Leaones said:
I have clashed in oppinion with several people while running my games, but the subject we have disagrances on more than any other is role playing. I look at feats, prestige classes, and skills as a representive of a characters life story (like in Starwars). Though others look at them as a game mechanic that is ment to be used. Oppinions and Ideas on this subject are more than welcome.
I'm of the opinion that if the players are having fun then it doesn't matter how (or if) they role play well.
That being said, encouraging role-playing is a difficult art. Its hard for a player to really get into a character the first couple of sessions. The best way I've found to encourage role-playing is to make the players care about the game world. Here's a few tips:
1) Start with a small location (single city or town) with a small cast of character. Through their adventures, get the players familiar with the people and how those people interact (who is family with whom, who hates who). Kinda slip this in on the side rather than make it the focus of the adventure (which could get boring fast). Stick with easy to remember (and pronounce!) names so the players can keep track. Setup situations where knowledge of the townsfolk can help their characters advance. For example, they might help out a young noble to get an in with his father.
2) Watch each player and see what he or she best responds to. Even if a player only cares about his character's combat prowess, you can use that as bait to set up some sort of social situation where they can gain a powerful weapon or magic item.
3) Don't let them always win. Let them "lose" an adventure and see the consequences (i.e. the people they are trying to help are hurt). Make sure they know the bad guy responsible but make it so they can't just walk over and kill him.
4) Throw in a nice character without morals. For example, a rich merchant might help out the characters but then they later find out he makes his money selling slaves.
5) Role-play your NPCs. Refer to the players by their character names. I also find its helpful to deliniate when you are talking as DM as opposed to as an NPC. For example, I usually stand up to show when I'm talking as the NPC.
For the most part, I view the primary responsibility with role-playing as the DM's. I always think "what can I do better" rather than blame the players first.
Aaron