How do you plan role playing?

[Infiniti2000]

"generic in town RP"

This is an apt description I think and a lot of people have it in their games, even simply based on inferences in this thread. Maybe most or all people have it. The problem is that I don't like it. It's boring and not fun and really serves no purpose. My players have standing orders to simply purchase/sell anything they want without even bothering me. By anything I really mean non-"plot" items. Obviously, there will be some things I don't really want sold, but that will be obvious because (a) the players will know they're special and (b) I won't have given a price.

I simply don't want to waste even twenty seconds on:

Player: When we get to town I got to the <insert store here> and buy <insert item here).
DM: Okay.

Any other "generic RP" events like this that I can get rid of entirely? I'd much rather spend the time on more fun things. Maybe another question, however, and I'm sure someone out there reading this is aghast, is it really worth it to spice up (try to save) all such generic RP?

 

[Infiniti2000]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I read all and took detailed notes. I know the DMG and especially DMG II go into a lot of similar things, but for some reason it's not clicking. I've always "winged" it 100% and while I'm pretty good at it, I have to think I can make it better with some good (better) preparation and planning.

I still don't think I'm explaining my real problem that well, so let me put it another way. Let's say in a 4-hour session you have two 45-minutes combat encounters. Let's assume that you essentially waste 30 minutes on "overhead" (i.e. breaks or in between encounters, whatever), so then what fills up the rest of your 2 hours in the session? It can't be generic RP, can it? If RP is supposed to be the best part of the game, can we provide a crystal clear description of what it is and, more importantly for my quest in this thread, how to best prepare for it?

Thanks!

 

[Pig Champion]

I think it all depends on your generic in town RP. I mean, I give all my shop owners different personalities and jokes and quirks which the players love. I mean:

Player: When we get to town I got to the <insert store here> and buy <insert item here).
DM: Okay.

I can see how that would be boring and uninteresting. I spend a lot of time world building and would be dismayed if any player didn't want at least the description of said shops and owners. In fact, most of my most talked NPC's by players have been shop owners and citizens which have been developed through generic in town RP. Some being so popular that I had to create a pokemon system where every town had it's own "enter player favourite NPC" like Officer Jenny or Nurse Joy.

I guess, we have different kinds of groups.

My advice would be, not to dismiss any NPC or RP opportunity, no matter how dull or generic it might be. The way I GM is that I let the players guide me into what they want to do via RP.

I would describe RP as PC and world inhabitant interaction, no matter how important or unimportant it is.

If my players ask shop keepers about criminal activities then I make a mental note and RP several options and if they bite then they go on an investigative side quest. If they ask about weird happenings or ruins around th region then I'd make a mental note and reply with more options and if they bite they go on a dungeon crawl for some item or town liberation.

I guess, I don't really plan RP in that sense because I use RP as a guide for what my players want.

Perhaps you could write down some bullet points of RP, just key bits of information that will lead to players into the next battle or plot point.

 

[Mark]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I read all and took detailed notes. I know the DMG and especially DMG II go into a lot of similar things, but for some reason it's not clicking. I've always "winged" it 100% and while I'm pretty good at it, I have to think I can make it better with some good (better) preparation and planning.

I think that winging it is viable in most instances using the advice I gave above. It's a matter of being prepared to improvise, as they say. Put a note on the inside of your DM screen that says, "NPCs = personalities plus information." Get a list of names you can use on the fly. Get a list of traits and adjectives. Keep track of the hooks you want to have available. With these things at hand, it doesn't matter where they go or who they decide to talk to, you'll be ready with something interesting everytime.

 

[Barastrondo]

I still don't think I'm explaining my real problem that well, so let me put it another way. Let's say in a 4-hour session you have two 45-minutes combat encounters. Let's assume that you essentially waste 30 minutes on "overhead" (i.e. breaks or in between encounters, whatever), so then what fills up the rest of your 2 hours in the session? It can't be generic RP, can it? If RP is supposed to be the best part of the game, can we provide a crystal clear description of what it is and, more importantly for my quest in this thread, how to best prepare for it?

It's a mix of non-combat goal-achievement and generic RP, with some mixed either way. Tracking, making Streetwise checks, doing research, making inquiries: these things are the former. They also tend to spill over into the latter.

The thing about what you might classify as the trivial RP is that it usually serves a purpose for the players involved. It might not be the purpose of "advance the plot" or "prepare for the next combat," mind. Rather, it frequently serves the purpose of the player feeling comfortable in the game world. Talking with a shopkeeper might make a player feel "hey, this place feels kind of real, I can buy its existence." Without the ability to casually roleplay stuff that isn't critical to the immediate plot, everything outside combat might seem grayish and indistinct.

Even if the GM describes a town or neighborhood in exacting detail, if the player doesn't get to wander and do a few characterful interactions with the place, it might as well be an elaborate but utterly two-dimensional matte painting. That's often what you see players hunting for: the experience of depth, the idea that those streets are something they can choose to walk down and that the people in the city are actually people. Otherwise, all they have to run on is narration.

If the non-maintenance, combat stuff is the meat of the session, it's kind of like eating only meat. And yeah, some people are happy with a meal that features no starches, salads, vegetables or dessert. Others would maybe like fries with that.

 

[Gilladian]

I think there are two kinds of roleplay, and the DM can facilitate/cut off both. There's inter-player roleplay firstly:

The gnome bard is joining the party for a single session. He and the dwarf technodelver spend half an hour chatting about "stuff" they each do and own and want to get their hands on. The dwarf decides not to show the gnome his secret basement, and the gnome swipes a hand-grenade from the dwarf when he gets distracted.

This kind of RP can be so easily ruined by the DM - all you have to do is butt in and start talking about the next phase of the game. Sometimes that's necessary, if everyone else is bored. But a lot of time, the DM can let it happen merely by saying to another uninvolved player "while they chat, you see...." and having a short RP session of the other type.

The second type of RP is more "session oriented"; it usually has a goal for the DM in either moving the plot or building color for the world, or both. Most of these can be planned for ahead of time, or at least "seeded in" by creating NPCs with personality.

For example, not long after the gnome/bard interaction above, the PCs were in a dungeon exploring. They met a ghost-type NPC who "chatted" with them. He was pretty limited in what he'd say, and how he'd say it, but he gave them some very good hints on what's going on in the dungeon. They tried to talk to him more, but he was just not capable of doing so... his nature is very fixed. So eventually they "killed" him. Not that he's really "dead" and they'll discover that later.

And just before that, they met a "mentor-wizard" type NPC who hired them. They didn't really chat much with him, which surprised me. He's messy, slightly bombastic, but essentially "nice". He'll recurr several times if they stick with this adventure-scenario, and they'll get to know him better and better. They may not like him much by the end!

As everyone else has said, planning for this kind of thing is just taking good (mental) notes of what you want to reveal, and how. The pacing just takes practice, and the more you do, the more you can wing. I don't think you're doing any better or worse than the rest of us!

 

[Raven Crowking]

You may find some examples of how I prep important "role playing" encounters here: http://www.enworld.org/forum/d-d-3rd-edition-house-rules/86637-faerie-encounters-3.html (too much to cut & paste, sorry for the click-through).

For important (planned) role-playing, I like to have notes on the likely things an NPC will say. This isn't (in general) long speeches, but just one or two sentences, which can be interspersed during role-playing. That way, I can make sure that the NPC conveys important information -- which, IMHO, includes "tone" and "feel" as much as "clues" -- in an organic fashion.

For example, in this post (http://www.enworld.org/forum/1517963-post5.html), the "tentacle guy" was an important encounter to point the PCs in the right direction.

For a long way the party went on in silence, noting side passages to the left and right, but largely ignoring them. Then a long grayish-pink tentacle reached down from the ceiling, wrapped itself around Darwin, and drew him swiftly to the ceiling.

The animosity of that morning forgotten, Hrum immediately set arrow to bowstring and aimed upward. A large mass of gray and pink flesh nestled among the stalactites, clutching Darwin with two tentacles. The dwarf was again unconscious due to wounds. Hrum fired and his arrow found its mark, glancing off the creature’s central mass and drawing blood.

“A thousand pardons,” the creature said, rotating a many-fanged mouth toward the floor. It lowered Darwin gently among them with two tentacles. It was obvious that the creature’s grab had reopened old wounds. “I mistook you for one of those miserable hissers. Never attack anyone whose friends can fight back, that’s my motto.”

Desu knelt by the fallen dwarf, looking to see if he could stop his bleeding. It did not look like an easy task.

“Who are you?” Locke asked.

“No one important, really,” the thing replied. “Just an opportunist out for a meal, you understand, and I didn’t really look to see what was walking below. More instinct than anything else. I wouldn’t have touched you had I known you could fight back.”

Locke looked up at the creature. He could see nothing resembling eyes, with which it could have looked. Desu also looked up, curious despite himself.

“Do you know what’s down this way?” Desu asked.

“Keep going the way you are, and you’ll end up in the Borderlands. Nothing past there but hissers and mushrooms, if you understand me.”

Locke looked at Desu. “Do you think they would have gone that way?”

“I don’t know. Maybe we can ask Tentacle Guy.”

“You’re looking for someone?” the thing asked. “I imagine your friends have taken the other passage, the one the one that the spider-folk travel along.” It pointed toward a northward tunnel with one of its long tentacles. “Seems I’ve heard some screaming up that way not too long ago.”

“We might as well try it,” said Locke.

“Thank you,” said Desu.

“I’ve been a bit of a help, right? Well then, what about some reward?”

Desu looked up suspiciously. “What kind of a reward?”

“How about him?” The thing brushed the fallen dwarf lightly with a tentacle. “You don’t seem to care about him.”

Desu suddenly realized that Darwin Ravenscroll was still bleeding to death at his feet. He quickly knelt and finished binding his wounds, using pressure until the bleeding stopped.

“Do you like hisser meat?” Locke asked. “We killed four just down the tunnel. We’d be happy to let you have them.”

“You get a lot of hissers down here. I just caught one a few moments ago, before you people came along.” The thing sighed. “I was hoping for something sweeter. How about one of those flying things?”

With a start, Desu realized that the creature meant the raven and the owl. It had been helpful, and it did deserve some reward, but could he really deliver his animal companion to it? That would be an evil deed of the worst sort, and it would reverberate through the Green. Desu found himself wishing that his spirit quest had been successful, that some friendly spirit was there to advise him.

“I’m afraid I can’t give you my owl,” he said gently. He found himself truly feeling an attachment, and sympathy toward, this creature. “But we can bring you the hissers.”

They were ready to grab the kobold bodies for the creature when another thought crossed Desu’s mind. “I suppose we ought to leave someone here to guard the dwarf,” he said. “I’m not sure we should trust this creature completely.”

A few minutes later, the group was carrying their fallen companion into the north-leading passageway, and the creature was bringing the kobold bodies up to the corridor ceiling to eat.

A number of quotes were prescripted, and used only based upon what actually happened in the game:

“A thousand pardons. I mistook you for one of those miserable hissers. Never attack anyone whose friends can fight back, that’s my motto.”

"I wouldn’t have touched you had I known you could fight back.”

“I imagine your friends have taken the other passage, the one the one that the spider-folk travel along. Seems I’ve heard some screaming up that way not too long ago.”

“I’ve been a bit of a help, right? Well then, what about some reward?”​

Hope that is of some help.


RC

 

[maddman75]

I'm a big fan of plug-and-play. In fact, I'm still looking for a system that lets me plug-and-play skills and abilities rather than classes but that's another thread.

Pretty much any game that's not D&D/d20.

Anyway, combat encounters and roleplay encounters are really the same kind of beast. Conflict. Many games have a lot of combat and rules for combat because its pretty easy to set up a conflict with combat as the way to resolve it. Just add some bad guys that want the PCs to die. The PCs, being stubborn types, want to not die. Conflict!

Roleplaying encounters are the same. If there's no conflict, its not really interesting. Its like fighting orcs that don't fight back. Roll to see if you hit. If so, dead orc. If you miss, try again. Not exactly a thrilling encounter. Most people would prefer if the GM just said 'okay, you slaughter the orcs'.

So if the PCs go into the shop to buy some rope, and the merchant says "Why yes my good man that will be 30 silvers". Not very interesting, and if there's other stuff to be going on, it can easily be skipped.

But what if there's a conflict? The merchant sees the PC and recognizes him as one of the heroes that took on the thieves guild next week. He says "Oh no! If I deal with you the Guild will hit my shop. Sorry, but I can't sell you rope or anything else. Please leave before they see you!" We have conflict! The PC could deal with it in a variety of ways. He could try to convince him that he isn't the one the guild is after. He could promise protection to the merchant from the guild. He could try to offer a greater price for the rope. He could try to take it by force. He could just leave it.

In order to generate conflicts, you have to figure out what the characters want. Then you introduce NPCs that want the opposite, and watch things develop. You can ask them, that usually works. An approach I use is to 'make them prove it'. Whatever they say about their character, don't believe them. Make them show you. The noble paladin says he will always help the downtrodden and repressed? Set up a situation where doing so will unravel the party's goals. If we stop to help the peasants the Dark Overlord will notice us for sure! Is the rogue a cuthroat mercenary who goes for the highest dollar? A mysterious figure offers a large beautiful gemstone if he'll tell them where they plan to attack. Lets see if the paladin is that noble, or the rogue that mercenary.

 

[diaglo]

As a GM I know how to plan for encounters, be they combat-focused or not, but how do you plan for other types of role-playing? Is that all role-playing could be boiled down into encounters? I'm trying to actually work into my game focused sections of role-playing and I find that I'm having a hard time planning for it.

Sorry for the generic nature of the question, or perhaps just how basic it might seem, and I'd be quite appreciative of links (especially to similar topics discussed here).

for me it all boils down to knowing what my group and each individual player wants.

part of this planning starts before the first die is rolled.

i ask the player. what do you want to play? what makes the game fun for you?

i work with them to add or build that into the game.

i ask the group too. at each session. at each encounter. at well whenever the opportunity presents itself.


a typical question may be like: you have just travelled several days to get to this town. do you want to find a place to stay? do you want to pay the set rate a the inn?

and a typical response could be: we want to find out about this place. we go to the inn and ask for rooms.

begin roleplay. as this is where the pcs can pick up rumors about the town. learn names of npcs. or just bargain for lower rates or different services IYKWIMAITYD...

now that may not always be the case. but it depends on the session. if say they just had a huge fight and want to skip thru 5 days of rest and healing. then... they do. and i'll just fill in some of the details of importance to them after the time.

on day 4 a strange note was left for you at the innkeepers desk. he hands it to you when he sees you.

players may gripe that they didn't get a chance to find out who left the note or why...

tough. noogies. they wanted to skip ahead. we did.

 

[ForceUser]

As a GM I know how to plan for encounters, be they combat-focused or not, but how do you plan for other types of role-playing? Is that all role-playing could be boiled down into encounters? I'm trying to actually work into my game focused sections of role-playing and I find that I'm having a hard time planning for it.

I plan combat encounters in a completely different manner from role-playing "encounters". For combat, I think about what would be fun to play from a gamist perspective---what monsters, what environmental challenges, and what rewards.

For role-playing, I create NPCs and I give them agendas. I write down a name, list an agenda in cliff note format, and any other memorable features. I list all my NPCs in this way and then print that sheet so it's handy during play. When the NPC appears in the game session, I role-play him, her or it in the first person, staying in character as much as possible while PCs talk to him, her or it. I try to make important NPCs memorable either through their attitudes, their appearances or both.

The actualy role-playing is free-form. I don't memorize catch-phrases or a script, I just keep the NPC's personality and agenda in mind and then role-play appropriately, reacting to what the PCs say and do in a manner that is consistent.