Roleplaying: Acting and Representation

There is more than one way to roleplay, and as long as you and your group are having fun you certainly are not doing it wrong.

An awkward discussion I have with people who haven't played RPGs before, is around the whole "do you dress up and use funny voices to act out your scenes". Certainly there are (LARP) groups that do just that, and many players use accents and mannerisms to make their character and the game more interesting and entertaining.

To me though RPGs have always been about playing a giant group based "choose your own adventure" in scenes that could be us rewriting our favourite books and movies collaboratively. It's the choices we make together (based on our fictional characters and the scenes they find themselves in) that really bring the roleplaying experience to life for me.

A while back I found a great post on the Roleplaying Tips website that discussed this idea and really spelt it out in a way I felt made it easy to understand. I've put a link below and pasted a brief extract, have a look and let me know what your thoughts are.

http://www.roleplayingtips.com/readissue.php?number=363

Aim For Character Representation

The first step is to acknowledge there are many definitions of roleplaying, and to communicate and synch up on this topic with your players as soon as possible. Once everyone understands your definitions and expectations, and you address concerns they might have and adapt to their requests, you can build and play to a common purpose.

Keep your mind open to their feedback as well. They might have ideas and suggestions that would help, especially if you ask. Avoid telling them it's your way or no way - seek consensus instead.

Acting and Representation

I'm open to being schooled on this subject, but in my opinion, the various aspects and definitions of roleplaying a character fall under two groups:
1. Acting
2. Representation

Some folks feel roleplaying is all about the accents, demonstrating the character in real life, impersonating the character, and acting at the table like the character would. There's nothing wrong with this, and it often breathes life and creative energy into game sessions. Be sure to communicate to this type of player, though, that you're looking for character representation as well.

Representation gets my vote for being the more important of the two categories. If I had to pick only one category for a player to game within, I'd choose representation.

With representation, the player puts themselves in their character's position and makes decisions the character is capable of and motivated to, based on information the PC has available. The character is portrayed. The player does not lend the character meta-game knowledge. The character stays true to himself, though he is capable of change.

While the character is an extension of the player in the game world, the character is not the player, and the PC has his own thoughts, personality, and experiences. It's the player's responsibility to represent the character to the best of his ability during the game.