Roleplaying Help

[Nyghthawk]

Hello, I am a new member to the forums but have lurked for a while.
I am am new at dungeon master-ing and all of my players are new to DnD having some issues with the roleplaying in my adventures.
I try to give my players many opportunities to act in character and encourage them to do so, but they won't say anything why they are adventuring together or even about their character backgrounds. I've had a few adventures already to let them get the hang of the game before we start the real campaign.
I'm not really sure what to do, as I have never played with people who don't roleplay their characters.
Any and all help is appreciated

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

You might find some help here:

http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/304988-involving-unfocused-characters.html

 

[Nyghthawk]

Ok, thanks.
I think I will try something like that in my next adventure. The sorceror of the group hasn't roleplayed at all yet and his character is the only one who speaks draconic.
They will have to fight dragon wyrmlings in the next adventure so maybe the dragons will try to talk before fighting. I hope this will help my players participate and thank you for directing me to that thread.

 

[Havrik Stoneskimmer]

You don't need to push your players to develop extensive character backgrounds at first if they're not accustomed to roleplaying yet. Let them play stereotypes based on their race and class (big dumb fighter, effete eladrin, goody two shoes paladin, etc.). It's a start.

Then help them get into the spirit of things by roleplaying your monsters extensively. Every round, have your monsters taunt the PCs, make rude comments when they miss, etc. Most players respond to this by talking back to the monsters, which gets them used to speaking and acting as their characters. From there you can put them in more complicated situations that require role playing.

Also, always use the characters' names when calling for each player's actions in combat rather than the player's name. That subtly helps keep people thinking about their characters as distinct "people".

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Just remember that some people never become good role-players, but that doesn't matter if they're having fun.

 

[TornadoCreator]

Right, as someone who's been GMing multiple systems for a while now, D&D included, and someone who'd introduced at current count 10 people over the past 6 years to roleplaying I find there are a couple of techniques that work well.

The first technique, and my personal favourite, I call it "Think Fast". It's based on the same method my Dad use to teach me to swim, he held me in the water and explained the motions once, and only once, then once I said I understood he literally threw me into the deep end... it's sink or swim. Now sure, I was within a couple of foot of him and not in any real danger, but it worked. When your choices are "learn to swim" or "drown", you learn to swim pretty damn fast. To explain how this works in roleplaying I'll give an example.

DM: You're group in in the tavern looking over the contract you've been given. You have a royal charter that allows you to be adventurers, which doesn't come cheap, but it means you're allowed to carry weapons and even use magic if you're able. No normal commoner would be allowed such privilages. But obviously with the charter costing so much you need to earn back some gold, so your group have taken on your first contract from one of the noble houses, to find the nest of the "Goblin hoard" that raided his caravan on it's way into town and stole one of his prized posessions, the "ruby of the north", the second largest ruby known to exist. The caravan driver and two of the three guards made it back alive and are back at the guildhouse, but they're not willing to go out on the road again until the Goblins are dealt with. Naturally, the pay is good, but it'll take some work to track down these Goblins.

DM: What are you doing?

- it's at this point they sink or swim, either they sit blankly looking at me, expecting me to tell them what dice to roll, or they come up with an idea, I may prompt them by jokingly saying "Well? You have a job... are you planning on doing it or are you going to sit in the taven in silence all night?" or something to that effect. Eventually I get a response from someone.

Player 1: I'm going to go find the Caravan guards in town.
DM: OK, are you going to tell the rest of your group or are you going to just go alone.
Player 1: Oh yeah, I'll tell them.
DM: Go on then....
Player 1: .....

- Again this is sink or swim time again, you want to get them used to talking not just to the DM but to eachother 'In Character'. Don't let them say "I'm going to ask the guard about the attack" actually make him ask.

DM: ...well, the rest of the group are right here, you could tell them, ask their opinion, see if anyone else has any ideas or other plans.
Player 2: We should check the road as well, see if they left any tracks.
DM: *nod and stay passive at this moment, let them talk in character then interrupt*
DM: Aye lads, you be lookin in to that caravan that got hit on the street, ye'll be wantin a stiff drink before you head out inta that. Plus me tavern don't pay fer itself and you lot have been sittin hear all lunch without orderin a damn thing.

- At this point don't break character until they do, by the end of this conversation they'll have got the whole thing down and feel comfortable with roleplaying. I've used similar conversations before in different settings. All it takes is for them to start talking then throw in an NPC that either forces them to interact with him or forces them to move the plot along themselves, rather than waiting for the DM to do it. eg. in this example either they buy a round of drinks/meals and chat with the barkeep or they explain that they're going now and then they tell the DM what they're doing rather than the other way around.

By using this method, the players tell the story, and you just throw up walls of interaction to steer them in the right direction. It makes them feel more attached to the characters, it incourages more method-acting based roleplay where they physically speak in character. In on of my games, it's got far enough that during a three way stand off, the players actually kicked the chairs out from under themselves and stood miming holding swords and hand-crossbows at eachother whilst trying to talk eachother down during a heated argument, this was ALL done with EVERYONE keeping a straight face, never breaking character and without any pre-planning. Immersion this strong is easy to do if you just coax it out of people using this method. Two of the three players involved in that standoff, where new to roleplaying when they campaign started and it happened in the third session.

One golden rule to remember - If rolling dice would break the immersion, DON'T ROLL DICE! If the person is talking in character and explaining their idea/plan etc, and/or convincing an NPC of something, use their passive score (Skill +10) as a baseline and judge how well they're roleplaying the scene. After all, no-one wants to stop roleplaying to pick up dice, if they're roleplaying is good and convincing, let them win... it makes them want to do it more in the future and will make them want to try interesting and well throught out plans because it feels more rewarding when they work rather than the impersonal dice roll. That's not to say you can't use dice at all, but only when you really can't decide if something will work based on the roleplaying alone.

This, like I said, is my favourite method. It has worked for me with multiple groups and with people who have never roleplayed before. It doesn't work so well with rather shy people though, but most roleplayers are quite confident (if geeky) people so this isn't usually an issue. If you want any other methods I have a few more, but this one is in my opinion by far the best.

 

[Riastlin]

Lots of good advice here. For me, the best thing to remember is that the DM needs to roleplay too. Taunt the characters, have the NPCs speak in character, etc. For example:

PC: I ask the guard if he's heard any rumors of work in town.
DM: The guard thinks for a moment then tells you that the blacksmith is looking for someone to help him with a problem.

vs.

PC: I ask the guard if he's heard any rumors of work in town.
DM: The guard looks you over and says "Hmmm, you lot look as though you've seen a few scrapes in your day, I'm guessing you know yer way around the business end of a sword. Go talk to Smitty over at his forge, apparently his son done gone missing and he's worried sick over it and looking for somebody to go find him. Says he be willing to pay good gold should anyone be able to find him."

Both of these scenarios are essentially the same, but one is definitely more roleplay driven. Obviously this isn't the best example, having come off the top of my head, but you get the idea. The point is to lead by example here. If you don't roleplay, then neither will your players.

Also, keep in mind that as others have said, some players just are not interested in roleplaying. They love playing RPGs, they just don't get into character and trying to force it on them just won't work. Kinda reminds me of an old Dork Tower strip wherein the player is complaining that all they do is fight, fight fight. Every encounter is nothing but a fight. The DM then says that they are meeting the Sisters of the Holy Order or something and the players yell "Attack!"

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

In case you haven't seen it, there's a biggish thread that was recently resurrected, started up by one of our more well-respected members, weem.

http://www.enworld.org/forum/genera...60-weem-s-dm-tips-rp-prompting-immersion.html

Check it out, it should be full of gold!

 

[Robtheman]

Tips to Motivate Roleplaying

Hi! I'd like to congratulate you on taking up the mantle of GM. It can be a lot of work at first but the results can be incredibly rewarding. In my opinion, the strongest GMs are the ones that are ready to learn and adapt their style of leadership and storytelling. Keep it up!

Tips
1. Become an expert on the crunch that effects non-combat interactions. As mentioned above, stopping the role playing to do some roll playing is a fast way to kill in-character exploration. Using the new GMs screen might be good. I purchased it and have been very satisfied using it as a reference for skill checks, guessing the cost of items, gauging distances and passage of time while traveling, etc.

2. Ease them in to it. Think about the personalities of your players when you aren't doing the DnD. Give the joker a chance to joke, the thinker a chance to think, and so-on. Additionally, start them role playing situations that are similar to every day life. Instead of having them deal with a mysterious shaman who sells herbs, offer up a cantankerous butcher who won't sell them a special cut of a rare specimen. We know about meat, we've all been to the butcher. This way the player doesn't have to figure out what you talk to an herbalist or alchemist or blacksmith about. It may seem insignificant to some, but few of us wants to sound stupid. Lacking the correct vocabulary can make us feel that way.

3. Develop your NPCs characters then stick to them. You can use tools on various websites to "create" ready made NPCs, then you can color in the rest - mannerisms, clothes, etc. This doesn't necessitate speaking in first person with a unique accent but find ways to be the most committed role player at the table.

4. Support each persons attempts to role play by giving small benefits during play sessions. After a particularly fun encounter you might give a "bennie" that can be turned in for a re-roll. If someone does something astoundingly awesome it might get them an extra action point.

5. Discourage any mocking of role playing attempts. I don't suggest you slap someones wrist at the table, but a private conversation about it usually resolves bad behavior if handled early on.

6. Help your players determine how their character responds to issues by presenting moral challenges. It's the same as in real life. If we don't care, we are less likely to act. Again, consider the person behind the character. Does player A have a strict moral codex? If so, they will probably respond to ethical and moral challenges.

7. 3rd person is just as good as 1st person. The only "rule" I might condone is that players stick to one or the other. You can model this yourself.

8. Have fun. The biggest challenge to role playing is the emotional state of the player. If folks are comfortable, fed, alert and fairly happy they are more likely to take risks in the game. I don't know if you host dinners or parties much, but the same rules apply. Introducing people who have things in common and greasing the wheels with food and drink is the quickest way to get conversation started.

I hope some of this is useful.

 

[jbear]

Some great advice in the thread so far.

Another angle you can use, to get some backgrounds being built is basically bribing your players

"All those who build me a background for their character will be rewarded with a magic item."

I did this with my players but with a slight twist. I had them tell me what they wanted their magic item to do. The condition for the introduction of this custom made item into the game was that they had to tie the object into their back story. I also worked with them on this to make sure the balance wasn't skewed too much (not that I worry about balance as I make up for it by hitting them extra hard). This item will increase in power, moving towards the 'full' version of what they want it to be able to do as they reach key levels and complete Backstory related adventures.

Dangling a carrot will give them a mechanical reason to start thinking about who their characters are, which is not a bad place to start.

This provided me with loads of adventure hooks which I have been able to spin in and out of the main adventure line.

Another carrot you can tangle are Drama Tokens. In a nutshell this is a houseruled reward system I have implemented into my game. I use Drama tokens to get my players acting swiftly on their turn. Basically they represent a +1 bonus to any dice roll that can be added at anytime. I let them stack to a max. of +3. I don't allow these tokens to carry over sessions, but I allow the players use unused tokens to buy Drama Cards (not entirely dissimilar from the cards WotC has just brought out whatever they are called) Anyway ... they are small, neat mechanical rewards that they can pull out every now and again and turn failure into success. You could invent yourself a similar reward system for good Roleplaying. If you decide to do something like this, you will need to explain to your players explicitly how this works, why you are doing it and get feedback about how they feel about it.

As for how to encourage roleplaying during actuall play, I'm pretty strict with my players. I never allow my players to get away with" 'I bluff the guard'. Picks up dice to roll Bluff* "

My response might be something along the line of:
'I will decide whether you are bluffing the guard or not once you tell me what it is you say to the guard. Depending on what you say I will also decide whether any dice need to be rolled or not. PUT THE DICE DOWN!'

I have also introduced a system that discourages Metagaming. When it gets out of hand I simply take one of my blood red 'Karma' Tokens and put it on the table. I can use these for any of my monsters during the session as an Action Point. Metagaming causes bad karma for my players quite literally.

I think it's important for players to distinguish between what they know and what their character knows. My players can be very lax about this and often tactical discussions about what to do out-of-character just go on and on and on and on and on and ... you get the picture. During the middle of combat ... really? You're talking about this????

If players are going to metagame, they should at least be inventive and creative about disguising it in-character. "Lads, let's take a breather, that Orc chieftain bruised my ribs and my arm is tingling a bit" vs " Let's take a Short Rest, I need to recharge my encounter powers before we get into the next fight" or "I need to pray a bit" vs "I've used both of my Healing Words, need a Short Break"

I also quite often take players out of the room to relay important information they individually have aquired, say via a knowledge check for example, forcing them to communicate it to the group in character. I stress that if the character hasn't relayed the information, the others are not allowed to act as if they knew it, even if their player does.