D&D 5E Interaction guide for new players?

[Grimace59]

So me and my group are pretty new to D&D, especially 5E. Been running our first campaign HotDQ, and we are struggling with the social interaction piece of the game. Were those run in head first and kill, kill, kill. We struggled with Ch2, walking around the camp an finding info. Our DM is doing a good job giving us prompts and hints. I know I've struggled with thi, but we figured out the Roper incident with out combat.

So were getting ready to start Ch 4 in a couple weeks, and our DM hinted "Just a heads up this part is going to need a lot of player interaction and deductions ..." I can see us struggling big time like we did in the camp.

So, I know weird question, but is there a sort of interaction guide out there to help new players with those concepts?

Thanks

 

[AriochQ]

I don't know of any offhand, but you may be experiencing something more related to party play style rather than interactions.

There is no wrong way to play D&D. Some parties, especially younger players, like to "Bust down door, kill everything, repeat" and have a blast. On the other extreme you have parties who do lots of talky talk and puzzle solving, with combat occurring more rarely and they also have a blast.

When running through a published adventure, the direction the party takes can be pretty linear. It is the DM's role to either keep the party on the chosen path, or mediate any of the crazy stuff they do that wasn't anticipated by the publishers. It sounds like your DM may be hinting he/she would rather you follow the adventure path (which makes sense if you are all newish to D&D).

Some general tips:

Don't rush through NPC interactions.

Take the time to listen closely to what the DM is telling you. Most often he would rather provide you the clues you need rather than see you stumble about for hours.

Allow each player time to be in the spotlight. It is easy for a dominant personality type to do most of the talking/interacting, but D&D is a social game so make it social by drawing other characters into the conversation. Sometimes this is as easy as "What does our rogue think about this situation?"

Remain positive. Remember, there is no wrong way to play D&D.

 

[iserith]

Check out the Basic Rules, pages 66 and 67, which covers Social Interaction. It's not terribly in-depth, but it provides you with the basics. In particular, read "Results of Roleplaying" and "Ability Checks." This will help you determine the things you need to be paying attention to and striving to achieve during the social interaction challenge.

Common fictional actions you might take during a social interaction include trying to:

• Figure out an NPC's goals or motivations;
• Discern an NPC's truthfulness;
• Get an NPC to do something for you;
• Gather information.

Sometimes, these fictional actions may require an ability check to resolve any uncertainty the DM has as to the outcome of what you're trying to do. You will tend to want to minimize these rolls since the d20 is a fickle mistress. To do that, I suggest making your goal and approach very clear to the DM e.g. "I carefully examine [NPC]'s body language and mannerisms (approach) so as to determine whether or not he is telling the truth (goal)..." or "Ragnar slams his fist into the table and tries to bully [NPC] (approach) into giving up the goods (goal)..."

I also recommend trying to play to your character's personality traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws during these challenges so that you can earn Inspiration which is quite useful during that challenge or in future ones.

If you have specific questions, ask away and I'll try to help.

 

[Grimace59]

These are great, don't have specific questions to ask. just looking for info/examples to share with my group just incase we get stuck. We had our one long time D&D player drop from the group and two new guys join, and we've struggled with this.

 

[iserith]

These are great, don't have specific questions to ask. just looking for info/examples to share with my group just incase we get stuck. We had our one long time D&D player drop from the group and two new guys join, and we've struggled with this.

So here's an excerpt from my guide on How to Adjudicate Actions in D&D 5e: Charisma. It's really geared towards showing DMs a way to interpret and determine how to apply game mechanics to player actions; however, the particular format may be of use as an example to you. (And your DM might like the guide in general if you want to share it.)

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

One thing that might help would be to imagine yourself in that same situation. Let’s go with what you said about having trouble with finding information at a camp. Say you were at a new job, and had to find out how to do something. You’d find a coworker or boss and ask them. So maybe your character is, I don’t know, let’s say a cleric of a war god. Maybe your cleric would look for someone with that holy symbol on them for information.

Good social scenes in gaming kinda border on theater/acting, and it really can help to get into character. From there, the DM can worry about the rules checks and letting you know when you need to make a roll.

 

[arjomanes]

Social interactions are often an interesting challenge. It's a mix of solving a puzzle and telling a story.

To help solve the puzzle, I find it helps me to ask a couple questions to the DM: Do I notice anything odd about the NPC? Is he holding a weapon or is he unarmed? What kind of body language does she have? Does she seem aggressive, angry, confused, nervous, or calm? Is he fidgeting, sweating, avoiding eye contact, or anything unusual that makes me think he's lying? If there's a group: Do the other NPCs seem to be in agreement with the leader? Do I notice any signs of anger or contempt from any of her followers when she says this? Is anyone in the group trying to catch our eye, or trying to secretly communicate with our group? Don't ask too many questions, but a couple key questions can really help out a lot, especially if you're confused about what to do or say.

Now keep in mind the DM may have to come up with a lot of this on the fly, and there may not always be a clue for the scenario. But asking questions can help prompt the DM to flesh out the character, think about their motivations, or drop a clue for you. This kind of back and forth can be really rewarding. It lets you make some progress in understanding the situation, and it gives the DM an opportunity to flesh out the scene and add some more depth to the NPCs.

And to help tell the story, take a look at your character. Look at your personality, ideals, bonds, and flaws, as well as any other quirks you've come up with for your character. These are your guideposts. Try to flavor your social encounters with these "abilities." What is your goal for this encounter? Always keep in the back of your mind what your character wants. This is his story, and he should be trying to fill his bucket list. You don't have to overdo it, but it helps to know what types of actions you'd be ok with, where your loyalties lie, and what you want to accomplish.

Note: while it's important to think of your goals and motivations, don't overdo it. Don't spend a week at the library instead of going to the dungeon just because you have a sage background. You're an adventurer, so your primary motivation is to explore, find treasure, and go out and adventure. Ideally, everyone in the party should try to be proactive and build on each others' success; not go off and do their own thing. The game works so much better when everyone is working together towards a common goal; you'll have individual goals, but you certainly shouldn't forget the team goals.

 

[iserith]

To help solve the puzzle, I find it helps me to ask a couple questions to the DM: Do I notice anything odd about the NPC? Is he holding a weapon or is he unarmed? What kind of body language does she have? Does she seem aggressive, angry, confused, nervous, or calm? Is he fidgeting, sweating, avoiding eye contact, or anything unusual that makes me think he's lying? If there's a group: Do the other NPCs seem to be in agreement with the leader? Do I notice any signs of anger or contempt from any of her followers when she says this? Is anyone in the group trying to catch our eye, or trying to secretly communicate with our group?

Building on this, consider describing fictional actions your character does rather than ask questions.

"Do I notice anything odd about the NPC?" --> "I examine the NPC's behavior closely and make note of anything odd."

"Is he holding a weapon or is he unarmed?" --> "I scan him quickly to make sure he's unarmed."

"What kind of body language does she have?" --> "I observe her body language carefully to gain clues as to her true intentions."

And so on. By taking action instead of asking questions while making your goal and approach clear, it makes it easier on the DM to narrate a result of the adventurers' actions without assuming a character takes a particular action and also makes it easy to see when an ability check is necessary.

Here's a tip unrelated to the above, too: When it comes to interacting with NPCs, try to figure out what the NPC wants or needs first. If you can then provide the NPC with that, you might be able to improve your chances of getting what you want or need out of them. Often you can just ask an NPC what they want or need, but in some cases, the NPC might have secret motivations. In this case, you'll have to tease it out of the NPC through deception or persuasion or by carefully observing them and listening to what they say and deducing the information. (And when it comes to secret information, you can generally count on DMs to ask for ability checks. Just hope that they use "progress combined with a setback" on a failed check or else the interaction can really stall.)

 

[ExploderWizard]

Interaction with NPCs is the perfect time for pure role play. Just react to the situation as if you were there. Let your DM worry about ability checks or skill tests. Like any other encounter, an interaction usually has a goal. Keep the conversation flowing naturally and pay attention to what is being said. Use what you already know about things to help identify deception or trickery. A die roll can easily turn against you no matter what bonus you have.

If you simply tune out the character sheet and actively listen, interaction is the one of the easier parts of playing. It is essentially just an in character conversation. No need to remember game rules. If you are familiar with your own character's personality traits this is the most naturally flowing part of play.

Remember that the NPCs have goals too. Sometimes they may have goals that align with or compliment your own. Be guarded but don't assume that everyone you meet is hostile. Treating everyone you run across as a foe is the best way of ensuring that you will never have allies or friends. Neither should you automatically trust everyone at face value. Pay attention to how the DM describes the NPC and everything he/she says and does.

I don't know how your group likes to play but every goal that can be reached without having to bleed saves resources for when the excrement really hits the fan.

 

[Cody C. Lewis]

Everything said above is great. I am assuming that, like me and my group when we started out years ago, you haven't found a good balance to the RP portions of the game. We as a group started getting better when we went separate ways in real life and started playing in other groups (now we can play online, YAY!) before coming back together. What we realized is we played the game one way, which was what all of us ever knew. But once we had been exposed to outside playing styles, we all added new elements to the game when we came back together; and then it 'clicked'.

SO...:
1.) I recommend going to youtube, and watching a few scenes from Matt Click's Provokers group (afistfulofdice). He is a great DM and he obviously, vastly enjoys the RP of the game more than anything else. His players are great as well. The first session is slow. As the players aren't terribly familiar in real life, and it is apparent. But the third session could be a 'How to RP in D&D' video. Also, Matt's game is just one good game of many. There are a plethora of other groups playing on Youtube, and I certainly think that 15-25 minutes of watching some of these games will show you ways to improve while playing.

2.) Another simple trick is to RP while describing what you are doing. If you don't feel comfortable talking to all of the important NPCS, simply state how your character reacts physically during these moments. The others in your group will pick up on this and soon start to follow your lead. "Gouthar is disgusted at the news another ship has been lost to the Kraken and throws his pack down in disgust" is a great way to RP without feeling awkward trying to pull off a gruff half-orc voice.

2 tips. I hope they help.