Any veteran DM or GM of a game like Dungeons & Dragons will have stories about the crazy things their players get up to - brilliant schemes that took the game story in fascinating new directions, along with more bizarre, counter-productive choices seemingly devoid of common sense, such as taunting a dragon, threatening a town guard, jumping off a cliff to catch a diamond, or chopping off their own head to install the "Head Of Vecna." Why do RPG players, regardless of temperament or wit, sometimes make unconventional choices like these during game sessions? There are many reasons, but they all have to do with the nature of roleplaying games as a shared work of imagination, and how each player has a unique image of the game world in their head.
Unlike pre-built rules are taken from the RPG sourcebook, while others are just made up by GM for the specific story they're looking to tell. Restricting possibilities in a game world paradoxically gives RPG players more freedom to act, keeping them from being paralyzed with indecision and creating obstacles they can try to sur.
Every RPG Dungeon Master, Gamer Master, and Storyteller worth their salt should be ready for their players to do the unexpected. Indeed, the best roleplaying sessions are made by players making both brilliant and foolish decisions outside of the GM's calculations. Sometimes, though, even the most seasoned and savvy RPG players will make choices that feel both nonsensical and out-of-character: stealing from a loyal ally, angering a powerful enemy for no discernible benefit, charging into battle against a foe explicitly described as beyond their strength, etc. These nonsensical choices are rarely the result of ignorance or malice, but rather are caused by three scenarios.
Tabletop RPG Players Are Often Unfamiliar With the Game World & Its Rules
Outside of artwork and sketches, players of roleplaying games rely on their Game Master to be their eyes and ears, experiencing the fictional world of their RPG through the scene descriptions, dialogue, and sensory details the GM provides. If a player misses or fails to pick up on a detail the GM describes, they won't be able to factor it into their role-playing properly, leading to scenarios where, for instance, a player tries to pick the lock on a safe while the owner of the safe is standing by and watching. When situations like these happen, GMs can use the infamously ominous query "Are you sure?" to get their players to step back and ask for more information.
Sometimes, players may also be ignorant of the cultural norms, laws and perils of the game's made-up science fiction or fantasy societies, particularly when said fantasy worlds feature anachronisms such as feudal lords, made-up religious codes, or factions with alien values. A player who tries to flirt with the King (or Queen's) consort, for example, may just need a quick reminder that medieval aristocrats are capable of and willing to chop off the heads of those who offend or disrespect them.
Tabletop RPG Gamers Develop "Tunnel Vision" When Under Pressure
The imagined narrative landscapes of Tabletop Roleplaying Games can be both ethereal and hard for players to recall at times. Player character sheets, spell cards, and the the archetypical murder hobo, who hurls fireballs at every enemy, NPC, or building rather than an actually engage with the created world their PC lives in.
If players aren't acting in bad faith, GMs can break them out of their "Tunnel Vision" by asking them what their characters want to do, rather than what the player thinks the most effective course of action is. It's doubly important to reward players who do come up with plans of action outside the rules of the game by saying "Yes, if..." or "Yes, but..." rather than saying no to their ideas all the time.
Tabletop RPG Gamers Use Roleplaying To Do Things They Can't Do In Real Life
Dungeons & Dragons and other roleplaying games are environments where players can and often do make bad or poorly thought-out decisions... and that's a feature, not a bug. In a safe gaming space with a responsible, empathic Game Master, players (particularly introverted ones) can practice creative, social, and ethical skills, learning the consequences of certain risky choices without actually getting hurt. Indeed, an article on roleplaying games with a community focus as tools to help young people learn patience, cooperative skills, and problem solving approaches.
Another core appeal of Tabletop RPGs is how players can create heroic PCs capable of things they can't - or wouldn't do - in in real life: supernatural feats like hurling lightning bolts or fighting off a small army single-handed, along with mundane yet powerful actions like breaking the law, mouthing off to a cruel authority figure, or risking their life to do the right thing. A player whose character makes destructive, disruptive choices for their own amusement can ruin the game for fellow players, but a player whose character makes "reckless" or "risky" choices in service to their ideals, ambitions, and fellow party makes tabletop RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons more entertaining. What is "heroism," after all, but the art of doing the right thing, even if it defies common sense?
Source: SyFy Wire
