Devacorian
2016-09-25, 01:00 PM
Background: I'm running Kingmaker using the Pathfinder system and Golarion setting. Three of the players are fresh off our last campaign, while our fourth had to be recruited to fill a vacancy. We're all friends from various years back, so there's nobody here who's a stranger to each other's roleplaying styles.
Characters: A half-orc paladin who embodies the idea that "lawful good does not mean lawful nice," a sylph rogue scion of one of the setting's noble houses, a half-elf arcanist with synesthesia and a healthy helping of wanderlust, and an elf slayer who is acting as the woodsman, guide, and general survivalist.
So after our most recent session, the elf slayer's player approached me and informed me that he felt he wasn't really "jiving" with the campaign so far. He's much more into the mechanics than the roleplaying, and I've certainly assured him that this campaign is just as mechanical as it is RP heavy, but he also informed me that he felt like he wasn't really part of the group. His concern is that, because the other PCs new each other before the first session, his character was essentially a disposable hired woodsman. To be fair, I totally get where he's coming from. His decisions have largely been vetoed so far, and while his character has some really interesting motivation, we haven't been able to work that in to the game so far.
My question to you is, how do I make this PC matter to the rest of the group? How can I help the player to showcase that his character isn't just "a woodsman for hire," but the best woodsman in the area? Most importantly, how do I do this in a way that reflects this player's preference of mechanics over roleplaying? As someone who has the opposite preference, I'm having trouble getting there in my own creative vacuum.
Characters: A half-orc paladin who embodies the idea that "lawful good does not mean lawful nice," a sylph rogue scion of one of the setting's noble houses, a half-elf arcanist with synesthesia and a healthy helping of wanderlust, and an elf slayer who is acting as the woodsman, guide, and general survivalist.
So after our most recent session, the elf slayer's player approached me and informed me that he felt he wasn't really "jiving" with the campaign so far. He's much more into the mechanics than the roleplaying, and I've certainly assured him that this campaign is just as mechanical as it is RP heavy, but he also informed me that he felt like he wasn't really part of the group. His concern is that, because the other PCs new each other before the first session, his character was essentially a disposable hired woodsman. To be fair, I totally get where he's coming from. His decisions have largely been vetoed so far, and while his character has some really interesting motivation, we haven't been able to work that in to the game so far.
My question to you is, how do I make this PC matter to the rest of the group? How can I help the player to showcase that his character isn't just "a woodsman for hire," but the best woodsman in the area? Most importantly, how do I do this in a way that reflects this player's preference of mechanics over roleplaying? As someone who has the opposite preference, I'm having trouble getting there in my own creative vacuum.