Question: How does one roleplay? : V - Skyrim

» Thu Nov 08, 2012 7:37 am

Boy, I didn't either. Wow. And to think! All these years I've had the wrong idea about roleplaying! I'm so embarrassed! Thank you, thank you, msxyz, for setting us straight with incontrovertible "facts" about roleplaying! How ever can we repay you for your infinite wisdom in this matter?

Sort of...

It's possible Skyrim isn't an RPG if you look at strict definitions - I don't know that. But since many, many of us obivously RP when we play Skyrim (or other TES games), it's also obvious possible to RP when playing it.

To me, to RP is to create a character and create a story for that character within the framework the game provides. The anology with the writer is very accurate, I think. I "write" the story, but in actions (well, and screenshots) instead of words (ok, I use words as well, to explain the screenshots, and a couple of my characters have kept journals, but not as in actual fictional writing).

» Thu Nov 08, 2012 12:29 pm

In my experience I've seen two types of roleplayers frequent these kinds of forums. One I suppose would be called traditionalist and they actively name the people who roleplay in Skyrim Live-Action Roleplayers.

The difference? In Skyrim, you can't really roleplay decisions. For example there's a thread on the front page complaining you can't be a Companion without being a werewolf for a time. While a traditionalist RPGer would ask himself if his character would agree with being a werewolf and respond based on that character's personality, morals or honor code, Skyrim doesn't even give you this choice. Infact Skyrim seldomly gives you any choice at all, and it's even more rare that the choice is truly meaningful or has some form of influence on the world around you. In that sense, you can't really take each step of each quest in and ask yourself "what would my character do" because Skyrim doesn't give a [censored] and forces you to complete the quest it's way or don't complete the quest at all.
Thus, the roleplaying in Skyrim is rarely about how your character -actually- interacts with the world, but how you use your imagination when playing him. Maybe you've decided your character loves beer and thus you constantly buy bottles of it and drink it almost nonstop, maybe you've decided your character is a farmer so you spend a lot of time harvesting crops and selling them for gold. That's great and all, but again that has little to do with you interacting with the world (or in this case, the NPCs) but rather you're just imagining purposes to items and locations. Your beer-guzzling warrior and your fruit-eating warrior will still solve the quests the same exact way and they'll still leave the same exact marks on the worlds, you're just pretending small differences that really leave no noticeable marks on the world.

So yeah, for a good percent of the population, the roleplaying possibilities aren't considered good enough because you can LARP in literally almost any game you buy, but Skyrim offers little choice or meaningful interaction amongst NPCs.

you understood perfectly my point.

» Thu Nov 08, 2012 4:58 pm

You don't find it the least bit immersion-breaking when your character's personality would lead them to do one thing but at the same time your knowledge of how the quest works would lead you to do the opposite?

This is not unique to Skyrim. Every cRPG I have ever played occasionally forced my character to act in ways that violated my concept of that character.I have yet to play a computer roleplaying game that accomdated all of my character's idiosyncracies. I was compelled to either conform to a developer's notion of what my character should do or cease moving through quests.

Skyrim may be more extreme in this, at times (as in your Companions example), but it is merely a matter of degree, not of kind.

» Thu Nov 08, 2012 8:12 am

TES roleplaying is different to roleplaying in other games. The games excel in their open worlds, as opposed to other games which exceed in story and dialogue. So while its true that NPCs may not say 'you're that alchemist!', the fact that a character has made progress in the alchemy skill, frequently performs alchemy and wanders from town to town selling potions confirm that the character is an alchemist. NPCs may not say 'you're a drunk!', but the negative effects from drinking tons of alcohol say otherwise.

That's not to say that NPCs never recognise anything. A mage will have people comment on their atronachs or equipped spells. Warriors will be told to be careful as they swing around their weapons. Some NPCs have different dialogue for their quests if you've completed a faction questline - Enthir, for example. And the guards are all-seeing, all-knowing!

» Thu Nov 08, 2012 3:43 am

That's not to say that NPCs never recognise anything. A mage will have people comment on their atronachs or equipped spells. Warriors will be told to be careful as they swing around their weapons. Some NPCs have different dialogue for their quests if you've completed a faction questline - Enthir, for example. And the guards are all-seeing, all-knowing!

And all of this has jack-all effect on gameplay. There's no tangible consequences for any of it.

» Thu Nov 08, 2012 3:18 pm

And more on topic:
I would recommend creating character that you like and has goals compatible with yours. And then just try to live and fulfill that goal in plausible manner, using quests as kind of building blocks of your story.

I did something like that with Raksha and it works for me nicely. I like cats, so Raksha missed company of other Khajiit a lot and wants them to be respected in Skyrim. Her playtrough is driven by that and as for now it gave me 380 hours of play and counting.

» Thu Nov 08, 2012 9:12 am

Roleplaying is just simple psychological inclinations to me. Nothing too detailed (like extensive backstories.. although I have an outline in my head of a backstory). It's more about their general personality type and what they would do or not. And not necessarily just "good" or "evil" choices. They could be casual choices.

» Thu Nov 08, 2012 8:37 am

for me, roleplaying isn't about when your character eat, drink, sleep, or kind of it. It's about giving life to your character. Their story, personality, their fearness, their moral. It's all about giving birth.
And by doing so, they will eat, drink, sleep, and anything they need by themself.

» Thu Nov 08, 2012 5:47 pm

It's easier for me to create a backstory first. This is why, I personally, don't mind the spoilers- it helps me map my character out according the the prior knowledge of the game. You create a backstory to 'flesh' your character out, giving them depth and even making a connection to them in some way or another. Once you've done that, you can use that 'spoiler- prior knowledge' to create the path you wish your character to take. Be sure to leave that path vague- room for improvising along the way.

This. I find it's easier to roleplay now that I know most (I still discover things) of the game's content. I can then choose what quests to do, where to go, etc. Roleplaying a particular way on Day 1 would have been difficult for me, so I kind of agree with Longknife on that point. You can't really roleplay with the answers you give, only with the quests you choose.

» Thu Nov 08, 2012 4:13 am

Separate the entity of your character from yourself, let them develop as their own. Use in-world character knowledge and skill instead of being an ever-knowing guide to them. Think about them, make the outline of a personality, maybe a backstory to support or explain it (vice-versa works too), give them interesting quirks that make them more fun to play. Gameplay-wise you could set some basic needs-type rules (meals, sleep, y'know), or the character's personal 'rules' regarding actions in common situations, usage of armor/weapons, fears, weaknesses...
In the end, you'll have a developed and deep character who I'll bet you'll really enjoy playing.

» Thu Nov 08, 2012 4:20 am

SO, roleplaying: how do you do it? I'd be willing to give it a try, even though it seems a bit much to me ATM.

It's not all that complicated. You can get a lot of mileage out of a one-sentence backstory. Some examples:

My main is a down-on-his-luck mercenary archer who came to Skyrim looking for a job.
My thief is a daredevil trickster who is addicted to the thrill and couldn't care less about the money.
My mage is an Imperial from a hawkish family who was sent to Skyrim to find out what's taking Tullius so long to finish the war.

Very simple, not very creative or original, but everything the characters do and how they react falls out from those one-liners. The details fill themselves in with time, just by making choices for those characters in light of their backstories. Their goals may shift, and that's fine, so long as the shift is consistent with where they've been (e.g., my thief isn't likely to suddenly become Arch-mage, nor is my mage likely to side with the Stormcloaks).

» Thu Nov 08, 2012 3:59 pm

For me, it's all about keeping yourself to a set of rules you establish for your character that take precedence over game mechanics.

For example, my current character is a sword and shield warrior. He doesn't use magic. At all. No enchanting, although he does use found/bought magic weapons, he sells full soul gems rather than recharge. This is opposed to playing a character that utilizes YOUR knowledge of game mechanics outside their scope.

Examples:

Even though I could easily run around casting transmute to easily skill up alteration and provide a ton of valuable ore, my character wouldn't.
He also only uses maces, even though he would be just as proficient with axes and swords because they're lumped under the same skill.
He never pickpockets, burglarizes, or steals, even though tons of valuables are just sitting there for the taking.

» Thu Nov 08, 2012 8:26 am

Just what the title says.

Do you put yourself in your characters shoes? Give them a backstory and play the game based on it? RP based on their main skills?
I've never really roleplayed, only had good/evil characters.
SO, roleplaying: how do you do it? I'd be willing to give it a try, even though it seems a bit much to me ATM.

Personally doing all those things you asked is how I roleplay. If you do them all it helps you get into it even more.

» Thu Nov 08, 2012 1:27 pm

e.g Last night playing a Redguard Warrior - I come across a dead Kajhite merchant and search the body, small amount of loot do I take it?
No
Why, because my character is a proud warrior a man of honor who does not steal, if the Kajhite had papers on him I would have returned this to his family.
If on the other hand I was playing a Thief character, hell yes its what I do.

Play according to what the character is and their moral code

» Thu Nov 08, 2012 6:47 pm

When I role-play I keep things realistics.

I sleep every night and have food twice a day.
Also, I always wear proper attire in the cold. I never swim in frozen water etc.

» Thu Nov 08, 2012 5:10 am

To proper roleplay you have the game to provide a definitie infrastructure and adequate response to your line of action.

As such Skyrim is not a roleplaying game. It's stat based, mostly for combat action, but that's all.

You cannot roleplay in Skyrim, at best you can LARP (meaning you can impose your own self restrictions, perform certain optional acrions but these won't prompt any reactions from the game)

That is why I can roleplaying more immesily and deeply in New Vegas, then Skyrim. I just know the reason why it is a bit harder roleplaying in Skyrim. Because the game doesn't provide a "definitie infrastructure and adequate response" to my line of action.

I've recently restarted my game with mods to make it more hardcoe, just to further immerse myself into the game. I was never really into making a backstory for my character although I did think of a short summary (I never bothered to make it into a story though), and I'm hoping to roleplay Skyrim as a dangerous landscape and hanging out with NPCs like I did back in Oblivion.

It will also be fun in how I can't outright kill everything I come across, and since it's unlikely that FCOM will ever make a return to Skyrim.. the new mods I've installed are as close as I can get to it.