7 Proactive Practices For Dungeons and Dragons Players
Easy ways to make your game sessions more impactful
If you’re new here, welcome! I write about running E.P.I.C role playing games for DM/GMs.
In my last article, I encouraged DMs/GMs to establish 8 Proactive Habits to keep their tables running smoothly and keep their souls healthier so they can run games longer without burning out. If this might apply to you, check it out.
If you’re a player, would you like to know what your DM/GM would really like from you every time you play? Let me give you a peek behind the DM/GM screen and show you what your DM/GM is secretly hoping you will do.
These are the habits proactive players have that contribute to long lasting campaigns, vibrant tables
and happy DMs/GMs.
Communicate
If you really want to show you’re committed to your weekly or monthly game here are a few things to communicate with your DM about
Let your DM/GM know, as early as possible, that you won’t be able to make the next session. This is both fair to your DM and your fellow players.
Talk to your DM/GM between sessions. Share where you’d like your character to go. Let your DM/GM know if your character is searching for their lost twin or a certain magical relic. Your DM will love a chance to include it into the story
Be honest about the sessions. If you feel like the campaign is going great, tell them. If the campaign is not going great, tell them. Your DM/GM can only make changes based on the feedback you give them.
Your DM/GM, contrary to popular belief, cannot read minds, they need your help to run the best game they can. Unless they’re a bad DM/GM, then you need to find another group.
Level Up and Learn
What does this mean? After a session, you might need to level up so
making sure you’ve updated your spells
making sure you know knows what feats they have and what they can do
updating your equipment list
adding notes like the limp you now have from that fall
subtracting gold you spent or adding treasure that was dived up
If you’re new to a game system, check out how the rules work for combat or how magic works. This keeps the DM/GM from having to pause the game to explain how the game works. But if you have questions, definitely ask.
Most of the information you would need is online so you don’t have to buy a new book if you do not want to.
Ask questions about the world
Whether your DM/GM is running a home brew world or an established setting, these questions (not all in one session) asked, over time will let them know your interested and invested in the world you are playing in or building together.
Where is a local temple to worship my deity?
Does my guild have a location here?
Are there any laws I need to be aware of?
Is there a local dish my character can try?
The questions you ask can add flavor and lore to every session building your character’s backstory in the process.
Build Your Backstory
Speaking of backstory, you don’t have to write a 30 page dissertation on your character, you DM/GM preferred you didn’t, but here are some simple pieces of information your DM/GM could use when planning their sessions
likes and dislikes
family relations (let your DM know you they need your permission before any of them are kidnapped, killed and/or demon possessed)
scars or/and tattoos
accomplishments, degrees or titles you may have earned
These give your DM/GM some threads to pull on when creating encounters and a way to progress your character in a story or even a way to level them up.
Take the bait
Your DM/GM is going to be throwing out some adventure hooks to see which ones you might take. I know I have planned sessions around a particular idea and none of my player’s character went for it. Sad face.
I’m not saying you should take all of the hooks but if you think your DM/GM has been working hard on something for your next session, lean into it and see where it goes.
Role Play
You DM/GM might not expect this, but I always encourage it. I’m not saying you have to use a funny voice, unless you want to, but I am saying it always deepens the immersion of the game when you speak as your character vs saying, “My character does this”.
I had a new person at one of my Learn to Play sessions and she totally owned it. She spoke to the other character rather than speaking to me. She would ask them questions or tell them their plans and it created such a great dynamic at the table. I started calling her Momma Dwarf because of how well she interacted and took care of the rest of the party
Just this past week I ran a game at the North Texas RPG Con and there were only two players but you should have heard these two dwarfs chatter at each other. They were like two brothers fighting.
Being proactive doesn’t mean being perfect, it just means showing up each week to be your character the best way you know how.
Risk it for a Biscuit
I’m currently running an open table of Ghosts of Saltmarsh. The beginning of the session went like this,
Me: “You come to a dilapidated set of wooden double doors, splintered with the paint peeling.”
Fighter: I go through the doors
Me: So you try to open the door?
Fighter: No, I walk THROUGH the door, it looks pretty weak.
Me: Let’s goooo!
This went on through out the house. He would say, “I walk through the door” and I would say, “Give me a strength check”
Many doors died that session but it was epic because he took a risk and I rewarded him for it. Your DM will likely (read that as should) reward your risk as well.
If there is a chasm, jump it.
If there’s a chandelier, swing on it.
If there’s charging bull, you should probably get out of the way but see if you can flip over it.
The more calculated risks you take, the more exciting your game will be and the more your DM/GM will appreciate it as you keep the session interesting.
Tell Me More
These are just some of the ways you can be a proactive player and add value to your table but I’m sure I missed some.
If you’re a DM/GM, let me know how you wish your players would be more proactive.
If you’re a player, give me a way you’ve been proactive at your table.