Different Play Styles for Different Groups, Party Compatibiliy Quiz

[d1wright]

I thought a thread discussing various play styles might help folks determine whether they might be a good fit for a party. Or even how someone might tailor their character to fit the play style of the group.

Sort of like a Party Compatibility Quiz.

Here's a list I've started.

A) Everyone just starts swinging till they drop?
B) All characters rely on the cleric to keep them upright during combat?
C) Keep swinging with 1 hit point and no thoughts to withdraw or defend?
D) In character shouting coordinates actions rather than OOC planning.
E) Lots of delayed and readied actions optimize the party's effectiveness to work as a team.
F) Never retreat! The GM wouldn't have created the encounter if they couldn't win. Obviously!
G) Everyone suggests to each other OOC how they should be playing their character.
H) Defense is your friend and the goal is for everyone to be conscious in victory.
I) Never leave a downed character behind. The GM would never TPK us.
J) Retreat should always be a consideration.

Feel free to make suggestions, comments, or anecdotes about the wizard who ran out of good spells and expected to do well hand to hand with his dagger...

[Blacky]

First of all, there's a lot of us who don't play D&D (“rely on the cleric”).

Second of all, this is all very specific. You might want to start by things much more generic, metagaming. Look at the GNS theory, it's very simple and helps with global guidelines on how each gamer view the hobby.

Third, a lot of things about retreats. Traumatized by a past experience?

Fourth, nothing about out of game rules (Youtubing/Youporning during games, getting here late, not mouth taping the babies to stop the cries during game, things like that).

Last, not one mention of roleplay. Kind of a problem when talking about role-playing games.

But the intent is good. Such a check list could lead to a table charter, which I find very important to ensure everyone is on the same page.

[Andrepartthree]

Well the OP could mean that his post is meant to be a "starting point" rather than an exhaustive list of all things one would want to consider as far as party compatibility ;) ... that is he's thrown out some food for thought and is hoping other people who view this will post their own thoughts and the end result from everyone's efforts might lead to a quiz :) ..

Not sure if my thread here might help any?

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?19579-Advice-for-new-FG-players

I mention a few things like how much do you favor typing vs voice chat ... what is your tolerance for "rules-lawyering".... what is your tolerance for railroading ? (which can be a definite issue for players if you're running a pre-published campaign something I found out the hard way during my GM'ing stint).

But yep , if by role play Blacky means getting into character and how much of it is expected during FG game sessions most definitely something to consider too ! ... I've found I'm not happy in an FG game session unless at least half the players are putting a huge effort into RP'ing out their character's personality - if I don't have someone to interact with "in character" RP wise as far as my fellow PC's I get unhappy and end up leaving the group more than likely :( ... but on the opposite extreme you could have groups of players and a GM who snort derisively at the thought of a well written out background/backstory/personality being a requirement for PC's and who are far more interested in a dungeon-crawl " avoid the traps, kill the monsters get the treasure" sort of thing... an emphasis on strategy over soap opera role playing if you will ;) ...

The "house rules" on voice chat are definitely worth considering too ! Though being able to use the mute function say on skype could help you get around that though the big problem there is to remember to "un-mute" yourself or you'll end up talking to yourself in an empty room, something I've done on more than one occasion :P (sorry for the cheesy background music in the video :P , didn't make it myself it was just the first thing that came up during a google search... but

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCGJL53eSZc )

Often I notice GM's who have established groups of players ask that a new applicant sit in and observe an FG game session ... on the one hand I can tell you from personal experience this can be stone cold boring to the point where it might qualify as cruel and unusual punishment :P (let's face it unless you're running something all voice chat FG games can move at a slow pace.. nature of the beast especially if it's an all text or mostly text game .. and if you're just sitting there and not even participating, well.... :P ) ... but it works , I can tell you that from personal experience as well (in my case it was more along the lines of finding out I wouldn't be the best fit for an FG group - nice people just not my RPG style preference - before joining the campaign)... in a situation like that I can see how someone might occupy themselves with something else on the PC and still easily be able to keep up with the FG session they're observing - unless it was all voice no text in which case you're probably better off paying full attention to what goes on since it'll progress at a much faster pace.. but, drawbacks aside, sitting in on an FG game session can be a good way to get a feel for it...

Now if you're an actual non-observing participating player THAT's different... in my opinion if the GM worked hard to put that module together for you the least you can do is not put him in a situation where he continuously has to get your attention because you're goofing off on utube or whatever - my feeling is if you have that much spare time during an FG game session start pre-typing some colorful dialogue you can shoot at your fellow PC's or some cool canned "flavor text" to describe that next bad-a$$ move you plan on having your character execute... but that's the die-hard get into character role playing fiend in me speaking ... even if you're not the kind of person who puts that much emphasis on role playing, if you find the game is going slow at the very least keep FG up in a smaller window while you're goofing off during the "slow times" and check it often as a courtesy to your fellow players (who will find the game slowed down even MORE on their end if the GM has to keep getting your attention) and the GM ... I suppose there's a possibility that there's a group of players out there who all demand the right to not give an FG game session their full attention and a GM whose response is " eh, whatever I really don't care" but ... if you're that casual about the whole thing I have to ask why are you playing the FG game in the first place?
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How much patience you have for "dungeon crawls" (basically a slow explore every room and nook and cranny step by step situation - and note that even outside D&D or other sword and sorcery games this can happen, say space explorers exploring some crashed gigantic starship....) is worth considering too... I've found after going through a number of these in FG I just plain don't find them fun anymore :( , they're slow and boring as all heck if you have a gazillion rooms like they do in most prepublished modules :( , and years from now when I finally get my campaign up and running :P I'm much more likely to either opt for a room-less combat area (next to a waterfall, big open space in a swamp et cetera) or if a "dungeon" is required will definitely go for one with at most 5 or 6 rooms with probably only 1 or 2 occupied... but that's just me, the above mentioned all-strategy-no-role-play preferring RPG group might LOVE dungeon crawls...

But yes I would agree there's definitely a need for a thread like this - perhaps it can even evolve into a sticky (thread that permanently appears "near the top" that people are encouraged to read first for anyone stupid like me who didn't know what a sticky was at first :P ) .. assuming that there isn't such a thread already in existence somewhere else? (There isn't far as I'm aware but I know too there are dedicated forum-people who are much more aware of all the many threads on here than myself ;) , so... ).