All of the NPCs in D&D and other pen-and-paper RPGs are controlled by one person called the Dungeon Master (or something slightly less kinky-sounding like the Game Moderator). It’s part of their job to change the difficulty of the imaginary adventure everyone is having on the fly, and if judged well that can encourage you to make choices that, while in-character, might be mechanically sub-optimal. “If as the DM you give players room to make mistakes that don’t kill their characters or bring the adventure to a screeching halt, that makes people feel more comfortable taking crazy risks or getting themselves into trouble,” as Mike explains.
There may also be mechanical rewards for taking the kind of risks that make sense for your character, such as bonus experience points. The current edition of D&D gives player-characters what they call ‘backgrounds’, flaws and goals and secrets, and a bonus called Inspiration can be earnt by portraying them. “For a new player, I try to help them create a basic, clear motivation to help them get into their character’s shoes,” says Mike. “We tried setting up backgrounds in D&D to serve that purpose. Each one has a few roleplaying pointers that hopefully give a new player a clear idea that there’s a difference between themselves and their character. It’s a role they’re playing, not just a fantasy version of themselves.”