Why Do YOU Want Players to Roleplay in TTRPGs?

[@BarlowKeep]

BIG thank you to the mighty Keepers of the Lake for supporting what I do on Patreon! Mr. GM Wizard Lizard Irshad You ROCK!

[@SettingFirstRPG]

I like the emphasis on providing options rather than forcing, and your point about the potential downsides of rewarding roleplaying without giving rewards for other forms of player creativity is wise counsel.

[@BarlowKeep]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it! And I even managed to cut it down to 12 minutes this time 😁

[@sleepinggiant4062]

I want them to roleplay because it brings fun to the table. It might be a little uncomfortable, but it makes the player more invested and immersed in the game and their character. I don't require roleplaying, but I do encourage it.

[@BarlowKeep]

There's the thing. It brings fun to the table when you are with a close group of friends that are all into RP and are cool with fooling around in front of each other :) But if you have a new player, like in the story i told, or you have someone that is a bit less talkative ...making them role play might not make them more invested and immersed, but actually do the opposite. I love when people roleplay ofc, i don't want you to think i am against encouraging it...i am just reminding us all that people roleplay in different ways and levels...and sometimes we as GMs still want to boost that to have more fun...but we just risk ruining the fun they already have if we push too hard. Thank you very much for your comment :)

[@sleepinggiant4062]

@@BarlowKeep - like I said, I don't make anyone roleplay, I only encourage it. There is one at our table that will not roleplay what his character says, he always describes it. And that is perfectly fine. He still gets rewarded for behaving in character.

[@Nomzzi]

Good stuff! Luckily for me my group of players are generally pretty comfortable with roleplaying, doing voices and maybe looking a bit silly sometimes :). However, one issue that i often encounter is getting my players to recognize opportunities to roleplay or opportunities to chime in during ongoing scenes. Sometimes a roleplaying scene in our games can look like a videogame conversation where one player interacts with an npc until they are done, and afterwards someone else will go to the npc and do their own interaction when really they could have joined the conversation earlier and had a 3-way conversation. This makes the game the game feel clunky since it takes more time to run 2 separate conversations but also just feels a bit unnatural to me to interact in such a rigid way. Another thing is that they will seldom discuss or comment on things that just happened with each other. Most times when they have a tough encounter or something specific happens related to a players backstory the other players won't interact or talk much about it. For example, one of my players received information and a dark omen from a mysterious crone in an alleyway that told their character some stuff about their purpose in the world. The player and their character was plenty interested, but the other characters simply stood around them as it happened, didn't comment and moved on to the next thing afterwards. The player didn't notice or mind much that the other players didn't engage so there is no conflict as such, but it felt like a missed opportunity for roleplay between the players to me. Anyways, rant over and i hope some of that made sense.

[@BarlowKeep]

Very specific situation, thank you for sharing :) I haven't encountered the exact same issue but had something similar happen. Some ideas from the top of my head: 1. The most straightforward one...If they are cool with it and they are visibly having fun, and you think you can't point this out in a 1-on-1 conversation with each of them (or it is not effective)...maybe the group is just like that...leave them be 2. Play around with isolated roleplaying...like taking one player out of the room for a certain interaction. For example, an NPC calls one player to the side and tells them some sensitive info. Now after that interaction, before you go back into the room you mention to the player that sharing this info might be useful for the whole party, but they can decide not to tell. This way they know that if they don't say anything, you surely won't 3. Roleplay in initiative. I tried this a couple of times with some groups. Good stuff! Slow but good! If all players stand around the NPC and one wants to talk, go into "initiative time". So every turn is around a couple of sentences (you can wing it or set a timer... I had a 1.5 min hourglass)...go around the table and make sure the NPC addresses multiple players...maybe another NPC comes along and joins in! 4. Try other games with them, like one-shots, and see how their behavior changes. I had huge problems with my main group and this kind of fixed them...you can find more in my comment in this video...just scroll down and find it :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKK6gZt7h8SSga8 I also wrote to my first DM and asked for their advice on your problem. If they respond i'll post it here :)

[@BarlowKeep]

Got the answer from my DM: For the first part i think i have a solution As a DM you have 2 Npc-s talking to one PC, and then other PCs will eventually join the conversation when they see their friend outnumbered. It is a bit difficult to pull off as a DM but worth a try. The trick is to make the NPCs different in character, for example a merchant and his bodyguard...so it is very obvious when you switch up the voice of who is talking. For the second part of the problem I think the biggest culprit for that behavior is the disconnected backstory - so when any character development or backstory related thing happens - the other players can just disconnect. In those situations just shake the whole party awake, give them a bad status effect or something...now you'll see how they will become interested into solving the problem. One player said something bad to an old lady/which? Nice, that player and all their friends are now cursed until they figure it out cooperatively. The which continues mocking them through a crow until they find a way to dispel the curse? Now they will actually all listen to what the crow has to say The point is that...the biggest trick into getting people to roleplay together is to make their roleplay affect everyone in the party. Hope you found something useful in these comments and good luck!!!

[@Nomzzi]

@@BarlowKeep Thanks for taking the time and consideration for such a thorough reply! Honestly wasn't expecting one and probably just needed to write down my thoughts somewhere more than anything. Some interesting and practical stuff there that i will be considering when planning future encounters. Especially the stuff about having a player's backstory affect the rest of the party in a more tangible way. Also, i have since brought the topic up with my players in a post-session discussion, not in a confrontational way but just as a topic of discussion, and they luckily agreed and generally want to improve as roleplayers. They hadn't even really noticed or considered the issue i was seeing. Most issues like mine boil down to being able to talk candidly with the players tbh, which i realize can be quite hard for a lot of groups. We are actually planning on playing quite a few different games in the future. Currently finishing up a Heart campaign and then moving on to Mothership. Also looking at stuff like Blade Runner, Symbaroum, Kult and Lancer in the future. Again, thanks to you and your first DM for giving such thoughtful answers to my half ramble, half question.

[@BarlowKeep]

@@Nomzzi Anytime! I am glad you are figuring it out 😁 I sometimes take a lot of time to respond to comments because I really want to foster a culture where we can discuss things like this! And it is awesome that you are playing a bunch of different games, hard to get a group like that! I am waiting for a bunch of books inlmy mail, Heart included 😎 Cheers!