D&D 5E Encouraging Independent Thought

[Proto]

So I'm starting up a new campaign soon for my friends utilizing some intrigue and deception that encourages them to really think about their characters and their actions. I've sat with them on the player's side of the DM screen and know this is stuff they like and are looking for but I've also seen that they don't immediately jump to analyzing characters' intent or even strategizing for that matter. That part tends to fall to me. What also falls on me is being the dissenting voice for the group. One of my friends has a very domineering personality and the others always fall in line to her suggestion. Now that I'm not playing I'm afraid things are going to fall on her shoulders again and make for a bland experience.

We haven't had our initial character creation session yet so I'm trying to brainstorm ways to tell them thinking for themselves is encouraged without just flat out telling them to think for themselves and insult their intelligence. Are there any ways to encourage the players beyond handing out inspiration?

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

So I'm starting up a new campaign soon for my friends utilizing some intrigue and deception that encourages them to really think about their characters and their actions. I've sat with them on the player's side of the DM screen and know this is stuff they like and are looking for but I've also seen that they don't immediately jump to analyzing characters' intent or even strategizing for that matter. That part tends to fall to me. What also falls on me is being the dissenting voice for the group. One of my friends has a very domineering personality and the others always fall in line to her suggestion. Now that I'm not playing I'm afraid things are going to fall on her shoulders again and make for a bland experience.

We haven't had our initial character creation session yet so I'm trying to brainstorm ways to tell them thinking for themselves is encouraged without just flat out telling them to think for themselves and insult their intelligence. Are there any ways to encourage the players beyond handing out inspiration?

It sounds like you need to read at least the first few articles in this article chain about game structures: http://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/15126/roleplaying-games/game-structures

I recently instituted a couple of new game structures (Job Boards and Reputation) and both of them are working to increase player independence. Printing out a list of missions for the job board, with varying amounts of information, was a big hit in the most recent session. I'm not normally a big fan of physical artifacts like handouts, but they really did seem to help the players to take more initiative.

Here is the Job Board handout I gave to the players.

1.) Come one, come all! The greatest fight of the century is only two days away, right here in Blogden central! The greatest hero of them all will walk away with 1000 gold pieces and a half-dozen Arrows of Zhao, courtesy of Madame Aivah Parson! Admission is free.

Prizes:
2 Loyal Arrows. Can steer this arrow with whistling. Among other things, the first time this
arrow misses, you can whistle to make a second attack roll.
3 Gregarious Arrows. Can automatically hit any location where another gregarious arrow is lodged.
1 Shadow Arrow. Must be fired at target’s shadow. Deals 1d6 Charisma damage and
immobilizes target (pins their shadow to the floor) until the arrow is removed.
Plus a year’s wages, 1000 gold!

Contestants
Karbree the Worm [ogre]: rep 7
Jon Varseltongue [half-dragon veteran]: rep 17
Xuan He [black belt monk]: rep 10

2.) Researcher needs help unlocking secrets of mysterious book. Proceeds to be shared equally.

3.) Compatriots needed for an exciting but low-risk adventure seeking alchemical components for healthful elixirs! 25% share of the profits, minimum 1000 gold pieces guaranteed on mission success.

4.) Discreet individuals needed for a lucrative contract. 1000 gold pieces plus benefits.

5.) [Non-public, available only to those with reputation 30+] Prince Roger's first councillor and uncle, Bertram Higson, begs a discreet audience with you in his town home.

I gave a separate handout for reputation. The players ended up tackling missions 1, 2, and 4 last night. Attempted #4, failed pretty quickly. Attempted #3, succeeded at unlocking the book and then one PC murdered the researcher and stole the book. The other PC called the cops on him, and the first PC became an outlaw. Non-outlaw PC decided to enter the contest in #1, ended up fighting an ogre at first level, did pretty well but ultimately lost. Gained 2 reputation points for his trouble for standing up to Karbree the Worm for so long, and 5 more points of reputation as an upstanding citizen for reporting the murder of the researcher (the king's cousin) so promptly. The remainder of the session was spent on on PvP trying to recover the book, and ended with PC #2 posting a bounty on PC #1 which got PC #1 (the outlaw) killed by an NPC assassin who took the book and vanished. Then I declared end-of-session.

Next session I'll have a new set of missions for the job board.

 

[LordEntrails]

Ask open ended questions. Ask why they do something. Ask what would x do. As often as you can, ask why, don't just accept an action. When the group leader says "we do x", if there is some minor flaw that doesn't fit with one of the characters, ask that character what they do, trying to point out the disconnect between the action and the character.

i.e. the leader says "we storm in and demand our pay!" Ask the player who pays the character who hates confrontation,"Do you go in and stand with the others as they confront the paymaster?"

 

[Proto]

Thanks for the quick reply. That sight's actually one of the things I keep in my DM's toolbox. I've used the three-clue rule to set things up for the antagonists' actions. I'm waiting on the players character choices so I can nail down some stuff like using thieve's cant and druidic for individualized clues. I hadn't originally thought of using a reputation system due to the structure of this story but I think I could tweak it a bit to make it fit.

 

[Gardens & Goblins]

Hit them with consequences - and be sure to both telegraph the trigger/event before, and make it clear how certain actions may have avoided the unwanted results.

For example, lets say you introduce a certainly shifty street urchin (starfish?), and laden them with clues inferring that they're up to no good and cannot be trusted.

You then have said urchin offer themselves for a position of trust, say the keeper of rope ladder, the key tool used by the part to access the horrible sewers beneath the city.

Make sure you emphasises all the cues associated with deception: They have trouble making eye contact, their eyes light up when the reward is mentioned (accompanied by a wicked little smile). They seem overly insistent that they themselves can handle the guard duty on their lonesome. Another NPC (the bartender) comments on some less-than-flattering stories that seem to follow the urchin. Traders mention they've seen the urchin associating with unsavoury types. And so on.

If the characters then blunder on regardless, you have the urchin betray them - they cut the ladder at a critical moment, and reveal themselves to be in the pay of some naughty NPC. And by reveal, I mean, 'complete with mocking monologue on how foolish they believe the party for being to trust him/her/it/misc'.

A few encounters like this; telegraph and then clear communication of both consequence and the obvious context that even the NPC themselves is aware of being a clear give-away, and hopefully, hopefully, they'll get the message.

::

Saying this -- make sure you are being clear, at least three times over, with regards to clues and cues concerning anything you wish to communicate to the players. What may seem obvious to you may not be obvious to them - remember, it may all make sense in your head but they are essentially blind, and totally reliant on your ability to communicate what's inside your head.

Three times is the charm, and never, ever build an adventure where finding or understanding a specific clue decides if the adventure continues or stops. Time and time again, the adventure will stop.

 

[Proto]

Ask open ended questions. Ask why they do something. Ask what would x do. As often as you can, ask why, don't just accept an action. When the group leader says "we do x", if there is some minor flaw that doesn't fit with one of the characters, ask that character what they do, trying to point out the disconnect between the action and the character.

i.e. the leader says "we storm in and demand our pay!" Ask the player who pays the character who hates confrontation,"Do you go in and stand with the others as they confront the paymaster?"

Oh that's a great suggestion. I'm gonna keep their bonds, ideals, and flaws on hand to exploit. I was always gonna use them to hand out inspiration but I didn't even consider the most obvious use.

 

[iserith]

So I'm starting up a new campaign soon for my friends utilizing some intrigue and deception that encourages them to really think about their characters and their actions. I've sat with them on the player's side of the DM screen and know this is stuff they like and are looking for but I've also seen that they don't immediately jump to analyzing characters' intent or even strategizing for that matter. That part tends to fall to me. What also falls on me is being the dissenting voice for the group. One of my friends has a very domineering personality and the others always fall in line to her suggestion. Now that I'm not playing I'm afraid things are going to fall on her shoulders again and make for a bland experience.

We haven't had our initial character creation session yet so I'm trying to brainstorm ways to tell them thinking for themselves is encouraged without just flat out telling them to think for themselves and insult their intelligence. Are there any ways to encourage the players beyond handing out inspiration?

In my view, players not debating what to do when a fellow player suggests a course of action is something to aspire to rather than consider a problem. If there is an issue with bullying or spotlight theft, that's a separate issue that one must deal with in a frank conversation with the group. Tell them your concerns, ask what they think, and ask how they think it's best resolved.

What I suggest players do is to listen to an idea, accept it, and add your own own idea on top of that to make it better in a way that doesn't negate the original idea. This way everyone gets to add their piece and nobody feels like their idea was dismissed. This is just "yes, and..." improvisation and it works very well in RPGs in my experience. This is the single biggest reason why my games flow so quickly and easily.

As for encouraging acting in accordance with established characterization, Inspiration is a great tool. When the players choose a course of action in accordance with the characters' personality traits, ideals, bonds, or flaws, give them Inspiration. Don't be stingy with it either. You might even consider letting the players "claim" Inspiration when they have their characters act according to their established characteristics so you don't have to keep track of 16 to 20 different things.

 

[Proto]

::

Saying this -- make sure you are being clear, at least three times over, with regards to clues and cues concerning anything you wish to communicate to the players. What may seem obvious to you may not be obvious to them - remember, it may all make sense in your head but they are essentially blind, and totally reliant on your ability to communicate what's inside your head.

Three times is the charm, and never, ever build an adventure where finding or understanding a specific clue decides if the adventure continues or stops. Time and time again, the adventure will stop.

I was planning on using the three-clue rule so there's always a route for them to take to solving the issue. You're right though. There is that very fine line of where things seem obvious to me but the players might not get it. I'm trying hard to balance giving away certain aspects of the story so they don't immediately guess the true villain of the scenario.

In my view, players not debating what to do when a fellow player suggests a course of action is something to aspire to rather than consider a problem. If there is an issue with bullying or spotlight theft, that's a separate issue that one must deal with in a frank conversation with the group. Tell them your concerns, ask what they think, and ask how they think it's best resolved.

What I suggest players do is to listen to an idea, accept it, and add your own own idea on top of that to make it better in a way that doesn't negate the original idea. This way everyone gets to add their piece and nobody feels like their idea was dismissed. This is just "yes, and..." improvisation and it works very well in RPGs in my experience. This is the single biggest reason why my games flow so quickly and easily.

As for encouraging acting in accordance with established characterization, Inspiration is a great tool. When the players choose a course of action in accordance with the characters' personality traits, ideals, bonds, or flaws, give them Inspiration. Don't be stingy with it either. You might even consider letting the players "claim" Inspiration when they have their characters act according to their established characteristics so you don't have to keep track of 16 to 20 different things.

If only it was bullying on spotlight theft, that'd be easy to mitigate. They more or less give up the spotlight and push her to the forefront when it comes to decisions which would be great if she wasn't a chaotic evil person wearing a true neutral mask. I think I will give them the freedom to hand out Inspiration among themselves instead of me handling it though. I was iffy on it for thinking they'd abuse it but now I'm realizing if they're sticking to playing their character 100% that's the best thing that could happen.

 

[Gardens & Goblins]

I was planning on using the three-clue rule so there's always a route for them to take to solving the issue. You're right though. There is that very fine line of where things seem obvious to me but the players might not get it. I'm trying hard to balance giving away certain aspects of the story so they don't immediately guess the true villain of the scenario.

I and my fellow DMs enjoy swapping stories of face-palm & eye-brow raising bafflement at the strange conclusions folks will make on little and often no evidence. If we want to slow play to a halt, putting an inoccent prop or bystander in and out-of-the-way place, in plain sight, is weirdly effective.

"Wait. Why are you here?!"

"Um.. I'm lost."

"A LIKELY STORY!"

"Um.. it's the truth. And.. why are YOU here?!"

"OH, SHE WANTS OUR SECRETS?!"

"Um.. ok I'll just leave."

"OH! SO EAGER TO GET BACK TO MISCHIEF, HUH!?!"

(At this point my eyebrows have raised up and around and over my knees.)

 

[Proto]

I and my fellow DMs enjoy swapping stories of face-palm & eye-brow raising bafflement at the strange conclusions folks will make on little and often no evidence. If we want to slow play to a halt, putting an inoccent prop or bystander in and out-of-the-way place, in plain sight, is weirdly effective.

"Wait. Why are you here?!"

"Um.. I'm lost."

"A LIKELY STORY!"

"Um.. it's the truth. And.. why are YOU here?!"

"OH, SHE WANTS OUR SECRETS?!"

"Um.. ok I'll just leave."

"OH! SO EAGER TO GET BACK TO MISCHIEF, HUH!?!"

(At this point my eyebrows have raised up and around and over my knees.)

Believe me when I say I've been through this more times than not. My friends somehow turned us stopping a hoard of orcs into a hostage situation because mixed messages made them think one of the humans helping them was a bigger part of the picture. Somehow I got stuck lugging her around only to find out she's a nobody.