Pulling a player into character

[Ostler]

How do you get a player to think more like their character?

I have a player that has played a lot of computer roleplaying games but this is his first tabletop RPG. He plays his character like he would a computer character, if he dies he'll just start a new one. Or bring the dead one back somehow.


Any ideas how to get him more "in character"?
ie. be more concerned about dying, think about where he is and the consequences of his actions, etc.

 

[ichabod]

Any ideas how to get him more "in character"?

Why? Is he not having fun?

 

[JimAde]

Why? Is he not having fun?

He may be having some fun, but not realize the potential fun he is missing.

This is tough because it is, of course, just a game. He really CAN just make up another character. One approach is to somehow get him attached to his current character. This may involve subtle bribery If you can play up something about the current character that is unique and won't be present in a new character, that might help. Maybe give the character some cool item or ability that is tied into the current plot line, so a new character won't get it. This depends on what the particular player thinks is cool, of course. Once he's attached to the character you THEN put him in a threatening situation.

It might help, but as always YMMV.

 

[hong]

He may be having some fun, but not realize the potential fun he is missing.

Whenever the "but you could be having so much MORE fun!" line gets trotted out, I always imagine a group of pod people saying it in high-pitched voices.


Hong "or a guy in a cubical spaceship" Ooi

 

[Djeta Thernadier]

Well - you can't make him change if he doesn't want to.

But-- I'd suggest perhaps asking him for a background on his character, and using parts of his background as plot points within the game now and then. The more a player can feel involved as their PC , the more they tend to get attached to their PC.

However, if he simply doesn't care, he doesn't care and there is not much anyone can do to make him enjoy their form of RPG fun.

 

[Nifft]

I find that encouraging people to write in-character can help them flesh out their characters, and to find their character's own voice. Also, remind him in session: "Don't tell me what your character says -- say what your character says!"

Question: Is his out-of-character chatter detracting from the fun of others? If so, perhaps suggest to your other players that they only refer to each other in-character while at the table -- use the PC's names, not the player's names.

-- N

 

[JimAde]

Whenever the "but you could be having so much MORE fun!" line gets trotted out, I always imagine a group of pod people saying it in high-pitched voices.


Hong "or a guy in a cubical spaceship" Ooi

<high-pitched voice>

Do you have a problem with that, Earthling?
​

</high-pitched voice>

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

From this thread

http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=82489&page=1&pp=25

I spotted a character creation method I'm going to steal for my next campaign. Buttercup made it.

Distribute this array as your ability scores: 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 8.

Alignment: any non-evil.

Playable races: Human, Dwarf, halfling.

Playable classes: all as per Player’s handbook, except sorcerer. If you want to play a sorcerer, talk to me first, and I’ll give you the stats for my modified one.

If you include a picture of your character, you can have an extra point to add to an ability. You can earn one extra point to put into an ability for every two of the following items you include in your character biography. (But no ability can be higher than 18 before racial bonuses.)

Family Background—number of siblings, parents alive or dead, etc.
Family Social Standing.
Family or personal enemies.
A tragedy that occurred in your family or to you personally.
Greatest fear.
Personality quirks.
What your character did before heeding the call to adventure.
A secret that your fellow players don’t know about you at the start of the adventure.
Something your character is ashamed of.
Something your character is particularly proud of.

I figure most players love big numbers for stats! If that's tied to creating a decent background... then they'll provide one. Once someone's thought about all that stuff, they're far more likely to act it up. It will also give you a lot of material to lure them into roleplaying!

 

[Janx]

Buttercup's idea is notable, but it has crappy math. I'd rather take my chances on 4d6. keep the best three (avg. 13.4)

The Player who does zero work gets an average stat of: 11.3
The player who does max work gets an average stat of: 12.3

It could be that Buttercup wants to keep stats down, but most of us munchkins like to maximize our stats. I'd be using the 6 points to get that 8 to a 10 and then get all the even stats to an odd number, so I can improve them at 4 level intervals.

The other side effect of point-buy is that it supports cookie-cutter characters, because you simply "rebuild" the same PC that just died. Die rolling (yeah, I like random stats) forces your PC to be different, in some way.

Janx

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

It could be that Buttercup wants to keep stats down, but most of us munchkins like to maximize our stats. I'd be using the 6 points to get that 8 to a 10 and then get all the even stats to an odd number, so I can improve them at 4 level intervals.

The other side effect of point-buy is that it supports cookie-cutter characters, because you simply "rebuild" the same PC that just died. Die rolling (yeah, I like random stats) forces your PC to be different, in some way.

Janx

It's more the principle of giving someone in game rewards for cooking up a decent background. If someone has made a decent background and thought about it then they might well use it. Also gives the GM lots of hooks to draw them into RPGing... which was the problem here.

This is a 'Carrot' method rather than a 'Stick' or 'No Reward' method for doing so... which is why it appeals to me.

The principle could be altered to suit the particular game. For example - add the bonus points onto randomly made stats. Replace stat bonus with extra wealth, 'leveling' magic items, Hit point dice re-rolls, etc. Personally I find that array a little low - I'd start with the higher one I've been using lately (17, 15, 13, 11, 10, 8)...


I agree about the point buy making cooking cutting more possible, but I've seen that done in random creation systems as well. However, I think that is easier stopped by speaking to the player in question...

Grossly generalising, clone characters is a sign that a campaign has some or all of:
1)a very high death rate
2)very combat focused
3)not much social interaction.
In fact, a regular Mega Dungeon Crawl - which I think make great mini-campaigns - but generally not for the flavour/rpg reasons. Clone characters are probably quite desirable in some ways!


I don't think this particular method type point buy supports 'cookie cutters' - simply because I think the DM would have to agree the background material that gains the 'bonus' stat points... 'Cookie cutting' would surely mean using exactly the same background material again... That's not going to get a 'Yes' from most GMs? So, in other words, you could create a character with the same numbers but the background would have to be different.