How to get a player to roleplay?

[Aedilred]

I recently started GMing a PbP game (the system is WFRP) - I've GMed before, but never WFRP and never PbP, so although I'm comfortable running a game I'm a little inexperienced when it comes to some of the specific problems that the game throws up.

I have seven players, who seem to have put a varying amount of effort into creating their characters and backgrounds. All of them have RPed before, but in different systems. My main problem is with a particular player who doesn't seem to have grasped the way that the game world, or for that matter, the game system, operates and seems to be trying to play as if it were a straightforward Monty Haul campaign, which it really isn't.

His character has relatively little depth- he's played pretty much the same character in every RP I've seen him in (a stereotypical proto-feminist warrior-woman). His perception of roleplaying seems to be to say nothing until another PC/NPC says something that could be conceivably twisted into something mysoginistic or otherwise insulting, and then threaten to/actually kick them in the balls. Given some of the other characters we have in the party, including a rather arrogant knight, this has obviously led to fun and frolics. Any suggestions from me that he might like to expand his character background a little, so that I could personalise the campaign a bit more, have been ignored.

In an attempt to get him to roleplay I introduced him to a NPC who tried to chat his character up, but he gave responses as short as possible to any questions and didn't ask anything himself, so it was pretty hard work. When I suggested moving the scenario on a bit but indicated that he (and other PCs in ongoing conversations) should feel free to keep chatting to NPCs his response was "oh, so he's got no more questions then". When the PCs came across a ruined carriage and a load of bodies he looted all of them, despite my stating that the other members of the caravan were glaring at him in disgust.

He's obviously designed a character which is fairly competent in combat (I suspect, given a couple of comments he made, that his stats were re-rolled a few times to get good scores in combat stats, although his scores in the more "soft" skills are the worst in the group) but he doesn't seem to have realised that combat should really be a last resort, not just in this campaign but in this whole system (the combat system is very unforgiving and plunging into fights all the time is an excellent way to die). He just seems oblivious to any hints I might drop. I've openly said that "the players" might want to consider actually talking to NPCs rather than hoping that they'll walk up and blurt out everything they know, but he doesn't seem to have picked up on it.

The most frustrating thing is that he's actually a pretty enthusiastic player, always the first to reply to my posts, and so on, so if I could just get him to get a bit more engaged in-character he could be quite a lot of fun. But I've tried everything I can think of, so does anyone else have any suggestions as to how I can get him more involved and RPing, or should I just give up?

[Xenogears]

If he just doesn't want to RP (which seems to be the case) then you can't make him. Or maybe he just really likes the way he designed his character and feels he is RPing it the way he wants to. Maybe he wants to be the oddman out and act in a manner that is incongrous with the system. Who knows. Point is if they don't want to change they wont. By your post he doesn't seem to want to and so if he isn't negatively impacting the other players then just leave him alone I spose.

[Narmoth]

Force him to negotiate with npcs
Let consequences of his lack of roleplaying lead to clear disadvantages for the group
Still, that doesn't always work

[Haven]

Introduce a cute animal or a little orphan or something that inexplicably takes a deeply persistent liking to his character specifically, and then after a while, put it in a situation where something deeply upsets it or even makes it cry and only his character can fix it. This'll get him invested in an aspect of the campaign world and probably open the door to further roleplaying.

[DabblerWizard]

Your player seems to fit into one of three categories: (1) He's unwilling to roleplay in depth, (2) He feels unable to roleplay, (3) He is in fact roleplaying a boring, unhelpful character.

I would not suggest becoming combative about his gaming style. At most, if I were DMing, especially if this were in real life, I would mention to him, gently, in no uncertain terms, that I wouldn't mind seeing more roleplaying out of him.

You could always put him into roleplaying situations where he's forced to develop his character further: you're passing through an area where weapons aren't allowed, so you're all forced to hide your weaponry... if he's got large weapons, or many small ones (like daggers), has he thought about where he'd hide them all? This is a simple example, where he could just say, "oh, I have a large concealing cloak on", but you need to start somewhere.

Reasoning with someone seems to be much better than forcing their hand. Think about how crucial his roleplaying is to your story, to you, and to your other players. Compromise, and either let it go if you don't succeed, or ask him to find another game.

[Thajocoth]

As ye ole expression goes: "You can lead a horse to the table, but you cannot make him RP."

If this player is not a horse, the expression is equally true of humans and aliens (but not of robots).

[Kylarra]

It sounds as though your friend is used to playing his char like videogame characters, not realizing that in P&P you have a bit more freedom outside of the scripted dialogue options.

[sonofzeal]

Honestly, I don't think the problem is that he won't RP. I think the problem is that he wants a hack-n-slash, and you're running something else entirely. And that's fine, sometimes players end up in the wrong group. Talk to him, explain that you think he's looking for a different sort of game than the one you're running, and work something out. This is the internet, there's thousands of games running. Hopefully he can find one that fits him better. Or, you could shift the style of your game (after talking with the other players of course). Or you could start a separate hack-n-slash game and invite him to move his character over.

Now, if he's in your IRL gaming circle, things are harder. Booting him will cause drama, he might not be able to find a better group, and you might not be able to spare the time for a second campaign. Still, talk it over with him, and if he at least professes an interest in shifting gaming styles, make it easy for him - take a break from your normal campaign and play Paranoia for a couple weeks. That'll get him up and moving.

[Godskook]

Actually confront and talk to him, openly and directly? Sounds like you tried everything else, short of renting a blimp.

[valadil]

Have you ever straight up asked the player what he expects out of the game and what he enjoys doing? Some players enjoy acting, some enjoy clobbering. Some people are in it for the math games, and others just like to watch. Not everyone is in it for the roleplaying. If you force them to roleplay, they may not enjoy it.

You can however encourage them to roleplay, just don't force it.

I've actually written a few blog posts on the matter. I'll try to sum them up here, but here are some links: http://gm.sagotsky.com/?p=12, http://gm.sagotsky.com/?p=14, and http://gm.sagotsky.com/?p=16 I don't mean to spam or pimp my own stuff, but its relevant and I'd probably be linking to it right now even if it were in someone else's blog.

I require a written backstory for every game I run. It helps because it gives me some surefire hooks that will work on getting players invovled in any plot. It also helps because before we've even started gaming, the players have put time and effort into character development. Roleplaying is one of those things where you get out of it what you put into it. By making them put in some effort, they get a more rewarding roleplaying experience.

Of course, some players don't get the whole backstory thing. They see it as homework or halfass their way through a page explaining where all their feats came from. You might want to try a more direct approach with them. Ask specific questions. Here's a list that I've seen tossed around for fleshing out characters: http://www.geocities.com/poetess47/100questions.html If that's too much work, cut it down to 25 questions. You'll still learn something about his character.

Another idea that I've wanted to try out (especially in a modern game) is to ask one of these questions at the start of each session. I'd be really curious to see what the characters in my Mage game list as their favorite movies. It will never come up in game, but it will get the players thinking about their characters as more than a bag of stats and dice.

Anyway, once you figure out what he wants, the hard part is done. Write a plot around it. Even if he is the most generic warrior type ever who just wants to kill and gain power, you can still motivate him. The easiest plot that comes to mind is that some artifact weapon turns out to be a long lost heirloom. And it's up to him to track it down. You'll have to make it clear (especially if he's thinking in terms of video games) that this is an optional sidequest. He is NOT fated to complete it for the plot. If he wants the heirloom he'll have to ask around to figure out where it went.

[togapika]

His perception of roleplaying seems to be to say nothing until another PC/NPC says something that could be conceivably twisted into something mysoginistic or otherwise insulting, and then threaten to/actually kick them in the balls.

So have some NPC say something that would set him off, except you have them kick first....
Then while he's lying on the ground give him some sage advice...

[Aedilred]

OK, thanks for the advice. As it happens it looks like the characters are about to get involved with a rather nasty encounter that's going to be much tougher than they're expecting, and hopefully this player will pick up on the flaws in the hack'n'slash approach then. After that this scenario is pretty much over, but some of the players have expressed interest in a sidequest before moving onto the rest of the campaign, so I'll have a word with him then and see what sort of thing he's after. Then hopefully we can come to some sort of compromise.

Thanks for the links, valadil- those are quite interesting. I like the idea of a character questionnaire, too. I have a feeling that the players who'd respond to it would be those who didn't need to, though.