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<blockquote data-quote="William Ronald" data-source="post: 6109" data-attributes="member: 426">Rounser's suggestions are quite good.&nbsp; If the NPCs surrounding a character are part of the PCs lives, it is likelier that the player will be concerned about them.&nbsp; Possibly have the NPC relatives help the PCs out of a jam, or help them celebrate important events in the character's lives.It is hard to get some people to role play.&nbsp; The irony is that I have seen non-human, and even odd-ball characters roleplayed well.&nbsp; However, this is VERY difficult for most beginning players to do.Talking to the players is probably the best thing that can be done.&nbsp; It also helps to create something for the characters to identify with.&nbsp; Nation, family, faith, an organization -- most people tend to belong to something other than themselves.&nbsp; Even Conan the Barbarian, a bit of a loner, saw himself as a Cimmerian who would never abandon a friend.&nbsp; Heck, even Elric of Melnibone had loyalties beyond himself. Perhaps it would be good to just have tne new players have human and other relatively normal characters until they have a clearer grasp on role playing.&nbsp; Is it easy to make a powerful character, yes.&nbsp; But it is more important to make one that can at least give the impression of having a heart and a soul.&nbsp; Mind you, powerful characters and role playing are not mutually exclusive.&nbsp; (Power, I believe, should be earned through blood, sweat, tears.&nbsp; Along the way, such characters should have built up such interesting and meaningful lives that they would qualify for a good episode of Biography.&nbsp; Contrast this with a munchkin character whose victories are meaningless and who never truly fought for what they achieved.)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="William Ronald, post: 6109, member: 426"] Rounser's suggestions are quite good. If the NPCs surrounding a character are part of the PCs lives, it is likelier that the player will be concerned about them. Possibly have the NPC relatives help the PCs out of a jam, or help them celebrate important events in the character's lives. It is hard to get some people to role play. The irony is that I have seen non-human, and even odd-ball characters roleplayed well. However, this is VERY difficult for most beginning players to do. Talking to the players is probably the best thing that can be done. It also helps to create something for the characters to identify with. Nation, family, faith, an organization -- most people tend to belong to something other than themselves. Even Conan the Barbarian, a bit of a loner, saw himself as a Cimmerian who would never abandon a friend. Heck, even Elric of Melnibone had loyalties beyond himself. Perhaps it would be good to just have tne new players have human and other relatively normal characters until they have a clearer grasp on role playing. Is it easy to make a powerful character, yes. But it is more important to make one that can at least give the impression of having a heart and a soul. Mind you, powerful characters and role playing are not mutually exclusive. (Power, I believe, should be earned through blood, sweat, tears. Along the way, such characters should have built up such interesting and meaningful lives that they would qualify for a good episode of Biography. Contrast this with a munchkin character whose victories are meaningless and who never truly fought for what they achieved.) [/QUOTE]

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