Instigating Roleplaying?

[bigbluepaw]

Hey folks. Hope you are well. Have been mulling over something for a while. Figured the collective wisdom of the community would be far better than anything I could ever dream up.

I've been thinking of different ways of getting the players in my campaign to start roleplaying. By that, I mean interacting socially with their characters. I believe this can make their characters more real, making them more invested in them. Building depth there can be more rewarding as well.

The primary mechanism I have been using is to have NPCs initiate some deeper conversations by asking some questions.

"Why did you become an adventurer?"
"Why do you have tattoos?"
"Why do you care if the orcs overrun the town?"

I wanted to see what other ideas folks have used to instigate roleplaying, but more to the point, build out some depth in player characters.

Thoughts?

[Ken L]

It's highly dependent on your players. Some are simply the roller type. I'd suggest asking for a backstory with the reasoning that it will be integrated in the world. You'll get mixed results but it'll give you an idea of what kind of players you have, and if they're even interested in the RP aspect. Personally I filter my players before I even start a campaign.

[vodokar]

Having NPC's talk to them and ask questions should work. I mean, what are they going to do, just walk on by and ignore the person. Suppose it could happen, but likely not. However, if the players seem to be continuously trying to cut the conversation short, then you'll need to adjust your style accordingly. As long as you have the same players, it is your job as DM to try to get them to have fun in whatever ways that they think is fun; which might not be exactly the same as your definition. If it gets to be too much of a mismatch, you can always try finding different players that think more along your same line of thinking. One other thing, sometimes players might roleplay more if they speak in character in text vice with their voice. So, you'll need to feel your players out to see if they are voice roleplayers or prefer to handle all in-character roleplaying via chat. I usually play with my son, who has apsperger's syndrome. Getting him to speak in character is an exercise in futility; he doesn't enjoy it and just won't do it. However, accommodating him with letting him speak in chat has allowed me to coax him into roleplaying his character some. It takes all kinds, right. So, being alert to these things is part of being a good GM.

[damned]

I struggle with big back stories. I tend to go with a similar line of questions you have. You can mix the two a bit - ask a specific question of a specific player "Why were you run out of <insert nearby town name>?" and sometimes use that answer for the question you pose to the next player.

[Zacchaeus]

I'm with damned here and it also depends on what your campaign looks like. If you are going to be running one of the published adventures then the character's backstory sort of writes itself in that you need to have something there that motivates them to take part in the adventure. So in your reading through the adventure there's a point where the characters might find a magic weapon of some sort. You could give that weapon a name and make it so that one of the characters is searching for just that weapon for some reason (belonged to her Grandfather and was lost when he died battling Orcs; is something that was stolen from a holy order of monks and the character would like to get it back for them etc). So this gives you the opportunity to seed clues and rumours which the PC can only discover by talking to local people or seeking out some sage or loremaster for information. If you are running homebrew then you can start with the character's background(s) and build the campaign around that

But, you cannot force roleplaying as noted above. If your players are more into rolls than roles then you'll struggle to interest them and might even bore them into looking for games elsewhere.

[Black Hammer]

You can force role playing. People often do, in my convention experience. You can't force it to be good or fun, though, which is really the distinction you have to make before moving to the next issue: what does a given player find fun?

Is discussing his back story with an NPC something he likes? Telling an anecdote from his past to justify a skill check? Explaining why his character favors the combat style or tactical choices he uses?

Or is he more interested in the present and future of the game than a narrative past? Some people love describing towns and people. I've had players who loathed back story happy to describe the town they just walked into along with its people. Or why their character picked tavern A over tavern B.

And, as previously pointed out, if you have a table full of rollplayers, it may not be worth the bother.

[bigbluepaw]

Great feedback and guidance folks. I appreciate it.

I think I have some folks that are tentative roleplayers. I was looking for opportunities to put in front of them, to see if they took the bait.

Thanks again for the feedback.

[chanceboon]

I think it's already been touched on but NPC's that are alive is a big drive toward RP.

In our Star Wars game we had a Hutt event that drew the PC group. When they arrived, they were assigned a guide to show them around the place...a Toydarian that immediately took a fancy to the pilot and Captain. He took such a shine to them that he offered the Mon Calamari (the Toydarian thought the Squid was the Captain) a small, tidy sum to sell them both into slavery. Much to my surprise, the PC started negotiations for them...right there!...It led to a whole series of RP about selling the two off and further RP between the group (after the Toydarian left) about getting paid, then smuggling the two of them off-world. Probably a couple hours of RP just because I made their guide more than just a means to find places on the planet.

[celestian]

This topic came up recently in other realms of the internet and this was pointed out as a good way to look at this sorta thing.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLlUk42GiU2guNzWBzxn7hs8MaV7ELLCP_&time_continue=950&v=LQsJSqn71Fw

Me personally, the backstory is what happens between level 1 and 5 ;)