Help me encourage my "slayers" to roleplay

[Draksila]

If it will help, here's a roster of my group, how long they've been in the group, and a description:

• John: 5 months. Shy, artsy guy; likes reading, drawing, and being unimposing. Very quiet at the table overall. Plays a Half-(Eladrin) Warlord.
• Sherm: 5 months. Flamboyant, ridiculous sort of person in RL; really enjoys background story and lore, but is not very adept at applying it in-game. Has trouble keeping his own qualities out of his character. Plays a (low-Int) Dwarf Paladin of Bahamut.
• Trev: 18 months. Quiet but very friendly guy; enjoys destroying monsters in combat, but is fairly patient about it between fights. Plays a Drow Archery-Ranger.
• Mat: 12 months. Boisterous, weird-sorta dude; likes making cutesy puns about monsters. Never especially serious whenever he's in character. Plays an Eladrin Wizard.
• Jeff: 6 months. Nice-but-slightly-arrogant guy; talks loudly or interrupts for my attention during other player's turns. Often makes plans for the same night as D&D, so he "needs to hurry" while he's here. Wants to make a new character whenever a new race appears. (I've already indulged him twice.) Regularly encourages other players to use metagaming tactics. Wants to read D&D monster books.(?) Often upset that the DM gets to use his judgement about interpreting the rules. Usually does much of the talking during roleplaying encounters. Currently plays a Gnoll Rogue.
• Kyle: 18 months. Quiet guy, but with a bad temper. Often claims he only plays D&D for the combat. Roleplaying is "gay". Gets angry during roleplaying encounters, saying, "Can we please play the game now?" Enjoys Obsidian skill challenges, as long as it doesn't preclude combat encounters. Tiefling (Fey) Warlock.

The quiet, shy guys need to be drawn out. Put in encounters, both social and combat, that require their character's specific expertise. Make a point of asking them their thoughts or desired actions during encounters. If you make them feel that their opinion is worth a toot in Niflheim to the campaign, they may thaw out. I'm not saying you aren't making them feel important; just that you kind of have to point out to those types that yes, their interaction is needed too.

Sherm and Mat can work out in the right environment; the best groups I've been in had comic relief. You just have to watch them and have a talk with them if it gets to be distracting. Encourage them to be flamboyant and half-serious in their character portrayals if they want, but remind them that it needs to refrain from interrupting when other people (including yourself) need the spotlight.

Jeff is redeemable. You just have to put your foot down that he is not to interrupt other people (as it is socially rude in any group event) and keep from backing down when he challenges your authority. If he can't show some consideration for his fellow players and yourself, however, you might have to show him the door.

Kyle is being a disrespectful douche. He is basically saying that if it's not what he wants to do with his time, then he's going to throw a fit until you acquiesce and do what amuses him. Frankly, I don't keep people like that at my table. It can be put kindly ('if this isn't the kind of game you want to play in, maybe you should see if another group fits your playing style better'), but what it comes down to is if he doesn't respect what the DM or the rest of the party wants to do and feels the need to act like a 3-year old about it, then he should play something else. Something that doesn't require him to deal with other people.

Edit: I note that Kyle's one of the two longest-lasting people in your group. I can respect that. Still, if you've been trying for a year and a half to get them to understand that you want more out of the game and he's still acting like this? Time for him to find a single-player game.

 

[Rechan]

There are also possible problems which violence just is overkill.

A fantasy (and interesting) equivalent of "My cat is stuck in the tree."

Pixies are tricking people into thinking a well is talking, and granting wishes. It's becoming a bit of a disruption, because the pixies are stealing/playing pranks to make the wishes "come true".

Somehow tie this to killing things. Perhaps the mayor has info on the site of a dragon, but he needs this problem taken care of now.

 

[Nebulous]

That'll separate the men from the boys. If they can handle that challenge, you've got yourself a group. They might have some... "limited perspective" right now, but you can hardly blame them since by your own admission they're quite new to the game.

That's just a cool idea for a one-off adventure!


To the OP: what ages are your players?

 

[timbannock]

Beware of any player who says anything resembling "Such-and-such is not fun, and I don't want anything to do with it."

It took me something like 10 YEARS to figure out how taxing a player like that was on my gaming group, as well as on my personal sanity and well-being. I kid you not, I lost sleep because of this kid's closed-mindedness and selfishness. He dragged down years worth of gaming, ruined friendships, and was basically just a total @##.

If someone like that is in your group and you can't get them to at least accept that others want to do different things to have fun, then you gotta drop him.

 

[thedungeondelver]

A sleep spell is cast on the party while they're in their inn room/cabin on the ship/whatever. Jeff and Kyle's characters are kidnapped, but the rest of the party is left alone.

The next three hours of the game are Jeff and Kyle under sway of the sleep spell, with the rest of the party role-playing to figure out what happened.

 

[Gentlegamer]

That party looks like the bar scene in STAR WARS - no humans!

 

[Herobizkit]

If you ask me, Kyle's being pig-headed, but at the same time, he knows what he likes in a game. He's the Wargamer in the group; he's the one who like the GAME part of RPG. He likes tactics, strategy, and "winning" each combat scenario. For these kind of players, role-playing is tedious, extraneous "fluff" that glosses over what D&D is "all about" - killing things and taking their stuff - and it seems to me (at least) that 4e is trying to recapture that feel.

Jeff has an active imagination and is clearly a people person. He likes to try new things. He's definitely a DM-in-training if nothing else. The trick to keeping this guy reined-in is to keep him occupied in a constructive manner. Letting him read new books/rules is only going to encourage him to want to use them NOW. He should be the guy keeping track of the important NPCs or, at your leisure, encourage him to DM various NPCs alongside you if he gets bored.

John is quiet, but he's playing a Leader-type in the game. He's "got" the concept of "being someone he's not" of role-playing. He wants to belong and support the group. Let him BE a Warlord, have NPC's defer to him, and he'll be fine.

The rest of the guys have their quirks, but for the most part, seems to me like they're there to hang with da boyz and are into the game as much as they want to be. No major problems with them, though they might need a little more poking and prodding in-game... they'll want to follow the script rather than coming up with their own plot devices.

 

[howandwhy99]

I'd really like it if I could get my players to engage their characters a little bit more; I worry that they see their characters more as avatars of themselves than as a people. I've been patiently hoping that roleplaying skills would develop with time, but lately it seems my players have been relapsing (and showing me just how little they've developed).

First of all, I wouldn't try and change your players. As long as the opportunity for different kinds of fun exist, even if not necessarily recognized, then let your players make their own choices. If they are not, they are not roleplaying are they?

Secondly, roleplaying means an avatar (persona actually), not a fictional character, so don't worry how them not "roleplaying" because they prefer combat or don't talk "in character". "Out of character" combat is roleplaying too.

Here are comments in Red:

• John: 5 months. Shy, artsy guy; likes reading, drawing, and being unimposing. Very quiet at the table overall. Plays a Half-(Eladrin) Warlord.
• Sherm: 5 months. Flamboyant, ridiculous sort of person in RL; really enjoys background story and lore, but is not very adept at applying it in-game. Has trouble keeping his own qualities out of his character. Plays a (low-Int) Dwarf Paladin of Bahamut. This should never be a problem in a roleplaying game. This isn't theatre after all.
• Trev: 18 months. Quiet but very friendly guy; enjoys destroying monsters in combat, but is fairly patient about it between fights. Plays a Drow Archery-Ranger.
• Mat: 12 months. Boisterous, weird-sorta dude; likes making cutesy puns about monsters. Never especially serious whenever he's in character. Plays an Eladrin Wizard. Ditto
• Jeff: 6 months. Nice-but-slightly-arrogant guy; talks loudly or interrupts for my attention during other player's turns. Often makes plans for the same night as D&D, so he "needs to hurry" while he's here. Wants to make a new character whenever a new race appears. (I've already indulged him twice.) Regularly encourages other players to use metagaming tactics. Wants to read D&D monster books.(?) Often upset that the DM gets to use his judgement about interpreting the rules. Usually does much of the talking during roleplaying encounters. Currently plays a Gnoll Rogue. First, his hurry is the group's problem, not yours as DM. Second, use a system that starts new PCs at a lower level to discourage constant character swapping. Third, talk to him about how he isn't roleplaying and is hurting the experience for all involved because of his regular metagaming. Fourth, let him know the DM is the expert teaching the roles, not the ruleset - but he has a legitimate gripe here if you agreed to use a specific game and/or gameworld. Lastly, talk to others directly when they speak to you. And if this guy breaks into your conversations still, just be polite, but firm about the interruption just like with any other real life conversation.
• Kyle: 18 months. Quiet guy, but with a bad temper. Often claims he only plays D&D for the combat. Roleplaying is "gay". Gets angry during roleplaying encounters, saying, "Can we please play the game now?" Enjoys Obsidian skill challenges, as long as it doesn't preclude combat encounters. Tiefling (Fey) Warlock.This guy sounds sane, but also doesn't know what roleplaying is. Tell him theatre isn't "gay" and has a long tradition in D&D. And that roleplaying was derived from theatre. (you could also tell him he roleplays everyday, but you will want to explain it first, if he is hot tempered like you say.

 

[Mallus]

Secondly, roleplaying means an avatar (persona actually), not a fictional character...

It means both. Wait, I've said this to you before, haven't I

 

[howandwhy99]

You had no proof then either. If you have proof, we could have a discussion again.