Good rp hooks?

So after one of my last threads...here's my thoughts

(1) I want one player to RP more.
(2) I want the PC's to get to know each other better.
(3) I want to encourage some thought about differing morality standards.

I've got some time for them to relax IC and have some fun. I'd like to give out small rewards and encourage RP, but I'd like to stay away from XP rewards. Should be some sort of nice carrot for RP available though - I'm trying to be a better DM and bribe my players into doing what I want. :smallwink:

This is difficult, because most of the sorts of recommendations I'd make hinge heavily on knowing something about the characters. It's really hard to stimulate RP between three blank slates.

Do any of the PCs have beliefs or attitudes or something that you can built a grey-area talking session around? What sort of "morality standards" are we talking here? "Is it okay to kill people who disagree with you?" "Rob from the rich to give to the poor?" "Do souls in the afterlife have rights?"

This whole question is kinda too broad to give satisfying answers to, I think.

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Originally Posted by Airk

This is difficult, because most of the sorts of recommendations I'd make hinge heavily on knowing something about the characters. It's really hard to stimulate RP between three blank slates.

Do any of the PCs have beliefs or attitudes or something that you can built a grey-area talking session around? What sort of "morality standards" are we talking here? "Is it okay to kill people who disagree with you?" "Rob from the rich to give to the poor?" "Do souls in the afterlife have rights?"

This whole question is kinda too broad to give satisfying answers to, I think.

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Sorry, this came up in a different thread. The big difference we've had is "you should refrain from killing where possible" versus "you should kill murderers to protect the innocent." So far both seem to be predisposed to think the other is an evildoer.

But even besides that, I want my PC's to think about where they came from and what they want to be doing. I'm trying to play a more open world instead of having them bite at whatever plot hooks I throw. But I'm having trouble with one player's character not being done in particular depth.

Not sure I have any advice for player to player RP...but for player to NPC RP, I am a big fan of boons.

Some examples:
RP: On the boat ride to a new town, my knowledge loving player enthusiastically interacted with a rambling old captain, wanting to hear all his tales.
Reward: Whenenver she rolled Kn Local about the town I gave her a little circumstance bonus, because there was a chance the Captain had mentioned it.

RP: A player befriended a nobleman they met while travelling and helped him identify some creatures he was painting.
Reward: He invited the party to stay in any of his estates if they are ever in one of the three cities where he has property (they will definitely be in one of those cities).

RP: A player worked as a volunteer healer at the temple during downtime.
Reward: When they were leaving town, as a gesture of appreciation, the head cleric gave her a few scrolls of healing so that they would be safe in their travels.

You could have a mentor or sage-like NPC start the debate. Maybe s/he has a similar interest in the PCs talking about these things. S/he could reward them with ingame stuff; knowledge, access to places, introductions, etc. Two NPCs could be debating, and ask the PCs their opinions, maybe these are NPCs the group has a reason to want to get to know better.
If you want to bribe the player more than the character, you can give out things like one-time rerolls. Players can't have more than two of them, but when they do something worth rewarding or you want to offer a bribe, give them one of these. You may want to cotrol the exact things you can do with a reroll, but that depends on the system, of course.

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Originally Posted by WarKitty

Sorry, this came up in a different thread. The big difference we've had is "you should refrain from killing where possible" versus "you should kill murderers to protect the innocent." So far both seem to be predisposed to think the other is an evildoer.

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I dunno; Honestly, roleplayed WELL, that's an interesting point of friction to have. But it needs to be done with knowledge of points 2-5 here; The problem is that there isn't any way to magically make your players better roleplayers.

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But even besides that, I want my PC's to think about where they came from and what they want to be doing. I'm trying to play a more open world instead of having them bite at whatever plot hooks I throw. But I'm having trouble with one player's character not being done in particular depth.

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Uh. Give them some downtime with a loquacious NPC who wants to know this stuff. Take anything you already have of their background and bring it up. Someone has a long lost sister? Maybe someone matching her description turns up. Someone's parent's died when they were a kid? NPC with similar issues who wants to talk.

I dunno. Are your PLAYERS interested in this stuff?

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Originally Posted by Airk

I dunno; Honestly, roleplayed WELL, that's an interesting point of friction to have. But it needs to be done with knowledge of points 2-5 here; The problem is that there isn't any way to magically make your players better roleplayers.



Uh. Give them some downtime with a loquacious NPC who wants to know this stuff. Take anything you already have of their background and bring it up. Someone has a long lost sister? Maybe someone matching her description turns up. Someone's parent's died when they were a kid? NPC with similar issues who wants to talk.

I dunno. Are your PLAYERS interested in this stuff?

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As far as I can tell, 3 of them really really are and one of them is meh about it. I'm trying to figure out if we can get player 4 a little more involved, especially as this was intended to be a very rp-focused game.

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Originally Posted by WarKitty

As far as I can tell, 3 of them really really are and one of them is meh about it. I'm trying to figure out if we can get player 4 a little more involved, especially as this was intended to be a very rp-focused game.

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Let me guess, #4 is also the one with no background? =/ I kinda feel like this needs to be a OOC conversation first.

Pick out someone from their backstory. Bring them in as a friendly but independent party to the PCs. Send them on a quest together, then have something happen to the friend. Chances are, the player will attempt to rescue them. Of couse, this only works if they already established people in their backstories.

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Originally Posted by Demidos

Pick out someone from their backstory. Bring them in as a friendly but independent party to the PCs. Send them on a quest together, then have something happen to the friend. Chances are, the player will attempt to rescue them. Of couse, this only works if they already established people in their backstories.

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I don't think this is going to work. It's a good idea, it really is, but it's sort of tangential to what the problem seems to be. The problem isn't they haven't engaged with the world, it's that both characters aren't playing out their conflict in a meaningful and interesting way.

Having read both this and the other thread it seems to me that what happens is that the Totally Noble Paragon of Virtue wants to rehabilitate these people, and refuses to brook any argument, while the Pragmatic Yet Noble Servant of a Higher Good thinks that they've had their chance, and refuses to brook any argument. They aren't interacting with each other over their philosophical differences, they're just butting heads over and over and over, because they've fallen into the trap of letting pre-defined character traits overrule any sense of how their characters would deal with conflict or uncertainty.

What I'd do is try to weave into the story a series of moments where each is provided with a chance to reflect on the ways that their approach can go horribly wrong. The Paragon stumbles onto the aftermath of a prison break or a series of killings perpetrated by an ex-criminal now thought to be a pillar of the community, Mr. Pragmatic meets and maybe spends some time talking with a cleric who was a bandit because times were tough and he didn't have a choice. These aren't the subjects of adventures (though they could hypothetically turn into adventures, if the players show interest), they're just things that happen in the background. Things that the characters can interact with. The point is to subtly and quietly introduce each to a collection of experiences and people that combine to question the arbitrary lines they've drawn about what their characters will and will not do. Don't hit them over the head with it (no one like a preachy campaign) but slowly draw them together through a set of shared experiences that leads both to question what divided them in the first place.

Of course, these ideas might be awful for your group, and might not work at all. The important part is that you need to find a way to get them past the stage of "My character is X way, so will always do X thing, because that's what people who are X way do."

I'd also show them that page on roleplaying that Airk linked. Not because they need any particular additional help, just because it's really, really good.