The Level of Roleplaying in a Game

[AereonBlaze]

Salutations!

I'm facing a bit of a problem, and hoping you wise people will be able to help me out once again.

In most of the games I DM, there isn't a great deal of roleplaying going on. Not all of the players just seem to get into their character roles. This isn't so much of a problem for our lighthearted Spycraft games, but I want my next Forgotten Realms campaign to be a bit more serious, and I'm hoping to get a good degree of roleplaying going on in the game.

I think that that the problem thus far has been partially my fault for simply not providing enough oppertunities for the players to roleplay, but I'm going to try and fix that, and I still have some doubts as to whether the players will roleplay more.

My question is, how do you get everyone to increase the amount of roleplaying in a game? I realize this probably differs from group to group, but I'm hoping for some sort of general suggestions. I mean, does the atmosphere where you play effect this? Does docking points for too much out of character activity work?

Any suggestions/comments are appreciated, thanks!

Your friendly neighborhood lurker,
-Aereon

 

[the Jester]

I don't recommend docking points; some people are shy and will just get driven out of the game that way.

On the other hand, rewarding rp with xp is a whole 'nother thing.

Here's what I do, quoted from this thread...

This is my system.

First off, I halve xp for monsters and traps overcome.

Second, I give each pc xp at the end of each session for roleplaying in several categories. These are race, class, alignment, and personal concerns. Each category that the player roleplayed is worth 25xcharacter level xp; so a pc that gets all four categories earns an extra 100 xp per level per session.

I'm fairly loose with my interpetation on these; the one hard and fast rule is that you don't earn rp xp simply for using your abilities. So you couldn't, for instance, say, "Well, I used my power attack feat a lot" to earn xp as a fighter. You could say, "I took the point and waded into all the fights"- that's a roleplaying decision, not just using your feats. Likewise, the rogue who tries to call disabling traps and sneak attacking won't get any sugar, but if he sought out the local thieves' guild she will.

I personally find that the standard xp award system in 3e leads to advancement that's too quick for my taste, so part of the reason for this was to slow it down a little; also, I really like rewarding good roleplaying, and xp is the best way to encourage it. I don't give story awards per se, but if the party's been trying to hunt down their nemesis for four sessions and they finally succeed, well, that's prolly something they can all call under "personal" and get their rp xp for.

Also, I give another 25xcharacter level for props.

Finally, this amount is the standard award. A character who achieves a really tremendously major goal- the cleric who frees her imprisoned deity- will prolly get twice as much for that category as normal. Also, the prop award is the most variable of them all; I'll typically give less for props that require less effort and more for props that are more interactive, inventive, etc.

I've found that it works pretty well. One of the keys to accomodating the shy players is to be pretty lax with the categories; you can only call a given thing in one category but I'm willing to give rp xp for relatively minor stuff (such as the 'human' category being granted for the pc failing to learn from history, 'dwarf' xp for hanging out with other dwarves, etc.)

 

[EarthsShadow]

have them write up character backgrounds with details about how they were brought up and what kinds of things they experienced, why they learned what they did, that sort of thing. If a player can do this, they will get to know their character better and treat it better. Plus, you can use them for many good plot hooks.

 

[AereonBlaze]

Good ideas, thanks! I'll keep them in mind when I run the game (in a week or so).

Keep 'em coming!

 

[Saeviomagy]

Make a contingency plan.

It's entirely possible that your players just are not interested in doing deep roleplaying, and no amount of coaxing or bribing will make it happen. Remember that most people play RPG's for fun, not to explore their psyche or that of anyone else.

That said, you should try. Maybe people will find heavy roleplaying fun. But don't be left without a leg to stand on when they don't.

 

[The It's Man]

Well, the campaign I started playing a year or ten ago, started after the rolling of the dice for the abilities, with buying equipment. The DM's played the shopkeeper(s) and/or other customer(s) and I got together the things I needed for my PC. That kind of set the tone of the campaign. (No, we don't roleplay buying every loaf of bread, but sometimes we spend a lot of time at a shop if we want someting "special").

Let them (in coorperation with you ofcourse) find out a way how their characters meet or how they know each other (the biggest hassle at the start of a new campaign IMX)

Or play out a bit of the background of the player.

Above scenarios involve ofcourse a period of time before the campaign actually starts. It's not much fun if you have six players and they all have to buy things. OTOH, if you do this with a player who you know is willing (and "able") to roleplay more, a not-so player can sit and watch, maybe overcome the 'shyness" (if that's a reason for not roleplaying). Maybe have the first two sessions with only half the players, so at the 3rd session there are two groups who have to get together.

Also, "play out" for instance the information gathering skill; instead of "I hang around in the local bars, give me a d20"; the player can opt to tell the things he does, you can make (or improvise) some regulars in the bars. If they do it "right", you can give out the information you want them to have or give them a bonus on the Gather Information skill check.

Also, play out the NPC's. Instead of "The Major of town X gives you this assignment", let them be approached by some underlings to set up a meeting (and play that meeting, let them wait in a waitingroom, maybe another person who wants to speak to the mayor is around, there can be a roleplaying opportunity there)

If a couple of players are (role)playing along with this, the others might join in after a while. IMHO, don't penalize the ones who don't RP much, as they are being penalized for having less playtime themself as it is.
As a bonus, you can give extra hints or whatever if a meeting/encounter with an NPC is roleplayed.

The It's Man takes a deep breath

Another thing, is to have sometimes a ban of OOC talk. We have times at the table that whatever you're saying, your PC is saying or doing. Especially after we have made a plan to overcome something and we're supposed to know all the little details of what the PC is doing. Can be a hassle, but we're getting better at it every time .

Oh and have a ban on OOC knowledge, for instance if one PC's wants to check out what another person has (for instance a pick pocket), if the "target" gets oversuspicious, don't let him. His PC isn't aware of what the player of the rogue is saying to the DM.

The It's Man takes another deep breath

But first, check with your players. Let them know you want to have some more role-playing. If they don't want to play like that, well...; if they do, they might have some good ideas too.

 

[Synthetik Fish]

one thing our DM had us do was everyone had to come up with something they love, and something they hate. you can turn this into a lot of things...fears are great. i read about a cleric who was afraid of rope...that got htem a lot of roleplaying when they got stuck at the bottom of a cave and their only way our was a rope through a hole in the top. (btw, i think it ended with the rogue convincing the cleric that his "magic dust" (ie. regular flower) made rope safe to climb.) if you MAKE them create background stuff, generally they will get into it.

 

[AereonBlaze]

Thanks!

Again, excellent stuff everyone.

I'll definitely be talking some of these ideas over with the players and see what they think will work.

One interesting fact, The Its Man, since you brought up the shopkeeping thing...surprisingly enough, the times when the group seems to roleplay the most are actually when they're in the stores! Bargaining with the merchants and finding out what they're willing to sell has indeed proved to be an effective way to get the in character speech rolling.

 

[LostSoul]

Get out of the dungeon.

There isn't much to roleplay when you're bashing in doors and hacking up monsters. Move to character-based adventures set in small dungeons (with only a few rooms) and cities.

And make talking to NPCs necessary to finish the adventure.

 

[Fenes 2]

If your player are not that roleplaying, then bring in NPCs. An NPC in the party, or traveling with the party, can make a whole of a difference. You can interact a lot better, have an easier time to get the players of CRPG tactical mode, and have roleplaying scenes whenever you like. Stereotypical Examples include the merhant you are guarding trying to sell his wares to anyone looking like he has money, coming up with the most constructed ways a silk bathrobe or a hand-carved king-sized bed may come in handy for an adventurer, or the academic with great curiosity, but less common sense ("Fascinating. So I gather sharpening your sword ritually each evening takes your mind of the fact that you may die the next day? Mind telling me your religious beliefs? What a peculiar color. Do all man-eating plants have those grasping roots? What did it feel like when you were dipped in digesting juices?"), the eager and noble but inexperienced young knight etc.

Case in point was the last game session I played. The game was funny when our group traveled with a pair of colorful NPCs, interacting with them, but got bogged down as soon as they left and the party had only a bunch of stupid primitives to interact with.