Beyond the Dice: Mastering the Art of Being a Great D&D Player.

Roleplaying games are unique in many ways. One thing that non-role-players often struggle to grasp is that there’s no ‘win state’— “You can’t win at D&D.” That’s the conventional wisdom. I respectfully disagree. If you’re having fun then you are winning. I have had my perfect elven ass handed to me on a platter and still won because I had a lot of fun while it was happening.  It follows then that if you ‘re not having fun, then you are losing.

Because it is such a deeply collaborative pastime, our fun relies entirely on our fellow players (I include the GM as a player for this example) we need them in order to have a fun time, and they need you.

Here are some things that you can do to become a better player, increase the fun of your fellow players and increase your own.

It’s vital that you are able to communicate, roleplaying games rely on you putting your ideas into words, and that you listen to your fellow players. TTRPGs in general are the most collaborative kind of game and good communication ensures that your fellow players and the GM all share expectations and that you all pull in the same direction.  Out of game, clear communication helps establish the tone, themes, and house rules, preventing misunderstandings that could disrupt immersion and spoil everyone’s fun.

Good communication starts at session zero, which is basically a meet up before the game starts where the GM outlines the intentions for the game in terms of theme and the kinds of things that the players can expect it’s also a good opportunity for the players to lay out a bit of a broad  outline of what their character is like.

During gameplay, it’s important to express your character’s actions, intentions, and even their motivations making sure that the GM can describe the world and how it reacts to the players actions. Good communication enables players to strategize in combat, solve puzzles, and roleplay engaging social interactions.

Because as a roleplay group you are part of as team, it is important that you arrive on time not only for your own enjoyment but for that of your fellow players. It’s not like there is a substitute bench that they can draw on if you’re late to the game and you should always bear that in mind.

I once played with a guy who was chronically late—canceling last-minute or showing up an hour late like it was no big deal. Eventually, he stopped getting invites. Not because we didn’t like him, but because the rest of us were sat there picking lint off our dice.

One important caveat here, is that that being late once in a while is not a ‘gaming sin’ but when you are late more often than not, then that could be a problem.

You should also have your own dice with you, some players can get really, really, funny about lending out dice and it’s best not to open up that can of worms.  Also, would it kill you to bring a can of Pringles?

One of the good things about roleplaying games is that in theory you can sit a veteran of 20 years next to a complete noob, have them both at first level, and they would be equally useful. In theory.  None of us are perfect though, and none of us can truly say they have an encyclopaedic knowledge of every race/class combination; however, it is vital that you at least know what your character can do. No one expects you to know the entire Player’s Handbook. But you should know what your class can do. Read your section, make a cheat sheet, or just keep notes handy.

It can be very frustrating for everyone if the game grinds to a halt during a frantic combat for a player to spend five minutes umming and ahhing, only to shrug and make a standard melee attack. 

Not all of us were born to be good at the rules side, and certainly there is more to roleplaying than rolls, but by knowing what you can do you are more likely to have fun around the table because it’s always more fun to be good at what you do than it is not to be.

Any player who has played with as wide a variety of players has encountered the common or garden ‘glory hog’; the guys who always gobble up the spotlight and don’t give anyone else a chance to shine, now this can be partly on the GM. Any GM worth his dice can put a pushy player in their place, however this can make things unnecessarily awkward and can, in a worst-case scenario derail a campaign completely.

You may be playing as a selfish and self-obsessed character, but that doesn’t mean YOU have to act like a complete asshat. Playing an antisocial or self-absorbed character can be fun, but it’s the sort of thing that is best done with light strokes and a few key moments.

Don’t be the guy indignantly saying, ‘It’s just what my character would do!’ and expecting to be praised for it when your shitty behaviour leads to your fellow players not having fun.

They say you can’t lose at a roleplaying game, this is only half true, if you’re the only one having fun, then you are losing. Try setting up other players for cool moments—it makes you look good too.

One of the most rewarding things about TTRPGs is that you can be part of a living breathing world, that you can literally do anything that you can imagine, you want to try and make friends with the troll guarding the dungeon door? Go ahead and try.  You want to try and one shot the bad guy while he is monologing? Go ahead. Try and romance the dragon? God speed, you mad bastard. But the important thing is that you engage with the world.  Your DM will have spent a fair bit of time thinking about the world and its inhabitants and if you are sat there on your phone scrolling for memes, just waiting to kill things you might as well just be playing a video game.

This advice also applies to GMs, you should engage your players, there is no reason why a selfish thief would want to help a bunch of orphans without being paid… unless you make it personal.  Maybe doing so would put a rival guild’s nose out of joint? Or perhaps somewhere in their backstory they were also an orphan? Pay attention to your fellow players and the world you all inhabit; it will be a much more fulfilling experience.

Don’t suffer in silence, if there is something in the game that makes you uncomfortable don’t be shy in using your X-card.  I have a very good friend who absolutely has a red line that nothing involving kids getting hurt in anyway can feature in a game that she plays. That means that as a GM, I have had to work around this or just simply imply things (haunted orphanage quests become a bit tricky for example). 

Respect your fellow players

It’s not just limited to your red lines and the things that you don’t like being made light of in games you can also let your GM know when something really hits well with you.  For example, let’s say your group goes to Ravenloft, the gothic horror setting for D&D, and the spooky vibe really resonates with you, let your GM know so they can maybe add some spooky elements to the game as a permanent fixture.

Rude characters can be a lot of fun, who doesn’t love a surly dwarf, a socially awkward wizard or a haughty elf? These things are staples of the game and are as familiar as the concept of hit points and have been around for at least as long.  What isn’t fun is rude players, I have only ever encountered one player in my 30 years of roleplaying who was so toxic that I had to say to the GM; “It’s them or me”, and as it turned out every other player had said the same thing. Always remember to be civil and that you are not only responsible for your own enjoyment of the game, but you are also a big part of everybody else’s.

Every GM has had to deal with ‘that guy’ the one who thinks that they are the main character, who shoots down all of his fellow players ideas (and often presents them as his own in the next instant), who is a rude and utterly odious toad, don’t be that guy.

At the end of the day, the best D&D players aren’t rule encyclopaedias or spotlight hogs — they’re good teammates. When everyone’s engaged, respectful, and having fun, the magic happens. And that’s the real win state.