I speak in character in 1st person, but I describe my PCs’ actions in 3rd person. After all, I am not the one doing the things, they are. So I do my darndest to draw a clear line of separation between whatever “I” am doing and what “they” do. “I’m going to the kitchen, can I bring anything back for anyone?” And “So-and-so walks up to the guard, looks down, spits on their boots and then they say….” Sure as shirts my PC So-and-so ain’t gonna jump off the page go fetch anyone at the table a Coke (or Pepsi). And best believe I can’t jump to [insert name of fantasyland] and spit on anyone’s boots. I don’t have Houdini’s golden ticket. (If I did I’d be too rich to hang around here!)
Be advised, spoiler contains (remarkably) brief rant. You have been informed. Opening the spoiler = consent.
The bulk of the issues I hear/read about these days between players or between players and DMs seems to stem from people conflating “character” with “player.” I see/hear people all the time say stuff like “no PvP!” Well… if one of the IRL people at the table stands up and jabs another IRL player in the neck with a broken pencil, that would be “PvP.” But a completely fictional character uses stealth/deception/slight of hand against another completely fictional character… by definition that can’t be “PvP.” After all, neither of the people actually did anything, and neither of the people actually lost anything.
If one character steals from another, that isn’t an actual IRL player stealing from anyone. There is no actual thing, getting stolen at all. It’s just make believe. But folks get hurt/pissed/bent about it anyway. And (at least in my experience anyway) the reason for it is because people aren’t separating player from character. How many forum threads on this site alone where people type “killing players,” and “player survivability,” or “problem characters,” and such? Hopefully nobody is killing their players, hopefully people’s “player survival rate” is 100%. And no, that character is rarely the problem, the wangrod playing that character is.
I don’t know why, but it seems to be a bigger issue this edition than in any of the previous ones. Maybe that’s just memory skewing my perspective, or maybe I put on the rose-colored ones. Maybe the folks I played with back in 2e-3.5e were just less inclined to conflate each other with our characters because most of them died by 3rd-5th level. 🤷♂️ But I do see it as a trend, and an unhealthy one at that.
Maintaining a healthy detachment from our characters is a good thing IMO.
When playing, it's usually 1st person. When DMing, it's always 3rd person. It's basically a requirement for DMing, because it helps avoid confusion about who is doing what.
I always do third person, which is probably a habit from mostly being a DM (hopefully not a forever DM... we'll see). Doing first person as a DM just... doesn't work. At all.
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All stars fade. Some stars forever fall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homebrew (Mostly Outdated):Magic Items,Monsters,Spells,Subclasses ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
I speak in character in 1st person, but I describe my PCs’ actions in 3rd person. After all, I am not the one doing the things, they are. So I do my darndest to draw a clear line of separation between whatever “I” am doing and what “they” do. “I’m going to the kitchen, can I bring anything back for anyone?” And “So-and-so walks up to the guard, looks down, spits on their boots and then they say….” Sure as shirts my PC So-and-so ain’t gonna jump off the page go fetch anyone at the table a Coke (or Pepsi). And best believe I can’t jump to [insert name of fantasyland] and spit on anyone’s boots. I don’t have Houdini’s golden ticket. (If I did I’d be too rich to hang around here!)
The bulk of the issues I hear/read about these days between players or between players and DMs seems to stem from people conflating “character” with “player.” I see/hear people all the time say stuff like “no PvP!” Well… if one of the IRL people at the table stands up and jabs another IRL player in the neck with a broken pencil, that would be “PvP.” But a completely fictional character uses stealth/deception/slight of hand against another completely fictional character… by definition that can’t be “PvP.” After all, neither of the people actually did anything, and neither of the people actually lost anything.
If one character steals from another, that isn’t an actual IRL player stealing from anyone. There is no actual thing, getting stolen at all. It’s just make believe. But folks get hurt/pissed/bent about it anyway. And (at least in my experience anyway) the reason for it is because people aren’t separating player from character. How many forum threads on this site alone where people type “killing players,” and “player survivability,” or “problem characters,” and such? Hopefully nobody is killing their players, hopefully people’s “player survival rate” is 100%. And no, that character is rarely the problem, the wangrod playing that character is.
I don’t know why, but it seems to be a bigger issue this edition than in any of the previous ones. Maybe that’s just memory skewing my perspective, or maybe I put on the rose-colored ones. Maybe the folks I played with back in 2e-3.5e were just less inclined to conflate each other with our characters because most of them died by 3rd-5th level. 🤷♂️ But I do see it as a trend, and an unhealthy one at that.
Maintaining a healthy detachment from our characters is a good thing IMO.
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When playing, it's usually 1st person. When DMing, it's always 3rd person. It's basically a requirement for DMing, because it helps avoid confusion about who is doing what.
I usually do a mixture of both, but I use third person more.
erm. hello there, 'tis i. not that you know me.
I always do third person, which is probably a habit from mostly being a DM (hopefully not a forever DM... we'll see). Doing first person as a DM just... doesn't work. At all.
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall.
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Homebrew (Mostly Outdated): Magic Items, Monsters, Spells, Subclasses
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If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
This poll and thread topic are just going to make me more self-conscious in my next game sessions about how i present my character during RP.
i predict a TPK and probably a little bit of pee as a result.
Use both 1st and 3rd as a player, but at a table, I think I tends toward first.
As a DM I would say my default is second person.
Ludo ergo sum!
I use both, depending on the situation. I usually use 1st person while roleplaying, and 3rd while describing my characters actions.
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