This is part 2 in my series about the fundamental skills every D&D player can focus on improving. You can read the rest of the series here:
These posts are targeted at players rather than DMs, but I think the concepts are useful to anyone.
The tips are meant for regular players who want to improve their game. None of these ideas or recommendations require innate skills, methodical practice, or particular styles of play. It’s just a collection of things I wish someone would have told me when I was new to the game.
There’s a common misconception that, because they’re the one who preps for each session, the DM is doing work while everyone else is playing a game. We tend to think it’s primarily the DM who’s in charge of making a good campaign. But you’re responsible for much more than enjoying the fruits of your DM’s labor. Everyone in the campaign should be actively contributing.
Outside the story, that means helping out. Bring food to sessions. Offer to track damage or initiative. Share campaign summaries. Make props for the items people carry around in game. Get into the mindset that having a good game and telling a good story is everyone’s responsibility. If you aren’t doing something for the group, challenge yourself to find at least one thing that improves the experience for everyone.
Besides ordering a few large pizzas, being an active player also means staying engaged for the entire session. Listen to what’s going on even when it’s not your scene. It may not have been your idea, and it may not directly relate to your character goals, but you can still find a way to enhance the moment for everyone else.
While you’re listening, take notes on what you hear. It may not seem like a big deal to ask your DM the name of that NPC you talked to 3 sessions ago. But remembering what you’ve encountered is how you start to become proactive in the world. It’s much more satisfying when you decide to revisit that shady merchant from 3 adventures ago because they might have relevant info. It’s less fun (and more obvious) when the DM has to dangle that NPC in front of you to jog your memory. The more you remember on your own, the more your DM can trust you to find your own hooks and drive the direction of the game.
Being an active player is more than listening and taking notes. No matter how many awesome plot hooks and surprise reveals your DM pulls off, the story will only be mediocre if players are only sitting back and watching things unfold. The more time the party spends in the driver’s seat, the more personalized and meaningful the campaign will feel.
When you’re deciding what to do next, don’t wait for the DM to dangle an obvious plot hook in front of you. Make your own goals and pursue them. If the DM didn’t prepare for the location or NPC you decide to visit, they’ll improvise. If they had a great plot hook, they’ll find a way to drop it in front of your new direction. It may be uncomfortable at first. But over time you’ll get more confident inventing scenarios to pursue instead of waiting for an invitation from the DM. As a bonus, when your DM realizes that they don’t have to spend as much time planning how to guide your party through the world, they can spend more time building the world itself.
So how can you start being more proactive?
First off, you and your friends put all that time and effort into making your characters’ backstories. Use them! Keep your backstory fresh in your mind. At the beginning of the session, repeat your motivations, your likes, and your dislikes. When you’re in a new location and there’s no urgent next step, pick something from your backstory and find a way to act on it.
Don’t limit this to just yourself. Ask the other players about their backstory. Take something interesting they mention and offer to help them pursue that for the day.
Finally, don’t be afraid to say things about the world you’re playing in. You don’t always have to look to the DM and make a history check. If something feels right, even if it’s a big detail, add it to the world. Especially if it’s about your character.
The DMs job is to maintain what’s plausible, not be the sole source of information about the world. If you say something that doesn’t fit with the campaign, they can easily correct you. But if you start adding little flourishes, details, and backstories on your own, that’s one less thing the DM has to worry about juggling in the moment.
You are building this story just as much as the DM. It’s your responsibility to add details into the world and drive interesting plot lines. Always be thinking about how you can add to and improve the experience for everyone. Internalize this.
You are not the hero of the story. You and all your friends are the joint protagonist of this campaign. That means you need to be comfortable letting others take the spotlight. When others talk, don’t talk over them.
Most players get this. But the concept goes deeper than interruptions. A common phrase I see at the table (and say myself…) is “while they’re doing that…”. It happens most frequently when the primary player needs to pause for a dice role. Another player, who has been dutifully silent until now, tries to sneak in some quick action in the downtime.
The problem is that it’s hard for scenes to sustain more than 1—maybe 2—directions before they start falling apart. So when you quickly interject a new goal, you’re taking away energy and focus from the first player. This is especially true if you try to do something that could actively derail the other player’s goals, like trying to pickpocket the person they’re negotiating with.
Instead, either remain silent through the whole scene or do something that directly contributes to the other player’s goal. This could be something that makes their success more likely. Or it could be something that makes their actions more fun or interesting.
On the flip side, if you have the spotlight for a scene, be aware that everyone is giving you this moment. Make hooks for others to jump in. Their support can increase the odds of your success, but it also lets them have some fun. When you’re negotiating with an NPC, turn to a friend and say: “Don’t just take my word for it. Lados, tell them about the time we killed the dragon!”
On a similar note, if another player does something you think is a bad idea, don’t stop them. No matter how dumb you think it is, remember that you’re here to build an interesting story, not actually save the world. It’s OK if mistakes are made. No great story begins with you tripping your barbarian friend before they can run into the action. Not to mention, that’s incredibly frustrating for the barbarian who thought they were about to do something cool.
Whenever possible, support the crazy antics of your friends. If it feels out of character, have your cautious rogue shake their head and mutter “these idiots…” as they (reluctantly) go rushing in to help their allies. Think of how Iron Man follows the Hulk and Thor into battle. He doesn’t go home griping about how they’re idiots and they can deal with this on their own.
If one player is consistently making bad decisions that undermine the party, have a conversation in-game with them. Come up with a compromise that solves the problem but lets them stay true to their character. “Hey, I know you really like rushing in and wrecking face. But if you give me a little heads up, I can get into position and take out their guard so you can do more smashing.” If things get particularly egregious, talk to your friend after the session and come up with a solution out of game.
On the flipside, pay attention to the reactions of everyone at the table. If you do something that clearly upsets or annoys others, think of how you can change tact or mitigate the situation next time. Don’t take advantage of their support—be a good citizen.
Most of the time, when we interrupt others or undermine their actions, it’s because we have an idea of what we expect to happen. We have an awesome plan and we don’t want other players, or the dice, to screw that up. But D&D is not a game where we get to control the outcome. We only control what we try to do. For the rest, we have to trust our friends to support us. And accept that a natural 1 will inevitably send us plunging off a cliff from time to time.
I frequently hear players say things like “I want to… then I’m going to… finally I’ll…” Just as your DM shouldn’t script out exactly how events will unfold, you should avoid the habit of thinking too far into the future. When you build elaborate images of the things you’re going to do, you open yourself up to disappointment when a dice roll goes poorly. You increase the chance of viewing the dice and your fellow players as adversaries, breaking up your cool plans.
Instead, get in the habit of saying “My goal is… I’ll try…” Focusing on the first thing you’re going to try means you won’t get ahead of yourself. Sharing your intent means that the DM and other players can jump in and help you achieve that, even if you fail your dice roll.
For example, you might say: “My goal is to get the monster wet so lightning bolt does more damage. I’ll try climbing up the wall to open that sewer pipe…”
When you fail your athletics check to climb the wall, the DM can have you slip near the top. You just barely manage to grab the sewage pipe, but you bend it so the water goes at an odd angle. Then the mage uses shape water to bring the torrent down on the monster. Knowing your intent means everyone can coordinate more effectively to make awesome things happen.
Speaking of effective coordination, one of the most common ways you can frustrate your friends is to leave them in the dark. Every single one of us has had a fun idea that we wanted to surprise everyone with. Or we got bored and just wanted to get the action started so we ran ahead without sharing our plan. As much as we think we can pull off these cinematic reveals or spontaneous actions, usually we can’t. More often than not, our cryptic statements of “give me a sec, just trust me!” leave our friends sitting in awkward silence, unable to partake in the action.
The simple solution is to think out loud. If you have a cool plan to go stealth assassinate the king, tell everyone about it. If you’re bored and want to rush in, draw your sword and say: “I would like to kill things now, does anyone care to join me?”
Give players a chance to join in, or to let you know if you’re about to trample on something they care about. If you’re afraid others will try to stop you, refer to the last section. Trust your friends to support you. Don’t worry about the outcome.
In the same way that you shouldn’t hoard your thoughts and plans, don’t hoard your resources. Share loot with your party. Nothing is more frustrating than the rogue who’s always sneaking ahead and stealing the treasure while everyone else is looking the other way. The players know you stole their hard earned coin, but that failed perception check means they can’t even take action on the frustration in game.
In addition to sharing loot with the party, just accept that in order to get things and inspire random strangers to help you, you will have to give up resources. Don’t always try to bluff your way in. Or deceive an NPC into giving you something for free. Your interactions with the world will be much more liberating if you stop scrounging for every single resource you can. Just pay the man! Offer a magic item in order to win their cooperation.
If you’re doing a good job giving others the spotlight, that means you’ll have some downtime to take notes and think about how the story is progressing. This is an important asset.
When you have a moment during the session, reflect on how the past few scenes have gone. Jot down a single sentence description of the scenes you’ve done that night. Is there anyone who hasn’t had a chance to talk? Has someone had a lot of frustrating failures? Maybe there’s something you can do to help build them up.
Also spend some time thinking about the current scene. What is the goal of the scene? Is it dramatic and emotional, or procedural and outcome oriented? Is there anything you can do to support it?
If a scene has been going on for a while, take a look around. Do players seem engaged? Or should we find a way to wrap things up? Don’t be afraid to say straightforwardly: “I think we’re going in circles, maybe we should just…”
Your DM is trying to juggle 4-6 players, the world, NPCs, and more, all while stitching together something that’s fun for everyone. The more you pay attention to the rhythm and structure of the story, the more you can help them out.
When thinking about how to be a better player at the table, a lot of folks will talk about “yes and”, method acting, and other advanced techniques. It’s true that these things can be enormously beneficial. If you ever want your game to feel like Critical Role, you’ll eventually need to master them.
But a few simple tools can go far to transform your game. And they don’t require innate talent or lots of practice, just a bit of awareness.
First and foremost, stay engaged.
Don’t just think about what you want. Think about others. How can you help them achieve their goals? Help grow the world and also push forward other player’s storylines.
Take notes and think about what proactive things you can do to drive the story. What can you do to keep the pace up?
Share your thoughts. Share your money!
Focus on your intent and don’t think too far ahead. Trust your friends to support you.
