RPG Etiquette: The Basics

 

RPG Etiquette

So you’ve been invited or started a game of your own! Congrats!

But before you sit down at the table or click join on your digital tabletop, there’s a few rules you probably should know. Don’t worry, this is a simple blog post, not Emily Post, so I’ll keep it short and to the point.

1. Be on Time

    This is pretty basic, but do your best to be on time when your DM or GM schedules a session. We understand that sometimes life gets in the way, and we understand about traffic, or roads, or sleeping in. Just do your best to be as close to on time as possible. It shows that you respect your fellow players and their time.

2. Be Prepared for the session

    Do your best to be prepared for the session. If you took notes, reviewing them before the session will help you start smoothly and easily into the session. You also need to make sure to bring your character sheet, writing implements and dice, at a minimum. If you forget something, we understand that it happens and often the DM or another player will have spare pencils and dice. Do your best to return anything you borrowed. If you’re playing digitally, make your whatever app or site you use for your character sheet is loaded and ready to go.

3. Share the spotlight

    Tabletop role playing is a social hobby. Each character around the table has their strengths and weaknesses. This means that sometimes that your character will be front and center doing cool things, but it also means that sometimes you have to take a backseat and watch someone else do cool stuff. There may be some overlap in some systems. For example, both a ranger and druid are likely to have skills concerning nature and survival. If its a check called for and you have an appropriate skill, you might both end up rolling. Be patient. Your turn to do things will come.

4. Be ready for your turn

    While it can be tempting to play on your phone or do something else when it’s not your turn in combat, you need to be prepared when your turn comes. Generally this involves the following: Knowing the position, number and condition of your enemies, Knowing where your allies are and what they are doing as well as their condition (vital for healers) , What spells and abilities are curently affecting the battlefield, and what abilities and spells are at your disposal. At least get a rough idea of what you want to do, especially if it involves a spell. That way people aren’t stuck waiting for you to decide what you want to do with your turn, and combat, which already tends to burn a l

5. Respect your fellow players and the DM

    Please do your best to have common courtesy when playing at the table. I know most of you learned basic manners in elementary school. Essentially, don’t interrupt your fellow players or the DM/GM when they are speaking. See the previous point about sharing the spotlight. If you happen to disagree on something, its not a big deal, don’t take it personally. Same thing if something happens to your character. At the end of the day, you are playing a game. It is only a game. The fate of the world does not hinge on the outcome of your game.

I know there’s a lot more to this, but I kinda want to keep it basic, at least for now. If inspiration strikes, I might make a part 2 to this.

Happy Gaming

Lake