What is roleplaying?

Roleplaying is making fictional decisions in a fictional scenario.

In the context of roleplaying games, roleplaying is making fictional decisions in a fictional scenario for a fictional character based on what the player believes the character would do.

Why do we roleplay?

Improvising exciting or funny stories is fun.

Practicing responding to hypothetical situations is educational.

Who can you roleplay as?

You can roleplay as anyone in any situation. In roleplaying games, players often get to create the character they will play. This can be an idealized or exaggerated version of themselves, inspired by a real person or a fictional character that the player finds compelling, entirely random, or wholly opposite to the player in personality or values.

Types of Characters

The kind of character a player chooses indicates what the player is looking for in the game. Playing an ideal version of yourself, or a character you find compelling in a fictional world is a common fantasy. Playing an exaggerated version of yourself can be funny. These are easier because it’s not hard to imagine what you or that compelling character would do in a fictional scenario. Playing a character different from yourself is more challenging. A random character may have to be entirely improvised or “discovered” during play, making it likely to be a fictional extension of yourself. A character opposed to the players’ values forces the player to make decisions that feel strange but allows the player to experience a different perspective.

Making Decisions

The heart of roleplaying is making decisions. It’s a mixture of what the player thinks the character would do and what the player wants the character to do. Many hobby role-players make sub-optimal decisions for their character based on what they think the character would do and consider making strictly mechanically optimal decisions meta-gaming. In educational exercises or improvisational comedy, it’s better to make choices that are likely to succeed or be humorous. I would argue hobbyists should also make decisions for the character based on what the player (or the table) thinks would be fun. A good role-player sometimes makes sub-optimal mechanical choices for narrative reasons. It’s also fun to make sub-optimal narrative decisions to create more interesting and challenging situations for the character to be mechanically optimal.

A character that favors their family weapon in a personal fight, even if it’s mechanically inferior to the one they found last session is a good story. A group of ragtag misfits that pull off a heist even though some aren’t very stealthy and others are morally conflicted is a great story.

Allow your character into sub-optimal situations where they can shine. The greater the challenge, the greater the glory.