Why your exposition might be an imposition.

People that play Tabletop Roleplaying Games are a creative bunch. We’re always keen to get stuck into games, uncover clues, solve mysteries, defeat bad guys, and see where the dice take us.  Players are great at using their own character’s kit, at showing their character’s knowledge of the enemy, and at describing in detail their backstory and how it got them to where they are today.

However, I would argue that from the very first time you sit down and play, players should put all of that to one side. Ignore your backstory. Don’t use your abilities. Imagine your character knows nothing about the world around them.

The best part of TTRPGs in my opinion is the ability to collaboratively tell stories. Too often a player comes to the table with an idea of how the game will play out and one of two things will happen because of that. 

Either they have narrowed their own view so much that anything other their preconceived notions will disappoint. This can mean they will lose interest in the game they’ve put effort into building a whole character for, and by session three dislike the character they made enough to consider rerolling it or just drop out of the game entirely. 

Or potentially worse is when players try and force the narrative around them to fit the idea of the story they had in mind. Most of the time this is unintentional and results in a confused frustration between players (DM included), each feeling like something has been imposed upon them or taken away.

This is why, whenever you come to the table to play with others, you should be more interested in reacting, then enacting. Don’t get me wrong, your character, Eddie the Ranger is great! They’re fantastic at tracking the enemy, great at guiding the party, brilliant at understanding animals and nature. Eddie’s backstory is super tragic, and directly ties in with the world lore. In combat Eddie packs the biggest punch in single target damage and just loves to use nets, ball bearing, and set up traps because both Eddie and you, the player, are tactical geniuses.

However, you’re simultaneously the protagonist, and not the protagonist when you’re at the table. You’re a character in a collaborative story and it’s important that Eddie isn’t shaped and defined by everything you came up with before you even started playing the game, but the experiences and interactions with others along the way.

You might know that Eddie isn’t scared of giant spiders, and would want to try and use his skills to shoo the spider away rather than fight it. However, what about Breyla the Barbarian, or Sally the Sorcerer? Do you, or more importantly, Eddie know how they feel about giant spiders? Well now that you’re in the middle of a cave with signs of them all over, and possibly surrounded by them, it might be a good time to ask.

Maybe you find out Beryla’s sister was killed by a spider bite and she hates the creatures, and maybe Sally doesn’t dislike them but has been eyeing up the webbing around and is thinking of using her fire magic to toast the place. Based on this knowledge, how would Eddie react? Is it more important that you tactically think of a way to deal with the spiders with Sally, or do you want to try and educate Breyla on how not all spiders are harmful? Maybe Breyla’s grief is actually a great moment to take a short rest and care for your party member, or to help Sally think through the plan about setting an entire cave on fire.

Ask the other players questions. Directly question their reasons and experiences and play off of that. Investigate the pieces of their backstory in a way in which you wish others would delve into yours.

Only you know how Eddie the Ranger might react here, but by engaging wiht the other players and asking them how they feel, you’re collaboratively storytelling. Eddie’s experiences beforehand are only as important in the present, in that they help guide how he acts now. Your backstory doesn’t need to be another set of rules that constrict your storytelling, but better yet a tool to inform you of what your character should change, adapt, and grow from. It is the starting point you develop from, not a mould you develop into.

By directly interacting and reacting with the other players at the table, your stories will be richer, the bonds between characters will be stronger, and your games will have more longevity to them. Make your character interesting because you take an interest. Ask them questions and then react, and you’ll be one of the best roleplayers at the table.