Experienced tabletop RPG fans know that Dungeons & Dragons is about more than winning and losing, and that truly engaging with a campaign’s drama and conflict can be a great experience. Newer players often struggle with this idea, distancing themselves from in-character connections to Non-Player Characters or meaningful causes and casting themselves as untethered Murder Hobos, free of ties or responsibilities. Some Dungeon Masters contribute to this problem, either by failing to communicate a game’s premise or by abusing player trust with a vindictive game style. D&D heroes should be a part of their world, not opportunistic tourists.

When a D&D group has a Session Zero, the DM has a chance to present the campaign’s intended tone and themes, and importantly, the central premise the players will engage with. Certain sandbox-style campaigns may omit this step, but for most games, there is a central narrative wherein the players will shape the outcome of a conflict of some kind. If the DM foreshadows the game will be about a peaceful kingdom resisting invasion from an evil empire, players should begin thinking about reasons why their characters care about the kingdom and would fight for it to maintain its autonomy.

Being Engaged With The World In D&D Is Not A Weakness

Forming Bonds With NPCs & Committing To Causes Makes Campaigns More Enjoyable

Many evil D&D characters employ nefarious schemes or use lethal force to pursue their agendas, but such characters can still care about the game’s central goal in many cases. As much as apocryphal internet stories may reinforce the idea that evil PCs derail campaigns, indifferent characters are far worse.

It can be tempting to portray characters who have no connections with the world they live in, but it's rarely the most fulfilling way to play. Common tropes rely on backstories that position characters as roving orphans, without friends or family. They typically reject any causes, fighting only for mercenary reasons, seeking treasure and coin. This archetype exists in fiction, but it tends to be boring.

Some D&D parties collectively have a Patron who guides their actions and sends them on missions. The notion of a Patron who is essentially a “quest giver” handing out assignments may be fine for novice players, but it is more rewarding to play a character who is truly invested in the cause that drives the patron. A PC who only pursues wealth and power is a dull non-entity. Seeking resources as a means to a specific end does more to turn a character sheet into a fully realized person. Interesting characters care about changing the world they live in.

Session Zero D&D spoilers ultimately don’t matter, and conveying the expectations of the game’s premise is far more important than preserving every possible twist. If the DM does not clearly communicate the intended premise of a campaign, as a player, you can simply ask them. Finding out what the game is truly about gives players a chance to create characters who are ionate about that premise, not PCs who reluctantly go along for the ride. Even in a sandbox format, players can work together to create a collective, shared goal that motivates their exploration.

Experienced D&D Groups Tend To Lean Into Drama

Avoiding Connections & Immersion Is The Death Of Drama, As Veteran Players Know

While some players recoil from befriending NPCs or committing to any organizations or political movements within the game world, forming bonds is far more rewarding. Avoiding ties might seem like a tactical approach, but it's better to invest in roleplaying. Outcomes like the DM endangering a beloved NPC to motivate the party or the PC's commitment to an organization causing them to become embroiled in that organization’s conflicts can be worrying, but they're not things to avoid. These are all elements of drama and conflict, which are necessary for rewarding collaborative storytelling in D&D.

Certainly, a GM should pick the right TTRPG for the story they envision, and D&D is only one game among many. Players engaging with the campaign in good faith makes more difference than the mechanics underlying a game, however. An RPG is a game where you get as much out of it as you put in. This applies to the DM and the players as well. Players who are willing to go the extra mile with backstory and characterization are off to a good start, but the way a Player Character acts during D&D sessions makes more of a difference.

If players treat the world and its people as nothing more than a venue to plunder, they will care as much as they would about a derelict house where they steal copper wiring.

Characters who truly immerse themselves in the game world, befriending NPCs, taking up causes, and treating both as real and meaningful, yield the best results. These will always provide a better experience than an emotionally distant lone wolf archetype who keeps everyone except their party at arms-length and shows no concern for the fate of the cities and nations they through outside of collecting a paycheck. Inexperienced groups may create simplistic narratives where adventurers risk their lives for nothing more than treasure and money, and they might die to a trap of a monster in pursuit of profit.

Playing A D&D Murder Hobo Is Mostly Boring

Amoral Wandering Treasure Hunters Are The Dullest Characters To Play

The biggest reason D&D “Murder Hobo” characters are problematic is that they are boring. They reflect an approach that treats TTRPGs more like open-world video games, encouraging play that feels like courting five-star notoriety in Grand Theft Auto. Inexperienced players might routinely treat every NPC as a monster to be killed, a victim to be robbed, or possibly a source of information or quest-giver. This video-game-style approach to Dungeons & Dragons fails to take advantage of the collaborative storytelling of the TTRPG medium.

Non-Player Characters are characters, just as Player Characters are, meaning they should be treated as people. The PCs live and breathe in the game world, so its political concerns and cultural movements should matter to them just as they would in the real world. A conflict that threatens the region should hold similar weight. If the world is ending, that is an existential crisis that should be roleplayed accordingly. Invariably bartering to get paid more to save the world diminishes the drama such threats should carry, while engaging with immersive RP will lead to taking threats seriously.

If campaigns feel lackluster, with players going through the motions, they often hold the solution to the problem. A skilled DM can offer up a fully fleshed-out world and believable, developed NPCs, but it is up to the players to portray people who care about that world, and form real connections with those NPCs. If players treat the world and its people as nothing more than a venue to plunder, they will care as much as they would about a derelict house where they steal copper wiring. Great Dungeons & Dragons campaigns require investment, but the rewards are worthwhile.