Good way to encourage a new player to RP?

[VelociRapture12]

I've got a new player joining my group and we are a group heavy on the RP'ing. What is a good way to help her develop her style/skills?

[denthor]

Decision points : do you do what?

NPC asking questions or for help

Monsters run up white flag.

[BWR]

Firstly, lead by example. Have everyone else talk in character, use plenty of description and explain why their characters do what they do. Normally you might skip the last bit since everyone else knows you're thinking in character, but making it explicit drives home the point that they are basing their actions on character knowledge and personality, not player or metagame.

Secondly, engage the new player. Don't expect her to immediately take the initiative to do stuff or volunteer information. If she does, great. If not, make sure to give her some prompting. Ask her specifically what her character feels about a situation or intends to do.

Thirdly, something like L5R's 20 questions is a great way to help make a character. It doesn't always work; my characters tend to develop in play with only a vague idea of what they are like when they are first introduced (and what they end up as may be radically different than what they started as). Emphasize in character thinking, but don't make it a straitjacket. If she has to experiment with several aspects of personality to find what she likes, so be it.

[VelociRapture12]

Firstly, lead by example. Have everyone else talk in character, use plenty of description and explain why their characters do what they do. Normally you might skip the last bit since everyone else knows you're thinking in character, but making it explicit drives home the point that they are basing their actions on character knowledge and personality, not player or metagame.

Secondly, engage the new player. Don't expect her to immediately take the initiative to do stuff or volunteer information. If she does, great. If not, make sure to give her some prompting. Ask her specifically what her character feels about a situation or intends to do.

Thirdly, something like L5R's 20 questions is a great way to help make a character. It doesn't always work; my characters tend to develop in play with only a vague idea of what they are like when they are first introduced (and what they end up as may be radically different than what they started as). Emphasize in character thinking, but don't make it a straitjacket. If she has to experiment with several aspects of personality to find what she likes, so be it.

Thank you! This helps a lot.

[Sebastrd]

Set the example.

[RazorChain]

Nipple clamps and a car battery maybe? Or just skip the clamps and use the jumper cables

[KillianHawkeye]

If it's somebody who's shy and hasn't roleplayed before, I would say to encourage her and provide opportunities, but also to be patient with her. Many people, especially shy ones, have under-developed conversational skills (and similarly poor acting skills), or the skills they do have are crippled by nervousness and social anxiety. Being in a new place or with new people or doing a new thing can ruin people's ability to just talk like a normal person. Give people like that the space they need to become comfortable, and they can blossom into great roleplayers someday. I went through the same thing when I first started D&D.

[malloc]

Here's a fun dungeon to get players in a creative mindset for future sessions.

Party finishes a minor arc and naturally goes out drinking. And they have too much to drink. And wake up in a dungeon. At the end of a dungeon. That they completed last night while they were hammered.

Make a room for each player and as they walk out of the dungeon, make that player describe what happened in it last night. Make the rooms specific and wonkey, but vague enough so that players have creative freedom. Whatever the players say happened, happened--within reason. Pick a veteran player to do it first, but don't make the rookie go last. 3rd or 4th out of 5, then they get to do their thing after seeing others do it, and get to reflect on how they could do it next time as the last person goes. That will put them in a creative mindset and they'll be thinking "oh, what cool stuff could happen next time!"