Help me encourage my "slayers" to roleplay

[timbannock]

Also, give them an objective that they know will lead to more sweet, fun killing.

I.e., they are hunting a dragon. They need a DragonLance (TM) to really bring the pain to that Dragon. The only way to get the Lance is to head into the Caves of Oogly-Boogly (where there will be some combat, certainly) and talk to the ancient protector of the Lance, Skippy the Wonder Ogre. You can't kill Skippy, because only he knows the password to open the Impenetrable Door beyond which the Lance lies.

Now, when they get there, Skippy can't remember the word, but he knows that he wrote down a password reminder phrase over in a different part of the Caves of Oogly-Boogly. This place is guarded by traps that require solving riddles or something.

Anyway, the point being, if they kill Skippy, they lose. If they chat with Skippy, solve his conundrum, and get the Lance, the combat with the dragon is way cooler.


I'll be honest, coming up with really good roleplaying scenarios can be harder than good combats, but I'd say they are easy to "roll with." If it's not going well, let the players kill the guy. If it is, string it out, make the NPC even more intertwined with the plot.

Lastly, as mentioned above, make some of the badguys more interesting. Even during the fight, have the badguys talk. I remember watching the D&D Podcasts and how David Noonan (I believe) was just talking in silly voices the whole time as each mook, as well as making slurping sounds when the Mind Flayer got a hold of a PC. That kind of thing might help out too.

And if one of the players thinks roleplaying is "gay," tell him to bring his iPhone or his Nintendo DS while the people who enjoy roleplaying do the RPing stuff. He can play with his Nintendogz or go on YouTube and watch hawt grlz playing Wii Fit. He's obviously mature enough for that

 

[Rechan]

Another option is to offer a party whipping boy.

I had a PCs who was a noble, and an NPC approached him. The simpery guy, You ("You go here! You, get out of here! I will beat You!"), said he was from an area that just got liberated from slavery. He was at a loss as to what to do with himself. He couldn't manage money, so working for money was confusing. He wanted to be the character's errand boy, courier, torch barer, treasure carrier... I made sure that he began and ended every sentence with "Sir", and was rather self-deprecating and utterly pathetic. The PC agreed... and half the jokes the players cracked at the table were at You's expense.

(Incidentally, You was actually an assassin waiting for an opportunity to schiv the PC in the middle of a hard fight, but I never got the opportunity to reveal that).

So, any non-combatant character that needs to tag along (a guide through a confusing area, an NPC healer with the crucial Ritual, etc) can easily be a way for you to interact with the other characters.

 

[Starglim]

However, I almost always get a negative reaction from at least some of my players whenever we have a game session which involves any kind of extended interaction with an NPC.

To be perfectly honest, I have the same reaction and I certainly wouldn't consider myself a "slayer".

I believe one reason is that until quite recently in the history of RPG design, talking scenes haven't been. NPC interaction has not been thought through as a game in the way that combat or skill use has. What's the goal and winning condition of this game sequence? What abilities does each character have to achieve the outcome? When does each player get a turn?

We hear that a RPG is cops and robbers with rules, but often NPC interaction is just cops and robbers. Imagine running a combat where the monsters and PCs had no attack scores, position or hit points. Balanced play goes out the window and the player who can talk fastest, loudest and longest dominates a meandering session where the plot drifts randomly to conclusions intended by nobody.

If NPC interactions have been designed and run abysmally, how can a designer or a DM be blamed for that, when they don't have the tools to do any better? There are game systems and design tools that do this much, much better. You could do some research on those - it's hard to wrap your mind around a different way of thinking, but I think, rewarding - but as minimal preparation, maybe reread page 22 to 29 in the DMG thinking about how they apply to an NPC interaction scene (rule a big red line through the paragraph on page 21 headed "Conversation" while you're there) and make sure to know some things about any NPCs the party might talk to:

• Name
• Relationship
• Basic motivations and drives
• What sorts of people the NPC likes or dislikes (determined, perhaps, by class or skills, so each PC might shine in different encounters)
• What pleases or angers the NPC (concrete actions, or facts he might find out about the PCs)
• What the NPC knows or might agree to do
• What his boss has kept from him, or he will not agree to do, regardless of how charmed he is
• What the NPC wants to gain from the PCs
• What limits the duration of the scene. If it drifts, kill it and go on to something more constructive.

 

[Mallus]

Balanced play goes out the window and the player who can talk fastest, loudest and longest dominates a meandering session where the plot drifts randomly to conclusions intended by nobody.

Unless, of course, you game with people who are capable of saying things that drive the plot(s) forward, or are simply amusing in their own right, or both. In which case sessions featuring pure talk can be a blast.

 

[Rechan]

In which case sessions featuring pure talk can be a blast.

Indeed. I ran a short campaign focused on gypsy con artists. 80% of the session was talking supplemented with skill checks.

 

[timbannock]

^

Very good point. One of the reasons my new campaign is teh awesomez when it comes to RPing is that I don't throw away NPCs. Basically, any time the PCs save some little wussy NPC from slavery or imminent death, and every time they really help out an important NPC, I make that NPC a constant, recurring ally. Several have joined the party as hirelings, others joined the party for a mission or two, and a few others helped out by "lowering prices on goods" (I'm known for charging the players more than the PHB value of things, so I really just lowered them to PHB -10%) or just giving them odd jobs to get more XP and money.

It helps that my campaign is centered on a very small area (Elsir Vale from Red Hand of Doom), and that I also make sure all my NPCs are pretty fragile...therefore, if the PCs pick up too many allies, I just make the monsters kill the NPCs. Thing is, the PCs have had that much more connection to each NPC, so each NPC thus killed incites real cries of vengeance from the Players.

A big mistake of many DMs is having the Damsel in Distress get saved and then exit the storyline. I keep putting the same Damsel's in distress, and make the Damsel seem VERY helpful when they are not in distress, thus giving the PCs a reason to talk with them and keep them around.

 

[Starglim]

Unless, of course, you game with people who are capable of saying things that drive the plot(s) forward, or are simply amusing in their own right, or both. In which case sessions featuring pure talk can be a blast.

Certainly! That's the ideal. I don't believe personality is the core of the problem, though, where it is a problem.

 

[Wisdom Penalty]

Drop Jeff and Kyle and watch the the campaign get its RP on.

No, I'm not kidding.

 

[Stoat]

What do you want in terms of roleplaying? Some folks like full-scale in-character immersion and others just want a little chit-chat with the NPC's. Your group doesn't sound like it will ever be interested in the former, and if you feel otherwise, these guys will disappoint you.

That said, here's two suggestions that have worked well for me.

1) Give the PC's a patron -- a rich and generous patron who needs violence done on his behalf. A petty noble scratching out a kingdom on the frontier, a church leader during a crusade, a mob boss, these are good patrons. The patron gives the PC's quests, which requires talking and RP. He rewards them, which requires more talking and RP. The Patron sends the PC's into heavy combat, which satisfies the slayer in them.

2) Put a useful NPC in the second room of the dungeon. Maybe the NPC knows about the general layout and defenses of the place. Maybe he can handle himself in a fight. Point is, talking to him is immediately useful. DO NOT make this NPC a thief, doppleganger, or assassin. (See point 3)

3) Resist the temptation to screw over the PC's with NPC's. If NPC's consistently turn out to be doppleganger or assassins bent on killing the party, the players will disengage and descend into paranoia (which can be fun, but isn't what you're looking for). Likewise, if every friend the PC's make dies horribly or gets held for ransom or whatever, the players will feel manipulated and resist getting attached to the NPC's.

 

[Korgoth]

Any suggestions?

Here's mine:

In a special room/encounter area, they find 6 flesh golems encased in magical apparatus and a strange gem. In a flash of light they are overwhelmed but soon return to consciousness... in the bodies of the flesh golems! They do not see their old bodies (those have left the room). Naturally they will tear themselves free of the apparatus. When they do, the apparatus is irreparably damaged. They will start to feel themselves dying as their flesh slowing decays.

Clues will reveal that the golems housed the souls of 6 ancient and notorious criminals, long ago imprisioned by the wizard who built this area. The gem was originally made to imprison their consicousnesses but ultimately malfunctioned. Evidently, the criminals now inhabit their bodies and just as the PCs inhabit the flesh golems. However, the golems cannot survive outside of the now destroyed magical apparatus, and they are slowly rotting away.

The PCs will need to get their real bodies back. Their golem bodies are decaying and will eventually completely corrupt, releasing their souls (i.e. killing them). So there is a time limit to all of this. Also, they now have all the powers (i.e. combat moves) of flesh golems, but none of their old powers or spells! The bad guys (the 6 criminals) have those now. Once they do get their bodies back, they will also need to find somebody who can repair/re-enchant the gem so that it can switch them back. Of course, this conversation will have to happen while the PCs look like rotting flesh golems!

To further educate your players, they will no doubt realize (or you can remind them) that if they crush the life out of their old bodies, they will not be able to use them for the reversal process! Sadly for the PCs (and happily for you), flesh golems are incapable of non-lethal strikes... they just don't know their own strength. So they'll have to resort to all sorts of deception, trickery and (*gasp*) talking.

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.