Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Pinotage" data-source="post: 3878935" data-attributes="member: 15194">Most times this is a good idea, but other times it isn't, in particular with reference to 'downtime'. Downtime can be a great way to explore one's character, surroundings and interact with other characters. In the Shackled City game I'm in, we spend almost as much RP in downtime than in actual play running through the adventures. Plot-relavant stuff is important, but character-relevant stuff is as well. You just need to balance it.As long as it's IC, why not? You learn an awful lot about other characters by being able to see the way they talk, sometimes 'read' their thoughts, and this strengthens the character's personality in the minds of the other players. That last sentence, for example, doesn't tell me anything about the character, but the first one can, although I'd agree if could use less speechifying.Don't discourage RP by cultivating a 'get on with the plot' syndrome. From 6-7 years of experience, the most valuable thing to a player and a DM is understanding and enjoying your character, the concept, the personality and the background. It's not fun playing a 'stat-sheet' that just does 'adventure stuff'. I've created many characters and played as many, but unless you can define who that character is and what makes him tick/gives him purpose, you'll have a hard time playing him, and a hard time DM'ing to him. Players need motivation, and they need something that draws them along. Good RP does that sometimes better than clearing a dungeon.And speaking of dungeons, if you're playing the APs, cut out as many combat encounters as possible and replace them with Story/RP encounters and experience points. Combat needs to be 1:1 with roleplaying encounters for a good balance, I find. As mentioned, dungeon crawls can work, but generally don't and are often boring. Players need stimulation for their character development rather than more combat encounters.Hope that gives some helpful advice. Our Shackled City game runs about 6 months per adventure, which is pretty good going. Our Age of Worms game runs only slightly longer than that. For APs your players should be ready for the long haul.Pinotage</blockquote>

Verification