How to be the player people want at their table

Nobody is ever asked to leave a table for not knowing the rules. The things that get somebody quietly not invited back are all social, and all easy to avoid once they're named.

Turn up

This is most of it. A player who's there every week, on time, is more valuable to a game than a brilliant roleplayer who attends two weeks in three. Five people cleared an evening for this. When you can't make it, say so early enough that the table can plan around you rather than wait fifteen minutes to find out.

Make room

Notice who hasn't spoken in twenty minutes and ask them what their character thinks. The best players at any table aren't the ones with the most screen time. They're the ones who hand it to someone else. If you always solve the puzzle first, try letting somebody else have it.

Play someone who wants to be there

The lone wolf who doesn't trust anyone is a fine character in a novel and a problem in a group game, because every scene has to be spent convincing them to participate. Give your character a reason to be with these people. The session zero is where that gets settled, and it's the single biggest predictor of whether a campaign survives.

Say yes, and then do something with it

When the Dungeon Master offers a hook, take it and add to it. Arguing the party out of the adventure isn't clever. It's just a slower evening. If you really think the plan is bad, say so in character, then go along with what the table decides.

Let the rules go

If the Dungeon Master rules something in a way you think is wrong, play the session and raise it afterwards. Ten minutes of rules argument costs everybody a scene. Nobody remembers who was right about grappling, but everybody remembers the night that stalled.

Take the tone seriously

Whatever the table agreed about content and tone applies to you too, including when you think a line would be funny. The agreement exists so that people can relax, and one person treating it as optional undoes it for everyone.

None of this requires experience. A first-time player who does these things is a better table member than a veteran who doesn't, which is why we're relaxed about taking people who have never played, what a first game is like covers the rest. Openings are on the campaigns page.