The episode and article are based on a post by Grant Howitt, that he wrote way back in June 2013, titled “[11 ways to be a better roleplayer](http://lookrobot.co.uk/2013/06/20/11-ways-to-be-a-better-roleplayer/)”. We changed some of it, but the main things remain the same, and we reuse entire sentences. Thank you for the permission, Grant! A bit about [Grant Howitt](https://twitter.com/gshowitt): * [Unbound](http://rowanrookanddecard.com/product/unbound/) - Already released, disregard what we said in the episode! * [Honey Heist](https://geekandsundry.com/critical-role-one-shot-trinkets-honey-heist/) played by Critical Role. * [His Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/gshowitt), new game every month. This article hopes to serve as a collection of basic guidelines that every player should be familiar with, new and experienced alike. Unlike many RPG guides, which aim to improve your in-game experience, these guidelines hope to help a player become better at the *social activity* of the game, that is happening around the table. ### 1. Act (3:25) Do something. When you’re not sure how to act, ask yourself: What are my goals? How can I achieve them? The world revolves around you, literally, since you’re one of the partagnosits, so nothing will advance until you advance it. Don’t wait for adventure to come to you - you’re called an adventurer because you go on adventures. Find out what’s going on around you. Ask questions, follow clues, pull at the strings that the GM dangle (and there’s no need to be cynical and point it out). Turn occurrences into *scenes*, the conversations into *drama*. If you play a character who doesn’t do that sort of thing, find out what she *will* do, and do *that*. If you find yourself always at the back, silent and staring while others push the scene forward - why is that? Maybe you’re playing a character who’s not in tune with the style of play you’re currently playing. Maybe you’re not thinking assertive. Any character can influence the game - find how yours does it. Maybe you find something, stumble on something, maybe someone turns to talk to her. Talk with your GM and figure it out together. You’re a player, participating in a game - do it right. When you play Hide and Seek, everyone runs to find a place to hide in. When you play a roleplaying game, everyone pushes the story forward. Push the story forward. *Uri adds:* In improv we always say “Yes, and...”. The “and” is to act, to add. A charcter that progress the story is said to have "high status". ### 2. Express your character in play (6:50) You can write 25 background pages for your character, but they will have little to no meaning unless they influence the game you're currently playing. Are you a shrewd businessman? Do some business, shrewdly, in front of everyone else. Are you a wild elf struggling through social interactions with the civilised people? Show us how you struggle! Don’t go sitting in a tree, avoiding the conversation “because my character finds it’s hard to talk with urban folk”. Start a conversation and *show* us that it's hard for her. Remember the first point: Your presence in the game is only as big as your actions. The other players are not required to read your backstory nor are they required to use it, and their characters can’t read your character’s mind. So show off your abilities, your weaknesses, show us your connections and the ways that your past influenced you. In every opportunity, remember the rule of thumb that has guided oh-so-many artists: Show, don’t tell. Present your PC’s personality through action. *Uri adds:* I used to organize a creative writing workshop, during which we did the review - you would read something and people would tell you what they understood, and sometimes that would be totally different from what you meant. You had something in your he