Zaeron
2010-10-05, 11:29 AM
So I recently started a game. I had a lot of new players, and I'm one of the only really experienced people in the game, and I'm DMing. So rather than play 3.5 'by the rules', I handed them a blank character sheet, and handled character creation with questions. My question chart was basically (answers in italics):
You're standing outside a keep. There's only one gate, and there's a big wall. There's a guard standing at the gate, and you need to get inside. How do you do it?
A: I hit the guy over the head, drag him a little ways away, and dress up in his clothes.
B: I use magic to make him my friend!
C: I talk my way past him - convince him that I have a good reason to be there.
Now you're inside the keep, there's another pair of guards. They're standing in front of the room you need to get inside. How do you get past them?
A: I run up to them in my guard suit and tell them that something really bad just happened downstairs, that they need to go check it out, and I'll hold this post!
B: I set 'em on fire. With magic!
C: If I can't talk my way past these guys, can I maybe go around? Like slip out a window and climb around to get inside?
Okay, now you've got the thing, and you need to get out of the keep.
A+C: I climb down, slip out a window.
B: Can I fly? I bet I would fly out.
A: Now you're in a bar. You're drinking, minding your own business, and some guy bumps into you, pushes you from behind. What do you do?
I shove the guy back, and if he tries to fight me, I'll grab a chair and smash it on his head!
B+C: You're in a bar, and two guys come in. They're obviously looking for you. What're you gonna do?
B: I throw some coin at some guys, and ask them to help me. Then we kill them!
C: I bat my eyelashes at some guys, see if I can convince them to help, or maybe start a fight.
C: Okay, you start the fight, but it doesn't work. These guys ignore the brawl and keep coming for you. What now?
C: Okay, I slip out the back door, hide behind a corner, and then jump the first one through the door.
From this, we established that A sounded kind of fighter-y, plus a couple bonus rogue skills I gave him for free. B was our newest player, and least comfortable role playing, but she sounded pretty sorceress-y. C was definitely a rogue.
Once we knew what they were, we filled out their character sheets as we played the first session, with me occasionally ruling stuff like 'no, remember, is that really how your person would solve that? I thought she was more sneaky, would she really pick a fight with three big guys?' - that kind of thing.
What kind of exercises have you guys used?
You're standing outside a keep. There's only one gate, and there's a big wall. There's a guard standing at the gate, and you need to get inside. How do you do it?
A: I hit the guy over the head, drag him a little ways away, and dress up in his clothes.
B: I use magic to make him my friend!
C: I talk my way past him - convince him that I have a good reason to be there.
Now you're inside the keep, there's another pair of guards. They're standing in front of the room you need to get inside. How do you get past them?
A: I run up to them in my guard suit and tell them that something really bad just happened downstairs, that they need to go check it out, and I'll hold this post!
B: I set 'em on fire. With magic!
C: If I can't talk my way past these guys, can I maybe go around? Like slip out a window and climb around to get inside?
Okay, now you've got the thing, and you need to get out of the keep.
A+C: I climb down, slip out a window.
B: Can I fly? I bet I would fly out.
A: Now you're in a bar. You're drinking, minding your own business, and some guy bumps into you, pushes you from behind. What do you do?
I shove the guy back, and if he tries to fight me, I'll grab a chair and smash it on his head!
B+C: You're in a bar, and two guys come in. They're obviously looking for you. What're you gonna do?
B: I throw some coin at some guys, and ask them to help me. Then we kill them!
C: I bat my eyelashes at some guys, see if I can convince them to help, or maybe start a fight.
C: Okay, you start the fight, but it doesn't work. These guys ignore the brawl and keep coming for you. What now?
C: Okay, I slip out the back door, hide behind a corner, and then jump the first one through the door.
From this, we established that A sounded kind of fighter-y, plus a couple bonus rogue skills I gave him for free. B was our newest player, and least comfortable role playing, but she sounded pretty sorceress-y. C was definitely a rogue.
Once we knew what they were, we filled out their character sheets as we played the first session, with me occasionally ruling stuff like 'no, remember, is that really how your person would solve that? I thought she was more sneaky, would she really pick a fight with three big guys?' - that kind of thing.
What kind of exercises have you guys used?