Playing Dumb Characters
Plus the Latest Game From Elliot Davis
October 24th, 1929. New York City. Black Thursday.
For the Roaring Twenties, the end has begun. The fabled age of champagne and sin has risen to heights never before imagined. And from the top of the Chrysler Building—now the tallest in the world—you can see every inch of this city: and it’s all on fire.
You came to New York because you heard it was the city that never sleeps. And for a vampire, what could be better? After a decade of endless revelry, the city has nothing to lose. And there’s no party quite like a funeral.
Yes, we’re back with an all-new season of My First Dungeon playing SoulMuppet Publishing’s Paint the Town Red, a game about vampires desperate to fight off their sadness in any way they can. We have an incredible cast of dastardly bloodsuckers including:
Shenuque Tissera (My First Dungeon) as Sivali, an artist stuck in an electrician’s body who may not know she’s a vampire, but knows she loves a good glass of thick “red wine”
Drakoniques (Orbital Blues) as Cain, the first murderer and truly one of the best to ever do it
Edward Spence (Beyond the Brook) as Fitzroy, a madcap bartender teetering on the edge of sanity with so much love to give
SuperDillin (Rom Com Drama Bomb) as Minnie, freshly undead and ready to close down every party she can find
Brian Flaherty (Talk of the Table) as the Game Master
We kick off the new season this Thursday with our interview with Paint the Town Red creator Zach Cox, and Session Zero dropping on September 26.
Tune in over the next few weeks to see how this brood of vampires attempts to keep the party going in the worst of circumstances, and check back here to learn more about how Brian and Elliot wrote a New York City-specific playbook to be published within Paint the Town Red in partnership with SoulMuppet.
Trust me, it’s going to be one hell of a party.
— Abby
How to Play a ‘Dumb’ Character
Listening to My First Dungeon, you might’ve noticed I tend to play characters who fall under the classic ‘dumb’ archetype. Jayamal in DIE, Kumari in Orbital Blues, and my character in Paint the Town Red all land somewhere in this category. It’s one of my favorite character types to play—largely inspired by Kevin Bauer’s portrayal of the lovably dense Cleave Beefchief in My First Dungeon’s very first season. If you don’t know, Kevin’s play style is what got me excited to perform in Actual Plays and has deeply influenced my character choices.
Now, I’ve gotta be honest: I never really think of these characters as actually dumb, and I’m not super fond of that label. When I’m in their shoes, they never feel dumb to me. They feel more... naive, like all of us are in certain areas of life. You know, that blissful ignorance we all have, whether it’s from lack of experience or a little self-preservation. So, when I say ‘dumb,’ just know I really mean ‘naive.’ That’s part of what makes these characters so dynamic—they’re capable of so much more than what the world may give them credit for.
If you’re into playing this type of character, or just want to sprinkle a little of that energy into your own roleplaying, here are some tips that might help:
1. Never Think Your Character Is Dumb
First off, nobody’s dumb—everyone’s an expert at something, and we’re all clueless in certain areas. If you try to act dumb, it can feel forced. But if you acknowledge that your character just doesn’t have all the facts or is lacking experience, it’ll make your choices feel way more natural. Think about when your parents or grandparents need help using their phone—it’s funny not because they’re dumb. It’s funny because they’re unfamiliar with something most people take for granted.
In DIE, for example, Jayamal tries to rally the group by reminding them of the good ol’ days when they helped each other out. He brings up how they pretended to be Ned’s grandma for a week so he wouldn’t be too sad to take his finals... only to be reminded that, uh, that was a really messed up thing to do. Jayamal doesn’t realize it was manipulative; he just sees it as a fond memory. That naivete makes the moment funny for everyone—because while Jayamal is totally sincere, he’s also totally off base!
2. Know Why Your Character Is ‘Dumb’
There are tons of reasons your character might come off as ‘dumb.’ Maybe it’s a defense mechanism from past trauma. Maybe they’re trying to make someone else feel smart. Or maybe they’ve just never been in this situation before and are flying blind. Whatever the reason, it’s helpful to know why your character is like this—it’ll give you a sense of when to lean into the cluelessness and when to hold back.
A great example of this is from Wildsea, when J Strautman’s character, Cherry, pretends not to notice that everyone is super suspicious of the tea they’re brewing. Cherry’s willful ignorance—playing dumb—creates comedy not just in their own lines, but in how the rest of the group reacts. It’s a masterclass in picking the perfect moments to play up the ‘dumbness’ to allow everyone to take part in the comedy.
3. Let Your Character Learn
All characters, like all people, are naturally curious. Let them learn and grow! There’s something really satisfying—both narratively and comedically—about watching a character make the same mistake again and again, only to finally get it right. And when they do, it can lead to even bigger laughs. Take our game of Yazeba’s Bed and Breakfast. My character, Hey Kid, thought that making Eggs Benedict meant they had to, uh-oh, sacrifice a guy named Benedict. So, naturally, they invited some poor guy named Benedict for a ‘free’ stay at the B&B. When Sal explained that, no, human sacrifice isn’t part of the recipe, Hey Kid, in their infinite wisdom, decided to keep Benedict around as a familiar instead. Problem... solved? Yes, and now Benedict becomes a vehicle for even more shenanigans for Hey Kid and the other residents.
— Shenuque
Diving into the Specific
Why My Next Game Is My Most Specific
Game design is a series of decisions. What mechanics am I using? What is the tone I’m going for? Who should I hire to make the cover? Should the paper weight be 70lb or 80? Each decision brings you closer and closer to the completed project, the project that only you can make.
The biggest decision for my next project has been…
How specific am I going to get with this game?
As it turns out, pretty darn specific.
The Time We Have is a tragic zombie infection game between two brothers sitting on either side of a door as you wait for one of you to lose yourself to infection. In your final days together, what will you say?
Getting to This Decision
The idea for this game has been living in my notes app for over two years: a two-player game about zombie infection. It began as a solo game, shifted to two-player, was going to be a book, added a door in along the way, and is now a deck of cards. It sat in a note for these last two years because I never quite found that itch to bring it to life. That is, until I made it more specific.
Specificity Makes It Personal
The choice to make this specifically a game about brothers, rather than any two people in a zombie apocalypse was what created the unstoppable drive in me to make it real. When you play this game, you will always be two brothers. That one narrowing of perspective did the lion’s share of work in moving from idea to manuscript.
I am a brother. I have three brothers—each of them a relationship that has a lifetime of history, complexity, joy, and pain. This is a relationship that I know I can write about and one I feel compelled to write about.
Slip us a note under the door to tell us what intrigues you most about The Time We Have
Specificity Breeds Creativity
One of the biggest inspirations for me in the creation of this game is For the Queen by Alex Roberts (who you can hear on Talk of the Table this week). There is a card in the rules of For the Queen that colors every single card played for the rest of the game:
“She chose you because she knows that you love her.”
Alex’s decision in writing this card was one of specificity. You are not just a member of the Queen’s retinue. You love her.
In The Time We have, you are not just two survivors processing the turn of one into a zombie. You are brothers.
Specificity Makes Decisions
The Time We Have is a game about brothers. That makes the thousands of decisions in the design, writing, production, and overall creation just that little bit easier. I have a North Star that will guide me through everything from art direction to paper weight.
Okay, maybe it doesn’t help with picking paper weight.
— Elliot
🗞️ News Worthy
Elliot Davis released a new one-page RPG, You’ve Always Been This Way, about looking back on your life after realizing and accepting something about yourself.
You can score 314 new games for $10 and raise money for the manufacturing of Braille RPG dice with a new TTRPGs for Accessible Gaming Charity Bundle.
TTRPG artist Johan Nohr (Mörk Borg, Paint the Town Red) released an art book that’s been nominated for the Swedish Design Prize.
🎲 What We’re Bringing to The Table
🎥 Watch: Episode 1 of Geek & Sundry’s newest actual play show, Sagas of Sundry: Goblin Mode is out now
📚 Read: A new study published in the journal Autism suggests playing Dungeons & Dragons helps autistic players in social interactions
🎧 Listen: One Shot takes on For the Queen in a new season featuring the voices of Breedo, Azrai, Candace the Magnificent, Mo Mo O’Brien and SuperDillin
🎙️ New From The Studio
My First Dungeon presents: Paint the Town Red Interview w/ Zach Cox (Thursday 9/12)
Talk of the Table: Designing Out-of-the-Box Play (w/ Alex Roberts)