In this past year I’ve had the pleasure of being in two different gaming groups at the same time. Both groups are pretty different with regard to play style, but both share a common theme. At some point or another, everyone displayed one or more traits of the Creative Roleplayer (and you only need one to qualify). Here’s my definition…

The Creative Roleplayer is someone who:

1.  makes a character that is different in morals, attitude, and values, than his last one.
2.  doesn’t need a battle map; he can do just fine roleplaying it out. “I attack by tumbling under the dragon’s belly, slicing him in the gut for 22 damage. I end up on the other side to flank him, while trying to avoid his tail.” The only mechanical effect was the damage, but his description of his attack defines roleplaying.
3.  also likes having a battle map, because it helps fuel his description of his attack powers. “I see two enemies charging me? Ok, I take two arrows, and with my teeth, I pull some of the feathers off of them. That way I can use Split the Tree to attack both of them. After that I’ll shift 3 squares around the corner for cover.”
4.  can game with anyone, adjusting his style to mesh with any group.
5.  reads a good portion of the game book, to better familiarize himself with the game’s setting and rules.
6.  can play any game, even though he has his favorites.
7.  can take any concept and make it work. Gnome barbarian, anyone?
8.  can accept any challenging plot hook involving his character’s personal life. The GM says that your character is starting to have feelings for an NPC? Great! The GM knocks your character out wthout any dice rolls? Bring it! The GM kidnaps your character’s children? Awesome!
9.  can play a character that actually HAS children (I’m looking at you, Humphreys).
10.  actually, since you’ve read this far, how about plugging in #10 for me? Or #11, #12, etc. Let’s keep this list going!