you instead of making everyone more invested.

Most TTRPGs create a story about a group of people that become friends by experiencing joys and horrors together. That doesn’t work if the characters don’t care about each other. Show that your character cares about the other party members, and everyone at the table will become exponentially more invested. As the party grows closer, so will the players at the table. So long as you have these friends, everything will be okay.

About the Author:

From Saint Paul, Minnesota, Dennis Fleming started running TTRPGs in 2014. An avid player and GM, he has been in several streamed Actual Plays and has his own TTRPG YouTube channel, Okayest DM and his other projects