DM Help

[questionmark693]

So I am a new DM, only DM'ed a couple groups. My first group, which just died due to players leaving, has decided we want to start a new campaign, which is fine. But in my lack of experience as a DM, I kind of didn't encourage role playing, because my grasp of the rules wasn't very awesome yet, so everything turned into a rules based thing, instead of a roleplaying thing, snd now my players (and myself) are kind of in that rut, so I want some help trying to break us out of it. Any and all suggestions are welcome. For info, none of the players have a grasp of the rules thats strong enough to have me even a little bit concerned about the game being broken-our fighter showed up the druid in combat XP and we are all close friends. Also, I do intend to do the obvious, and talk to them before the campaign actually starts, I'm just looking for things I can do in game to encourage a change.

TL;DR
My players are more focused on tactics and rules than actually roleplaying, do you have any suggestions?

[Barsoom]

Encourage each player to flesh out some NPCs in their background (parents, an old mentor, maybe even a rival). Have them encounter those NPCs.

[Devronq]

Are you having fun playing? Then don't sweat it nothings going wrong. It takes a while to get used to all the rules and how YOU want to play the game. Lots of people like the smash in the door style of play is similar to what you guys are doing. What do you feel is the problem and why?

[questionmark693]

I lke the NPC idea, thanks :)

I guess my issue is that we're playing a role-playing game, and there's a distinct lack of actual role-playing taking place. I think they're having fun, but I know I would have more fun (and suspect they would also) if the characters would come to life, and stop being numbers on a paper. For example, all the party wizard ever did was take his share of loot, and cast spells. I don't recall him ever uttering a single in character word.

[NevinPL]

My players are more focused on tactics and rules than actually roleplaying, do you have any suggestions?
Talk with your players about it.
Give prizes for role playing.
Show them how it's done.
Change players.

[Harlot]

in my experience, if you make scenarios that encourage roleplaying, that is what they'll do: Make encounters where they have to talk to people, investigate, figure something out, using diplomacy, bluff, persuasion etc. Look at the skill list and try to set op scenarios around non-physical skills.

Make it necessary for them to interact with the people around them - 'kick in the door' style playing doesn't encourage roleplaying. You hardly talk to
monsters nor haggle with traps.

If they haven't already, make the players write down 10 keywords each regarding their characters personality (for the fighter it could be: Amiable, loyal, dull, slow, unsuspecting, protective, unrefined, confident, brave, clueless). Make sure it fit with their stats. Ask them (nicely) to consider this persona when they interact with NPC's. This clues them in as to how to play their role, and makes it easier for you as a DM to play up to that, when YOU roleplay the NPC's.

I disencourage the whole 'XP for roleplaying' thing, sometimes suggested in threads like this. It's subjective and arbitrary. Don't go there.

When you get to know the rules better, there'll be more time for roleplaying. Don't worry.
And good luck!

[XionUnborn01]

One thing you could do to help them create characters is have the campaign take place in a city for a while. That way they have to interact with other people to do whatever they need to do.

Also, seconding backstories. If your players put time into a backstory for their PC, they have a better connection.

Good luck with whatever you choose!

Edit: Page 129 of the Player's Handbook 2 has a whole section on making your character's personality and such. I'd recommend having your players look at that.

[Novawurmson]

Something I've been working with my players on is fleshing out their characters in several dimensions: Appearance, Motivation, Background, Connections, and Personality. I sent them a message about it, which I'll reproduce below.

Appearance - A few things that make this character distinct visually. You don't have to know what every piece of clothing on your character looks like or the position of every freckle - just the things that make them stand out. Eye color can be less important than if their eyes are always half-closed in a bored expression or whether they flicker around and never meet your eyes. Scars, tattoos, blemishes, make-up, jewelry, brands, posture, hair style (or lack thereof), etc. are all things to consider. Again, you don't need to think of all these things - just 1-3 things that best describe the character or are most interesting.

Motivation - What your character wants to do. Try to think short term, medium term, and long term, if possible. Short term for most of you will probably be something to do with the prison, whether escape, trying to get a retrial, the pecking order within the prison, etc. Medium-term might be concerned with something you were trying to do before you were imprisoned, while long-term goals are major life events that your character may or may not reach before the end of the campaign.

Besides goals, think about what motivates your character. Power? Self-improvement? Money? Helping others? Family? Honor? Family honor? Eldritch forces? Love? Friendship? Romance? Religion? Revenge? Try to identify 1-2 of the most important things that drive your character.

Background - Probably the thing our group is best at already, so I won't dwell on it. Try to think of 1-2 major life events that have shaped your character and/or put them in their current situation.

Connections - A few important people or groups your character has interacted with. These could be family members, friends, enemies, rivals, business connections, romantic connections, colleagues, mentors, students, etc. Aim for 2-3, at least one negative connection (someone who doesn't like your character or your character doesn't like) and one positive connection (a potential ally or benefactor).

Personality - For NPCs, this is usually a few written lines of dialogue. This can include things like habits, likes/dislikes, opinions, as well as general personality traits like honesty, perfectionism, patience, fairness, independence, rudeness, cowardice, bossiness, vulgarity, arrogance, and the like. Again, even just thinking of 1-3 words that describe your character's personality and a line of dialogue is plenty to go on.

Besides helping your PCs find their characters, there are plenty of things you can do as a DM to encourage role play, many of which have already been stated. I'll try to talk out a couple of them:

-NevinPL brought up giving rewards for role play; make sure to give players equivalent experience and material rewards whether they solve an issue through fighting or roleplay. A stereotypical encounter would be a sphinx: If they talk their way through a riddle, give them experience as if they defeated the sphinx in combat, and let them find some treasure hidden later on. Another way is to give small bonuses to checks for good roleplaying (the obvious would be things like bluff, intimidate, and diplomacy).

-Harlot brings up another good point about making encounters that can't be solved with fighting. Try to give your players missions where they need to sneak around, talk to people, research, and plan. Even a simple mission like "There's a dragon in them hills, go kill it" can open up roleplay opportunities. First, try to get them to roleplay with the people in the village (have them talk to the blacksmith, the innkeeper, the local hedge wizard, etc.). Then what happens if they fight their way past guardians and traps...and there's no dragon? Did it die? Did it leave? Is it masquerading as one of the townspeople? Now they need to roleplay to find a solution to the adventure.