Creating Dialogue-Based Sessions

[Sardonic]

Hello, GitP forum!

I'm a long time player, first and a half time DM-er (I had a campaign for a little that didn't really count), and so far my campaign is going VERY well. My players are enjoying everything I've thrown at them, and I'm setting up some cool plot points that will make appearances later. It's very very popular with my players, and it's simply a blast at the table.

However, my sessions so far have been largely based around combat or killing people or finding people that other people would really like killed, and so forth. Sure, it's working out fine, and D&D is a largely combat-based game, and I feel like all sessions should contain at least a little combat, but I'm wondering -- is there a way to make a session based on dialogue, yet still have it be exciting and intriguing?

Only one of my players has a very well developed backstory, and it's VERY well developed. I won't go into the details, but he has created several people with personalities that he grew up with and was friends with and people he liked and people he hated and people with whom his relationship was complicated, etc., etc. Other people have characters with backstories, but very minimalist stories (I'm from a order of knights that worship and fight for Bahamut, I'm a monk from a non-descript, non-named monastery helping out my wizard friend and the like).

Even if characters don't have very expansive backstories, I still believe they should have characters with distinct, recognizable personalities. I feel the easiest way to make a character think about and discuss his opinions is to get them talking rather than fighting. I know I could make up backstory elements for the less well-developed characters and use those as tools to get the characters really personally invested in the story and probably begin to develop more of a personality, but I'd also like to try getting them talking to NPCs and to each other. So GitP forum -- how do you get players talking for a large part a session and still keep their interest?

[Physics_Rook]

By all means go into details!
The more the merrier!
Worst case scenario is that we're over prepared to help you! :smallsmile:

More to the post though ...

It might be helpful for them to encounter detailed people that don't have any immediate problems for them to solve (not everyone is in need of an adventurer).

In some cases it could simply be a case of player shyness in your game. It's easy for a player to know exactly what they can do mechanically (via the rules), but it can sometimes be harder to see the effects of their non-mechanical decisions.

Try presenting them with some simple non-combat related decisions (it doesn't have to be anything too dramatic), and then later on show what the consequences (good or ill) were.

Perhaps a farmer asks if he should let his daughter go and join the local lord's men-at-arms.

I'm about to leave, so I'll try to finish this thought later, but I hope I've helped in the meantime.

[Sardonic]

Ah, good advice so far -- I'll mention for the sake of future posters a few more details here.

First of all, I've tried to get them to talk before. I sent my players into a town with many NPCs that I had given names, personalities, some of them hobbies, but that was as far as I got with their depth. Point being, any one of them had enough thought behind them that they could hold a conversation without me having to make too much up on the spot. This was in a small town with a social, party-oriented populace. I really set my wizard player up for conversation whenever he wanted, because the denizens of the town had never met a wizard, but had created their own superstitions about them, some grounded in truth, some completely made up. When they learned one player was a wizard, they became very interested in him and actively tried to make conversation with him. Unfortunately, this wizard is truly introverted and truly cocky, thinking these people were not worth talking about. He's also on a very secret, very important mission, and did not want to take the time to talk to them, though really he just had to kill time for about a day in the town to wait for his friend to get over a hangover.

While his character didn't talk, we still learned that he is antisocial to the point that he will actively avoid conversation and turn people away if he does not find them worth talking to, so that was certainly something. However, this problem might not be present soon, as they will be in the tower he grew up and learned his magic from. He will be around many people he already has formed opinions of, including people he respects, people he does not, and people he has rivalries or friendships with. I think this could be a very good opportunity to get him talking, but I'm not sure what I would do with the rest of my players while he's catching up with his old acquaintances, or what I could make the people in the tower talk about with him. This mostly stems from the fact that I don't talk much in real life and am not very good or experienced at it.

Another thought: Is it a good idea to have NPCs bring up past experiences that I haven't explicitly discussed with the wizard PC? While I wouldn't expect my player to have thought up every little anecdote his character had experienced, written them down and given them to me, I would like to make references to things an NPC and this PC had experienced together to show the kind of relationship they have. Thoughts?

(If there are ideas I forgot to clarify from my first post here I will go into greater detail later -- It's time for me to get to bed :smalltongue:)

[Physics_Rook]

First and foremost, it sounds like your players are interested in your game and are enjoying it, so it's cool to hear you're trying to make an already cool campaign even better.

Don't sweat it too much if your players aren't immediately latching onto the dialog hooks, it might take them some time to adjust to it if an emphasis on roleplaying isn't something their expecting.

Something to think about in terms of encouraging roleplaying is why the PCs would ever choose to do so in the first place. What would motivate them to seek out conversation with anybody, PCs or NPCs. Motivation for seeking out combat is pretty straight forward, the players are interested in leveling up after all. What does dialog do?

I wouldn't suggest right away that dialog be treated as combat and have experience awarded or associated with it, but it might not be a bad idea to brainstorm for reasons that would make players want to talk to NPCs more often.

You might be able to encourage it by giving having an NPC tell the players to "ask around town" about something if they want to know more (an abandoned goldmine probably isn't something a mayor would know a whole lot about). The players shouldn't need to have to talk to any NPCs in order to proceed, but their advice might help make previously moderately challenging problem a little easier.

Maybe there's a legend in the town that putting a copper piece at the four wishing wells of the four compass points of the town would bring good luck to people. You could have this manifest in a tangible mechanical benefit for them, or it could be some in-game good fortune of some sort. They get better prices when selling loot, find that a lazy badguy has left all the traps near him disarmed, or maybe a bandit is feeling guilty and gives the PCs all the info they need to take out his nefarious brethren (weaponry, main camp, allies/enemies, guard shifts/routes, future targets, ect ... ).

The idea here would be to avoid punishing the players for not speaking to people (they can still take out the bandits, it'll just be more challenging), and instead try and give them teeny tiny rewards for roleplaying (useful information). Your players might learn that even some of the smaller legends in your world can affect them, and the only way to learn about the smaller stuff is to talk to the NPCs.

The defecting bandit could be some heavy roleplaying all by itself. Maybe the PCs are out relaxing at a tavern, and see the former miscreant drinking himself into a stupor and moping about. With a little prying he might tell them in a half drunk and half reliable way everything about the bandits he used to hang with. Of course taking a drunk former bandit's word might not be the best idea, and another patron who overheard the bandit could point the PCs in the direction of someone who might know more. Captain of the guard? A farmer with revenge on the mind? A fangirl who thinks bandits are dashing and roguish? Chances are whoever it is will have their own little spin to the story.

As for the oft amusing anecdotes of the Wizard's past-times among his peers. I recommend using the NPCs themselves to try and prompt the player into filling in the blanks. Something like "Hey you remember the first time they let you use the equipment in the alchemy lab ... " and the like might help get the player into providing his own account of the story. This could also involve the other players as well, as they start to learn a little more about the Wizard's history. The townsfolk themselves might not be put off by the Wizard's introvertedness, and simply start asking the rest of the party about their Wizard (which could serve to highlight how much or little the party knows about him).

Between the two approaches I've put forth here, one relies pretty heavily on creating a reason for the PCs to want to talk to NPCs, or alternatively making an NPC talk to a PC about something about their character.
1) Quest giver NPCs only know the barest of the details and tell the party to find out more if they want to know what they're up against (it shouldn't be mandatory to finish a quest though, merely helpful). And every NPC they encounter tells them a part of the story, with the end result not being so much the big picture as a Frankenstein's monster of picture glued together by the biased views of the NPCs (which could still be perfectly accurate and reliable).
2) Using the NPCs to prompt the players into filling dialog for more casual conversation. If the NPCs are from the PCs background, you can prompt them to fill in the blank about their character's past. If the NPCs are new to the PCs, they could ask the PCs about the more mundane things in their life (favorite places, legendary creatures they'd like to see at distance, worst taverns to stay at and so on). Even if the PCs don't have an answer, the NPCs can give the PCs a little bit of their own answer.

It sounds like you've already started implementing the second one, but what are your thoughts on the first method I mentioned? Do you think it could help/work with your players? If you do think it'll help feel free to brainstorm some different ideas aloud here.

[Blackjackg]

Hm. Have you asked your players how they feel about dialogue-heavy character development sessions? If they're really just in the game for the strategic combat, there may be no way you can get them excited about sitting around a campfire and dishing about their backstories. Even more troublesome is if some of them are into the idea of really roleplaying and some aren't.

That being said, there are definitely ways to make it less painful. First and foremost, don't penalize them for doing what you want. That is, award them as much (or more) xp for dialoguing as you would for slaying monsters and accomplishing quests. It may be harder to justify giving practical rewards like gold or magic items, but there's no reason you couldn't meta-game a reward system like that. (As a crude example, "If you guys participate fully and everyone has a good time, I'm adding an extra +1 to the next magic weapon you find.")

Just as important, and even more basic: Be clear with your players about what your expectations are, and ask them for feedback. Are they interested in developing their characters' histories and personalities at all? If not, why should they sacrifice their game time to please you? I suspect, even if I had everyone fully on board, I'd want to actually plan ahead and give advance notice if a dialogue-heavy or dialogue-only session was coming. That way players won't show up to the game with their sabers set to "flay," only to be rudely surprised by an hours-long court scene.

Here's an idea right out of left field. I've never tried it, but I might someday. If someone here has done this or tries it out, please let me know how it goes.

Set aside a game day as an "Intermission," or Recess or something like that. Seems most sensible to set it right after the characters finish an important storyline (everyone's relaxed and feeling good, there's a natural pause, and they'll all have something to talk about (i.e., dividing the loot)). Let the players know at the end of the session that the next session won't be adventuring, but a time for character development.

As the DM, you can spring for food that week. After all, your players just beat [Insert Name Here] the Dreadful! They deserve a treat. Provide food, maybe a few charisma-boosting adult beverages, and set the mood for camaraderie. Invite players to reflect on the mission they've accomplished, talk about how they will relax and spend their hard-earned gp, what their next mission will be. Have them talk about themselves or ask questions of one another. If you're feeling particularly bold and everyone's having fun, why not play a drinking game like "I Never" in character? Of course, there won't be much DMing to do, so you can step out of your role as arbiter and nemesis and either be an appreciative audience (this may raise your players' self-consciousness, so do be actively appreciative) or take on an NPC role to get the ball rolling. Be the tavern owner eager to hear the heroic tale. Be the mysterious stranger who knows a little too much about each of them (bonus: story hook!). If you're all comfortable with it, be the attractive young maiden whose affections the characters vie for. The important thing is that everyone is having fun (also important: everyone is earning xp).

The next session, everything's back to normal and you're off on another whirlwind adventure.

[Sardonic]

First of all, thanks for the great responses. You guys have been very helpful so far.

Now let me respond to a few points in no particular order:

I do know for a fact that at least one of my players (the wizard) really enjoys roleplaying. He was the one who mentioned that he would like an opportunity to get a lot of roleplaying into a session. I've played with my other two players for about 3 years, now, and I know they all enjoy roleplaying. Sometimes they need a little push before they'll really get into it, but they do enjoy it. They're not too eager to do any homework to develop their characters' pasts, so I'll have to do a little bit of that for them, but if I set up a session where a lot of roleplaying is happening, they'll start roleplaying too and begin to get the hang of their characters.

Physics Rook, I really like the first idea you suggested, about making a lot of NPCs know a little bit about a quest and having the players ask around, but I feel like that would be handled with a simple Gather Information check. Or rather, we have a set precedent where players use Gather Information to jump right to the NPC(s) that know useful things. I guess I could see tinkering with Gather Information so that the roll affects how many people you run into who have relevant information or something like that.

I guess the issue I'm having is that your suggestion sounds cool, but I picture my characters rolling Gather Information, us jumping to one NPC whom the players ask about some legend. The NPC responds with a brief recounting of what he knows or thinks he knows, and the players move on. Is there some way I could expand these many little conversations to more involve the PCs personalities? If they know they need information and they know this one guy has it, they will all act in very formal, friendly ways to get it unless their personality is extreme enough that they act oddly in a very typical social situation such as asking one guy on the street about a legend (which I feel in D&D is about as common as asking someone for directions). Even if the PCs have interesting personalities, they won't show them or go to deep into their quirks in basic social situations. But I still like the idea at its root and would like to find a way to make that more developmental for the characters rather than tediously having to explain the same situation to six or seven NPCs and to get a small bit of information for it, which is what I see happening. I'm trying to think of a way I could get NPCs to have their own personalities that make the players have to resort to trying different things to get the NPC to say anything, but I'm not sure how well that would work.

I also like the idea of an intermission session. I think I might start with a little bit of that. The PCs have just killed a dragon, made a new friend (a player has just joined them), and one PC has died. Additionally, they're about to travel for a long period of time. So their characters must talk for at least a little bit. Plus they're already around NPCs that know one PC well (they are with knights who are from the same order as the PC who has just joined), and soon they will be around NPCs that know the other PC well (the wizard and his tower mates). I think if I play the part of an NPC or two or three that are very curious about the one PC they don't know and allude to past experiences they've shared with the PC they do know, I could get a lot of character personality established at once, and from two different angles. That could be very, very cool.

[Physics_Rook]

Detailing PC backgrounds.
Encouraging your PCs to give their own characters a little more depth can be a bit more difficult though. It may be that your players don't want to step on your toes about what they can assume about the campaign world. If a player has a cool idea for his character but doesn't know if it'll fit in your world, you may end up never hearing about the idea. See if you can give the players more history about the areas that their characters come from, and ask them what influence it had on their character and what influence their character had on the history of their home.

Your players might see the history of your world as completely static and unchangeable in relation to their background. As such they may not be very forthcoming with ideas on how their characters lived in your world before becoming adventurers. If you're comfortable with adjusting your world to encompass your PCs backgrounds, then the players may become more interested in providing details on what sort of life they used to lead.

On Gather Information checks.
I'd suggest making the Gather Information checks secret and have the reliability of an approached NPC's story dependent on the check result. In this way the check only determines the accuracy of the story, and the PCs themselves would have to actually go and find the people they want to ask instead of jumping straight to the NPC with the most info.

A Gather Info check don't have to mean that an NPC knows more/less information, it could mean that whatever info the NPC does know (local legends, rumors, speculation) turns out to be closer to the truth. It would give the PCs more emphasis on cross-checking their info to make sure they really understand what's going on.

On the side you could give a bonus to their Gather Info checks if they approach someone actually knowledgeable about the subject. You could give similar bonus/penalty modifiers to approached NPCs for being trustworthy, biased, braggarts, enamored, compulsive liers, and so on. The PCs still have to ask about the questions themselves though, and the end result of what they learn from the NPC would still be dialog driven.

Hopefully with this system of Gather Info checks, the PCs would be forced to think a little more about what NPCs they should talk to, who would be knowledgeable, does the NPC have a good memory, do they even speak the same language or would they need a translator, are the NPCs accidentally mixing urban legends? To overcome any of these things, the PCs will need to actually talk to and learn a little bit more about the NPCs.

Intermission sessions.
One of the ideas for an intermission session one of my GMs had was a getting the PCs and NPCs together for a series of competitive games. It was comprised of things like Hide-n-Seek mixed with Tag, Team Capture the flag (maybe one team per PC), and other similar games. There were some simple rules, no magical items (unless you can get away with it), no lethal or sub-dual damage (only grapples, pins, throws, ect), no plane hopping (since it meant leaving the playfield), not all of the PCs can be on the same team (so no all PC team vs all NPC team).

This way the players actually have to care a little about who they choose for their team, and it makes the PCs start thinking about how they can apply their unique abilities to give them and edge in a friendly competition.

What happens if the PCs pick the one NPC that suffers from Narcolepsy? Maybe they choose a guy who can never remember who his teammates are. How do the PCs keep track of who's on their teams (do any of their opponents try to fake them out)? Are the PCs even capable of applying their talents to something other than cracking open skulls? Do the alignments, skills, and class abilities of the PCs reflect how they play in the various games? Maybe the NPCs will comment on how the PCs style of play did or didn't reflect their Alignment, Skills, Abilities. When the game is over, do the PCs talk to the NPCs or the other team at all, do they ask for best two out of three?

What do you think? Do you have any plans for upcoming social events in your campaign (festivals, holidays, the latest theatrical plays, media sensationalism, new fads)?


EDIT:
I just realized that my posts were getting a little long, so I've sectioned off the major points into their own spoilers. Hope this makes it a little easier to read (it's certainly easier on the eyes).

[Sardonic]

Physics Rook, I really like all of your ideas. Seriously, they sound great. I'm definitely going to find a way to have the players use their abilities to compete in games of some sort, but I won't go into detail because I happen to know one of my players visits this forum and this thread, and I don't want to give him any spoilers. I like the different look at Gather Information and I definitely prefer this version to what we've been using. And you make a very good point about backgrounds. Unfortunately, my world is not very fleshed out yet. The points of it they have visited have been very lively and filled with personality, but the world has a whole doesn't really have a history and just recently got a map of all the continents (though the nations have yet to be divided). Great advice, and I will definitely take it to heart. Thanks so much for the help :smallbiggrin:

[Physics_Rook]

Physics Rook, I really like all of your ideas. Seriously, they sound great. I'm definitely going to find a way to have the players use their abilities to compete in games of some sort, but I won't go into detail because I happen to know one of my players visits this forum and this thread, and I don't want to give him any spoilers. I like the different look at Gather Information and I definitely prefer this version to what we've been using. And you make a very good point about backgrounds. Unfortunately, my world is not very fleshed out yet. The points of it they have visited have been very lively and filled with personality, but the world has a whole doesn't really have a history and just recently got a map of all the continents (though the nations have yet to be divided). Great advice, and I will definitely take it to heart. Thanks so much for the help :smallbiggrin:

It's always nice to know I've been more help than hindrance. :smallsmile:

If your world hasn't been completely finished yet then you do have a good opportunity to ask your players to help detail the areas their PCs came from. If they get out of hand when building their background you can always ask them to tone it down, though I'd wait till they gave a full backstory before asking them to tweak anything.

As Blackjackg mentioned, it's probably a very good idea to talk to the players about the subtle change-up from an emphasis on combat to be more balanced with roleplaying. A good place to let them know is probably the opening of the intermission session, so they'll know what to expect.

If you are going for a session of sportlike games, I'd recommend taking a look at some of the major festivals and fairs across the world. Lots of them have competitions and stuff, plus a lot of extra miscellaneous activities to do.

And most importantly, let us know how it all goes! :smallbiggrin:
A lot of times we try to help people and never find out if our advice actually worked or not, so remember to give us a shout after your next session.

Maybe you could even make a new thread about examples of intermission sessions where the GM tries to get their players to roleplay more! :smallbiggrin: