How do I learn to roleplay? Specifically, how do I get into a character's mind well enough to decide which exact words they say in accordance to their personality that is not my own?
I want to keep playing tabletop RPGs for the story, combat and exploration, and part of me craves human interaction in small doses so I can't "just play a video game", but it's really mentally exhausting for me to the point of being not fun.
Of course I can get by when I want to suggest a course of action, or I feel my character agrees or disagrees with someone, but those are short sentences and far between. What's hard for me is separating how I think from how my character thinks when I as a player have nothing in particular to say on a topic.
Whenever I think about speaking in-character, I have to think "Am I sure my character's opinion and their manner of expressing it are consistent with all the traits I want to convey?", which takes too long and by then the in-character conversation has moved on.
When inspiration finally strikes me and I can spit out a half-decent line of dialogue quickly, I'm never sure if it actually makes sense for my character's intended personality or just sounds dramatic.
In real life, I only speak when spoken to, when I seriously have something to add to the discussion, or when I want something. But in games I've been pressured to participate more when I haven't said anything in 10 minutes, and my last group kicked me out for being too quiet.
Playing a mute character probably isn't the answer, because I've been in a group with one, and she was one of the most nuanced and likeable PCs I've ever seen through eloquent descriptions of body language, which I have even more trouble writing on the fly.
Please try to give a more detailed answer than "practice", because I don't want to be kicked out of any more groups.
>>47698566
Here's as basic an explanation of acting as I can give.
In every scene, your character has a goal that they're working toward. Keep in mind what that goal is. Everything your character says and does is something that character feels will get them closer to achieving that goal. Worry less about affectations and traits. Just stay focused on simple goals.
>>47698566
I try to build characters who are somewhat like me in some way
It makes RPing way easier
>>47698566
Okay this is going to sound a lot like "practise" but stay with me because I'm going to tell you how.
If you can join a local improv' or drama group it is literally the best thing to prepare you if you can afford the commitment. I did youth theatre for over a decade, I find shifting in and out of character incredibly easy and when I GM I roll out new stuff on the fly. I'm not special I've just been doing it for a long time.
You don't just find it hard just because it's not in your nature you're also bad at it and this demoralises you. Only by forcing yourself to be in uncomfortable learning situations will you improve.
Try reading some Shakespeare or other plays and getting into the characters as you read them, try and mimic them personalities on the page especially the larger than life ones. Whenever I see a new film or read a new book I like to think like the character I liked most for the next few days, try it it's super fun.
You could just not be autistic.
>>47698566
Sounds like you're overthinking it. Try to be in the moment instead and just roll with what first strikes you. It'll probably work out a lot better than what you're worrying about. If you say something out of character, you can always take it back (in-character) or let other characters persuade yours.
It can also help to set the agenda. If you're the one who introduces a topic for discussion then you're going to be steering the conversation to some degree.
You also said that:
>I can get by when I want to suggest a course of action, or I feel my character agrees or disagrees with someone, but those are short sentences and far between.
Try doing that in more elaborate ways. Add more depth and flavour, and explain your in character reasons. This can - and even should - be more than just a short sentence. I mean, obviously don't ramble on just for the sake of it, but do elaborate more.
>l
>>47698566
Try it with characters you know well - perhaps watch a TV series and focus on how one character acts, talks, and even thinks, then extend it into different situations.
Once you've gotten good at that, it's a few fairly straightforward steps to doing it with original characters in real time.This is entirely different than saying "write fanfiction" because shut up.
>>47698566
write everything down
think about your character and write and edit your back story and who your character is as a person
you don't have to give this out but it's a very nice exercise to not only develop your character but also rereading it helps you get into character
think of the things that would bother your character and think about what they would want to do first in some situation
I'd say have at least a small paper about who your character is to begin with
You can develop this as you go just try not to contradict your character
Speaking in character and that kind of stuff is tedious and quite annoying if you're not good at it so focus on making a good character
You should get tugs in your gut about what your character would do during a situation (at least I do) so do those things
>>47698566
The first step is to be able to roleplay as yourself. "What would I do?"
The second step would be to try to play a character similar to yourself, or that you can easily assume. I don't know your type, but because you're not too talkative, I would suggest a mostly-quiet, cynical thief type. See: Garrett from the Thief games. "What would someone similar to me do?"
The third step is to branch off into characters that don't match you or your personality, but are familiar to you. "What would this familiar person do?"
Fourth... you get the idea.
As far as getting into character, I find that players have a much easier time if they portray their character as having a different speaking voice form their own. See: accent.
try roleplaying juice but be sure not to drink too much
>>47699104
pretty good answer honestly
RPGs are played through talking
other issue being, empathy with the PC you are playing is key
if you don't like to join in conversations and have a hard time seeing through any perspective other than your own then maybe try different hobbies
especially if you have no interest in developing the crucial skills
that said, if you are willing to try to get better you are going to need to start by making a conscious effort to speak up more often, whether or not you are precisely in-character
it might help if you realize that the personality of a PC is almost always something you discover / generate by playing that PC
if you are effectively not participating, like by remaining silent for relatively long stretches 9f time, then getting into character will certainly remain elusive
>>47698566
There's a reason certain players gravitate towards familiar "types"--it's what they're comfortable with.
In our group, the stoic silent guy is more comfortable plotting out his statements and not overextending his boundaries. It helps him feel more accurate to his character. The cost is that he tends to blend into the background and doesn't flex his improvisation muscles much.
We have one player who tends to play "themselves", with some dials adjusted, since he finds it practical to stay in character when there are parallels he can find with himself. It makes him easy to improvise with, at the cost of some variety overall.
We have one of us who likes to go for unusual builds or personality combinations, tending towards levity. It gives him a sort of 'niche' in a group environment. He likes to have one "concept" that drives a character, and repeatedly goes back to it to give his characters some direction. The trick is that it can get sort of repetitive harping on the same general idea constantly, so it's the opposite side of the coin from "themselves" guy.
The Forever-GM, when not GMing, puts a lot of work into backstory. Much like wacky-stack above, he uses the background of a character as the means to determine direction for a character's action, so in that respect the quality of his characters is dependent on the quality of his writing. He regularly expands on his characters in the background to give himself a wide variety of "concepts" to look into. He has a bit of a hard time shaking his GM status, as his characters are very 'quippy' and are usually those experiencing Main Character Syndrome.
Our dark-horse player tends to try not overthinking things. She gravitates towards characters much like what you described--since she acts like herself, she doesn't speak much and is generally encouraged to participate more. She'd rather do her character's "job" than be her character. In an ensemble, it kind of works, but it lacks intimacy.
>>47704674
mt rushmore of bad RP
>>47704832
Doesn't matter whether or not they're good. My point is that when learning how to roleplay, it helps to find what sort of style is comfortable enough to serve as a foundation for improvement (and comes naturally in a group environment).
We've all got our tendencies, but our group--much like OP--seeks to avoid complacency, and that's an important step in improvement: breaking out of the familiar.
>>47705268
complacency is a good way to characterize those styles
another one would be "comfort zone" RPing
it's a pretty comprehensive list of dead ends
of course that's just, like, my opinion, man
>>47705369
Well I'm not totally disagreeing with you. On the whole, subscribing to a certain style limits players and is something to avoid. But I DO think that, when used with consideration, they're a jumping-off point to better things. Our players recognize our limitations and strive to make improvements. Artifacts remain, but it's all part of the process of rounding out their roleplay.
OP can recognize that there's a reason why comfort-zone RP exists, and can use it to their advantage. So long as they don't get TOO comfortable with it--but as long as OP thinks critically and deliberately avoids complacency, they'll be on the right track.
>tfw autistic
>tfw I've been pretending to be a real person my whole life
>tfw pretending to be a fake person is easy in comparison
Suckers. Bet you wish you had trouble knowing the appropriate amount of time you're allowed to look someone in the eye when they're talking to you now, huh?
>>47705626
autist thinks he's passing
>>47705626
I feel ya, fellow autist.
