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17 Improv Tricks for Better D&D Roleplaying 🐉🎭
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Sep 30, 2022
See our article here for further expounding on the improv concepts discussed in the video: https://www.flutesloot.com/dnd-improv-skills?utm_source=youtube Otherwise titled: How to become a better D&D player and IRL friend. The improvisational skill set is useful for many things beyond comedic performance. One great application is found within D&D. In fact, improvisation is an integral skill for any hobbyist of tabletop RPGs—improvisation’s benefits allow pure collaboration between players, DMs, and dice. ⏰Time Stamps: 00:00 Something Dear to My Heart 00:54 Foreword 01:06 Yes, and... 02:22 Make Others Look Good 03:18 Let Go and Play 03:58 Find Common Ground 04:30 Seek Themes 05:00 Play on Assumptions 07:11 Prioritize Preparation 07:53 Be 100% Present 08:33 Approaching Resolutions 09:29 Do Not Fear Silence 10:57 Contrasting Energy
View Video Transcript
0:00
Hey, looters, flutes here. Today I want to discuss something very dear to my heart
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which is improvisation, improv in Dungeons and Dragons. I've been an improvisational comedian on
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stage for paying audiences for about 10 years, as well as a kind of life coach, let's say
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for how to be positive and how to build relationships using improv principles. Naturally, this has lent well to my Dungeons and Dragon skills, especially when I'm a dungeon
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master, but as a player as well. I want to share some of the most important principles
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I've learned that anyone can understand and try to get acclimated to
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These are the kind of principles that if you can make them part of who you are
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you will be a better Dungeons and Dragons player. So let's get into it
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Some of the examples I'm going to share as I'm going over these principles
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will apply to the dungeon master or the player, but instead of me stopping to do the inverse of what it would look like for the other
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just use your imagination. It applies to both, I assure you. Principle number one is yes and
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You've heard of this before, and you're probably already disappointed that I'm talking about something that a lot of people already talk about
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But yes and really is at the core of improvisation. It means you acknowledge what someone else has established as if it is a gift
1:24
and then you build upon it. You could also say that instead of a yes and
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And it's accept and build is another way to put it. When a party member expresses an idea that you think is poor or ill-advised
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stop and rethink. Maybe it's just you being judgmental and maybe it would be more fun
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because this is a game after all, to just go with it and make sure it succeeds
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After all, if you're really that smart, you can figure out ways to make even the worst ideas pan out
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If the rogue is so brazen as to infiltrate a beholder's layer, don't tell them it's stupid
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Tell them you're going to cast Rarie's telehealth, apathic bond on him so that you guys can all have Avengers style invisible communication links
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The ranger can cast pass without trace and the sorcerer can cast invisibility and you can all
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wish the rogue well and be ready in case things go wrong, but also be ready in case things go right
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Sometimes people will surprise you if you're not too quick to judge their ideas
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Yes and them. Principle number two. Make others look good. People love to play with someone who makes their ideas look good, just like I'm
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mentioned before. If you can make other people succeed, they will like playing with you
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It's cool to be an experienced player who knows how to use spells and items in ways that are
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advantageous, but it's best to see what your allies are doing and make sure that they succeed
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and add your own narration to them. If your barbarian talks about running in to go hog wild
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on an enemy wizard, talk about how you're step by step running with him to get in there
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so that you can strike together and your blows are going. like in parallel, like as you're going against the same person
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Instead of just saying, okay, it's your turn, you do this and that, it's my turn, I do this and that
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You know, whatever they narrated, add to it. If you get this mindset of making others look good, people will want to be your friend outside of the game
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and they will want to play with you in the game. Next principle, number three, I'm going to stop counting because I'm going to lose track eventually
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is let go and play. It's easy to get stuck on judging your own ideas
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and the ideas of others or to hold on to your baggage from outside of the game
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You need to pretend you're taking out a wad of trash when you get into the game and you throw it in the garbage
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and say, I'm here to play and I'm going to let go of everything that would hold me back
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I'm not going to worry about judging my own ideas. I'm not going to be afraid. You need to just go for it
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People will respect you for it. Think about people you know who are fun to play with in D&D
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and I bet they are good at letting go and playing. Next up is a role-playing tip for finding common ground
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If you have characters that are kind of at odds with one another either their personalities or their goals try to find common ground and keep hitting on that point as you discover different little nuggets of character development
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And I promise you will create better relationships with the other players as your characters become more invested in each other
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You'll find themes that can come up, and it'll get easier to roleplay with them as you explore these themes
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Speaking of which, the next principle is to seek themes. Try to look for the little subtext of different things happening in the game
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If your enemy keeps talking about riches and getting wealthy, maybe you should focus on the opposite of that
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Maybe the theme for you is humility and finding worth outside of worldly wealth
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And you can hit that home and you can maybe prepare some quotes that you could say to a bad guy in that way
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and it'll really enhance your role playing. Next tip is to play on assumptions
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This often happens in movies when something happens that you thought it was going to go one way
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but it gets flipped on its head and it goes the other way. It could be a big brute of a man walking into a room
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and everyone expects he's just this hardened criminal or war veteran. But he turns out to be just a soft-spoken guidance counselor
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who likes to go roller skating on the weekends. Another example of this is in SpongeBob when there's going to be a fight going on
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and this huge Hulk of a fish walks into the stadium. And everyone's like, I got to get out of here
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He's terrifying. I got to get out of here. He breaks in and everyone's like, what
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Might! And then the announcer says, and the real contender is on his back, and he turns around
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And he was just carrying Patrick Starr, who is not an intimidating character
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And he just jumps out. So that's an assumption of, like, oh, there's this big, scary contender, but flipping it on its head to be like, oh, it's just this guy
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That's just one example. Another example is in the movie Elf. when the big shot kids book writer is like this really scary person
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which is funny for kids' books. So it's already like turning an assumption on its head. It's not just like this Mr. Rogers fella
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But it's also not just like this big, controlling Wall Street, tall man that you picture
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He's a man with dwarfism, and he gets angry when people will bring it up like elf does
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Will Ferrell's character. That's an example of turning an assumption on his head
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So try to see what kind of assumption. you're making in a game and flip them around
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This can help you with character creation if you make a wizard who likes to gamble
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almost like a rogue, or a rogue that's obsessed with training like a fighter
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or a barbarian who's obsessed with cooking or with tinkering with things
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even if she's not very good at it. Maybe an artificer could help that barbarian out
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So it creates some weaknesses as well as interests for you that kind of go against
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the assumptions of like what a barbarian would be and it creates a skill set that you would
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gravitate to in people that are good at that. Next up is prioritize preparation, which I know a lot of
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people when they hear that I go to improv practice, they say, how do you practice improv? Well, it's a
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mindset and it's an environment as well. But you also learn the rules and you learn to work with people
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around you. So preparation can involve you as the dungeon master preparing many different things
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so that you're prepared for whatever you need to improvise. As a player, it could be talking to lots
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of the other players out of game about what their characters are up to, what their characters
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think of this and that, and you can create dialogue outside of the game that makes it really
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easy to jump in when you return. Principle number whatever is be 100% present. If you are at the table
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I highly recommend you find excuses to leave your phone on the table in your pocket, whatever
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I know a lot of people use phones and tablets for digital tools for D&D these days
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but don let them get in the way of noticing what other players are doing and what your DM is describing If you find yourself while your DM is describing a situation and you often have to stop and be like okay so what is this Which is fine if it just like you didn get it
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But if you weren't paying attention, notice when you're doing that and say to yourself, I need to be
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100% present of what's going on around me with the other players and the DM
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Next is another role-playing principle. It's approaching resolutions. If you've ever been in a conversation that just kind of drags on in real life
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you just want to get out of there. And that happens in role playing too when you're not sure what to do
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once you've gotten it started. Even if the substance of it is really good, you don't know how to end it
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I got in trouble with this in high school because I'd often tell stories that didn't have a resolution
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I was just kind of saying something I thought was cool. And so I had to learn how to resolve stories
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even if it was just like with one sentence. And so when you end a roleplaying experience with someone
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you could say, well, I'll be sure to watch your back next time that happens. Or I will keep that in mind next
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time we meet someone like that. You know, like just some sentence that brings closure to your conversation and it kind of
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wraps it up in a bow and lets everyone know, okay, we've finished that role-playing conversation
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Does anyone else want to start? Or DM, do you want to take the talking stick back? It really helps
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Next is to not fear silence. If there is a pause, it's so common for people to think, oh, I need to fill that silence
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That's awkward. I don't like awkward silences. But sometimes it's okay to just let people
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people think we're not all professionals, and sometimes we need to think about what we're going to
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say or do. Let it happen. Also, sometimes people use dramatic pauses, or a pregnant pause, some
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people call it, to kind of let what they've said incubate and let people think about it
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Don't fear the silence. I mean, if you're a teacher, teaching students, you ask a question
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It takes them time to think about it. If they answer right away, they're probably not answering your question because they just had something to say
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beforehand anyway. So you want to like count even to like 10 seconds sometimes
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and see if people are done talking as a teacher. And D&D
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just don't be too quick to jump on people as soon as they finish a sentence, especially if someone's like
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just made some huge statement to an NPC. Don't think, oh, I need to jump in there too
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And, oh, but I'm yes-ending them. Not really. Sometimes yes-ending them is to let them have their moment
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and not jump in and like rehash what they said in a different way
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because you like didn't think it was good enough or because you have something zippy to say, just let it sit for a minute sometimes and let the DM respond before that player loses the spotlight
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Just trust me, do not fear silence. It's your friend. Another principle to keep in mind is contrasting energy
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which kind of goes with finding common ground, but the other way around. You want to find people that contrast you
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If you are a high-energy character, you want to become friends with the low-energy characters
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If you're the Legolas of the group, you want to find the Gimleys, and you want to become friends with them by finding common ground, like I mentioned earlier
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You really can find some fun dynamics when you find contrasting energy between other players or their characters
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Another principle that really helps the table is to use players' names, like your friends themselves, use their names when you're addressing them out of game, and then in-game address them in-carector with their character's names
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Same goes for NPCs that the DM is running. Just trust me, it helps people stay in character and pay more attention and it shows that you care about their character
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It's just this paradigm shift that will really help your table. Another principle to remember is to make more statements and less questions
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Questions pull from a person and it can be taxing for them, especially with role playing if they're not used to it
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Make a statement and let them respond. So instead of saying, where are you from, say, you look like you're from a small town and let them respond
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It's a subtle thing that makes things much more interesting. Just try it Make a statement instead of a question Going back to earlier about not being afraid is to fail big This is a great principle
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You're playing a game with your friends. If you fail, if characters die, if you don't get the girl, if you don't get the man
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if you don't get rich, it's okay. Because sometimes failing is the biggest fun of all
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To not be afraid to fail. There's so many memories, if you think about it, that came from someone either failing big
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or not being afraid to fail big, and they ended up succeeding. Think about your biggest memories from D&D
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and I bet they involve someone, either failing or the stakes were high enough
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that they could have failed, but they went for it anyway. Next up is a tip for dungeon masters
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When you start a session, don't let it tinker around being like, oh, well, what do you guys do based on last time
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Get right to what's going to happen next that's going to, like, get in the action
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and say, okay, this is where we are after a little time skip
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Make sure your players are okay with this. If they don't want to, like, describe what they ate for breakfast that day
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Just skip ahead. So that your session starts right in the middle of them caught in a trap out in the woods
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because they were going to go hunting for some rabid wolves that are terrorizing the town
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Have them start out doing that. They're out in the woods and there's already like high stakes
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Instead of it being like tinkering around, going around town, wondering what's happening
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And then 20 minutes later you get into the woods and then 10 minutes later you get to the action
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and by then hopefully everyone's still paying attention. I know that there's like nuance to this and some players love that like in-town stuff
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but as a DM, just think to yourself, could I skip a few things and just get to the action sometimes
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And I promise it'll help you out. Another principle for you is to be specific
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If you say you're from a city, try saying the name of the city. I'm from Yorkshire
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If you're from Yorkshire, what's the city known for? I'm from Yorkshire
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We build the biggest ships and we make the best cheese. or I'm from Blufford where the women are pretty and the men are prettier
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You know, stuff like that. If you say, oh, I am a barbarian and I have a great axe, say
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and I have a great axe made out of oak wood from a tree, my father chopped down
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and the metal hewn from the mountains near my hometown. You're like, whatever, like just get flowery, basically
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Be specific with things, and I promise it will improve your game
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especially as a dungeon master. just start throwing in more specific words and you'll have yourself a spicy sentence sandwich
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Another way to help your role playing and improv is to actually move in a way that suits your character
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If you are a tough guy who's leaning against the wall, try leaning against the wall while you deliver your lines
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If you are the type who's more sheepish and timid, try putting your shoulders forward and kind of dropping your pursing your lips to become more timid
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This will also help your voice acting, but your whole body is part of your voice acting
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And so to get into character with your improvisational role-playing, try actually moving your body
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Don't just sit there like you would any character and have all your characters to sit the same way and talk like this
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Get into it with your body. So that is the summation of the most basic principles of improv, role-playing, and life and friendship that will really help you to enjoy Dungeons and Dragons more
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If this was helpful for you, watch it again and take notes
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Share it with a friend. And I also have an article if you don't want to take notes based on this
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that goes over everything I just said if you want to read about it. Improv skills can really help D&D to become a wholesome and enriching
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So again, I'm Flutes. It's been a pleasure. Remember to check out Flutesloop.com and to like and subscribe
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And of course, I love talking D&D with everybody. So cast message in the comment section below
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Let me know which of these principles. it out to you and that you think will really help you with your role playing. Thanks everyone
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Flute Sluid out for now
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