How do you guys RP? I'm playing a 5e game rn, I know the mechanics easily enough, but my DM and one other player wanna do some heavy RP. And I dont know what to do. I made a Pirate Bladesinger who wants a ship and crew and shit, and I havent really been able to pursue those goals yet cause we're in some story arc trying to help a rebellion take down some Maifa lord.

My party doesnt really talk or do much, I try to be proactive and make plans and do stuff, and the rest kinda just follow whatever plan I've made.

Other than talking more in character I'm fuckin lost cause here I was thinking I was actually already RPing. I suck at voice acting, I suck at doing accents so I talk somewhat normally. I'm just lost.

>>96015597 (OP)
For what it's worth, you should ask your DM and that player what they mean. Cause from the sounds of it, yeah, you are roleplaying as your character.

>>96015615
My DM wants more character personality I suppose, idk my other friend wants. And I dont really know how to do that, I feel like I have been, but I guess not.

It's been a very messy campaign so far very point A to B, there hasnt been many opportunities to talk or dynamically do stuff, and the last time I got a chance to make something happen (used Basilisk eyes to petrify the entire boss encounter while invisible.) the DM was a little frustrated and ended the session early. (He apologized later)

But legit I dont know what to do to make my character's personality come through. I'm not exactly playing a suprer reddit tier wacky man.

>>96015690
What kind of personality does your character have? Cause I can tell you that voice acting and affecting accents are optional, and probably better overall if you don't get stuck doing that all the time when you want to talk

>>96015597 (OP)
>wanna do some heavy RP
>haven't been in an arc that's relevant to me other than money, and the ocean isn't even here right now
>my party doesn't really talk or do much
Lol, setup for failure here, but I'll give it a shot.

Calculating type - describe actions moreso than speak in character. "Arelion shifts his gaze to the greasy merchant. He looks displeased." "Arelion takes a deep breath, clearing his mind before choosing the lever on the left." "Arelion keeps his hand close to his sword, just in case this goes wrong."

Leadership with the above scenario... act like a captain to be. Literally put one of the do-nothing PCs on the spot with a "And what say you, [Sir Complacent]?" If you're applying a buff, bark an order to go with it.

>>96015696
>>96015742
I dont normally try to play complex characters, but here's the backstory I made at behest of my DM.As you can see Im not really good at it Im still kinda lost on how to roleplay this guy when all I do most of the time is just kill mooks that under the employ of the mafia boss man.

Granted there have been SOME moments that I may have missed out on, but up until recently i thought I actually was rping.

>>96015786
Personally, it sounds like you've been doing fine, but your gm wants more confidence from you and more active engagement with their plot hooks. Or at least, they think they do. A lot of people believe roleplaying means doing full on theater production levels of acting, when the reality is that most people are fine as long as you can speak your actions and thoughts aloud as your character would if they were real. If it helps you to practice, when you want to roleplay in character, lead with "As Arelion..." and talk about what you do/think in first person mode. It'll help you learn to switch the roleplaying on and off at will and to be more confident in speaking up in general.

Like, the only other thing you could really do is ask your GM what kind of cues you missed regarding roleplaying. You're not a mind-reader, so it's best to learn how your GM thinks so you grasp when they're setting you and your party up specifically for those moments.

>>96015597 (OP)
You could cast the best actor in the world for a movie but, if the script doesn't suit them and the rest of the cast phone it in, the movie would still suck ass.

RPing is never silly accents, and the people that think it is are always terrible at it, so assuming OP is legit, the problem isn't you it sounds like.

>>96015786
I don't know. Seems ok to me.
Maybe just try to bite more on the obvious plot hooks. Sometimes you have to tiptoe on the balance in between "would my character really care about this?" and "The DM obviously wants us to go there", and usually the latter is what I personally try to pick most of the time.

As for the "voice acting" you can just forget it. Speak with your normal voice. But you can focus on some mannerism. Like does your character have some phrase he likes to repeat? I mean something like calling his friends "comrades" or something small like that. It can make a big difference. By using that one word all other players instantly recognize it is that character speaking. It doesn't have to be a big thing, but just pick some words/manners that your character uses, and always in-character use them.
That being said it IS fun to play some goblin character and speak with raspy voice. It might feel awkward for the first few sentences, but you'll get used to it really quickly. Or if you're playing some masked guy put a fist in front of your mouth when you speak if you want to give emphasis to the masked part. Makes a huge difference. (This would probably be a bit heavy if done constantly, but maybe occasionally when you're supposedly in disguise or something)

>>96015597 (OP)
I'd look into pursuing some of those goals instead of absolutely focusing on the given objective. If the rest of the party is just following your plans, you can make a case for doing stuff that eventually gets you a ship. Ask questions about the location: Is there a port nearby? Are there reputable shipbuilders? What about salvageable shipwrecks? How many down-on-their-luck people are around to shanghai into a crew?
If just basic asking around about this sort of thing isn't leading to anything, bitch about it (in character). Your dude has been signed up to help a rebellion that wasn't at all in his plans, instead of going out to sea and acquiring booty. This doesn't mean you are fundamentally unwilling to help, just taking an attitude to the problem like your dog shit on the carpet for the fifth time this day; you can't just avoid solving the problem, but certainly are tired of it.

Consider personality of this character. You want ship and crew, but why and what od your end goal. What motivates you, what makes you happy, why you react to certain things while others don't mąkę you feel anything. From my experiance focusing too much on goal of you character makes it boring. It becomes a one dimensional machine. Real human beings are complicated and have feelings. For example you desire a ship because you are dreaming of freedom. If so, what is your stance on slavery. Do you care only about your own needs, or you are going to liberate every being you meet on your road. Things like that help. Also everybody has flaws, do add some to your character. If you have power fantasy, which is fine as long as you are not dick about it make it something you can still enjoy like you never back down from challange or you are womanizer, and sometimes your little head does all the thinking. What can help is writing down few adjectives about your pc and turning them into something more desceiprive. If your character is caring you could say that you are prepared to get into trouble to protect someone important. Think more about it being it own person than just monster killing machine. Also try to gossip with other players while in character. Ask the knight you are traveling with about his home town or first love. One involved player can make group more coherent and rise the level of roleplay.

>>96015597 (OP)
here's how *grabs you're head* *farts* *puts your nose into my butt* now react

>>96015597 (OP)
Narrative games suck donkey dick yet again. It's almost as if ttrpgs arent meant to be books.

>>96016020
I rarely get a chance to show any personality. As I've said before, outside of one or two moments, this campaign has been very much point A to B. Like we dont even have traveling sections, we just fade to black and we're at our destination.

And if I dont instigate or push the plot forward, most of the group just awkwardly murmurs or are just quiet. Im happy to push things forward and start doing the piratey chaotic things I wanna do, but so far its all been main plot related.

>>96015597 (OP)
Its very hard to roleplay on your own. If you're the only one speaking in character it just becomes empty statements. Its also hard for a gm to integrate independent goals like "own a ship" into an existing campaign structure

Im bad at roleplaying, but this has worked for me
>talk and describe your actions in character whenever practical
>dont be afraid to argue with NPCs and other PCs about trivial shit, as long as you're okay losing the argument
>if you're going to do things in character show your character visibly (not just "yeah i buy tobacco", but actively smoking it during interactions with NPCs, offering people some, getting really upset if your pipe breaks, ect)

A shallow character you see and feel is a hundred times more memorable than a deep one who's totally closed off

>>96015690
>My DM wants more character personality I suppose, idk my other friend wants. And I dont really know how to do that, I feel like I have been, but I guess not.
This sounds like your friends expect some Critical Role experience where every character is wacky and huge and mysterious and full of juicy backstory bits that will naturally be woven by the DM into the story and such... Only they aren't bringing that shit to the table either, so if they're offloading on you for playing to your ability while they aren't doing shit on their end to elevate things, it's not your fault. You've done your best and they are being unrealistic.

>>96015597 (OP)
I like to pick some character traits out and just play them up when appropriate. Maybe your character has a real skill at swearing, since he's a sailor. Have him cuss people out in arcane languages, come up with some creative ones during down time, and pull one out when it's appropriate. Maybe he's an aficionado of some sort of exotic good from all the ports he's travelled to. Think of something a magical pirate would be into that you could work into scenarios where the campaign is taking place.

>>96016478
You can also ask questions to the DM that can encourage him to incorporate things into a scene that he hadn't thought of, if it makes sense. For instance, if there's a criminal organization, ask if your character knows the name of a kingpin because of his pirate connections, something like that. Asking questions about what your character would know about things in the world can help the DM tie your character into the campaign setting.

>>96015690
Is your DM paying you? No? Then fuck what he wants.

>>96015597 (OP)
>one other player wanna do some heavy RP
>party doesnt really talk or do much
Tell this guy to lead by example and stop worrying about it. Odds are they don't know what the fuck they want or how to achieve it either. Which is fine, but absolutely not your problem.

>>96015597 (OP)
Imagine a different person, who has different experiences, instincts and motivations than you. Imagine how they would react to something, instead of how you would react. The same way you know if a friend would like a movie or not. Then, portray those reactions at the table with your group. That's how you roleplay.

>>96015597 (OP)
Talk with the other guys players. About your character, and about theirs. Discuss what these characters are doing.
>>96015786
You're selling yourself short here, this is a solid (if slightly run-of-the-mill) foundation for a character. You've got two main points - he's a jaded orphan with burgeoning megalomania born from that vulnerability, and you've tempered that with the lingering influence of his mentor's altruism. He probably feels like he owes it to Varik to avoid becoming some kind of tyrant; after all, without said belief in people, he'd probably be dead.

That's plenty to work with, but a third prong might help round him off. Maybe something a little more obvious, like a quirk. Maybe he's really, really awkward with women. Maybe for every haul he tossed a coin into the sea as a reluctant "stay out of my way" payoff to the gods. Or maybe he starts occasionally talking to his sword as though it's Varik.

>>96015882
>Sometimes you have to tiptoe on the balance in between "would my character really care about this?" and "The DM obviously wants us to go there"
This goes both ways though. You have to communicate with your GM, "hey, my character isn't really okay with being the right hand man, so I'm thinking at some point he might wanna stage a coup". Don't spring it on him, give time for him to discuss or prepare. The point is to communicate.

>>96016478
Shyness kills communication, but I'll bet you they wouldn't be so quiet when it's time to argue who should have the magic sword. Have they discussed their characters with you? Do you know why they're doing what they're doing?

>>96015597 (OP)
In my group, "heavy RP" might mean that we get really deep into the characters' thoughts and feelings, PC and NPC alike. If that is what your GM means (and you would need to ask him to be sure), then you could start by trying to get to know the rebel leader, or learn about the mafia boss, or strike up a conversation with another PC about what they hope to do when this rebellion is over.
"Me, I want a fast ship, and a trusted crew. We'll sail off into the sunset, and live as free men. No tyrants to anchor us, just the call of the horizon and whatever cause we see fit to sail for."
"What about you, friend? What does your future hold?"

If you're lucky, these things can then feed back into the gameplay, like using an opponent's psychology against him.

>>96015846
>RPing is never silly accents
Games can be comedic, mate. It's part of that whole "having fun" thing.