How Do You Create a Cohesive Group Dynamic?

[scourger]

Creating a cohesive group dymnamic requires a paradigm shift within the game. D&D (like most RPGs) rewards the survivors and punishes the dead. PCs who survive have more stuff & xp for the next adventure than the replacement PCs. This model of play encourages tactical & strategic play by each player to ensure that his individual character survives even if the group fails. That motivator prompts munchkin PC builds (especially multi-classing) and favors individual choices over group choices (especially in combat). This is my expereince (over the past 25 years). Here is how I have corrected it recently.

As a DM, I have set different tones for the game. In my last D&D hybrid, I told the group that they were the good guys. I allowed aasimar paladins without the level adjustment. I disallowed bad guys and bad abilities. I just didn't want to run that kind of game. The specter of death was over all of them, even if they were in the "safe" position in combat or exploration. In the prior D&D hyrbrid, they were all cowboys from the same ranch and heirs to same fortune if they could just find it from the map fragment they inherited. Before that, they were all pirates among bad buccaneers and even worse things. Before that, they were all from the same villlage in a post-apolyptic world. Before that, they were all soldiers in the same unit of the armed forces of the Coalition State of Free Quebec. Before that, they were all judges trying to keep the streets of Mega-City One as safe as possible. Before that, I hadn't realized that a unifying element of commonality could help my game.

As a player, I encourage other DMs to run a game with some cohesion. I prefer to play in the current all-jedi Star Wars game to the prior "D&D in Space" version of "kill an alien, take its blaster, rinse & repeat." I vote for our old Omega World game in which we have a mission rather than the D&D game that I dubbed "The Last Halfling Campaign" after one player kept himself safe in combat and gained two levels on the rest of us. In the latter game, my replacement PC did nothing before the halfling was committed to the plan by action. If the halfling fought, I fought. If the halfling ran away, I ran away. It really got the point across. I also got the point across in a prior D&D game by renaming it after a particular DM pet NPC once that NPC began dominating the game. When my original PC died, I made a replacement PC so careful and combat averse (the antithesis of my original PC) that it showed up the DM and a couple of the other players. I learned that trick in a prior game of Wheel of Time. Beforehand, I don't remeber party cohesion being that big a problem.

That's my advice. Try to make the party cohesive as a DM with unifying elements of commonality. If you're a player, find out what style of play the DM and other players foster and then make the most exaggerated example of it you can muster. After all, people play & enjoy the game in different ways. I find that I may have to play against my normal type (powergaming) depending on the game (tactical, strategic or storytelling).

 

[Ed Cha]

1. Make sure you have a group of people who get along and can have fun together.

2. Start out with a fundamental common goal for the party.

3. Be fair and don't play favorites.

4. Step in when the discussion gets too heated.

 

[Storyteller01]

I generally make sure every character fills their own niche (not nessecarily with character stats) . A heavy combat adventure for the fighter, heavy skill use for the rogue/bard, etc. I've noticed that if a person feels they're the center of attention (or fills a unique position), they enjoy the game more.

Personal example: a DS campaign had a mechanist and a pilot. Both could use their repair skills equally well (same amount of ranks), but the pilot saw greater play during combat, especially when vehicles or power armor was involved. Sure, the mechanist had the fancy feats and reqpir abilities, but it did squat for him in combat.

Solution: mechanist became a spy for a space dragon needing info on Imperial movements. Should have seen the look on the player's face when he got to walk up to a Great WYrm and report his findings.

Although I do try to get the party to agree on a bindind theme ahead of time. Makes it easier.

 

[Romnipotent]

I may be a weird weird person... I dont care about cohesive groups, not one bit. I have every reason not to! A group that works together and fights each other is fun. Not every group will like one another, especially in character, and I have huge arguements, all in character with my friends. Then we have a beer and its all forgotten outside of game time. If I DM I dont stand in the way of player versus player combat and possible death, its what can happen and its not my place to stop them. You're as expendable as everything else.

I guess the cohesive group dynamic comes from knowing its a game. As a group of players we work well together and enjoy the time. As a group of characters and heroes we might have factions and dislikes for some other party member, and if its our role to demonstrate that then we do. Everyone knows its a game.

 

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

I guess the cohesive group dynamic comes from knowing its a game.

Nicely said, Romnipotent. Nicely said, indeed.

 

[Mishihari Lord]

The group that I play in has recently started a new campaign. We've put the old one on the back burner for a while b/c of some inner-party/group dynamic issues that created a lack of "team play"/"group cohesion". The hope is, a new game and some new players will help to develop a new sense of cohesion, but only time (and effort put in on behalf of all of the players) will tell.

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

As a DM I've never really tried to create player team cohesion. If they don't want to cooperate they don't have to, and from my point of view watching the PCs kill each other off is almost as fun as killing them with NPCs.

On the other hand, this has never really been a problem IME. I don't pull punches to make up for their lack of cooperation, so if the PCs don't work together to overcome obstacles, some of them will die. Cooperating to avoid dying seems to have the effect of welding them into a team without any further intervention on my part.

 

[Romnipotent]

4. Step in when the discussion gets too heated.

I would step in if the discussions got too real world, and physical...
In character I've had yelling contests with people, and at the end night we agree it went well. Role playing isn't always getting on.

 

[James Heard]

Creating group dynamics in D&D is no less and no more difficult than creating a good group dynamic in anything else. For some people it's really almost impossible (avoid these) and some people naturally create them wherever they go (lure them over the dark side even if they thing gaming is for geeks and sissies). What works for one group might not work with another, or with the same group in a different circumstance. Managing your players is a lot like managing employees or throwing parties (and maybe a mix of the two). Personally my main advice is :

1. Always attempt to maintain the proper mood. If you don't want to be there then no one else will. If you're apathetic or disinterested then everyone else will be as well. More than anything else a cardinal skill of a good GM is keeping people attentive and interested, everything else is icing - including their relationship with each other.

2. Delegate to fill in the gaps. If you're not one of those people who naturally brings people together then find somone who is and invite them to the game. If you can't maintain eye contact and roll your dice at the same time, let someone else roll your dice. When you're floundering for that essential element of interest, try to pass the buck and somehow encourage the players to maintain their interest themselves.

3. Clearly communicate your overall goals and priorities. People badmouth the metagame, but the metagame can be your friend. A lot of people have talked about just telling everyone playing you want them to work together and/or work on establishing relationships ahead of time. I've even ran games where the group dynamic only worked because I set it up the exact opposite, just as clearly established - it's not the nature of what you communicate in your goals, it's making sure everyone is on the same page. I've had a lot of fun in games where a bunch of strangers sat down, the GM nodded and said, "I'm a killer DM. If you want to chat and roleplay then there's another table over there. I just want you to kill stuff and have fun." I don't think that would work if you just sprang it on a group of people.

Anyways, that's worked for twenty+ years of gaming with groups of 2 (him and me) to over 30 (with people literally having to come game in waves because only fifteen or so fit in the room at a time - delegation is the key to large groups) to running LARP games with...who knows, I think they were breeding in the parking lot. I disagree that making these dynamics "just happens" or you're either good at it or you're not. It's a skill that you can learn and practice like any other. Raw charisma and making it seem effortless, doing it without going prematurely gray? That's another story...