How to get my players to play lawful characters?

[Jon_Dahl]

I just counted that my players have created 42 character (at least over 40) and two, maybe three, of them have been lawful.

How do to get players to play lawful characters? Of course the best approach would be talk to them, but I'd like some tips before I try that.

The few attempts to play lawful characters have not been penalized by me in any way. I have been very lenient. For instance, one player played a paladin and I didn't say anything when his companion stole from a corpse and the paladin didn't react in any way (the man died in a bar fight and his belongings went to his poor widow mother - the paladin become aware of this later on and didn't act).

[eggynack]

I know you mentioned it in your post, but I can't think of a single way in existence that doesn't involve talking to them out of game. What're you supposed to do otherwise? Toss a series of lawful only items at a party member before killing them, that way they're incentivized to roll up a lawful character next time? It all just seems kinda circumlocutious. Why do you want them to play a particular alignment anyway? If there's some kinda particular reason, then I guess it could help out in solving the problem. The solution would still probably involve using your words, but there might be specific words for specific situations.

[hymer]

There are few things more frustrating than being walked all over by your fellow players - which four chaotics tend to do to one lawful. But in the end, if the players want to play chaotic, you have little to do but accept it.
But by all means, bring it up, and ask them their thoughts on it. Something along the lines of "Hey, have you guys noticed you almost always play chaotic characters; ever thought about that?" Maybe they've just never really thought about the fun in being lawful.

[mistformsquirrl]

I can think of one thing that might help:

Buffing the classes that require one be Lawful.

Think about it - Monk, Paladin, Samurai - none of these are particularly strong; buffing them up to be tier 3 material though and you may well see some Lawful characters running around.

That said... people are going to play the alignments they feel fit them best. I play mostly NG characters with a sprinkling of LG for example - I don't play CG much at all, and the various Neutral alignments are as low as I go on the alignment scale - Evil I outright refuse to play. Err... point being, if your players feel like they're best suited to playing non-lawful characters, maybe that's just for the best.

[Sylthia]

Unless they are being Chaotic Stupid and being disruptive to the game, I wouldn't try to convince players to play any alignment in particular. Some people resent being told how to make their character.

[magwaaf]

see you shouldnt force your players into anything. my current character is cg but he is lawful to the point where he doesnt break laws (most of the time). if people come up with character ideas and lawful doesn't fit it shouldn't be forced. i alreadyhave 2 other characters and the alignment fits the idea of the character one is cn and one is ln. you just let them play whatever comes up. if they happen to rollup a lg babysitter then so be it.

[Jon_Dahl]

I'm not forcing anyone.

Maybe the thread title should be this:
"How to gently persuade my players to consider playing lawful characters?"

[ahenobarbi]

Ask players why they don't. Maybe they have Miko-like idea of lawfulness? Maybe they are afraid they will loose control of character if it's lawful? ...

[Rhynn]

I'm not forcing anyone.

Maybe the thread title should be this:
"How to gently persuade my players to consider playing lawful characters?"

Why do you want to? Why do you need to?

The main way to affect what sort of the PCs create is what you tell them about the campaign/world they're going to be playing in.

[Kudaku]

Some people just really enjoy playing a certain type of character. It might not be anything in the way you handle lawful characters, they just enjoy playing something different.

That having been said, I'd just sit down with one of the more level-headed players (maybe on an IM?) and go "So I've noticed you/you guys tend to play chaotic/nonlawful characters a lot more often than lawful ones. Why do you think that is?".

[JusticeZero]

Yeah, just ask. Also, why does it matter? Seriously, if all your players always have fantasies of being gangsters, it's a lot easier to just work with it and start looking for your adventure ideas in a walkthrough of GTA than it is to try to hammer them into playing paladins.