7 Things a 2 Year D&D Campaign Taught Me About Roleplaying

My character, Eleanor Trinity, was a Human Bard with 9 Strength, 15 Dexterity, 10 Constitution, 14 Intelligence, 14 Wisdom and 16 Charisma. She was also much more than that.

 She was a noblewoman who didn't like to get her hands dirty and wouldn't be caught dead in unsuitable accommodations lest she encountered a rat. She believed in respect, that all people deserved dignity, and she wanted to prove to her family that she was good enough. She had two older brothers, so grew up feeling like a spare part. Her violin teacher was abusive toward her as a child, so she suffered from claustrophobia as a result.

 At age twenty-five, Eleanor’s home was invaded and conquered by Gelnath, a rogue nation that was crawling across the continent. On the evening of her oldest brother’s wedding, the ball was disrupted by a completely unmanageable horde of pillagers suddenly storming her home, the Rose City.

 Eleanor was quick to act and ducked through the crowds. She successfully made her way to the “panic room” and as a member of the nobility, she was aware of the contingency plan she was to enact. The room contained rations as well as a small tin of pills to be taken in circumstances so dire that there was no possible escape. At the time she was under the impression that these pills were to be taken to end her life and upon hearing the slaughter of her people in the distance she realised that she had no choice but to swallow several of the pills at once.

 She was wrong, what she didn't know was that the pills were empowered by magic she didn’t understand. Upon taking them, she was spat out into a random desert with no understanding of the continent she found herself on. She could only imagine the ruin that her home would be in and that her entire family were likely dead or captured. She didn’t know any of this for sure; she blamed herself for running too soon.

 I am telling you all of this because it demonstrates that Eleanor is a realistic character. She has beliefs, misbeliefs, goals and fears that all exist as a result of her past. It doesn't take much effort to put some thought into this before a campaign since it doesn't need to be a whole story, after all the adventure hasn't even happened yet. Write a page or two about where they grew up and what sort of person it made them, even if you aren't a writer you will find it pays off down the line. 

Part of the reason I love this game is that it doesn't just have to be about the stats that form her character sheet, Eleanor can be believably roleplayed and make her own decisions. Critically, these decisions can then be different from those that I would make.

Since I have just written several hundred words explaining to you that my D&D character was a kick-ass magic princess with a violin and guilt issues, it now falls upon me to tell you that inhibitions are lame. If I can commit to this character, then you can commit to yours.

The fact of the matter is that you and your friends are playing this game together because it is fun. If you are fortunate enough to be surrounded by friends who share this wonderful hobby with you, then let me draw your attention to the fact that they are just as nerdy as you are. That is okay. It is a good thing. 

Let me give an example:

For Eleanor, the Campaign began when she was teleported from her Palace and into a desert in the middle of nowhere. I wanted to give the DM agency to put me wherever it best aligned with his adventure, so I didn't choose where. 

Eleanor awoke several days after the fact. having been rescued from the scorching sun and nursed back to health by a fellow Player Character, Cedric. In session one, the town was raided by bandits and Eleanor helped Cedric to defend it. In practice, since Eleanor was a Bard she was mostly supporting Cedric the Paladin while he wailed on the bad guys that formed this first-level encounter. Later in the session, for unrelated reasons, the DM asked the party what they would be dreaming about during the long rest that night. For my response, I took a moment to think, and then said:

"She is probably having a nightmare about home, or fantasising about Cedric."

This moment alone, although asked for totally unrelated reasons, resulted in a two-year-long "will they won't they" dynamic between the characters and resulted in unquantifiable narrative, conflict, and comedy. To be clear I'm not saying that romance between player characters is necessary or even advisable, we are comfortable joking about these things, but what I am saying is lean into your character and don't be afraid to be a little bit silly.

 Your friends, if they are worth having around, will not tease you for this. The more that you care about your character, and commit yourself to roleplaying it accordingly, the more comfortable your friends will feel doing the same. I'm not saying that you need to be an actor, or even find that element of the game fun. There might be players in any game that just aren't there for that. What I am saying is that you shouldn't feel embarrassed if that is a part of the game that you enjoy. Life can sometimes be short for a character, and a deadly encounter or string of bad rolls could take them away prematurely, so why not do them justice?

Eleanor Trinity, standing beside the Rose City.

There are a couple of learnings related to this that I would like to share, but in short, it is very simple:

 Just because the Dungeon Master is "in charge" of what happens, it does not mean that they are not equally entitled to have fun playing.

 Since they are a person, sometimes they just aren't going to have fun. This is nothing against you as a player, nor your friends. Sometimes they might need to take a break from running the game and it's your responsibility as a good player to accept that. Think of this as an opportunity, perhaps you or one of your party could run a "one-shot" or a mini-campaign while your DM takes a real-life long rest.

 Also, unless your group explicitly wants it to be, D&D does not have to be a game of party vs DM, even when it might feel like it. It is their responsibility to create engaging encounters that challenge your party, but try to remember that they are ultimately invested in your success. The story that you are telling together should be exciting and memorable, and they do a lot of work to make that happen, so remember to thank them at the end of each session. 

This campaign taught me in a variety of ways that good roleplaying requires a bunch of introspection. Between sessions, I found myself thinking about what the impact of events would be on Eleanor's emotional state, and what she might be likely to do next.

 The good news is that this sort of reflection is worthwhile, and you can get tangible value out of it without much effort. In my notes, for example, I kept a page for each member of my party with the following sections:

• Name/Class/Race/Home.

• Backstory (as I understand it).

• Goals (as I understand them).

• Questions to ask them.

• What can I say/do to help them?

The point here is that these sections were variable, so were filled in using a pencil. If I learned something new about them I could make changes without much effort, so I always had a clear note of what was at the front of Eleanor's mind. This is about finding what works for you, but the key here is to think about how your character would respond to the world around them and plan ahead in situations where you deem it beneficial to do so.

Allow me to lecture you a little here. If you are lucky enough to be a player in a regular Dungeons and Dragons game then this section covers the baseline effort requirement.

 Your Dungeon Master puts in substantial effort to build and run a compelling and realistic world, so the absolute least that you can do is keep track of the following:

• What quest(s) your party is on, who assigned the quest(s), and what is required to complete them.

• Names of...

  • The players in your party.

  • Places visited.

  • Non-player characters encountered.

• Things you are carrying...

  • Gold

  • Items

The good news is that should cover you and even earn you brownie points with fellow players if you do it well. The even better news is it is totally up to you how you choose to do it...

Midway through the campaign, I found myself investing in a custom dice box. The box (available on Etsy) allowed you to add a custom image, as long as it was monochrome so that it could be engraved onto the top. Very neat, I thought.

 I also invested in some purple metal dice (also available on Etsy), since Eleanor wore a purple cape and I like the colour purple, so they became my Eleanor dice.

 The reason I am telling you this is that I was tempting fate a bit here. Frankly, Eleanor might have died in the next session for all I knew. The point I want to make is that this is fine, and it is part of the game. Some of the most memorable encounters, at least in my experience, are the ones where you nearly lose. This keeps the stakes high; if you won all the time you wouldn't worry about fighting against anything whether it is a giant spider, hordes of demons, or the big bad evil guy himself. All of these things almost beat us, but not quite.

 With this in mind, I make two recommendations:

1. Be prepared for your character to die.

2. If you absolutely must, try to die well.

Disclaimer: I did not come up with this idea. One of the characters in our party, Myrmidon, suggested this. I thought it was neat.

 One way that you can prepare for an untimely player character's death is by having your character write a letter and carry it on their person. Eleanor's, for example, was sealed and labelled:

 "In case of Emergency"

 This requires a bit more homework and introspection, but what you do is go to your computer and type this letter up in full. Ask yourself, what would my character write on a note that is only to be read if they die? What would they say, if they knew it was the last chance to say it?

 You can include as much or as little as you like here. Ideally, your party should never have to read it, but take this opportunity to let your character say things that have been left unsaid. Once you have done this, save the document and keep it for future reference.  This doesn't have to be something you choose to share, and could just be an exercise in exploring your character on your own time. If your character dies suddenly and you wish to do so, then you can inform your party that they find it amongst your belongings and allow them to do with it what they will.

Following on from my previous point regarding mortality, I'd like to tell you the story of the time that Eleanor died.

 The party had various encounters with a vampire called Melinda, for a variety of reasons. For the sake of brevity, I will say that Eleanor had established beef with Melinda during these meetings. Amidst this, the party took on a quest and was determined to speak with Melinda to try to find out what she knew for the purposes of this quest. Eleanor ended up along for the ride somewhat reluctantly and just wanted to kill Melinda at the earliest opportunity.

 Important Note: Eleanor was reluctant to go with the party to speak with Melinda, but I (the player) was enjoying the conflict and was all for it.

 A tense interaction followed, where Melinda made several targeted jibes at Eleanor, attempting to goad her. Eventually, Melinda succeeded at this by hinting that Eleanor's parents did not die in the attack on the Rose City and that she was holding them captive, so we rolled for initiative. The encounter pushed the limit of the party, with all members doing everything they can to survive. At the tail end of the encounter, Eleanor had fallen unconscious, several party members had reached low HP, and so had Melinda. In her final turn, Melinda lunged abruptly and used a flurry of actions to deliver multiple failed death saving throws onto Eleanor, killing her.

 To be honest with you: a character death, at least in my experience, is a genuinely moving experience. At this point in the campaign we had played for at least a year, so it was a substantial investment of time and emotion. In any case, it was my responsibility here to mute my microphone and allow the game to play out. The party delivered the killing blow to Melinda and rushed Eleanor's corpse to safety. After a rushed discussion between them, they reach the following plan of action:

1. Teleport Eleanor's corpse to the "Towers", our base camp for adventurers in this world, in the hope that a cleric will be available to resurrect her.

2. Clear out the rest of the dungeon, and rescue Eleanor's parents in the process.

This is where I learned that my party is awesome. As upset as I was about Eleanor's death, and nervous as I was about the Towers' ability to revive me, I found it a genuinely enjoyable experience to spectate the encounter that followed. The party snuck into the next zone of the dungeon, and through great teamwork and planning, they were able to come out victorious in a second deadly encounter. I found it incredibly difficult to keep quiet at this time, but it was important for immersion that I let them work together without interrupting. It was thrilling to observe all of my friends' characters from outside of the game, without concern for how effectively I was roleplaying my own. This experience taught me that I can trust their ideas, even when I'm not around to offer my own. 

My party saved Eleanor's parents and was able to find a healer who could bring her back from the dead, albeit with a few new and fun vampiric characteristics. It is funny to reflect on this now since it was a moment of significant growth for both Eleanor and me. For her, she learned some control over her violent streak, and that sometimes it is important to let things play out before acting rashly. For me, I learned to trust my party.