Yesterday I pecked out a quick reflection on five types of DMs I’ve encountered in my time playing and studying D&D. To follow up, I want to reflect on the types of players I’ve seen. This is influenced a bit by my time in WoW as well, on an RP server. The most active role-players in that space followed the same sort of tropes. Also as you read realize that these are not presented in any judgmental way. I know that some players (and even some DMs) feel biases toward certain types of players. Any bias read in here is an unintentional byproduct of gamer stereotypes.
And so we go:
1) The Prototype: There is a stereotypical D&D player, the person I think Gygax himself imagined early on. This is the player who is VERY VERY into the rules, often to the point of trying to find ways to break them (and often gently nudging the DM when it seems something is off). This is the player who either DMs frequently as well or has at the very least read most of the DM related materials. This player has dice that he or she is superstitious over (a favorite set, one that is oddly considered to be a “bad” die but is still used, etc.). This player has a tidy, well-kept character sheet with no blanks left unfilled. This is also the player who will role-play to a degree, but this person role-plays in the way that Final Fantasy (the original) is an RPG. There’s also an awareness that there is play happening.
2) METAMan: I used a gendered pronoun here just because I wanted a Megaman joke– but also because, oddly, I’ve only encountered males who have this trait (though there is absolutely no reason why a female player couldn’t or shouldn’t). The Metaman is the min-maxer, the person who literally only plays to break the game. In many ways, this player is similar to the prototypical player, but in this specific case the role-play elements are completely gone from the equation, beyond the most trivial things (like reminding other players that dwarves drink, or that a half-orc isn’t charismatic). These are the people who want the game to be well-defined. They excel in combat and in keeping parties on task, but they aren’t particularly interested in building a story. That’s not to say this player doesn’t love a good story. This type of player often enjoys an entertaining DM and a great storyline, but this player doesn’t feel the need to do anything but “play” that storyline in the way that one would play Legend of Zelda.
Then, the polar opposite:
3) The Incidental Thespian: The thespian is there to play a role, and that means using their acting skills to be entertaining and to build a story. These are the players who aren’t as interested in how the rules work or in the round structure of combat and encounters. This is the person who wants to use each situation as a chance to be the star in the scene. These players can be amazing for a group but can be difficult for a DM to handle because they want to be the center of attention, the protagonist of their story. In a large group, not everyone can feel like it is their story to star in (someone is the sidekick!), but if a number of Thespians are in one group…
4) The Buddy Elf: Sometimes, whether we realize it or not, some people play D&D not because they love the game but because they love their friends and their friends love the game. This is the player who is largely quiet at a table when there’s deep level play going on but perks up and socializes when the game elements start to melt away. They often serve complimentary roles to one or two specific people (their closest friends) because that is how they believe they can be useful to the group. They are often one of the LotR races (Elf, Dwarf, Halfling) but tend to not be humans, ironically.
5) The Chameleon in the Iron Mask: You all know this player, only maybe you don’t. Some players want to disappear into role-play, and those are the people who seem like the thespian at times, but there’s stark demarkation where the Chameleon knows exactly how the rules work and exactly when to speak as a player vs. as their character. But this is also the player who will drive a DM insane by doing the exact thing the character would do regardless of what the player as a person would do. This is the player who ignores metagaming and addresses each situation with just the knowledge that she has. This type of player (this is what I am when I play, btw) often thinks of role-play as an escape and is not particularly interested in introducing their own personality and motivations into the game, though as sure as the sun rises over Krynn the astute DM (and other astute players) can see some bedrock element of the player’s personality in the character, turned up to eleven.
All of these last two posts are just based on informal observations (some while doing other research but not with rigor). I have considered trying to build them into a matrix to research how gamers interact (similar to the work I did with Warcraft years ago). If any readers have thoughts, please leave responses or hit me with an email or something. I’d love to chat on this topic.