What do you think some good player habits are?

What do you think some good GM habits are?

Be sincere, don't lie (or cheat XD), be nice, respect master and players, remember that it's a game and its use its having a great time with friends

Organization, nice and quiet place, awesome soundtrack... enough?

Not sure if that was your question :S

Don't argue with the game master once he has made a final decision.

Create character concepts that have good reason to work with other PCs and go on adventures (I had a player once who wanted to play a janitor on the space station. I told him fine, but his character was going to spend most of the game cleaning toilets).

If the gm asks for some info by a certain time, get it to him/her.

Take notes during play so you can remember NPC names and locations months later. If you can do it in a genre appropriate prop, even better (I had a player in a fantasy/pulp game keep notes and draw maps in a soft leather bound journal, it was awesome).

Get into character.

Use fake voices and accents.

Lots of action movie one liners.

Play to your concept always regardless of mechanical/tactical benefit.

Learn the rules.

Don't talk over other people.

Work the narrative, don't just shoot, jump through the air sideways behind the bar firing a pair of blaster pistols mid leap.

Don't roll your dice into a pile of unused dice.

Roleplay at the table. In fact, you should be doing only roleplaying at the table. If you need to make a big huge sign that says "Roleplay at the table", then do so and post it at or above the table.

Have a way to handle out-of-game conversations between you and the GM, and you and the other players. This could be a "Talking Stick", or another hand-written sign that says "Out of game", or something.

So, if you're at the table, anything and everything you say and do is assumed to be in character, unless you're holding and/or waving around the "Out of game" sign/indicator.

If you want/need to do something or have some conversation that is out-of-game but does not involve using the OOG sign/indicator, then step away from the table.

Use fake voices and accents.

Unfortunately, some people can't do this, or they can't do it well. But you should practice. And if you sound like a wet piece of cardboard, maybe playing a Wookiee isn't your best bet.

Of course, there are now some good electronic soundboards available, some of which are even officially supported by Disney/Lucasfilm. So, if you need some "FX" help and you happen to have a handheld computing device, you might be able to keep it on the respective page and just "hit the button" when it is time to make the appropriate sound.

Sorry about the novel. Not sure where I got this, but this is one of the best lists. - Ryan

ONE: Do Stuff

Job One for you as a player is to do stuff; you should be thinking, at all times – “What are my goals? And what can I do to achieve them?” You are the stars of a very personal universe, and you are not going to get anywhere by sitting on your arse and waiting for adventure to come and knock on your door.

Investigate stuff. Ask questions. Follow leads. No-one needs you to point out that this is an obvious plot thread while you do it. Mix up scenes, talk to people, get up in their grill. If you’re not playing the sort of character that would do such a thing, find something you can affect, and affect it.

If you keep finding yourself pushed to the back of scenes and twiddling your thumbs – why is such a boring character hanging around with the sort of people that Get Stuff Done?

Be active, not passive. If you learn nothing else from this article, bloody learn this.

TWO: Realize that your character does not exist outside of the things you have said.

You can write as many pages of backstory as you like, mate, but they don’t factor in one bit to the game unless you show them happening. Are you a shrewd businessman? Cool. Do some business, shrewdly, in front of everyone else. Are you a hot jazz saxophonist? Play the saxophone. Are you a wild elf struggling through social interactions with civilised people? Struggle through those interactions! Don’t go off and sit in a tree, you prick!

This ties back into the first point, really; you only exist through your actions. It is not the responsibility of other players to read your backstory, and their characters cannot read minds. Well. Some of them can, but you know what I mean. They shouldn’t have to.

So display your talents, your traits, your weaknesses, your connections. Take every opportunity to show, and not tell, the other people at the table what your character is about.

THREE: Don’t try to stop things.

Negating another player’s actions is fairly useless play; it takes two possible story-changing elements and whacks them against each other so hard that neither of them works. For example, your fighter wants to punch some jerk, but your monk’s against it, so he grabs the fighter’s hand. In game terms, nothing’s happened. All you’ve done is waste time, and we don’t have infinite supplies of that.

Instead, go with the flow. Build. If the fighter wants to break someone’s nose, what happens after that? Does your monk rush to help the jerk up? To admonish the fighter? To apologise to the jerk’s friends, before trouble really kicks off? To save the fighter in the big brawl that ensues, even though he was going against your will? Or to throw the biggest guy in the tavern right at him, to really teach him a lesson? Those are all examples of interesting stories. Stopping him from doing anything whatsoever isn’t.

Don’t negate, extrapolate. (See, that rhymes, so it’s easier to remember)

FOUR: Take full control of your character.

“My character wouldn’t do that” is a boring excuse, a massive NO to the game’s story on a fundamental level. It’s a point-blank refusal to participate.

Instead of being bound by pre-conceived notions of what your character would and would not do, embrace complications and do it, but try to work out why. Why is your Rogue doing this mission for the church? Does he have ulterior motives? Is it out of a sense of companionship with the rest of the party? Characters in uncomfortable situations are the meat and drink of drama.

(Do you remember that great story about that hobbit who told Gandalf to screw himself, and sat at home picking his hairy toes all day before his entire village was swallowed up by the armies of darkness? No. No you bloody don’t. So put on your backpack and get out there, Frodo)

If you keep finding yourself having to explain your actions, or not wanting to go along with group decisions because of your character’s motives… well, sweetheart, maybe your character’s motives are wrong. They’re not written in stone. The group’s the thing, not your snowflake character, and if they’re not working, drop them off at the next village and maybe try playing someone more open to new ideas. Maybe work with the group to build a character that fits in.

Your character is part of the story; this is not your character’s story.

FIVE: Don’t harm other players.

Oh ho, here’s a jolly thief that nicks stuff from the other party members! And their Sleight of Hand roll is so high that no-one will ever notice! Gosh, what a jape.

Forget that guy. No-one likes that guy. (That guy generally plays Kender, and I am fully of the opinion that Kender should be promptly genocided out of all RPGs. I don’t think genocide is a crime if we’re talking about Kender.) If you steal from other players, you are exerting power over them in a really messy, underhanded sort of way. If they find out, what are they going to do? Are you going to force them to escalate? Is it fair if they kill you for it? Is that fun for them?

Similarly, attacking other players is awful, too. I’m okay with this where systems fully support and encourage this, of course – something like Paranoia or Dogs in the Vineyard – but, Christ guys, give it a rest. I am hard-pressed to think of a way where such a thing improves the game; if your group is fine with it, discuss it beforehand. But keep me out of it.

There are a whole load of things out there to steal from and beat up and kill that won’t get offended when you do it to them, so go bother them first.

SIX: Know the system, don’t be a jerk about it.

If you know a system, you are easier to GM for, because you know your character’s limitations. You can calculate the rough odds of a particular action succeeding or failing, just like in real life. You can make prompt assessments of situations and act accordingly, because you understand the rules of the world.

(New players, of course, get a free pass on this one. But do make an effort to learn the rules, obviously, if you’re keen on sticking around in the hobby.)

But for the love of God, don’t rules-lawyer. Do not do that. It is not hard to work out, because here is a simple guide – if you are arguing over a rule for more than twenty seconds, you are a rules lawyer. You are the Health and Safety Inspector of roleplaying games, and you need to stop talking, because you are sucking the fun out of the game.

There are times when the rules are wrong, and that’s fine, but I’m hard-pressed to think of that time the guy remembered the rule and we all laughed and had a great time because he made the GM change it.

SEVEN: Give the game your attention. If you can’t give your full attention, step away from the table.

Hey! What’s that you’re playing, on your phone there? Oh, is it Candy Crush Saga? That’s funny, all these dice and character sheets gave me the impression that we were playing a tabletop role-playing game, I must be terribly mistaken.

It is hard to think of a way to be more dismissive of someone’s game than playing a different game during it. If you find yourself getting so bored by what’s going on you’re resorting to playing a game on your phone, or reading a book, or checking Facebook, then step away from the game. You are draining the group with your very presence. I would rather have an empty chair than someone who wasn’t paying attention, because I don’t have to entertain an empty chair.

And of course, it’s up to the GM to offer an entertaining game. This is not one-sided. But going back to point one, act whenever you can. Give them something to work with. Unless you’re paying them money to do this, they are under no obligation to dance like a monkey for you just because they’re behind the screen.

EIGHT: If you make someone uncomfortable, apologize and talk to them about it.

I have a rule in my games, and that rule is: “Nothing sexes anything else.” Simple. Clean. Elegant. No sexual conduct; it’s weird, often. I’ve had seduction attempts, obviously, and that’s fine. I’ve had characters deeply affected by ****. I’ve even had someone negotiate time with a skin-thief alien to reanimate a cat for the purposes of sexual pleasure as part of a heist. But, and this is the crucial thing here, nothing screwed anything else “onscreen.”

And that’s the point; in situations like the ones we find ourselves in on a weekly basis, it’s easy to make people feel uncomfortable. Maybe it’s as blatant as discussing dead babies or ****; maybe it’s something much more benign, like being rude or chatting them up in-character.

If you think you might have upset someone, then ask ‘em, quietly. And if you have, apologize, and stop talking about that particular thing. It’s not rocket science; that’s how existing as a functioning social human being works, and somehow because we’re pretending to be a halfling for a bit, we often forget how to do it.

So, you know, be nice. Be extra nice. No-one’s going to think any less of you for it.

NINE: Be a Storyteller.

The World of Darkness books call their GM a Storyteller, because they are very obviously unable to call a spade a spade. But they have a point; a GM is telling stories. It’s easy to forget that the players are doing that too.

So put some effort in, eh? Say some words. Develop a character voice and stance. Describe your actions. Work out a level of agency with the GM so you can chip into wider descriptions, or just make assumptions and describe it and see if it sticks. A good GM should go with what you’re saying, anyway, unless it really goes against their plan.

Similarly, brevity = soul of wit, and all that. A good GM doesn’t monologue, or have their NPCs have long discussions, or make players sit back and watch while their world plays out. So know when to shut up, and to keep your descriptions short – unless you’re an incredible storyteller, of course. But short and punchy is always better than long and flowery.

TEN: Embrace failure.

Failure can be embarrassing. I know that I get pretty heated up when the dice don’t favour me – when I’ve spent ages waiting to have my turn in a large game, say, or when I’m using some special power, or when I’ve been talking a big talk for a while or described some fancy action – and I use some pretty bad language, too. And not “fun” bad language, like we all do when we’re gaming. Like threatening “is this guy okay” bad.

And that’s not cool. I need to learn to treat failure as a story branch, not a block. Why did I miss? Why didn’t my intimidation roll work? Why didn’t I pick the lock? Why was I seen? Who worked out that I’m the traitor? What other options can I explore?

Some systems build this in by default – Apocalypse World, for example – and they give you the ability to somehow affect the world whenever you roll the dice, not just fail to affect someone’s Hit Points. That’s great! We need to get ourselves into that mindset by default. We need to view failures as setbacks and explain why our character didn’t achieve their goal, and we need to understand that failure is not the end of the world.

ELEVEN: Play the game.

This is a game. This is not a challenge that exists solely in the head of your GM. This is not your character’s personal story arc. This is not your blog. This is not an excuse to chat up one of the other players. This is not a table to sit at in silence. This is a game.

We have signed up to play a game together. We are all telling a story with each other, to each other, and the story comes first. Step back from the heat of combat; step back from your character’s difficult relationship with their half-Drow mother; step back from the way that the Paladin’s player keeps stealing your dice.

This is a game. Respect the other players. Respect the story, and act in service of it. Respect that you will not always get your way, and that not getting your way can be interesting.

Do what is best for the game. Do what is best for the story. Be active! Be positive! Be interesting! Change things! If you can’t walk away at the end of the night with a good memory, with something that you could talk about in the pub in years to come, then everyone at the table has failed.

Some excellent advice already, I would add that it is nice to see players be consistent in their portrayal of their characters. I can't stand the social, peace-loving monk turn into an aggresive, grumpy a##hole just because the player is having a bad day.

I don't need the characters to stay the same and not experience growth but I have experienced silent, thoughtful rangers change into moronic, abusive idiots and back in a few sessions and it wasn't fun for anyone involved.

You could write a book on this, and I'm sure several people have!

Rule Zero: you're there to all have fun. Anything that breaks this rule deserves to be talked about.

When I'm GMing I try to remember:

If something goes wrong, just go with it. If it means your plot got trashed, let it die gracefully (and nothing need be wasted, you can recycle the bits you liked later).

On a related note, don't have just one thing happening at a time. There should be more than one mystery, more than one score to settle (or steal), more than one opportunity to exploit (or deny) at any given moment.

Throw in more NPCs than you can use - don't worry, the PCs'll find a way to use some of them and in the meantime they'll make your world feel bigger and more real.

When I'm a Player:

Respect the niche of the other Characters. If Dan's made the group's pilot, don't be better than him. If Mary's made a kickass swordswoman, don't be a jerk and make a better melee character just because you know the rules better.

Respect the niche of the other Characters. Again. Whatever Andrew's character is good at, enjoy the moments when he's given the opportunity to show how good he is. Show them that you're willing to rely on them and that you're sufficiently confident in them to do so.

Don't be a **** to the GM. Point out where the rules favour the PCs, but don't complain too much when he decides the circumstances are different.

Be fair. Where the rules don't favour the PCs, be honest about it - PCs tend to outnumber their GM 4- or 5- or 6-to-one so he's hardly going to remember everything.

Use fake voices and accents.

Unfortunately, some people can't do this, or they can't do it well. But you should practice. And if you sound like a wet piece of cardboard, maybe playing a Wookiee isn't your best bet.

You beat me to it. I'm one of those people. I've tried. I always fail. In the past I've role-played the quiet sinister type or the man of few words who was tortured by demons/thepast, etc to compensate for lack of theatrical flare. Perhaps it's good I'm almost always the GM? ETA: Or is that bad? I fail at providing proper voices and accents for my NPCs.

You can also look for copyleft ambientation sounds like doors, chains, storms... I think that also are a few awesome programs to recreate ambientation but I don't remember the name sorry :S

Use fake voices and accents.

Unfortunately, some people can't do this, or they can't do it well. But you should practice. And if you sound like a wet piece of cardboard, maybe playing a Wookiee isn't your best bet.

You beat me to it. I'm one of those people. I've tried. I always fail. In the past I've role-played the quiet sinister type or the man of few words who was tortured by demons/thepast, etc to compensate for lack of theatrical flare. Perhaps it's good I'm almost always the GM? ETA: Or is that bad? I fail at providing proper voices and accents for my NPCs.

You both miss the point. It's not about doing it well, It's about doing it. Sometimes doing it sh*tty is more fun and makes for more laughs, which is really the overall point.

One of my favourite NPCs of all time was from Dark Heresy. It was the first thing that that GM had run and he hadn't been playing RPGs for very long, but that NPC...
He was super helpful, but the GM hunched his shoulders, leaned forward, bulged his eyes and had this wide, beaming smile. He was this obsequious, slimy clerk and his body language and overenthusiastic tone of voice creeped us all out and made us instantly distrust him. Cracking work on what would otherwise have been a forgettable bit-part.

Believable has its place, but so does caricature.

1. Create a character concept and try to play it without metagaming. No one is expecting Shakespeare here but try to do what you feel your character would and inject fun dialogue in terms of things he would say. If you're playing Jayne be crude. If you're playing Han be a redeemable rogue.

2. Don't argue or fuss. If you don't like a rule or a GM decision complaining once is enough. Don't hunker down and cry about it all night. It just brings everyone down. In the end it's just a game and the majority of the time the GM is going to try to work with you so your character can be a hero.

3. Get to know the rules. Show some initiative. You don't have to memorize the book but at least get to know the mechanics you plan to frequently use.

4. Have fun with your character! Come up with a fun background and look for the hooks where your story advances. The more material you give the GM through backstory and active game roleplay the more he can write for your character.

5. Do not make fun of major villains or plot points. The nemesis you're giving a funny nickname to might have been taken several sessions for the GM to set up. If your character would fear him then he probably wouldn't make a joke out of it.

6. There are always alternatives to fighting. Think. Heroes go outside the box. Be the A-Team. Be MacGyver. GM's love when heroes come up with left field ideas even if it means the plot has to take a side track. I love it when engaged players figure out a way to save the day without a D&D-style slaughter!

[ Edit: Deleted ]

I read 2P51's post as supportive, not demanding. Like "Have a go, because you may find you and your mates have fun, even if you're crap at it" rather than "If you were a real GM you'd do it my way."

Who said anything about pointing a gun at someone's head? You can stop with the melodramatic hyperbole anytime you like, that would be fine with me.

When I did I say I would force someone into something that made them angry? Kind of goes against the have fun portion of my opinion.

I read 2P51's post as supportive, not demanding. Like "Have a go, because you may find you and your mates have fun, even if you're crap at it" rather than "If you were a real GM you'd do it my way."

That is a nice way to read what was said. And if 2P51 wishes to state that this was what he had intended, then I would fully support that -- and I would be happy to delete my previous response to him on this subject.

So it's my responsibility to help you not make assumptions? I don't think so.

Deep breeze everyone and... back to topic again!

If do you want to get angry we can talk about Force Unleashed, Overlords... or Han Shoot First! XDDD

[ Edit: Deleted ]

So it's my responsibility to help you not make assumptions? I don't think so.

I agreed that doing the voices is a good idea. I also agreed that you should practice, if you're not good at it. However, I also allowed for the possibility that there are some out there who simply can't do voices, and they should not be forced to try to do so.

You were the absolutist who said, and I quote:

You both miss the point. It's not about doing it well, It's about doing it.

Just how exactly is that supposed to be taken?

If you want to be clear in your statements and what you intend to say, then you should be clear. If you are not clear, then you should not be surprised if people misinterpret what you say.

If there are misinterpretations, it's your choice as to whether or not you clarify your position. However, you are unlikely to have any positive outcome if all you do is get argumentative about whether or not you should be forced to clarify your statement.

How about quoting the whole comment and taking things in context? The whole comment was actually this

You both miss the point. It's not about doing it well, It's about doing it. Sometimes doing it sh*tty is more fun and makes for more laughs, which is really the overall point.

So how about you quit with the tabloid cherry picking out of context melodrama.

Well, to be fair I would rather not have people do it terribly at my table even if only for the laughs. Dor us, that is not the overall point so I can see why he disregarded that bit and stuck to the essence of what you said.

But, there is no need to get upset with each other, you both seem to have the best interest of gamers at heart, you just see it differently.

Keep it moving. There's a time for strategy but we've only got a few hours together at the table.

Remember it's just a game. Even if your character or the party fails at something, you can still have a great time playing.

Develop relationships between the PCs. It's fun to develop the same kinds of in-jokes we have as friends for the characters. It's OK and can be fun if two characters antagonize one another, if everyone can play it for fun.

Develop relationships with the NPCs. It helps the GM and helps you ground your PCs in the universe if the characters develop meaningful relationships with NPCs. A trusted contact on Ord Mantell whom they'll fight to protect, a hated rival they'll go out of their way to take down.