Roleplaying Tips For Every Kind of Player: Part Two — The Who & The How

Nov 19

Welcome back, roleplayers! Did you make any adjustments to your character sheets after reading Roleplaying Tips For Every Kind of Player: Part One? Perhaps you reworked your Flaw to something that might actually come up in your campaign from time to time? (“Why the heck hasn’t my crippling fear of butterscotch been featured in the story yet!”) Of course, you often need to include your Dungeon Master in these kinds of conversations, as even our best laid plans for roleplaying can critically fail if the DM is oblivious to the character arc you want to play.

With that, let’s dive further into Part Two!

How Does Your Character Align Themselves?

Dungeons & Dragons’-esque Alignment charts have long been one of the internet’s favorite pastimes. You can take literally any piece of medium with more than a handful of characters and start placing them on that iconic 3x3 grid. But if you looked at one of those grids and been totally confused on why specific characters are placed where they are, or why some folks might disagree with OP’s choices, then you are not alone.

Let’s Get Aligned on Alignment

One of the many beneficial choices made in the 2024 Player’s Handbook is the slightly larger sub-section devoted to Alignment. Alignment was present in the 2014 PHB but if you’re looking for actionable roleplaying tips in addition to definitions of the different alignments, then the 2024 PHB is your huckleberry.

The 2024 PHB describes Alignment, commonly shortened to just the starting letters, as a creature’s “ethical attitudes and ideals.” (Note, not all creatures in D&D have an Alignment, notably Beasts who “lack the capacity for rational thought.”) By determining your character’s ethics, specifically their feelings surrounding morality and society, they (theoretically) have a framework they can use to decide how to act in almost any given situation. Let’s look at the definitions and examples of the nine Alignments from the 2024 PHB:

Alignment Definitions

Lawful Good (LG). Lawful Good creatures endeavor to do the right thing as expected by society. Someone who fights injustice and protects the innocent without hesitation is probably Lawful Good.

Neutral Good (NG). Neutral Good creatures do the best they can, working within rules but not feeling bound by them. A kindly person who helps others according to their needs is probably Neutral Good.

Chaotic Good (CG). Chaotic Good creatures act as their conscience directs with little regard for what others expect. A rebel who waylays a cruel baron’s tax collectors and uses the stolen money to help the poor is probably Chaotic Good.

Lawful Neutral (LN). Lawful Neutral individuals act in accordance with law, tradition, or personal codes. Someone who follows a disciplined rule of life—and isn’t swayed either by the demands of those in need or by the temptations of evil—is probably Lawful Neutral.

Neutral (N). Neutral is the alignment of those who prefer to avoid moral questions and don’t take sides, doing what seems best at the time. Someone who’s bored by moral debate is probably Neutral.

Chaotic Neutral (CN). Chaotic Neutral creatures follow their whims, valuing their personal freedom above all else. A scoundrel who wanders the land living by their wits is probably Chaotic Neutral.

Lawful Evil (LE). Lawful Evil creatures methodically take what they want within the limits of a code of tradition, loyalty, or order. An aristocrat exploiting citizens while scheming for power is probably Lawful Evil.

Neutral Evil (NE). Neutral Evil is the alignment of those who are untroubled by the harm they cause as they pursue their desires. A criminal who robs and murders as they please is probably Neutral Evil.

Chaotic Evil (CE). Chaotic Evil creatures act with arbitrary violence, spurred by their hatred or bloodlust. A villain pursuing schemes of vengeance and havoc is probably Chaotic Evil.

I love Alignment because it feels so encompassing, as if it truly can sum up the motivations of all rational creatures in the multiverse. Note the examples that are given for the kind of character associated with each Alignment, those are useful polestars for determining where your own character lands on the spectrum.

“My Ideal Alignment Is…”

Remember when I said I would bring up Ideals again? Well here we are! In the 2014 PHB, the example Ideals listed for each character Background is accompanied with one aspect of Alignment. The idea here is that what your character strives for in life is closely associated with some part of their moral and societal ethics. The fact that each Background has Ideal example for all of the Alignment touchpoints is very helpful.

Alignment in Action

As previously mentioned, the 2024 PHB has this wonderful chart of Personality Traits based on your character’s Alignment, which I’ve recreated for your below. Note the “d4” column for randomly rolling your Personality Trait based on the Alignment you chose. Otherwise, choose the one that you like the most for your character!

  
  Sample Traits by Alignment
  
      Alignment
      d4
      Trait
    
      Chaotic
      1
      Boastful
    
      2
      Impulsive
    
      3
      Rebellious
    
      4
      Self-absorbed
    
      Good
      1
      Compassionate
    
      2
      Helpful
    
      3
      Honest
    
      4
      Kind
    
      Evil
      1
      Dishonest
    
      2
      Vengeful
    
      3
      Cruel
    
      4
      Greedy
    
      Lawful
      1
      Cooperative
    
      2
      Loyal
    
      3
      Judgmental
    
      4
      Methodical
    
      Neutral
      1
      Selfish
    
      2
      Disinterested
    
      3
      Laconic
    
      4
      Pragmatic

Putting It All Together

But what does all this Alignment/Personality Trait/Background nonsense actually look like at the table, when you’re actually playing D&D? Your specific approach to roleplaying can be summed up by either an active approach or descriptive approach.

The Active Approach

Personally, I love watching or listening to the amazing cast of Critical Role. As an actor myself, I love how they embody their characters with unique voices (of course, they’re all professional VO artists!) and draw on their improvisational skills to create funny, dynamic, or moving scenes within the story. When the players interact with each one another or Matt Mercer’s NPCs or with the environment, they do so using their character’s voice and often use their facial expressions and hand gestures to describe their physical interactions. For me, they represent one end of the roleplaying spectrum, one that fully immerses your character in the story. But this isn’t the only way to play.

The Passive Approach

I also love watching the folks at Acquisitions Incorporated play, under the awesome guidance of D&D legend Chris Perkins. In many ways, their style of play couldn’t be farther from Critical Role’s. They don’t try to embody or immerse themselves in the characters 24/7. They don’t put on intricate accents. They don’t even always describe their actions in a first-person, real-time POV. They’re very comfortable telling the story from a variety of angles, whether that’s filling in details after the fact, working with the DM on crafting events and their outcomes, or simply describing what they do from a 3rd-person POV. And it works! It really works! They’re having loads of fun playing and still telling an awesome story. For me, this is the other end of that roleplaying spectrum.

The Choice Is Yours

So where does that leave you? With a butt-ton of wriggle room to carve our your own roleplaying style and intricacies! Go ahead and use voices, or don’t! Wear homemade costumes pieces and bring props, or don’t! I guess I was burying the lead here a bit but there isn’t a right or wrong way to roleplay. What works is whatever feels more comfortable to you.

And I absolutely encourage you and your table to experiment with roleplaying styles. Try on a voice, attempt a crazy complicated accent. See if it feels good. Dare to fail! And trying something new next week if it doesn’t work. If the folks you’re playing with make your feel comfortable to try out new things, then you know you’ve got a solid gaming gang.

Voice Affectations Examples:

If you’re feeling stuck on how to implement a voice for your character, because you really want to separate your 9-5 computer programmer self from your Magrim the Butcher avatar, then take a look at these example for affecting your speech, without having to be a linguistic nerd or accent aficionado.

Faster Pace
Slower Pace
Higher Pitch
Lower Pitch
Slurred
Lisp
Stutter
From the Corner of Your Mouth
Nasally/Buzzing
Resonant/Deep
Airy/Breathy
Complicated/Big Words
Simple/Little Words
Lots of ‘grunts’ and ‘ums’

For my own part, I like putting on a voice or other affectation for my characters. And I love crafting engaging or unique personality traits. I tend to stick with that first person, real-time POV but will jump to 3rd person if the context calls for it. So you could say I drawn on a mix of different roleplaying styles at the table.

I hope these tips have been useful in helping you decide what roleplaying choices to make for your character and how to implement them at your table!

Chris Dooly