How Do You Create a Cohesive Group Dynamic?

[The Shaman]

For the sake of expediency, I insist on a group of lone-wolf psychopathic killers right from the start.

It's a time- and labor-saving method I recommend to every GM.



I work with players to make sure their character concepts will be able to mesh well with the rest of the group, the setting, and the adventures. It's not 100% foolproof - sometimes it's not until actual game-play starts that some bizarro behavior emerges :\ - but most of the time I seem to get a good group, and once in awhile I get a great group!

 

[RandomPrecision]

Let the players role-play their introductions. If someone wants to play a troll who particularly likes human flesh, let them meet. If the party takes the troll in, you'll have an odd, but possibly stable setup. If they kill the troll, that player needs to make a new character, probably one who isn't as much of a target.

 

[Arc]

Normally, the DM either assigns the group outright "You all are tasked with doing X", and places everyone's individual stakes with the group "...and if you don't, well, none of you will be seeing daylight for a few years"; or we come up with a common association. Last campaign, we were all part of a freelance investigation office, and every party member was technically an "employee." Our recently started campaign (The new Age of Worms adventure path) has an all dwarf party, signed together on an adventuring charter with a joint stake in profits and expenses. Working group/campaign name: "Adventure Capitalists"

For the Eberron campaign I'm about to start, all of the party will be assigned in the same group for an archaeology class. It gives a strong initial cohesiveness "If we don't do this, we'll all FAIL!", and by the time the first season/semester of the campaign is over, the party should have developed enough shared goals and trust to continue working together.

Here's my question: When you have a cohesive, well knit group with a common purpose - which seems to be the goal we're trying to achieve - how do you add new characters when a party member dies or a new player joins? It's rather hard for a tight knit group to suddenly adopt a new guy into the fold, and for groups with a singular purpose, how plausible is it for a random stranger to share the same goal?

 

[S'mon]

Amen to that. Additionally, I would never want to put restrictions on my players what races/classes they can play and which not. It's egoistic of the DM and doesnt help alot IMO. A group of players isnt going to be more cohesive just because the DM dictates the character creation or the background story. It's the players that make the difference. I once had that experience where a DM tried to pack us into a certain common background and with restriction on character creation and personal story. To me it smelled railroady from the first second on, which in the end it also was. I think that campaign didnt last more than a few sessions.

I'll restrict races/classes to fit the campaign setting - eg no PC gnomes or halflings IMC - but I tend to agree that often forcing a common background doesn't work well. Certainly dictating "You are all serving noble X" worked badly for me in my last campaign. Advertising a campaign as "You are knights of King Arthur" would be ok though, I think.

 

[S'mon]

Agreed, but normally you do not have the chance to pick only your favorite gamers. Sometimes a GM lacks players. In every group will be one player you dislike.

As GM, if you know you dislike someone, it's vitally important you don't allow them in your game. GMing for people you don't like is a really bad idea. Even GMing people you like ok, but you hate their play style, is a bad idea.

 

[Ourph]

So - just wondering EN World - how do you create a cohesive group dynamic?

I find the trick is to get the players hating the DM more than they hate each other. Nothing builds party cohesion like a long string of TPK's followed by maniacal DM laughter.

Tomb of Horrors anyone?

 

[Keeper of Secrets]

Honestly, its impossible to force a group dynamic. It has to occur naturally. I think you can no more 'force' a group dynamic than you can 'force' a kid to like brussle sprouts.

I suppose there are better ways to approach a group dynamic, such as creating a common goal (other than money), such as defending a cause, finding a friend or having the characters all be related. But forcing a group dynamic is easier said than done.

 

[Steel_Wind]

To tell the truth, I insist on it before the campaign begins. If someone finds this "stifiling", and insists on playing the lone wolf, destructive character, then they can go do it somewhere else. There's nothing worse at the table than a frustrated novelist with an axe to grind

This is my approach too. I don't put up with inter-party conflict or players who try to make me run a split-personality campaign. Stick with the program.

A tyranny of the wise doth hath its proper place.

 

[atom crash]

Party cohesion really will only work if 1) the players want to make it work and 2) their PCs want to make it work. I've tried to encourage the players to create PCs with similar goals and common enemies. The common enemies I can handle just fine as DM, but the common goals are up to the PCs. And therefore up to the players.

You could always require the PCs to belong to the same organization, whether it be a guild, church or family.

Here's a sneaky suggestion that works: house-rule that any healing spells are maximized if the recepient of the spell is of the same faith as the caster (I took the idea from a FR spell in Magic of Faerun). If there's a cleric in the party, this will naturally encourage many of the other PCs to want to follow the same deity -- without forcing anything -- and will put you one step closer to party cohesion.

 

[kigmatzomat]

I've never managed to force party cohesion, as either player or DM.

When DMing I tell people not to make "lone wolves" unless they have some semblance of a pack mentality. Loners who wander off will venture into NPCdom and will require a new PC.

I generally provide a flexible, but localized, starting setting that allows for multiple characters with history. Typical examples are: a small town snowed in for winter, being in service to a minor lord for the past year (for various reasons), part of a caravan/pilgrimage, etc. It gives them a simple setting to build interparty bonds and act as a jump point for later adventures.