Many of us are struggling right now and for those who need to ground themselves in something normal and lighthearted, I have decided to post this video as scheduled. Please be kind to each other (and yourselves) today. ❤
I'm just imagining that one TikTok where someone talks about their cat coming up to their table and started rolling the dice while one player was away, so they just ran with it, said the druid is just in permanent wild shape, and pulled up a whole new chair for the player once they got back! XD
I'm also this type! I live for the moments when I can deal real life psychic damage to the GM and the players by describing the horrifying things my character does...to help out. I play a Modron artificer, and cure wounds involves bone saws, gigantic syringes full of glue, a staple gun, and screwing metal plates into your broken bones. For some reason the rest of the party goes running in terror when I ask if anyone requires medical attention.😂
It must be inconceivable for young people how some dude running into a dungeon managed to become one of the biggest memes of a previous generation. But here we are. Absolute generational gap.
@@ruolbu As a barely gen z in denial, the generation after me is far more inconceivable to me than yours. Besides, gen Z has Skibidi toilet, I think your guy running into a dungeon makes perfect sense
@@GinnyDi yeah, there was this session where an archfey had us go through challenges. And one of them had an npc say you needed to anger him to get the key. My Fairy barbarian immediatelly stabbed him. Granted, she has Intelligence 8. I would however be more likely to go for talking with my School of Eloquence Tiefling Bard (mostly deception though). It depends on the character I'm playing though to be fair, I prefer Chaotic Neutral
While I don't consider myself a "socializer" player, I love seeing my party regularly and spending quality time with them! 🥰 It's a really lovely bonus to a fun game.
Love this kind of video. So many people talk about practicing good communication, session zero, and to make sure your play group is all on the same page and wants the same things outta the game, but it's so rare to see people actually dive into it. It's rare to hear about _how_ to communicate well, _how_ to run a session zero, and detailing _how_ to get on the same page and figure out if you want the same things.
Thanks so much! You know I’m a big fan of session zero-it’s such a game-changer for building a group that clicks. I really want to help make it easier for anyone to dive into, especially if they’re new to the process!
I found that when I stopped treating it as a night where "I run a game of D&D" to "we play a game of D&D" the games became much more enjoyable and the stories became much better. (I also want to say I really like how you do your sponsor segments. They're always adorable and so well done.)
Best. Video. Ever. Seriously… I’ve been a follower for years… this is so important, so accessible. Really, really nicely done. Back in the late 1970s, nobody looked at what ‘type’ of player someone was… they used terms like ‘good’ and ‘bad’. ‘Murder hobos’ and ‘loot ninjas’ are terms still heavily over used. There is a right table for most players… but gaming with folks who you aren’t compatible with just sucks. Bravo… really good work.
Thank you so much! It’s amazing to hear that this resonated, especially from a long-time player. Having a framework for player types opens up so many new ways to build the right group for everyone. Really glad you enjoyed this one!”
I have always used the term Loot Goblin instead of Ninja, there is nothing stealthy about the way every enemy corpse gets stripped to their skivvies. I am a proud loot goblin and will always be so.
Hail, fellow grognard! 😄 Do you remember "Killer DM" and "Monty Haul"? (W-a-a-y back in the day, I had a wood plaque made of the former; whenever I put it on the table, my players knew that my patience was wearing thin...)
@@GinnyDi … For us ancient gamers… we learned this kind of thing slowly… and usually over the wreckage of relationships. That such fundamental things are now so clearly understood and easily described and spelled out to new gamers is wonderful. In the old days, people would have an awful experience - because of incompatibility - and walk away from gaming. What’s more, I think it almost certain that there are some friends who’ve been having a hard time who are going to see this… and have that much needed epiphany that they can be best friends… but not game together!
@@homebrewisthebestbrew5270 has Killer DM gone out of fashion? Have you noticed that gaming with kids young enough to be your grand kids is… weird? Gaming sensibilities are so different, now. No uber long campaigns, no hirelings, it’s… different.
I want every player to have a subplot, a story arc, and growth. Changing the world around you is satisfying and emotionally investing. Grab hold of that plot! I guess that makes me the storyteller. =)
LEEEEEROOOOOOY JJJJEENKIIINS! Awesome! I did actually read this ages ago, but with conflicting interests only recently bubbling to the surface in our group, I needed a reminder! Someone need to make a 40 question quiz which gives you an 8 pointed radar chart with your scores in these various stats. From 1-20, of course. And a player matching guide with suggestions on types you might match or clash with. Hold my Mercury Gatorade (yes, that is a thing now), I have to make a spreadsheet! Aaaand, I think I just revealed my nature as a problemsolver/optimizer multiclass. But I ready knew that. After all, I had a full 30 level progression plan ready for my 3.5-character before we hit lvl 8. But also an 8 page backstory, soooo who tf am I?!
This was really useful for me, I played D&D for the first time last week and felt like I maybe hadn't done a very good job because I wasn't great at the roleplay part (my character calls people "dude" a lot more often than they really should), but after watching this I realise I'm just a not that type of player and that's ok. I did loot every dead body finding some important keys though, and asking the right question when the DM described a wall as being "mostly" hewn rock lead to us finding the secret passage that the other players were going to miss, so maybe I'm just more of an explorer type!
That sounds like a great first session! Not everyone needs to be heavy on roleplay to enjoy D&D, and it sounds like your instincts as an Explorer are spot-on. Picking up on details and finding those hidden keys and secret passages is the kind of game-changing contribution every party needs!
I think I’m an Actor-Storyteller-Optimizer, BUT I always make sure to optimize for the good of the group. Like, I love pulling off game-breaking combat combos, but ONLY when it involves another player (that way, I’m helping others feel cool, instead of just it being the Me Show). I also currently play a blaster-support for this reason, as, while she doesn’t get kills often, she’s always making everyone else more efficient, making her super impactful without stealing the spotlight.
I love your take on optimization! Pulling off big moves while making the whole team look awesome is next-level. That’s the kind of party member everyone loves to have around!
I consider myself a storyteller-optimizer, which for me means I want to optimize within the bounds of my character concept. Which concept is often weird and suboptimal itself.
Yeah if you enjoy the optimiser side you have to be careful in most groups not to overdo it and spoil the game for everyone. Helps if the DM at least has a splash of optimising in them too, but if you play to aid your party rather than be so dominatingly efficient you effectively do it all yourself then everyone can still have fun, even if you make things a bit too easy. Though I also enjoy optimising concepts for the meme/fun value rather than just being the best at something obviously useful or going for the how can I make an effective build with awful stats (if your stats are worse than the less optimised player it brings you more inline naturally, while creating an additional fun challenge to build around) - my favourite so far at least is to dump Con rather hard, as that adds some real risk you won't survive even one hit especially at the lower levels, so you have to play smarter and lets play around with those entertaining but too MAD (multi-ability-dependent) build ideas you have had that really demand too many good stats.
@@suedenim Yes, I'm like that too! I'm never optimising to deal the most damage, I just want to bring my weird character idea into the world. It's not my fault that idea requires three different multiclasses and tons of optimising to make the resulting combination playable! One of my most recent characters was optimised with the goal of having the most possible pseudodragons. She wasn't that strong but she sure did have a lot of lil dragons.
I'd suggest another type: Helper. The players who really like to play a cleric. The spellcasters whose favorite spell is Identify. The ones who prefer a support role in the group, using ranged weapons instead of melee weapons. The ones who collect obscure magic items that "might come in handy someday." They're quick to help the little girl find her lost puppy, without ever wondering if the little girl's adult vocabulary might be a tip-off that she's a polymorphed sorceress looking for a victim. They are the opposite of instigators, the best friend of fighters, and they don't have much use for explorers.
I think that sounds a little like problem solver, just a specific subset. Maybe a bit of actor or storyteller too. (I don't think anyone is strictly one type, we're all blends of different preferences and our personality and preferences in other areas affect how those manifest.)
Storyteller 🌞 Explorer ⬆️ Actor 🌙 - Great video! I actually always make my new players take a mini personality quiz for these player types before we have our session zero so I can help them build PCs they’ll enjoy playing 😂
@@StephaniePlaysGames I hate being that guy who says "oh my god, I have a video idea you should make," so I'm terribly sorry for what I'm about to say. But, as a fan of yours, I'd genuinely love to see you talk about that sometime. I have taught a lot of new players how to play, so I'm always looking for tips on how to better do that the next time I have to. I would also just love to hear what kind of success you have had with it, ways you might wanna improve it, etcetera, etcetera.
My favorite problem solver anecdote. Back in the '80s, I ran a competition module at a local con. One of the players asked if he could add some items to his pre-generated chacter -- specifically, "A pot of honey and a book of bad elvish poetry." Sure. No problem. Later in the adventure, when they were trying to sneak into a building unnoticed, he walks up to a locked door that had a small window. "I take out my honey," he tells me, "and smear it all over the glass. They I rip pages out of the poetry book and stick them all over the honey. Now I use the pommel of my dagger to carefully break the glass and, since it's stuck to the honeyed paper, it won't fall in and crash on the floor, alerting the guards... right?" You're darn tootin', buddy. Have some luscious extra XPs for that bit of cleverness!
It's interesting how the different types of player described above correspond to different approaches in the psychology of learning and play. There is an important model of the psychology of Learning/play by honey and Mumford. Based on earlier work by kolb. they divide learning/play into four key parts. Activity, reflection, theorising, and testing. Everybody uses each of these steps however most people have a favourite place to start. Activists love to jump in and get things going, reflectors like to get their ducks in a row organising their actions before they act, theorizer's like to strategize 1st, testers like to poke it with a stick and see what happens.
That’s fascinating! The connections between player types and learning/play models really add another layer to how we approach D&D. The model makes so much sense here-‘activity’ as instigators, ‘reflection’ as storytellers, ‘theorising’ as problem solvers, and ‘testing’ as explorers. It’s amazing how D&D taps into these psychological preferences in such a natural way!
@@GinnyDi This can also help build an understanding of both party dynamics and player dynamics. Activists want to jump in and get going. Strategists want to hold back and think things through. the barbarian wades in before the battle master forms a plan. This creates tension between them. Reflectors like to get there ducks in a row before they act. Testers like to deliberately upset things to see what happens. the rouge was to start a fight to see what happens, the bard wants to control with charm and persuasion. This creates tension between them. Often (but not always) players like to explore different approaches through their characters e.g. players with highly strategic day jobs like cut loose with an activist barbarian in the evenings.
I played a game last night that had me saying "I need a drink" after an amount of in-game time of about 15 seconds. It was one of the most stressful 90 minutes of my life. That is what I want.
At the beginning of every campaign I DM--and at with every group of new players I join--I always send out a survey asking players to rank which of these playstyles they most identify with. Does a good job helping players be aware of their preferences, and helps me better tailor the game to player preferences. Granted, because I'm big into Narrative, Optimizing, and Acting, those will sneak their way into my encounters anyways . . . xD
Yes! I love a session zero or player survey 🥰 That’s such a smart approach - getting everyone to think about their playstyle right from the start can make a world of difference, and it sounds like you’re giving players a fantastic experience.
Happy to help! 💖 That simple question is such a smart way to get everyone on the same page. And yep, it’s all in the DMG-it's wild how much good stuff is tucked away in there!
D&D was a huge part of finding my way as a human. It let me speed run meeting all sorts of players while playing all sorts of personalities. LARP, even more so. Also, I met the woman I would marry… whilst dressed as a Gargoyle.
Good that you use the sword two-handed when dealing with socializers (based on damage). But if they interrupted your character acting, add the +2 Rage bonus.
"What do you actually want from a D&D game? Do you even know? Because if you don't, you're going to keep ending up in D&D games that aren't right for you." Thaaat's why I'm here. I don't really care about anything in life, and that's why everything is beautiful...... buuut makes it really hard to come up with a character when there's always a part of the mind that goes "but I also wanna play that, and I wanna play that". Doesn't help that I'm more interesting in seeing what my friends are doing, and I kinda just like to chill and vibe after doing work all day. Also, been doing D&D for almost 5 years now. In super strong burnout right now and taking a bit of a break. With all that rambling out of the way: Actor - I definitely find this very fun. I am with myself all day everyday, thus I find myself to be the most boring person since I'm used to myself. However, get a character that isn't me, and then I get to go wild with thinking of all the decisions, emotions, nuances, and all that other stuff that the character would do that I otherwise wouldn't have a real reason to think about so I get a different perspective on life (even if there's silly reasons). My favorite D&D group was done in VR, so people were a lot more energetic as they moved around doing silly poses to act out what they were doing in D&D while using an avatar that somewhat fits their character (one of these days i'll learn how to make avatars so I can just become my D&D characters). Anyways, This is one reason why I've been tempted to be a DM, because then I can swap very frequently, and sometimes think of multiple personalities as they interact with each other at the same time. Also I have a hard time getting into characters when they are getting swapped out constantly every session because the party keeps traveling because they want loot. My favorite D&D group was when I tried to be a chaotic neutral/evil Kobold as I wanted him to be the opposite of my previous lawful good paladin Dragonborn who was rather boring. That said, as time went on he was less chaotic, and I could never pull the evil bit off, and tried to make him neutral. Explorer - If D&D was a single player game, I would be an explorer 100% just because growing up with games I always loved stumbling upon secret stuff, glitches, among other things. Though this is just a kind of habit sort of thing, as I generally don't really care about what I find generally. Definitely don't want to hold up my friends with their exploring though. Fighter - Video games are like my go-to hobby for fun, so I don't quite care about the damage dealing or item looting in D&D. 'course, my group doesn't get too descriptive of their combat actions, and they're always looking for the next loot so the loot they already have isn't talked about much. Instigator - I wanna do things, but not enough to bother doing it because it's about even with doing nothing to see what other people will do. Yeah, definitely not an instigator Optimizer - Not really me. I just pick a character/story and then min/max to make the combat functional. That said, monk/artificer hybrid kinda stumped me because of how polar opposite they are. All other characters I've been able to make work reasonably well. Problem solver - My favorite D&D group had the entire campaign take place in a single small town so we had to figure out what all the people want, and what was causing problems in the town. It was really fun! Storyteller - I kinda wanna do this, but I'm just so indecisive about what story I want. It's just "yeah this story is alright/good, just as good as the other ones". Then it's hard when it comes to listening to other people's stories because I also get the "yeah that's nice/good!". Problem is there's never anything from myself or others that make me go "omg this is amazing, I absolutely love it and strongly want to do this kind of story!" Socializer - I mean that is why I started D&D because friends wanted me to try it and I've been interested in a while. Mainly there for my friends though. Though I would like to be able to get more invested in it in some way so there is something that stands out to other hobbies my friends share. Still trying to figure out how to get myself to want to do things within D&D as a player. I'll figure it out eventually so I stop wanting to just chill as my friends do things, then feel bad that I'm not doing anything because I dunno what my character really is because I don't really know what I want ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I think I saw myself as an Optimiser for way too long. Optimising was just what my ADHD brain did when I couldn't play as much as I wanted to. And I've always prioritised what's fun and makes sense in the world for characters I actually play. In reality at the table I'm more of a problem solver/storyteller. The more I try to plan out of the game for what can happen in game, the less fun I have and that took me a LONG time to learn and a lot of frustration that cool things I wanted to do just didn't happen... for years of playing a character built for it. These days I just give myself options when making a character but other than that, I let the game decide where things go, take notes, ask questions and I'm much more interested in the big picture and helping NPCs than any personal gain. That said I've wanted glamoured armour for 30 years and I've never fucking had any and I'm still salty! At the end of Waterdeep Dragonheist we got our reward and went shopping, there was glamoured studded leather armour for sale. it would have cost 80% of the total party funds from a 2 years social game to buy it, for a campaign that was wrapping up. I'll be honest, my enjoyment of wrapping up that game died in that shop. So maybe there is a little actor in there that wants a new fancy outfit on command while wearing armour, I just don't like the spotlitght.
I play DnD to have fun with my friends, and hopefully make/ experience a fun story while playing. It's my first DnD campain and we're on session 4. I am mainly a fighter and investigator/ explorer with a bit socializing in between when people are looking things up or taking small breaks. I'm here for the story, and try to give input. I just dont feel comfortable being an actor/ storyteller yet, but im making progress and starting to use 3rd person to describe my actions and first person to ask questions to npcs.
I’m a forever DM, but as a player, I think I’m an actor/optimizer/storyteller/socializer. I love getting into character, telling a good story, and making my character powerful, but at the end of the day, I’m here to have a good time with my friends. Also, great job with the sword joke; you really had me shivering with antici…
Here's where you're wrong! I think I'm a socialiser/storyteller and I watch your channel because I enjoy your vibe and original characters so that's definitely a 'socialiser' reason to watch you haha
"Seriously, they're gonna start any day now" -Ginny, taking aim straight through my soul, reading me for filth. I think my balance is primarily storyteller and investigator, with large doses of explorer and problem solver, and just enough optimizer that I can't bring myself to completely disregard actual utility for total flavour appropriateness. And just a touch of actor to make the characters more than just numbers on a page. I might make a necromancer who uses plants in his reanimation as far as the flavour goes - So I'll avoid all fire spells and take something like Shatter for damage instead, but I'm not likely to eschew all direct damage spells forever (per the touch of actor component - He's from a bit of a backwater area, so he kind of talks like Ellis from Left 4 Dead 2). If I was going to do a "no direct damage spell" wizard, it'd have to be extremely carefully built so as to not be a detriment to my fellow party members. Actually, yeah, that optimizer bit really manifests itself in that I never completely dump Wisdom or Constitution either. In a standard array, they might be as low as a 10 on certain classes, but they never get the 8. Dex similarly rarely gets below a 10. Strength, Intelligence, and/or Charisma are all much easier to dump for certain classes.
My main group right now is a Fighter (me), an Optimizer, and a Socializer. Works out pretty well, definitely a "minimal roleplay" table. The other group I play with has an Actor, an Instigator, and a couple others I haven't quite pegged yet, but I suspect they may both be Storytellers. Lots more RP going on there. The problem is that the DM has set up an Exploration-heavy campaign, and I'm not sure anyone's really into it...
I'm sharing this in my Discord servers. In the larger ones especially, this would be very useful to make new groups to play a particular game. I think I am a mix of many of these... I'll have to rewatch to decide! Or maybe I'll just ask my group what do they think of me, heh.
Oooh a truly excellent video as always! I’m basically a Storyteller - Explorer with a Problem solver/ Actor Rising if you will. Really fascinating how this influences perspectives on the game. I’m one to get SUPER into World Building and Character Arcs for example.
"You will prove encounter balancing tools are nothing to a person witha hyperfixation and a reddit account" killed me I had to pause the video for several minutes. (Realistically I relate to a lot of these, while I think tools like this can help understand some mentalities, but it's still easy to go "yeah that's fun that's also me fr fr", like I don't usually aggressively optimise or plan out builds or specific multiclasses, but I do hyperfocus on rules and abilties to know what options I do have and how I can try to help the group make characters they will enjoy playing, much to the dismay of my DM as I told the barbarian and ranger about GWM and SS which both got doubled up by me playing a grave cleric with their channel divinity, but I also really like problem solving, acting, the wider story is always the biggest hook for me, and I do really like moment to moment fights because turn based rpgs are some of my favourite video games so getting to play that with a bunch of friends even if it means having less control than in a BG3 or an Octopath traveller or final fantasy or whatever, still really captures me, I only really clash with instigators or people who don't engage with enough good faith/ seriousness, there's going to be jokes and I am prone to referencing other things a lot but there's a time to know that you need to respect the story. This would get into an anecdote about a problem player in a campaign I ran but this comment is already long and rambly but tldr in the backhalf of my wddh campaign they were just taking the piss out of everything, constantly making dumb moves and I didn;t want to just shut the down or seem overly harsh so I ended up rolling with it and it made some moments lack a lot of punch they should have, Xanathar not disintegrating the guy that mocks him TWICE was probably the moment I should've seen how much of an impact it was having)
Do I need to worry about myself if I feel like I’m every one of them? (Apart from the socializer, that is) Anyway, I feel like it doesn’t get mentioned enough, but I really love your writing skills. Your scripts are always on point: not a single second of the video is wasted, and every line delivers either in content or entertainment. Comedic times are on point, and everything works together really well. Seriously, keep doing great things!
I'm definitely a Storyteller. I live for worldbuilding and finding out how my Character fits into the world, and I even choose my exact Subclass based on my Character's Background and Backstory.
This was a really good listen Ginny, thanks for the video! If I were to describe myself using these categories, I would say Im: 50% Storyteller 30% Explorer 20% Optimizer I love making "crunchy" mechanical character builds, but I do it surrounding my character concept. I don't care if my character is literally the strongest the game can offer, but I do want the mechanics on the sheet to reflect who my character is. And sometimes, the things on the sheet also contribute back to help me develop the roleplay side of the character even more. For example, I've got a Hexblade Warlock that due to backstory, I wanted her to dual weild whips. Whips only do 1d4 damage, so it isn't the strongest, but I made her built in a way that worked with RAW. No homebrew necessary to dualweild untraditional weapons, woo. But she's also high Charisma, low Strength; as a hexblade she gets to use that Charisma for almost anything. And with spells like armor of agathas, she ended up having to act as her party's front liner. I wrote her to be extremely terrified of death though, in her backstory. So she's a girl who is frail but can use her CHA instead of her STR or DEX to defend her friends against even her own fears? Boom. The mechanics helped me realize that she's extremely brave, because she has to be. And when everything just falls into place like that, it FUELS ME. 🤩
I love shenanigans in game! Goofing around with the party and pranks. I also like at least one combat encounter per session. I definitely go into the actor style.
Thank you so much, Ginny! I've been wanting to get into DMing again, but have struggled in the past to properly communicate what kinds of games I enjoy running. As a player, I only stumbled into my perfect type of game once, honestly, and haven't dived back into DnD since I moved a few years ago. I think this will really help me for either of those things in the future.
As a DM I use these a lot! I think it’s really interesting that you have a session zero to find these out: for me, I think I know what types all of my players are, so I can know what things to give them they’ll enjoy the most. I doubt they themselves know that they are a certain type of player though 😂
Love that you know your players so well-it’s such an advantage for tailoring the game! For newly formed groups, though, a session zero is super helpful to get everyone on the same page and uncover those player types early on - especially for DMs that aren't as good at reading others.
I think im a mix of all of these in one way or another, i love role-playing like the actor,problem solver, and love to know lore of a campaign like explorer. But also i do enjoy combat like the fighter and i do optimize my characters in a way fits their flavor but makes them unique but still very useful
Homebrew rewards is the secret to getting optimizers to play well with others. Having actual powerful magic items and other rewards that interact in interesting and unexpected ways with their current build helps them stop obsessing over the next level up since the most optimal choices depend on the available items. It gets them excited about unique builds that only work because of the items they get.
We have an absolute optimizer in our group - Our last campaign was in Pathfinder 1E (basically D&D 3.75) and he would regularly roll Perception checks in the 70s.
I am definitely an explorer with heavy doses of problem solver and storyteller mixed in. I love nothing more than finding all the sidequests and all the lore bits while finding the cheekiest way past my opponents to my goals. I am absolutely addicted to Zelda puzzles like the shrines.
Oh I know what kind of D&D player I am. Eberron, with its mix of pulp fiction, noir, and high action. Basically, kind of D&D game I like is the same as the movies and television shows I like - The Matrix, John Wick, Guardians of the Galaxy, The X-Files and so on.
As I was watching I wasn't really feeling any of them, but last but not least the Socializer describes me perfectly. I like looking through the book for cool builds or chatting up an NPC but my main goal is to make my friends laugh and just have a good time.
I didn't hear myself in any of these until you got to Storyteller. Suddenly I was completely called out. How dare you so easily define me?! Great video. Loving the content.
i am mostly an explorer and an emersion nut, for me the thing i love the most(and am lacking the most as an eternal dm) is when the world reacts to me or acknowledges things i have done. for an example an npc offering me thanks for saving their relative in another town, or when a puzzle comes along that requires a specific set of skills only i have cause of the character built i chose, or the backstory i wrote.
Rest and find comfort where you can and as you need. Then, figure what you can do in your local community with the folks who are feeling like you do right now.
I usually try to fit to what the party needs. Currently Im fulfilling the role of "actor instigator" after I managed to slip the role of forever DM. Most of my party doesn't do much roleplay and just wants to dungeon delve. My character gives the party agency to follow up on the Dm's plot hooks as the party attempts to save my character's boss. I like to have 1 or 2 moments where my character gets the spotlight (even if its just them getting beat up again) and I'm happy to fade into the background for the rest of the session.
I am a combination of and actor, a fighter, an optimizer, and a storyteller. And some might say that some of those are diametrically opposed. But I firmly disagree.
What describes me from Greatest to Least .... 1 > Fighter 2 > Optimizer 3 > Explorer 4 > Actor 5 > Socializer 6 > Instigator 7 > Storyteller 8 > Problem Solver
Last table I was at had two instigators. There was me, an instigator-actor, and Devin, the instigator-fighter. He and I were also min-maxxers, I more than him; he'd decide what's optimal to do as he went along, whereas I went into the game with a long-term build already in mind, one of which included a very specific magic item that I even centered the character's backstory around in order to improve my chances of finding it. I'm also a puzzle solver, but he is not; first puzzle we encountered, we solved it at the same speed, but where I figured the puzzle out, he instead brute-forced it, guess n' checking his way through it so fast that, had his fails not attracted a couple monsters, he would've gotten through it faster than me. But alas, most of the group were socializers, so sometimes, despite everyone showing up every time on time, we'd just not play the game, because they'd just sit around and chat for 5 or 7 hours.
I am an Actor/Explorer/Optimizer/Problem Solver/Storyteller. In my one on one game with the wife GMing, I tend to try to defuse EVERY encounter unless the enemy is completely unredeemable. And when combat is necessary, my extremely optimized builds and carefully considered tactics tend to make short work of them, after which not a body goes unlooted. I like silly voices and tend to write unnecessarily long backstories. There was one game where I had carefully talked with every single named NPC in town, identified all their problems, solved every mystery, and it all culminated in a carefully orchestrated uprising that resulted in a favorable outcome for everyone EXCEPT the main antagonist. That is just how I roll.
as a puertorican who has been stressed about matters within my country as well as outside of it... ginny di, you have saved my mind. being a mountain dweller comes with the downside of having yet to find a d&d group (have yet to try online sessions!) but this really narrowed down what i envision one day experiencing and what exchanges i would LOVE to have at a table! though... i am a theatre kid through and through, so maybe the answer was clearer than i ever wanted it to be. thank you, kindly, genuinely. your content really is an anchor. xx
I am a storyteller DM and I get sad when I have players that are not half as interested in storytelling as I. I am running a game for one player who is also a storyteller and it is glorious but I would love to see what a group of storytellers would do.
That sounds amazing-a whole table of storytellers would be so unique! When everyone’s invested in the narrative, it really takes the game to another level... though sometimes you just need someone to swing a sword 😂
THIS! Our group is half storytellers and half Fighters/Instigators….and our DM is also a storyteller. I love our group but I really do wonder what a full group of us would be like.
@@catdragon1313 I ran a group with an instigator who compromised. She'd say "You have ten minutes to finish making an attack plan. If you don't have a plan by then, I'm going to run in and throw of barrel of fish a them" And she did keep a barrel of pickled fish on hand.
Your videos are always fun to watch and learn from as a person who plays dnd and has adhd I get the struggle that most people have when playing and I get it!
Oh, I don't think they missed anything - like I said, these "types" aren't mutually exclusive. You can absolutely have multiple types, or even all of them.
I'm a bit of an unlikely combo: Primarily I'm and Actor archetype first, but I'm also a bit of an Optimizer. My character has a backstory that rivals novels, and I work with the DM to make sure it's woven into the game's lore. I develop speech patterns and mannerisms for each character that are different from myself. And I'm always down to 'talk it out' in character rather than fight - However, I also know the rules, and like to theory-craft builds that match my characters' flavors. I usually end up with a very powerful combat build so that if/when diplomacy does fail, I pack one hell of a punch
Ginny this is a great video. Would love a follow-up on how the different types of players might be able to learn to meet each others' needs and work together, particularly with some of the clashing types (for instance, I'm an Actor-Storyteller, with a spoonful of Optimiser and pinch of Problem-Solver, but some of my group have Socialiser pretty high in their stack... which makes sense since I beckoned them all to play with me to sate my hunger for roleplay and they merrily agreed). It's not ideal but sometimes your real life party, just happen to be folks of different player types, and you might still want to share the story with them. You've been really good at videos with tips on table dynamics in the past so I thought I'd pick your brain on this. Cheers!
Great video! While roleplay, combat, exploration and other parts already exist in DND, ratios in gameplay and themes also exist. Certain classes and species would be better for certain settings than others (e.g. elf glamour bard in Witchlight instead of Eberron or Borovia, etc.)
Thanks! You’re absolutely right-choosing a class or personality that really ‘fits’ the setting or game style can make a huge difference. A low-INT fighter in a political intrigue game could be fun for a bit, but it might get a little old after a while.
I'm very much a storyteller/explorer + a bit of optimizer. I'm working on that novel, too! An attempted one page backstory became a chapter. It's about 15 chapters along now, gods help me. Thanks for explaining these player archetypes, as they really do bring some insight into the various play dynamics I've experienced in our current campaign.
I was gonna skip the ad but it was very well made and actually drew me in, then i had ended up watching the whole thing before i even realized what was happening lmao. great job!
I am definitely an actor and fighter. I even have a hand sketched book of flowers for my Paladin that I made myself. Couldn't draw flowers before but I spent a weekend making a random prop for my character. It also caused a cool encounter when I noticed a flower that shouldn't have been growing in the region.
I’m typically an actor/ story teller with traits as fighters . Sometimes I can take on the traits of the others (ie optimizers, socializer, and instigators) if the situation calls for it
A player our table and friend of mine who sadly passed away during the summer was a guy who believed in the dice. Good roll or bad roll, he embraced them all.
I'm primarily a Storyteller/Actor at a table of other primarily Storyteller/Actors which makes me very happy -- although I do also have Rules Lawyer tendencies that I try to suppress since I'm not the GM! My current PC is very much a Problem Solver, but I suspect I'm much less so personally because all the PC options I've been designing for our next campaign are Instigators whose curiosity FAR outweighs their instinct for self-preservation!
This is such a refreshing video. When I saw Ginnys prep for D&D in a castle, I was struck at how much (she?) prepped compared to how much milage Ginny got from her preparation. It seems to much prep to create eventuality, and to more cohesively create an antithetical villians that challenges the players and characters assumptions about the world. In other words, know what you want as a player and as a character. If what you want does not click with the table, keep looking. Each table has a place where one can fit.
I actually don't think this has much to do with the way I prep, lol. I'm an anxious person, and prep helps me assuage that anxiety. Something like D&D in a Castle was a deeply anxiety-inducing experience and there was no way I was going to rely on improv to deliver for that table regardless of what types of players any of them were.
I love your witty content so much! I feel like I might be a mix of the Explorer and the Optimizer. I’m definitely meticulous during character creation.
I'm a concept optimizer, I think. I love building a character whose abilities most line up with the personality I've envisioned for them. It's less "this will kill stuff / manipulate people fastest" more "these skills, combat and otherwise, reflect who they are as a person while also working in-game". Optimized for role-play in all facets, not just combat. That's the good stuff for me. Finding a way to get the ribbon abilities to make sense with the character in the world, not just throwaways, that kinda thing.
Socializer defines my last three campaigns I've run. With different people in each. :) Many of them are new to the game and want to learn and see what D&D is about. And I love to teach one of my favorite games. I'm an Actor/Optimizer myself. My last PC game I learned that my Pact Weapon can deal Necrotic damage (First Warlock), and we needed to break down a door. I conjured a maul swinging it at the door using green flame blade. I pictured a screaming skull of fire with each swing. :)
You absolute genius predicted me twice in attempting to predict your sword joke. Like when the Problem Solver came Up I was getting giddy because I was sure it would come now and then you pull the rug away. Unbelievable. btw. "Problem Solver" is a pretty good sword name
"It's time for dancin' on a dandelion! I can't keep _cancellin'_ that!" just reminds me of the Grinch's line of "Dinner with myself - I can't _cancel_ that again!" and i loved it for no reason other than that!
I can highly recommend having these kinds of discussions at session zero. I didn't know about this before I started DMing my campaign and now it's really caused some problems.
There are aspects of multiple types I identify, I like roleplay but I don't use a different voice, I like planning out my character from 1 to 20 before session 1 using pathbuilder. But I don't sit there and look to far into items and such, I sit there and question the motivation of everything every npc does, but I don't like solving actual puzzle, I like loot but if my character isn't a murder hobo then mi don't play it that way. My first character was a barb and he wanted to punch everyone in the face. I am playing a sniper now and he is very disconnected from everything, doesn't care. He'll do his job but that's it, I was motivated to play for social interaction but I also take the game seriously, to a healthy degree.
After watching this despite having never played D&D specifically before, I do know what categories I fall in. Probably 60% actor. I mean, it's a game after all, if I wanted to be myself I'd do things irl. Plus it's fun to do voices. :D The fighter mixed with instigator is probably another chunk. Fighter because I love my swords, and at the end of the day I'm playing this kind of game to fight big monsters. I know there's a bit of instigator in me as well, though, because of games I used to play with school friends when I was a kid. They were Star Wars nerds even in an era before the prequels, so our roleplaying games often took place in the Star Wars universe. Being the one person in the group who knew the least about it (as Star Wars was mostly just the original trilogy at the time), I was easily the instigator, fooling around while not really effecting the main plot. Again, it's a game, can't take it too serious or else it's no fun. I know which of these I'm not, and it's the optimizer. My Minecraft playing style actually informs that one. Minecraft has a lot of players that are all about making redstone mechanisms and making auto-farms and getting optimal amount of items. Ugh. I can't stand it. In a game like Minecraft, there shouldn't be a "correct" or "right" way to play. It's an endless, open ended game. I want to play like I'm actually living and building in that world, and people just don't live like that. The actor part of me loses all the fun if stats are controlling everything. Same reason I don't enjoy speedruns of games. Be in the world, in the game. Min-maxing everything is the least in the role you can get. I think I might be a sliver of socializer at the end as well. After all is said and done, no matter how into the game you get, you're still just playing a game. It's a base to hang out with real world people on. None of it REALLY matters, so you're just there to have a good time.
Another great video. It's good to know I'm not limited to one type of play style. Sometimes it's storytelling, other times it's an optimized fighting machine 😅
I love cloak and dagger stories, where I can act out social encounters, engage in dashing fights with my fun-optimized character, solve problems in a myriad of creative ways - all of which coagulates into a captivating story full of mysteries. Hanging out with friends, telling stupid jokes, and having a reason to order fast-food is also great.
I can see aspects of all these things in me. For example I think a character should have something they are best at and have fun buildign different builds, many of which I never play (optimizer), I think D&D is a social game, and having some time at beginning and end to hang out with friends is a big part of the appeal (socializer), I love being part of a good story and love when my backstory comes up (storyteller), but there are other times when I'm totally fine with a random encounter. I for sure spend some time planning what I'm going to do before doing it (problem solver), because that's generally how many of my characters would act (actor), and its satisfying seeing a plan come together. That said I get bored if we are not moving the story forward (instigator), and I do often end up being the person who is like "fine I do X to Y" to just get things to move forward, especially if everyone is being a problem solver and noone can agree on what to do. BTW a table full of only problem solvers can also be frustrating. You need at least one person to act as an instigator or nothing will ever get done and the palyers will argue about what to do forever. I also GM games and have played in many though, so I guess I've come to love many aspects of the game over the years, and what motivates me at one table in one setting, with one system might not at another. I'd say if there is one I'm least of from anything else, I'd say actor, because I can't do voices and being in character stresses me out (even when GMing I often say "X NPC does Y" instead of trying to act as that NPC (I can be good with descriptions, but they tend to be 3rd person ones).
It's interesting that The Instigator and The Problem Solver come across as being so opposed to each other! I feel like I fall somewhere in the middle. I love puzzles and definitely see D&D as a "fantasy-flavored strategy game", but for me that strategy game is about how to make the most fun, interesting, and well-paced session happen for everyone, especially in a way that fits into the vibe the DM wants to cultivate. And that often involves taking risky, spontaneous actions that have important consequences rather than taking notes or stopping to make plans. And my favorite part of that is when the DM presents the party with open-ended problems that can be solved with some creative thinking.
Love writing storys for others to enjoy, Voice acting my NPCs and villains (Or PCs), the social contact and right now, a goood distraction from the world Btw I love your Videos they are just so Wholesome,, help me calm down some times and are just really helpful. Thanks a lot for making them
Many of us are struggling right now and for those who need to ground themselves in something normal and lighthearted, I have decided to post this video as scheduled. Please be kind to each other (and yourselves) today. ❤
As a new DM your channel is my absolute favorite. It is must watch I have learned so much!
Thank you I really needed this rightbnow
all of the above 🥲
Thank you, Ginny
Thanks for the video, gives me another thign to watch while I ignore the world.
Maybe its time to start watching campaign 3 of critical role...
I'm the 8th secret type of player: The Creature....
It's not invited to your table, but it's there anyway. Out of the corner of your eye. Lurking.
I'm just imagining that one TikTok where someone talks about their cat coming up to their table and started rolling the dice while one player was away, so they just ran with it, said the druid is just in permanent wild shape, and pulled up a whole new chair for the player once they got back! XD
I'm also this type! I live for the moments when I can deal real life psychic damage to the GM and the players by describing the horrifying things my character does...to help out. I play a Modron artificer, and cure wounds involves bone saws, gigantic syringes full of glue, a staple gun, and screwing metal plates into your broken bones. For some reason the rest of the party goes running in terror when I ask if anyone requires medical attention.😂
@@RukaKikuchi cat takes the DM's chair and says you see a red dot run up the wall roll an intelligence check vs insanity
I appreciate that Leroy Jenkins joke.
I do not appreciate being called on my age.
I came here just to say exactly this!
It must be inconceivable for young people how some dude running into a dungeon managed to become one of the biggest memes of a previous generation. But here we are. Absolute generational gap.
I appreciated it but I'm in my twenties 😅
@@ruolbu As a barely gen z in denial, the generation after me is far more inconceivable to me than yours. Besides, gen Z has Skibidi toilet, I think your guy running into a dungeon makes perfect sense
Hush. I'm too old to get the reference.
I'm Problem Solver - Socializer, rising Leroy Jenkins
Ah yes, just the right amount of planning… with a healthy side of ‘why tf did you do that?!’ 😂
@@GinnyDi balance in all things, as is da way 🤣
@@GinnyDi Because there was a shiny thing and it JUST happened to be on a button...
MUAHAHAHA! I did exactly that last session. "Okay, so we need to do x, y, z, and *LEEEEROOOOOYYYYYY!!!!*"
@@GinnyDi yeah, there was this session where an archfey had us go through challenges. And one of them had an npc say you needed to anger him to get the key. My Fairy barbarian immediatelly stabbed him. Granted, she has Intelligence 8. I would however be more likely to go for talking with my School of Eloquence Tiefling Bard (mostly deception though). It depends on the character I'm playing
though to be fair, I prefer Chaotic Neutral
"you gotta know your... Rising... Mercury Gatorade... Or whatever"
I feel so seen
Later in the video, "... not because I'm a Gemini and Mercury was on...rollerblades."
The quality time with wonderful friends / family during in person games.
While I don't consider myself a "socializer" player, I love seeing my party regularly and spending quality time with them! 🥰 It's a really lovely bonus to a fun game.
Love this kind of video. So many people talk about practicing good communication, session zero, and to make sure your play group is all on the same page and wants the same things outta the game, but it's so rare to see people actually dive into it. It's rare to hear about _how_ to communicate well, _how_ to run a session zero, and detailing _how_ to get on the same page and figure out if you want the same things.
Thanks so much! You know I’m a big fan of session zero-it’s such a game-changer for building a group that clicks. I really want to help make it easier for anyone to dive into, especially if they’re new to the process!
I found that when I stopped treating it as a night where "I run a game of D&D" to "we play a game of D&D" the games became much more enjoyable and the stories became much better.
(I also want to say I really like how you do your sponsor segments. They're always adorable and so well done.)
Right now? I need a good distraction. Time to throw myself into DND prep and other stuff.
I have players asking if we can play tonight to take their mind off things, so I feel that.
Sometimes creating your own world is exactly the catharsis you need. Hope your prep is a helpful distraction ❤️
Good luck with that friend and never forget:
Even on the darkest night follows an inevitable sunrise.
Love the Sword Joke running gag holding us in Anticipation 😂
You could cut the tension with a...
@@GinnyDi ...spoon?
@@sebastianevangelista4921 ...cutting word?
The true sword of Damocles
IT'S SUUUCH A GOOD JOKE OMGGG 😭😭
Best. Video. Ever.
Seriously… I’ve been a follower for years… this is so important, so accessible. Really, really nicely done.
Back in the late 1970s, nobody looked at what ‘type’ of player someone was… they used terms like ‘good’ and ‘bad’. ‘Murder hobos’ and ‘loot ninjas’ are terms still heavily over used. There is a right table for most players… but gaming with folks who you aren’t compatible with just sucks.
Bravo… really good work.
Thank you so much! It’s amazing to hear that this resonated, especially from a long-time player. Having a framework for player types opens up so many new ways to build the right group for everyone. Really glad you enjoyed this one!”
I have always used the term Loot Goblin instead of Ninja, there is nothing stealthy about the way every enemy corpse gets stripped to their skivvies. I am a proud loot goblin and will always be so.
Hail, fellow grognard! 😄 Do you remember "Killer DM" and "Monty Haul"? (W-a-a-y back in the day, I had a wood plaque made of the former; whenever I put it on the table, my players knew that my patience was wearing thin...)
@@GinnyDi … For us ancient gamers… we learned this kind of thing slowly… and usually over the wreckage of relationships. That such fundamental things are now so clearly understood and easily described and spelled out to new gamers is wonderful. In the old days, people would have an awful experience - because of incompatibility - and walk away from gaming.
What’s more, I think it almost certain that there are some friends who’ve been having a hard time who are going to see this… and have that much needed epiphany that they can be best friends… but not game together!
@@homebrewisthebestbrew5270 has Killer DM gone out of fashion?
Have you noticed that gaming with kids young enough to be your grand kids is… weird? Gaming sensibilities are so different, now. No uber long campaigns, no hirelings, it’s… different.
I want every player to have a subplot, a story arc, and growth. Changing the world around you is satisfying and emotionally investing. Grab hold of that plot!
I guess that makes me the storyteller. =)
LEEEEEROOOOOOY JJJJEENKIIINS!
Awesome! I did actually read this ages ago, but with conflicting interests only recently bubbling to the surface in our group, I needed a reminder!
Someone need to make a 40 question quiz which gives you an 8 pointed radar chart with your scores in these various stats. From 1-20, of course.
And a player matching guide with suggestions on types you might match or clash with.
Hold my Mercury Gatorade (yes, that is a thing now), I have to make a spreadsheet!
Aaaand, I think I just revealed my nature as a problemsolver/optimizer multiclass. But I ready knew that. After all, I had a full 30 level progression plan ready for my 3.5-character before we hit lvl 8. But also an 8 page backstory, soooo who tf am I?!
Hold my Mercury Gatorade-I’m so ready for this spreadsheet! 😂
This was really useful for me, I played D&D for the first time last week and felt like I maybe hadn't done a very good job because I wasn't great at the roleplay part (my character calls people "dude" a lot more often than they really should), but after watching this I realise I'm just a not that type of player and that's ok.
I did loot every dead body finding some important keys though, and asking the right question when the DM described a wall as being "mostly" hewn rock lead to us finding the secret passage that the other players were going to miss, so maybe I'm just more of an explorer type!
That sounds like a great first session! Not everyone needs to be heavy on roleplay to enjoy D&D, and it sounds like your instincts as an Explorer are spot-on.
Picking up on details and finding those hidden keys and secret passages is the kind of game-changing contribution every party needs!
i find myself to be an Actor/Storyteller type and still find myself throwing in modern slang where it shouldn't be there. improv is hard, man 😂
I think I’m an Actor-Storyteller-Optimizer, BUT I always make sure to optimize for the good of the group. Like, I love pulling off game-breaking combat combos, but ONLY when it involves another player (that way, I’m helping others feel cool, instead of just it being the Me Show). I also currently play a blaster-support for this reason, as, while she doesn’t get kills often, she’s always making everyone else more efficient, making her super impactful without stealing the spotlight.
I love your take on optimization! Pulling off big moves while making the whole team look awesome is next-level. That’s the kind of party member everyone loves to have around!
I consider myself a storyteller-optimizer, which for me means I want to optimize within the bounds of my character concept. Which concept is often weird and suboptimal itself.
Yeah if you enjoy the optimiser side you have to be careful in most groups not to overdo it and spoil the game for everyone. Helps if the DM at least has a splash of optimising in them too, but if you play to aid your party rather than be so dominatingly efficient you effectively do it all yourself then everyone can still have fun, even if you make things a bit too easy.
Though I also enjoy optimising concepts for the meme/fun value rather than just being the best at something obviously useful or going for the how can I make an effective build with awful stats (if your stats are worse than the less optimised player it brings you more inline naturally, while creating an additional fun challenge to build around) - my favourite so far at least is to dump Con rather hard, as that adds some real risk you won't survive even one hit especially at the lower levels, so you have to play smarter and lets play around with those entertaining but too MAD (multi-ability-dependent) build ideas you have had that really demand too many good stats.
I found another person just like me.
@@suedenim Yes, I'm like that too! I'm never optimising to deal the most damage, I just want to bring my weird character idea into the world. It's not my fault that idea requires three different multiclasses and tons of optimising to make the resulting combination playable!
One of my most recent characters was optimised with the goal of having the most possible pseudodragons. She wasn't that strong but she sure did have a lot of lil dragons.
As someone who says they like a mix of combat and roleplay, it's quite funny that I'd be a mix of both storyteller and fighter.
I'd suggest another type: Helper. The players who really like to play a cleric. The spellcasters whose favorite spell is Identify. The ones who prefer a support role in the group, using ranged weapons instead of melee weapons. The ones who collect obscure magic items that "might come in handy someday." They're quick to help the little girl find her lost puppy, without ever wondering if the little girl's adult vocabulary might be a tip-off that she's a polymorphed sorceress looking for a victim. They are the opposite of instigators, the best friend of fighters, and they don't have much use for explorers.
Could be lumped under Problem Solver, they pick the spell appropriate for the situation
I think that sounds a little like problem solver, just a specific subset. Maybe a bit of actor or storyteller too. (I don't think anyone is strictly one type, we're all blends of different preferences and our personality and preferences in other areas affect how those manifest.)
Ehh I think they’d help the explorer quite a bit with their utility. The notice them investigating and cast guidance.
Love the “Ginny reads the dms guide” content
Storyteller 🌞 Explorer ⬆️ Actor 🌙 - Great video! I actually always make my new players take a mini personality quiz for these player types before we have our session zero so I can help them build PCs they’ll enjoy playing 😂
Love that! Such a fun idea. Have you written your own personality test or do you use an online one? 🥰
@@GinnyDi I wrote one out! I forgot that UA-cam doesn't like comments with links 😂but if you're interested I'm always more than happy to share!
@@StephaniePlaysGames I hate being that guy who says "oh my god, I have a video idea you should make," so I'm terribly sorry for what I'm about to say. But, as a fan of yours, I'd genuinely love to see you talk about that sometime. I have taught a lot of new players how to play, so I'm always looking for tips on how to better do that the next time I have to. I would also just love to hear what kind of success you have had with it, ways you might wanna improve it, etcetera, etcetera.
@StephaniePlaysGames I second Thomas! And I bet we're not alone!
I needed to see this. I'm trying to help my friends not spiral, but it is so goddamn hard. I think more than ever, I need your positivity. Thanks.
Chin up ❤️ One day at a time
@@GinnyDi Maybe you could attach some fundraisers to future videos to help mitigate the oncoming damage.
The sword joke was well worth the wait. Patience rewarded 😅
My favorite problem solver anecdote. Back in the '80s, I ran a competition module at a local con. One of the players asked if he could add some items to his pre-generated chacter -- specifically, "A pot of honey and a book of bad elvish poetry."
Sure. No problem.
Later in the adventure, when they were trying to sneak into a building unnoticed, he walks up to a locked door that had a small window. "I take out my honey," he tells me, "and smear it all over the glass. They I rip pages out of the poetry book and stick them all over the honey. Now I use the pommel of my dagger to carefully break the glass and, since it's stuck to the honeyed paper, it won't fall in and crash on the floor, alerting the guards... right?"
You're darn tootin', buddy. Have some luscious extra XPs for that bit of cleverness!
Omfg….my table is one of each of this. No wonder why I feel like a world class juggler
It's interesting how the different types of player described above correspond to different approaches in the psychology of learning and play. There is an important model of the psychology of Learning/play by honey and Mumford. Based on earlier work by kolb. they divide learning/play into four key parts. Activity, reflection, theorising, and testing. Everybody uses each of these steps however most people have a favourite place to start. Activists love to jump in and get things going, reflectors like to get their ducks in a row organising their actions before they act, theorizer's like to strategize 1st, testers like to poke it with a stick and see what happens.
That’s fascinating! The connections between player types and learning/play models really add another layer to how we approach D&D. The model makes so much sense here-‘activity’ as instigators, ‘reflection’ as storytellers, ‘theorising’ as problem solvers, and ‘testing’ as explorers. It’s amazing how D&D taps into these psychological preferences in such a natural way!
@@GinnyDi This can also help build an understanding of both party dynamics and player dynamics. Activists want to jump in and get going. Strategists want to hold back and think things through. the barbarian wades in before the battle master forms a plan. This creates tension between them. Reflectors like to get there ducks in a row before they act. Testers like to deliberately upset things to see what happens. the rouge was to start a fight to see what happens, the bard wants to control with charm and persuasion. This creates tension between them. Often (but not always) players like to explore different approaches through their characters e.g. players with highly strategic day jobs like cut loose with an activist barbarian in the evenings.
I played a game last night that had me saying "I need a drink" after an amount of in-game time of about 15 seconds. It was one of the most stressful 90 minutes of my life. That is what I want.
Ooh, sounds like we’ve got an Instigator sun with a Problem Solver rising! That's a thing, right?
Ginny: Can you imagine dressing up as your D&D character?
Na'Krasha: I CHIMED IN-
but.... the door was already closed....
@@Slanse Look, you... 😂
At the beginning of every campaign I DM--and at with every group of new players I join--I always send out a survey asking players to rank which of these playstyles they most identify with.
Does a good job helping players be aware of their preferences, and helps me better tailor the game to player preferences.
Granted, because I'm big into Narrative, Optimizing, and Acting, those will sneak their way into my encounters anyways . . . xD
Yes! I love a session zero or player survey 🥰 That’s such a smart approach - getting everyone to think about their playstyle right from the start can make a world of difference, and it sounds like you’re giving players a fantastic experience.
Rising mercury Gatorade for me😂
Was a very good joke
Thx Ginny, I needed this
Happy to help! 💖 That simple question is such a smart way to get everyone on the same page. And yep, it’s all in the DMG-it's wild how much good stuff is tucked away in there!
D&D was a huge part of finding my way as a human.
It let me speed run meeting all sorts of players while playing all sorts of personalities.
LARP, even more so.
Also, I met the woman I would marry… whilst dressed as a Gargoyle.
What's the saying? "If you can’t handle me at gargoyle, then you don’t deserve me at my best", right?
Bold of you to assume gargoyle isn't his best
Met my late first wife at the gaming table. Wifey #2 is just now learning the game (3.5/PF1); her idea, not mine.
Good that you use the sword two-handed when dealing with socializers (based on damage). But if they interrupted your character acting, add the +2 Rage bonus.
"What do you actually want from a D&D game? Do you even know? Because if you don't, you're going to keep ending up in D&D games that aren't right for you."
Thaaat's why I'm here. I don't really care about anything in life, and that's why everything is beautiful...... buuut makes it really hard to come up with a character when there's always a part of the mind that goes "but I also wanna play that, and I wanna play that". Doesn't help that I'm more interesting in seeing what my friends are doing, and I kinda just like to chill and vibe after doing work all day. Also, been doing D&D for almost 5 years now. In super strong burnout right now and taking a bit of a break.
With all that rambling out of the way:
Actor - I definitely find this very fun. I am with myself all day everyday, thus I find myself to be the most boring person since I'm used to myself. However, get a character that isn't me, and then I get to go wild with thinking of all the decisions, emotions, nuances, and all that other stuff that the character would do that I otherwise wouldn't have a real reason to think about so I get a different perspective on life (even if there's silly reasons). My favorite D&D group was done in VR, so people were a lot more energetic as they moved around doing silly poses to act out what they were doing in D&D while using an avatar that somewhat fits their character (one of these days i'll learn how to make avatars so I can just become my D&D characters). Anyways, This is one reason why I've been tempted to be a DM, because then I can swap very frequently, and sometimes think of multiple personalities as they interact with each other at the same time. Also I have a hard time getting into characters when they are getting swapped out constantly every session because the party keeps traveling because they want loot.
My favorite D&D group was when I tried to be a chaotic neutral/evil Kobold as I wanted him to be the opposite of my previous lawful good paladin Dragonborn who was rather boring. That said, as time went on he was less chaotic, and I could never pull the evil bit off, and tried to make him neutral.
Explorer - If D&D was a single player game, I would be an explorer 100% just because growing up with games I always loved stumbling upon secret stuff, glitches, among other things. Though this is just a kind of habit sort of thing, as I generally don't really care about what I find generally. Definitely don't want to hold up my friends with their exploring though.
Fighter - Video games are like my go-to hobby for fun, so I don't quite care about the damage dealing or item looting in D&D. 'course, my group doesn't get too descriptive of their combat actions, and they're always looking for the next loot so the loot they already have isn't talked about much.
Instigator - I wanna do things, but not enough to bother doing it because it's about even with doing nothing to see what other people will do. Yeah, definitely not an instigator
Optimizer - Not really me. I just pick a character/story and then min/max to make the combat functional. That said, monk/artificer hybrid kinda stumped me because of how polar opposite they are. All other characters I've been able to make work reasonably well.
Problem solver - My favorite D&D group had the entire campaign take place in a single small town so we had to figure out what all the people want, and what was causing problems in the town. It was really fun!
Storyteller - I kinda wanna do this, but I'm just so indecisive about what story I want. It's just "yeah this story is alright/good, just as good as the other ones". Then it's hard when it comes to listening to other people's stories because I also get the "yeah that's nice/good!". Problem is there's never anything from myself or others that make me go "omg this is amazing, I absolutely love it and strongly want to do this kind of story!"
Socializer - I mean that is why I started D&D because friends wanted me to try it and I've been interested in a while. Mainly there for my friends though. Though I would like to be able to get more invested in it in some way so there is something that stands out to other hobbies my friends share.
Still trying to figure out how to get myself to want to do things within D&D as a player. I'll figure it out eventually so I stop wanting to just chill as my friends do things, then feel bad that I'm not doing anything because I dunno what my character really is because I don't really know what I want ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
00:16 How did Ginny know that Citizen Kane and Boss Baby 2 were my two favorite movies??? I feel seen.
They really cover the whole spectrum of bossdom.
❤😂🎉
I think I saw myself as an Optimiser for way too long.
Optimising was just what my ADHD brain did when I couldn't play as much as I wanted to. And I've always prioritised what's fun and makes sense in the world for characters I actually play.
In reality at the table I'm more of a problem solver/storyteller.
The more I try to plan out of the game for what can happen in game, the less fun I have and that took me a LONG time to learn and a lot of frustration that cool things I wanted to do just didn't happen... for years of playing a character built for it.
These days I just give myself options when making a character but other than that, I let the game decide where things go, take notes, ask questions and I'm much more interested in the big picture and helping NPCs than any personal gain.
That said I've wanted glamoured armour for 30 years and I've never fucking had any and I'm still salty! At the end of Waterdeep Dragonheist we got our reward and went shopping, there was glamoured studded leather armour for sale. it would have cost 80% of the total party funds from a 2 years social game to buy it, for a campaign that was wrapping up. I'll be honest, my enjoyment of wrapping up that game died in that shop.
So maybe there is a little actor in there that wants a new fancy outfit on command while wearing armour, I just don't like the spotlitght.
I play DnD to have fun with my friends, and hopefully make/ experience a fun story while playing.
It's my first DnD campain and we're on session 4.
I am mainly a fighter and investigator/ explorer with a bit socializing in between when people are looking things up or taking small breaks. I'm here for the story, and try to give input.
I just dont feel comfortable being an actor/ storyteller yet, but im making progress and starting to use 3rd person to describe my actions and first person to ask questions to npcs.
I’m a forever DM, but as a player, I think I’m an actor/optimizer/storyteller/socializer. I love getting into character, telling a good story, and making my character powerful, but at the end of the day, I’m here to have a good time with my friends. Also, great job with the sword joke; you really had me shivering with antici…
Here's where you're wrong! I think I'm a socialiser/storyteller and I watch your channel because I enjoy your vibe and original characters so that's definitely a 'socialiser' reason to watch you haha
Haha, fair point! I’m happy to stand corrected on this one 😊
"Seriously, they're gonna start any day now" -Ginny, taking aim straight through my soul, reading me for filth.
I think my balance is primarily storyteller and investigator, with large doses of explorer and problem solver, and just enough optimizer that I can't bring myself to completely disregard actual utility for total flavour appropriateness. And just a touch of actor to make the characters more than just numbers on a page.
I might make a necromancer who uses plants in his reanimation as far as the flavour goes - So I'll avoid all fire spells and take something like Shatter for damage instead, but I'm not likely to eschew all direct damage spells forever (per the touch of actor component - He's from a bit of a backwater area, so he kind of talks like Ellis from Left 4 Dead 2).
If I was going to do a "no direct damage spell" wizard, it'd have to be extremely carefully built so as to not be a detriment to my fellow party members.
Actually, yeah, that optimizer bit really manifests itself in that I never completely dump Wisdom or Constitution either. In a standard array, they might be as low as a 10 on certain classes, but they never get the 8. Dex similarly rarely gets below a 10. Strength, Intelligence, and/or Charisma are all much easier to dump for certain classes.
My main group right now is a Fighter (me), an Optimizer, and a Socializer. Works out pretty well, definitely a "minimal roleplay" table.
The other group I play with has an Actor, an Instigator, and a couple others I haven't quite pegged yet, but I suspect they may both be Storytellers. Lots more RP going on there. The problem is that the DM has set up an Exploration-heavy campaign, and I'm not sure anyone's really into it...
I'm sharing this in my Discord servers. In the larger ones especially, this would be very useful to make new groups to play a particular game.
I think I am a mix of many of these... I'll have to rewatch to decide! Or maybe I'll just ask my group what do they think of me, heh.
Oooh a truly excellent video as always!
I’m basically a Storyteller - Explorer with a Problem solver/ Actor Rising if you will.
Really fascinating how this influences perspectives on the game.
I’m one to get SUPER into World Building and Character Arcs for example.
"You will prove encounter balancing tools are nothing to a person witha hyperfixation and a reddit account" killed me I had to pause the video for several minutes.
(Realistically I relate to a lot of these, while I think tools like this can help understand some mentalities, but it's still easy to go "yeah that's fun that's also me fr fr", like I don't usually aggressively optimise or plan out builds or specific multiclasses, but I do hyperfocus on rules and abilties to know what options I do have and how I can try to help the group make characters they will enjoy playing, much to the dismay of my DM as I told the barbarian and ranger about GWM and SS which both got doubled up by me playing a grave cleric with their channel divinity, but I also really like problem solving, acting, the wider story is always the biggest hook for me, and I do really like moment to moment fights because turn based rpgs are some of my favourite video games so getting to play that with a bunch of friends even if it means having less control than in a BG3 or an Octopath traveller or final fantasy or whatever, still really captures me, I only really clash with instigators or people who don't engage with enough good faith/ seriousness, there's going to be jokes and I am prone to referencing other things a lot but there's a time to know that you need to respect the story. This would get into an anecdote about a problem player in a campaign I ran but this comment is already long and rambly but tldr in the backhalf of my wddh campaign they were just taking the piss out of everything, constantly making dumb moves and I didn;t want to just shut the down or seem overly harsh so I ended up rolling with it and it made some moments lack a lot of punch they should have, Xanathar not disintegrating the guy that mocks him TWICE was probably the moment I should've seen how much of an impact it was having)
Do I need to worry about myself if I feel like I’m every one of them? (Apart from the socializer, that is)
Anyway, I feel like it doesn’t get mentioned enough, but I really love your writing skills.
Your scripts are always on point: not a single second of the video is wasted, and every line delivers either in content or entertainment. Comedic times are on point, and everything works together really well.
Seriously, keep doing great things!
This is a really good question i haven't thought of, so spoiled Ginny makes all these videos for us
I'm definitely a Storyteller. I live for worldbuilding and finding out how my Character fits into the world, and I even choose my exact Subclass based on my Character's Background and Backstory.
This was a really good listen Ginny, thanks for the video!
If I were to describe myself using these categories, I would say Im:
50% Storyteller
30% Explorer
20% Optimizer
I love making "crunchy" mechanical character builds, but I do it surrounding my character concept. I don't care if my character is literally the strongest the game can offer, but I do want the mechanics on the sheet to reflect who my character is. And sometimes, the things on the sheet also contribute back to help me develop the roleplay side of the character even more.
For example, I've got a Hexblade Warlock that due to backstory, I wanted her to dual weild whips. Whips only do 1d4 damage, so it isn't the strongest, but I made her built in a way that worked with RAW. No homebrew necessary to dualweild untraditional weapons, woo.
But she's also high Charisma, low Strength; as a hexblade she gets to use that Charisma for almost anything. And with spells like armor of agathas, she ended up having to act as her party's front liner. I wrote her to be extremely terrified of death though, in her backstory. So she's a girl who is frail but can use her CHA instead of her STR or DEX to defend her friends against even her own fears? Boom. The mechanics helped me realize that she's extremely brave, because she has to be.
And when everything just falls into place like that, it FUELS ME. 🤩
I love shenanigans in game! Goofing around with the party and pranks. I also like at least one combat encounter per session. I definitely go into the actor style.
Fair enough--so long as everyone knows where the line is drawn. I've had entire sessions derail because certain individuals couldn't rein it in.
Thank you so much, Ginny! I've been wanting to get into DMing again, but have struggled in the past to properly communicate what kinds of games I enjoy running. As a player, I only stumbled into my perfect type of game once, honestly, and haven't dived back into DnD since I moved a few years ago. I think this will really help me for either of those things in the future.
So glad it resonated - I think it takes all of us a little while to figure this stuff out!
As a DM I use these a lot! I think it’s really interesting that you have a session zero to find these out: for me, I think I know what types all of my players are, so I can know what things to give them they’ll enjoy the most. I doubt they themselves know that they are a certain type of player though 😂
Love that you know your players so well-it’s such an advantage for tailoring the game! For newly formed groups, though, a session zero is super helpful to get everyone on the same page and uncover those player types early on - especially for DMs that aren't as good at reading others.
I think im a mix of all of these in one way or another, i love role-playing like the actor,problem solver, and love to know lore of a campaign like explorer. But also i do enjoy combat like the fighter and i do optimize my characters in a way fits their flavor but makes them unique but still very useful
I'm definitely a mix of Instigator and Storyteller - with most of my group being Actors and Explorers. It's a super fun blend.
Homebrew rewards is the secret to getting optimizers to play well with others. Having actual powerful magic items and other rewards that interact in interesting and unexpected ways with their current build helps them stop obsessing over the next level up since the most optimal choices depend on the available items. It gets them excited about unique builds that only work because of the items they get.
Some of us are a mix of optimizer, fighter and storyteller, what does it make us? BIG DAMN HEROES.
We have an absolute optimizer in our group - Our last campaign was in Pathfinder 1E (basically D&D 3.75) and he would regularly roll Perception checks in the 70s.
I am definitely an explorer with heavy doses of problem solver and storyteller mixed in. I love nothing more than finding all the sidequests and all the lore bits while finding the cheekiest way past my opponents to my goals. I am absolutely addicted to Zelda puzzles like the shrines.
Oh I know what kind of D&D player I am. Eberron, with its mix of pulp fiction, noir, and high action. Basically, kind of D&D game I like is the same as the movies and television shows I like - The Matrix, John Wick, Guardians of the Galaxy, The X-Files and so on.
As I was watching I wasn't really feeling any of them, but last but not least the Socializer describes me perfectly. I like looking through the book for cool builds or chatting up an NPC but my main goal is to make my friends laugh and just have a good time.
My friend is an instigator, actor and that leads to him seeing gold in a lake, role playing his thief and jumping 120 feet to get it
I didn't hear myself in any of these until you got to Storyteller. Suddenly I was completely called out. How dare you so easily define me?!
Great video. Loving the content.
i am mostly an explorer and an emersion nut, for me the thing i love the most(and am lacking the most as an eternal dm) is when the world reacts to me or acknowledges things i have done. for an example an npc offering me thanks for saving their relative in another town, or when a puzzle comes along that requires a specific set of skills only i have cause of the character built i chose, or the backstory i wrote.
Rest and find comfort where you can and as you need. Then, figure what you can do in your local community with the folks who are feeling like you do right now.
So glad to finally see Paddington 2 getting the recognition it deserves
Honestly, cinema at its finest 🤌
@@GinnyDi 100%!
I usually try to fit to what the party needs. Currently Im fulfilling the role of "actor instigator" after I managed to slip the role of forever DM. Most of my party doesn't do much roleplay and just wants to dungeon delve. My character gives the party agency to follow up on the Dm's plot hooks as the party attempts to save my character's boss. I like to have 1 or 2 moments where my character gets the spotlight (even if its just them getting beat up again) and I'm happy to fade into the background for the rest of the session.
I am a combination of and actor, a fighter, an optimizer, and a storyteller. And some might say that some of those are diametrically opposed. But I firmly disagree.
What describes me from Greatest to Least ....
1 > Fighter
2 > Optimizer
3 > Explorer
4 > Actor
5 > Socializer
6 > Instigator
7 > Storyteller
8 > Problem Solver
Oh! And thanks for a good video!
Last table I was at had two instigators. There was me, an instigator-actor, and Devin, the instigator-fighter. He and I were also min-maxxers, I more than him; he'd decide what's optimal to do as he went along, whereas I went into the game with a long-term build already in mind, one of which included a very specific magic item that I even centered the character's backstory around in order to improve my chances of finding it. I'm also a puzzle solver, but he is not; first puzzle we encountered, we solved it at the same speed, but where I figured the puzzle out, he instead brute-forced it, guess n' checking his way through it so fast that, had his fails not attracted a couple monsters, he would've gotten through it faster than me. But alas, most of the group were socializers, so sometimes, despite everyone showing up every time on time, we'd just not play the game, because they'd just sit around and chat for 5 or 7 hours.
A little fairy with a southern accent is the best unexpected combo I've ever seen
I am an Actor/Explorer/Optimizer/Problem Solver/Storyteller.
In my one on one game with the wife GMing, I tend to try to defuse EVERY encounter unless the enemy is completely unredeemable. And when combat is necessary, my extremely optimized builds and carefully considered tactics tend to make short work of them, after which not a body goes unlooted. I like silly voices and tend to write unnecessarily long backstories.
There was one game where I had carefully talked with every single named NPC in town, identified all their problems, solved every mystery, and it all culminated in a carefully orchestrated uprising that resulted in a favorable outcome for everyone EXCEPT the main antagonist.
That is just how I roll.
as a puertorican who has been stressed about matters within my country as well as outside of it... ginny di, you have saved my mind.
being a mountain dweller comes with the downside of having yet to find a d&d group (have yet to try online sessions!) but this really narrowed down what i envision one day experiencing and what exchanges i would LOVE to have at a table! though... i am a theatre kid through and through, so maybe the answer was clearer than i ever wanted it to be.
thank you, kindly, genuinely. your content really is an anchor. xx
I am a storyteller DM and I get sad when I have players that are not half as interested in storytelling as I. I am running a game for one player who is also a storyteller and it is glorious but I would love to see what a group of storytellers would do.
That sounds amazing-a whole table of storytellers would be so unique! When everyone’s invested in the narrative, it really takes the game to another level... though sometimes you just need someone to swing a sword 😂
THIS! Our group is half storytellers and half Fighters/Instigators….and our DM is also a storyteller. I love our group but I really do wonder what a full group of us would be like.
@@catdragon1313 I ran a group with an instigator who compromised. She'd say "You have ten minutes to finish making an attack plan. If you don't have a plan by then, I'm going to run in and throw of barrel of fish a them"
And she did keep a barrel of pickled fish on hand.
@ ok THAT is the sort of instigating I can get behind, even if being downwind would kill me 😄😂
Your videos are always fun to watch and learn from as a person who plays dnd and has adhd I get the struggle that most people have when playing and I get it!
one of my favorite players was a socializer. bro just wanted to chill and hang out with the homies, and he always elevated the mood
IMO they missed a type of player - The Omni-player. The player who loves it all. The Acting, the Instigating, the Problem solving, all of it!
Oh, I don't think they missed anything - like I said, these "types" aren't mutually exclusive. You can absolutely have multiple types, or even all of them.
I'm a bit of an unlikely combo: Primarily I'm and Actor archetype first, but I'm also a bit of an Optimizer. My character has a backstory that rivals novels, and I work with the DM to make sure it's woven into the game's lore. I develop speech patterns and mannerisms for each character that are different from myself. And I'm always down to 'talk it out' in character rather than fight - However, I also know the rules, and like to theory-craft builds that match my characters' flavors. I usually end up with a very powerful combat build so that if/when diplomacy does fail, I pack one hell of a punch
I have a player like that, a really good player I might add. Your are not alone ;)
Ah, the Emily Axford.
Ginny this is a great video. Would love a follow-up on how the different types of players might be able to learn to meet each others' needs and work together, particularly with some of the clashing types (for instance, I'm an Actor-Storyteller, with a spoonful of Optimiser and pinch of Problem-Solver, but some of my group have Socialiser pretty high in their stack... which makes sense since I beckoned them all to play with me to sate my hunger for roleplay and they merrily agreed). It's not ideal but sometimes your real life party, just happen to be folks of different player types, and you might still want to share the story with them. You've been really good at videos with tips on table dynamics in the past so I thought I'd pick your brain on this. Cheers!
Great video! While roleplay, combat, exploration and other parts already exist in DND, ratios in gameplay and themes also exist. Certain classes and species would be better for certain settings than others (e.g. elf glamour bard in Witchlight instead of Eberron or Borovia, etc.)
Thanks! You’re absolutely right-choosing a class or personality that really ‘fits’ the setting or game style can make a huge difference. A low-INT fighter in a political intrigue game could be fun for a bit, but it might get a little old after a while.
I'm very much a storyteller/explorer + a bit of optimizer. I'm working on that novel, too! An attempted one page backstory became a chapter. It's about 15 chapters along now, gods help me. Thanks for explaining these player archetypes, as they really do bring some insight into the various play dynamics I've experienced in our current campaign.
I was gonna skip the ad but it was very well made and actually drew me in, then i had ended up watching the whole thing before i even realized what was happening lmao. great job!
I am definitely an actor and fighter. I even have a hand sketched book of flowers for my Paladin that I made myself. Couldn't draw flowers before but I spent a weekend making a random prop for my character. It also caused a cool encounter when I noticed a flower that shouldn't have been growing in the region.
10:17 … I feel called out for taking resilient dex on my supertank armorer artificer at lvl 12. It *was* always a problem!
I’m typically an actor/ story teller with traits as fighters . Sometimes I can take on the traits of the others (ie optimizers, socializer, and instigators) if the situation calls for it
A player our table and friend of mine who sadly passed away during the summer was a guy who believed in the dice. Good roll or bad roll, he embraced them all.
I'm primarily a Storyteller/Actor at a table of other primarily Storyteller/Actors which makes me very happy -- although I do also have Rules Lawyer tendencies that I try to suppress since I'm not the GM! My current PC is very much a Problem Solver, but I suspect I'm much less so personally because all the PC options I've been designing for our next campaign are Instigators whose curiosity FAR outweighs their instinct for self-preservation!
This is such a refreshing video. When I saw Ginnys prep for D&D in a castle, I was struck at how much (she?) prepped compared to how much milage Ginny got from her preparation. It seems to much prep to create eventuality, and to more cohesively create an antithetical villians that challenges the players and characters assumptions about the world.
In other words, know what you want as a player and as a character. If what you want does not click with the table, keep looking. Each table has a place where one can fit.
I actually don't think this has much to do with the way I prep, lol. I'm an anxious person, and prep helps me assuage that anxiety. Something like D&D in a Castle was a deeply anxiety-inducing experience and there was no way I was going to rely on improv to deliver for that table regardless of what types of players any of them were.
I love your witty content so much! I feel like I might be a mix of the Explorer and the Optimizer. I’m definitely meticulous during character creation.
I'm a concept optimizer, I think. I love building a character whose abilities most line up with the personality I've envisioned for them. It's less "this will kill stuff / manipulate people fastest" more "these skills, combat and otherwise, reflect who they are as a person while also working in-game". Optimized for role-play in all facets, not just combat. That's the good stuff for me. Finding a way to get the ribbon abilities to make sense with the character in the world, not just throwaways, that kinda thing.
Socializer defines my last three campaigns I've run. With different people in each. :) Many of them are new to the game and want to learn and see what D&D is about. And I love to teach one of my favorite games.
I'm an Actor/Optimizer myself. My last PC game I learned that my Pact Weapon can deal Necrotic damage (First Warlock), and we needed to break down a door. I conjured a maul swinging it at the door using green flame blade. I pictured a screaming skull of fire with each swing. :)
You absolute genius predicted me twice in attempting to predict your sword joke. Like when the Problem Solver came Up I was getting giddy because I was sure it would come now and then you pull the rug away. Unbelievable.
btw. "Problem Solver" is a pretty good sword name
"It's time for dancin' on a dandelion! I can't keep _cancellin'_ that!" just reminds me of the Grinch's line of "Dinner with myself - I can't _cancel_ that again!" and i loved it for no reason other than that!
I can highly recommend having these kinds of discussions at session zero. I didn't know about this before I started DMing my campaign and now it's really caused some problems.
There are aspects of multiple types I identify, I like roleplay but I don't use a different voice, I like planning out my character from 1 to 20 before session 1 using pathbuilder. But I don't sit there and look to far into items and such, I sit there and question the motivation of everything every npc does, but I don't like solving actual puzzle, I like loot but if my character isn't a murder hobo then mi don't play it that way. My first character was a barb and he wanted to punch everyone in the face. I am playing a sniper now and he is very disconnected from everything, doesn't care. He'll do his job but that's it, I was motivated to play for social interaction but I also take the game seriously, to a healthy degree.
After watching this despite having never played D&D specifically before, I do know what categories I fall in. Probably 60% actor. I mean, it's a game after all, if I wanted to be myself I'd do things irl. Plus it's fun to do voices. :D
The fighter mixed with instigator is probably another chunk. Fighter because I love my swords, and at the end of the day I'm playing this kind of game to fight big monsters. I know there's a bit of instigator in me as well, though, because of games I used to play with school friends when I was a kid. They were Star Wars nerds even in an era before the prequels, so our roleplaying games often took place in the Star Wars universe. Being the one person in the group who knew the least about it (as Star Wars was mostly just the original trilogy at the time), I was easily the instigator, fooling around while not really effecting the main plot. Again, it's a game, can't take it too serious or else it's no fun.
I know which of these I'm not, and it's the optimizer. My Minecraft playing style actually informs that one. Minecraft has a lot of players that are all about making redstone mechanisms and making auto-farms and getting optimal amount of items. Ugh. I can't stand it. In a game like Minecraft, there shouldn't be a "correct" or "right" way to play. It's an endless, open ended game. I want to play like I'm actually living and building in that world, and people just don't live like that. The actor part of me loses all the fun if stats are controlling everything. Same reason I don't enjoy speedruns of games. Be in the world, in the game. Min-maxing everything is the least in the role you can get.
I think I might be a sliver of socializer at the end as well. After all is said and done, no matter how into the game you get, you're still just playing a game. It's a base to hang out with real world people on. None of it REALLY matters, so you're just there to have a good time.
Another great video. It's good to know I'm not limited to one type of play style. Sometimes it's storytelling, other times it's an optimized fighting machine 😅
I love cloak and dagger stories, where I can act out social encounters, engage in dashing fights with my fun-optimized character, solve problems in a myriad of creative ways - all of which coagulates into a captivating story full of mysteries.
Hanging out with friends, telling stupid jokes, and having a reason to order fast-food is also great.
you were right. i could not have predicted that sword. that was perfectly executed, 10/10!
2:08 maybe i didnt notice it before but the idea of the other characters just being around is great
I can see aspects of all these things in me. For example I think a character should have something they are best at and have fun buildign different builds, many of which I never play (optimizer), I think D&D is a social game, and having some time at beginning and end to hang out with friends is a big part of the appeal (socializer), I love being part of a good story and love when my backstory comes up (storyteller), but there are other times when I'm totally fine with a random encounter. I for sure spend some time planning what I'm going to do before doing it (problem solver), because that's generally how many of my characters would act (actor), and its satisfying seeing a plan come together. That said I get bored if we are not moving the story forward (instigator), and I do often end up being the person who is like "fine I do X to Y" to just get things to move forward, especially if everyone is being a problem solver and noone can agree on what to do. BTW a table full of only problem solvers can also be frustrating. You need at least one person to act as an instigator or nothing will ever get done and the palyers will argue about what to do forever. I also GM games and have played in many though, so I guess I've come to love many aspects of the game over the years, and what motivates me at one table in one setting, with one system might not at another. I'd say if there is one I'm least of from anything else, I'd say actor, because I can't do voices and being in character stresses me out (even when GMing I often say "X NPC does Y" instead of trying to act as that NPC (I can be good with descriptions, but they tend to be 3rd person ones).
It's interesting that The Instigator and The Problem Solver come across as being so opposed to each other! I feel like I fall somewhere in the middle.
I love puzzles and definitely see D&D as a "fantasy-flavored strategy game", but for me that strategy game is about how to make the most fun, interesting, and well-paced session happen for everyone, especially in a way that fits into the vibe the DM wants to cultivate. And that often involves taking risky, spontaneous actions that have important consequences rather than taking notes or stopping to make plans. And my favorite part of that is when the DM presents the party with open-ended problems that can be solved with some creative thinking.
Love writing storys for others to enjoy, Voice acting my NPCs and villains (Or PCs), the social contact and right now, a goood distraction from the world
Btw I love your Videos they are just so Wholesome,, help me calm down some times and are just really helpful. Thanks a lot for making them
Thank you so much! I’m really glad my videos can bring a bit of calm when you need it. Hearing that it helps means a lot ❤️
> "Unless you communicate what you want... CALENDAR PREORDERS LIVE"