How I get them to roleplay. [Archive] - Wizards Community

How I get them to roleplay. [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Sehkemet
02-12-06, 05:27 PM I will be DMing a group of friends who are new to roleplaying and was trying to think of things I can do to help them learn to roleplay (not ROLLplay) their characters. In the past I've played D&D, as a player, with one of them before and the group tended to load up on pure attack magic and choose the largest, most destructive weapons to wield. That kind of play can be really fun, but we've all decided that it would be more interesting and fun to play a game full of crazy plot twists, detailed story lines, memorable and recurring NPCs, and just generally play out a campaign as if it were a great adventure movie rather than a hack and slash video game. Now, it helps that my players actually want to develop their character's persona, but I thought of another incentive to get them thinking about their character and how he/she fits into the game world. I thought I'd post this here for any other DMs that think it's a good idea.

What I want to do is reward players with XP for creating a backstory and participating in the flow of the game. When my players roll up characters they will also have to write a very short little bio. Just a few sentances. This will get them thinking about the character from the start. Then I'll give the player maybe 1 XP per word in the bio. From then on, characters can't advance untill the bio is updated. Maybe 300 words at level 3 or else they can't advance. 600 at level 6, and so on. The XP would then be distributed over the course of a few sessions so that they don't get it in one big chunk.

I plan on running a lower combat game so this should help make up for some of the missing XP. It's similar to handing out roleplaying awards, but my players think this will be a good idea and we all like the idea of having that kind of background for the characters, as well as myself, to draw upon. They can use it to realistically engage with the world I present, and I can use it to create the world I present to them.

And, of course, there is nothing to prevent a player from creating an abusive and dysfunctional backstory for a character that likes to blast the crap out of things with offensive magic or smash heads with the largest weapons he can find.

:D
The Necromancer King
02-12-06, 06:22 PM I recall that sometime earlier on these boards, I brought up the idea of expanding upon the use of Action Points so that they more clearly resembled a Dramatic Editing system. Action Points could be used for all sorts of craziness, including a beneficial plot twist, getting up from a fatal blow (after combat was all done, and with only one hit point, of course), and Doing the Whacky (running up walls, flipping over badguys; general Jackie Chanism). Doing this makes Action Points a very valuable resource; too valuable to be as limited as it is.

So if you want to encourage role-playing, let your players know that by interacting with the world, they'll be getting more Action Points. Have a romantic moment with your Best Girl at port? Cool, take an Action Point. Some good in-character dialogue with another party member (not the DM)? Also good, take an Action Point. Come up with a great plan to take out the bad guy without actually killing her? Action Point again. By staying in character and building dramatic scenes, your characters are better able to control the world in which they live.

It's fair, it's dynamic, and it's fun.
Nialo
02-12-06, 06:26 PM What I want to do is reward players with XP for creating a backstory and participating in the flow of the game. When my players roll up characters they will also have to write a very short little bio. Just a few sentances. This will get them thinking about the character from the start. Then I'll give the player maybe 1 XP per word in the bio. From then on, characters can't advance untill the bio is updated. Maybe 300 words at level 3 or else they can't advance. 600 at level 6, and so on. The XP would then be distributed over the course of a few sessions so that they don't get it in one big chunk.

The biography idea is terrible. You can't evaluate character depth based on how long winded of a writer the player is. A player can write page upon page about the most intricate details of their character's life, yet the character could be one dimensional and dull, or a fairly deep character could be summarized in a few paragraphs.

And, of course, there is nothing to prevent a player from creating an abusive and dysfunctional backstory for a character that likes to blast the crap out of things with offensive magic or smash heads with the largest weapons he can find.

There's nothing wrong with loading up on offensive magic and weapons if the situation calls for it. Although a more battle ready character, as you'd described, probably wouldn't fare well in your campaign if it's low combat. So you have nothing to worry about.
johnkretzer
02-12-06, 06:57 PM With a baseball bat. Just kidding.

They are serval way to encourage rp. One don't allow anyone to take out then a single d20 or better start the game session without them having there character sheets in front of them and only let them get it if they need them.
Take the focus off the character sheet and dice in other words.
Sir Elton
02-12-06, 07:54 PM Join my game. :)
MojoMonkeyMan
02-12-06, 08:37 PM First, this should work well because they want to role-play. However, you have a lot more work to do. Creating memorable NPC's takes time and effort. Have lots of names and a notebook handy to keep track of people they encounter. Have names of all they stores where they shop. Have adventures while shopping that involve grapple skills and non-lethal damage. Make sure they can't wear their armor everywhere they go or even carry weapons larger that a dagger. Have them spend money of fancy clothes (glammer weave!).

Role-playing does not just have to involve talking encounters, but it also involves the use of complex skills. Puzzle solving is good. Cryptic messages are good. Prophecies even. Maybe, have them discover a library of sentient books. There are thousands of potential encounters here.

Instead of just giving XP for rewards, you can give out skills points (on rare occasions). For example, a Wizard PC spends enormous effort establishing a reputation in town as someone special, don't make him use his 2 to 4 skill points to improve Gather Information or Knowledge Local when he needs them for Concentration or Spellcraft, reward him with these or give him a relevant skill based feat for free when he levels up.

Ultimately, they will, if they are good players, respond to your prompting. You must be very well prepared. Pick up copies of Dungeon magazine. In the back are all kind of charts of interesting people, shops, places, etc. I have found this to be a great help.

In closing - This thread would probably be more appropriate on the general DnD boards, but I will Eberron it up right now...

Eberron is a great world for establishing a role-playing environment, especially one with intrigue and political machinations. Make use of the variety of races to create unique and unexpected interactions. Have them talk to Medusas and trolls, demons and faeries. Offer opportunites for non-violent resolution to complex situations.
johnkretzer
02-12-06, 09:38 PM Also a very important step give them full Exp. for roleplaying around a encounter. You would be amazed by the number of GMs who don't.
Adhevan
02-12-06, 10:17 PM You don't have to avoid combat to encourage roleplaying. You can roleplay during combat. In action movies, combatants are often talkative. The duel between Westley and Inigo in Princess Bride springs immediately to mind. You don't have to separate the game into roleplaying and rollplaying sections. You can easily do both at the same time. Besides, the last time I checked, a sense motive roll did involve rolling dice. So the line is already a little blurred.

A character being optimized for combat doesn't prevent good roleplaying. Just because he's good at using his weapons, doesn't mean he lacks a personality. And the opposite is true, as well. Having a poorly designed character doesn't immediately grant someone great abilities of characterization. For good roleplaying the characters need personalities and goals. I'm not sure having them write bios is the best way to do this. I've held admin positions on roleplaying MUDs in the past and had to read and approve/disapprove character backgrounds. I've seen very terse bios from players who were excellent roleplayers, and I have seen mind-numbingly long backgrounds from players who couldn't interact with an NPC if led by the nose and told how.

If they do write bios, the most important part, in my opinion, is that the add a section onto the end that tells what they want to do next and long term. Even if the character's longterm goal is just to wander around having fun, it gives more insight into his character than which nation he is from.
Commissar
02-12-06, 10:32 PM My solution is just to give ad hoc XP awards, based primarily on the quality of the roleplaying. I just avoid the challenge-based system altogether.

This way, the players never feel like they need to engage in any combat or attempt any traps for the XP. So if they do get in a fight or explore a tomb or whatever, it is for character or story reasons.
Straylight
02-13-06, 04:31 AM The problem with ad hoc awards for many DMs, I think is knowing when and how much to give. I know I have difficulty keeping my parties within their proper experience curve when I'm dealing with a lot of encounters or moments that don't have clearly defined CRs and XP awards attached to them -I tend to lowball it somewhat and award characters less than they should be getting in the long run, particularly in strethes of campaign that doesn't have a lot of clear CRs.

A solution that I'm toying with trying out is something loosely based on the Karma system from Shadowrun. In short, Karma (experience) is awarded to characters in Shadowrun at the end of every session, and is handed out for several reasons. Exactly how much experience a "karma point" is worth, however, I haven't figured out. Balancing that across the level spread is proving to be quite difficult -100 XP per point is huge at first level, but barely worth making note of later on, when you consider that most characters will rack up 3-6 points per session.

Points are handed out for acting above and beyond the call of duty in the following categories:

Good Roleplaying: Mostly staying in-character is worth one point, exceptional roleplay is worth 2. [Note: this refers to social scenes and other "talking" roleplay scenes as well as in-character banter between characters, verbal fencing with enemies, etc.]

Guts: Characters who are particularly brave should get a point for heroics (not stupidity, though. survival is reward enough for that).

Smarts: Clever strategies, puzzle solving, pulling off a good scam, etc get 1 point.

Motivation: Characters who drive the story forward or who motivate themselves and others should get 1 point. Characters who start plot lines without waiting for the DM to do it for them are particularly deserving.

Right place/Right time: Simply put, a character who is in the right place with the right skills and equipment to do the necessary job should get 1 point. The character should not have planned the event in advance or known it was coming.

Surprise: A surprising and effective strategy should be worth a point to the player who comes up with it. Foiling the DM's well-laid plans should be rewarded.

...and my favorite...

Humor and drama: A player who paralyzes the entire group with laughter while acting in-character should get a point. We're here for the fun of it, right? Likewise, a player acting in-character who comes up with a particularly good piece or high drama (or melodrama) deserves a point.

I think perhaps scaling the value of a karma point may work, or giving the karma points a value that does not decrease with level (say... Action Points), but it might by an idea worth a shot.

I've found in my experience with Shadowrun 3 (and now SR4) that players who know that the sorts of actions above will be rewarded will actively seek out these rewards whenever possible, encouraging good roleplay, heroics, adaptability, smart playing and general entertainment, which can improve the game as a whole. FASA hit on a good system here, and I think we can make it work for us in Eberron as well. If I have the inclination, I may start up another thread later to expand on this idea some. Anyone interested?
Cloud Divider
02-13-06, 12:18 PM I recall that sometime earlier on these boards, I brought up the idea of expanding upon the use of Action Points so that they more clearly resembled a Dramatic Editing system. Action Points could be used for all sorts of craziness, including a beneficial plot twist, getting up from a fatal blow (after combat was all done, and with only one hit point, of course), and Doing the Whacky (running up walls, flipping over badguys; general Jackie Chanism). Doing this makes Action Points a very valuable resource; too valuable to be as limited as it is.
That may have been one of my threads. Or not, because it also adds a few features.

I'd been using AP as "Dramatic Editing" dice from the start of my campaign back last January-ish. It's worked quite well, IMO.

One advantage to using AP as the reward (rather than XP) is that it's a self-perpetuating cycle. Doing cool stuff earns you AP. Spending AP lets you do more cool stuff.

In my campaign thus far, I think we've had more AP spent on the "Succeed with Complications" than the normal activities (rerolled dice). It's added a lot of positive fun value to the campaign.

On a vaguely related noted, I'd considered adding a new Character Disadvantage type rule, where you get AP as a reward for your Disadvantage coming up in play...

That said, I do foresee one possible problem - Feats (or Special Abilities) that are fueled with AP. We haven't had an active artificer for awhile, nor does anyone yet have one of the AP-burning Feats. Ordinarily the limited AP pool PC's get is a good limiter on how often those (fairly impressive) AP-burning Feats can be used. If you start handing out AP like candy, it means you may see those feats being used "too often." I think the long-term solution may be to split up Dramatic Editing points and Action Points into separate pools. AP become the strict mechanical reroll system/Feat/SA fuel they are now; Dramatic Editing handles the rest.

So if you want to encourage role-playing, let your players know that by interacting with the world, they'll be getting more Action Points. Have a romantic moment with your Best Girl at port? Cool, take an Action Point. Some good in-character dialogue with another party member (not the DM)? Also good, take an Action Point. Come up with a great plan to take out the bad guy without actually killing her? Action Point again. By staying in character and building dramatic scenes, your characters are better able to control the world in which they live.

Good advice here. Plus, you get the added benefit where the reward for the roleplaying adds to a better overall experience for everyone (the RP award results in more RP). Were you to use solely XP rewards, you'd have the problematic (IMHO) situation where you're giving mechanical rewards (the RPers progress faster). Furthermore, the guys who aren't RP are getting actively penalized - which they'd be quick to blame on their personal inability adversely affecting their character...

It's fair, it's dynamic, and it's fun.
Definite agreement with you on that one.
Commissar
02-13-06, 12:36 PM The problem with ad hoc awards for many DMs, I think is knowing when and how much to give. I know I have difficulty keeping my parties within their proper experience curve when I'm dealing with a lot of encounters or moments that don't have clearly defined CRs and XP awards attached to them -I tend to lowball it somewhat and award characters less than they should be getting in the long run, particularly in strethes of campaign that doesn't have a lot of clear CRs.

That's the down side. But the up side is that you can control the rate of advancement more precisely, and (most importantly IMHO) the players are liberated from the notion that there is a certain "optimal" way to play.

I like to think of it like the difference between two of my favorite computer games: Deus Ex 1 and Deus Ex 2. I think that 2 was better than 1 because 2 didn't have experience points... in 1 you had to search every nook and cranny, explore the whole world and solve every subplot to get all the XP. In 2 you don't have to worry about any of that, but there's still a complicated story - so you can engage with the story and joint whatever faction you want, etc. without looking over you shoulder to be sure that you made all the choices the game designers wanted you to make.

As a DM, I don't think it's my job to make the players make the choices I want them to make - I think it's my job to represent and adjudicate the processes that arise from their choices (ideally).

I bring it up because of things like the "Guts award" you mentioned. What if one of the player's characters is a coward, and he does a really good job role playing him to be a coward? Should I penalize him? Myself, I'm inclined to reward him... as long as the character works within the theme of the game (i.e. I don't mean rewarding him because he is a coward, but because he is playing an entertaining character that is contributing to everybody's fun at the tabe).
(Psi)SeveredHead
02-13-06, 12:49 PM You might want to keep those backstories short, especially if they're 1st-level characters. Long backstories lead to divergent agendas. If your players come to the game and one wants to look for his long-lost sister and the other wants to start a new business and the third wants to smackdown the Boromars, you're going to have a hard time getting them to get on with the adventure.
Sehkemet
02-13-06, 12:49 PM Thanks for all the comments/critique/suggestions. I really like some of the other ideas posted here, especially about the use of Action Points. I realize ad hoc XP awards are kind of hard to judge sometimes (I've played and DMed for 6 years), but I really want to encourage the players to feel they are part of political intrigue and Indiana Jones style exploration and adventure rather than thinking "Hey, let's go kill all the Orcs we can find." I also do not allow the PCs to wander freely through Sharn fully armed and armoured unless they want to be treated like terrorists or are already something of a celebrity and therefore left alone by the watch. Spellcasters need rare and/or expensive reagents. Stuff like that.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Sehkemet 02-12-06, 05:27 PM	I will be DMing a group of friends who are new to roleplaying and was trying to think of things I can do to help them learn to roleplay (not ROLLplay) their characters. In the past I've played D&D, as a player, with one of them before and the group tended to load up on pure attack magic and choose the largest, most destructive weapons to wield. That kind of play can be really fun, but we've all decided that it would be more interesting and fun to play a game full of crazy plot twists, detailed story lines, memorable and recurring NPCs, and just generally play out a campaign as if it were a great adventure movie rather than a hack and slash video game. Now, it helps that my players actually want to develop their character's persona, but I thought of another incentive to get them thinking about their character and how he/she fits into the game world. I thought I'd post this here for any other DMs that think it's a good idea. What I want to do is reward players with XP for creating a backstory and participating in the flow of the game. When my players roll up characters they will also have to write a very short little bio. Just a few sentances. This will get them thinking about the character from the start. Then I'll give the player maybe 1 XP per word in the bio. From then on, characters can't advance untill the bio is updated. Maybe 300 words at level 3 or else they can't advance. 600 at level 6, and so on. The XP would then be distributed over the course of a few sessions so that they don't get it in one big chunk. I plan on running a lower combat game so this should help make up for some of the missing XP. It's similar to handing out roleplaying awards, but my players think this will be a good idea and we all like the idea of having that kind of background for the characters, as well as myself, to draw upon. They can use it to realistically engage with the world I present, and I can use it to create the world I present to them. And, of course, there is nothing to prevent a player from creating an abusive and dysfunctional backstory for a character that likes to blast the crap out of things with offensive magic or smash heads with the largest weapons he can find. :D
The Necromancer King 02-12-06, 06:22 PM	I recall that sometime earlier on these boards, I brought up the idea of expanding upon the use of Action Points so that they more clearly resembled a Dramatic Editing system. Action Points could be used for all sorts of craziness, including a beneficial plot twist, getting up from a fatal blow (after combat was all done, and with only one hit point, of course), and Doing the Whacky (running up walls, flipping over badguys; general Jackie Chanism). Doing this makes Action Points a very valuable resource; too valuable to be as limited as it is. So if you want to encourage role-playing, let your players know that by interacting with the world, they'll be getting more Action Points. Have a romantic moment with your Best Girl at port? Cool, take an Action Point. Some good in-character dialogue with another party member (not the DM)? Also good, take an Action Point. Come up with a great plan to take out the bad guy without actually killing her? Action Point again. By staying in character and building dramatic scenes, your characters are better able to control the world in which they live. It's fair, it's dynamic, and it's fun.
Nialo 02-12-06, 06:26 PM	What I want to do is reward players with XP for creating a backstory and participating in the flow of the game. When my players roll up characters they will also have to write a very short little bio. Just a few sentances. This will get them thinking about the character from the start. Then I'll give the player maybe 1 XP per word in the bio. From then on, characters can't advance untill the bio is updated. Maybe 300 words at level 3 or else they can't advance. 600 at level 6, and so on. The XP would then be distributed over the course of a few sessions so that they don't get it in one big chunk. The biography idea is terrible. You can't evaluate character depth based on how long winded of a writer the player is. A player can write page upon page about the most intricate details of their character's life, yet the character could be one dimensional and dull, or a fairly deep character could be summarized in a few paragraphs. And, of course, there is nothing to prevent a player from creating an abusive and dysfunctional backstory for a character that likes to blast the crap out of things with offensive magic or smash heads with the largest weapons he can find. There's nothing wrong with loading up on offensive magic and weapons if the situation calls for it. Although a more battle ready character, as you'd described, probably wouldn't fare well in your campaign if it's low combat. So you have nothing to worry about.
johnkretzer 02-12-06, 06:57 PM	With a baseball bat. Just kidding. They are serval way to encourage rp. One don't allow anyone to take out then a single d20 or better start the game session without them having there character sheets in front of them and only let them get it if they need them. Take the focus off the character sheet and dice in other words.
Sir Elton 02-12-06, 07:54 PM	Join my game. :)
MojoMonkeyMan 02-12-06, 08:37 PM	First, this should work well because they want to role-play. However, you have a lot more work to do. Creating memorable NPC's takes time and effort. Have lots of names and a notebook handy to keep track of people they encounter. Have names of all they stores where they shop. Have adventures while shopping that involve grapple skills and non-lethal damage. Make sure they can't wear their armor everywhere they go or even carry weapons larger that a dagger. Have them spend money of fancy clothes (glammer weave!). Role-playing does not just have to involve talking encounters, but it also involves the use of complex skills. Puzzle solving is good. Cryptic messages are good. Prophecies even. Maybe, have them discover a library of sentient books. There are thousands of potential encounters here. Instead of just giving XP for rewards, you can give out skills points (on rare occasions). For example, a Wizard PC spends enormous effort establishing a reputation in town as someone special, don't make him use his 2 to 4 skill points to improve Gather Information or Knowledge Local when he needs them for Concentration or Spellcraft, reward him with these or give him a relevant skill based feat for free when he levels up. Ultimately, they will, if they are good players, respond to your prompting. You must be very well prepared. Pick up copies of Dungeon magazine. In the back are all kind of charts of interesting people, shops, places, etc. I have found this to be a great help. In closing - This thread would probably be more appropriate on the general DnD boards, but I will Eberron it up right now... Eberron is a great world for establishing a role-playing environment, especially one with intrigue and political machinations. Make use of the variety of races to create unique and unexpected interactions. Have them talk to Medusas and trolls, demons and faeries. Offer opportunites for non-violent resolution to complex situations.
johnkretzer 02-12-06, 09:38 PM	Also a very important step give them full Exp. for roleplaying around a encounter. You would be amazed by the number of GMs who don't.
Adhevan 02-12-06, 10:17 PM	You don't have to avoid combat to encourage roleplaying. You can roleplay during combat. In action movies, combatants are often talkative. The duel between Westley and Inigo in Princess Bride springs immediately to mind. You don't have to separate the game into roleplaying and rollplaying sections. You can easily do both at the same time. Besides, the last time I checked, a sense motive roll did involve rolling dice. So the line is already a little blurred. A character being optimized for combat doesn't prevent good roleplaying. Just because he's good at using his weapons, doesn't mean he lacks a personality. And the opposite is true, as well. Having a poorly designed character doesn't immediately grant someone great abilities of characterization. For good roleplaying the characters need personalities and goals. I'm not sure having them write bios is the best way to do this. I've held admin positions on roleplaying MUDs in the past and had to read and approve/disapprove character backgrounds. I've seen very terse bios from players who were excellent roleplayers, and I have seen mind-numbingly long backgrounds from players who couldn't interact with an NPC if led by the nose and told how. If they do write bios, the most important part, in my opinion, is that the add a section onto the end that tells what they want to do next and long term. Even if the character's longterm goal is just to wander around having fun, it gives more insight into his character than which nation he is from.
Commissar 02-12-06, 10:32 PM	My solution is just to give ad hoc XP awards, based primarily on the quality of the roleplaying. I just avoid the challenge-based system altogether. This way, the players never feel like they need to engage in any combat or attempt any traps for the XP. So if they do get in a fight or explore a tomb or whatever, it is for character or story reasons.
Straylight 02-13-06, 04:31 AM	The problem with ad hoc awards for many DMs, I think is knowing when and how much to give. I know I have difficulty keeping my parties within their proper experience curve when I'm dealing with a lot of encounters or moments that don't have clearly defined CRs and XP awards attached to them -I tend to lowball it somewhat and award characters less than they should be getting in the long run, particularly in strethes of campaign that doesn't have a lot of clear CRs. A solution that I'm toying with trying out is something loosely based on the Karma system from Shadowrun. In short, Karma (experience) is awarded to characters in Shadowrun at the end of every session, and is handed out for several reasons. Exactly how much experience a "karma point" is worth, however, I haven't figured out. Balancing that across the level spread is proving to be quite difficult -100 XP per point is huge at first level, but barely worth making note of later on, when you consider that most characters will rack up 3-6 points per session. Points are handed out for acting above and beyond the call of duty in the following categories: Good Roleplaying: Mostly staying in-character is worth one point, exceptional roleplay is worth 2. [Note: this refers to social scenes and other "talking" roleplay scenes as well as in-character banter between characters, verbal fencing with enemies, etc.] Guts: Characters who are particularly brave should get a point for heroics (not stupidity, though. survival is reward enough for that). Smarts: Clever strategies, puzzle solving, pulling off a good scam, etc get 1 point. Motivation: Characters who drive the story forward or who motivate themselves and others should get 1 point. Characters who start plot lines without waiting for the DM to do it for them are particularly deserving. Right place/Right time: Simply put, a character who is in the right place with the right skills and equipment to do the necessary job should get 1 point. The character should not have planned the event in advance or known it was coming. Surprise: A surprising and effective strategy should be worth a point to the player who comes up with it. Foiling the DM's well-laid plans should be rewarded. ...and my favorite... Humor and drama: A player who paralyzes the entire group with laughter while acting in-character should get a point. We're here for the fun of it, right? Likewise, a player acting in-character who comes up with a particularly good piece or high drama (or melodrama) deserves a point. I think perhaps scaling the value of a karma point may work, or giving the karma points a value that does not decrease with level (say... Action Points), but it might by an idea worth a shot. I've found in my experience with Shadowrun 3 (and now SR4) that players who know that the sorts of actions above will be rewarded will actively seek out these rewards whenever possible, encouraging good roleplay, heroics, adaptability, smart playing and general entertainment, which can improve the game as a whole. FASA hit on a good system here, and I think we can make it work for us in Eberron as well. If I have the inclination, I may start up another thread later to expand on this idea some. Anyone interested?
Cloud Divider 02-13-06, 12:18 PM	I recall that sometime earlier on these boards, I brought up the idea of expanding upon the use of Action Points so that they more clearly resembled a Dramatic Editing system. Action Points could be used for all sorts of craziness, including a beneficial plot twist, getting up from a fatal blow (after combat was all done, and with only one hit point, of course), and Doing the Whacky (running up walls, flipping over badguys; general Jackie Chanism). Doing this makes Action Points a very valuable resource; too valuable to be as limited as it is. That may have been one of my threads. Or not, because it also adds a few features. I'd been using AP as "Dramatic Editing" dice from the start of my campaign back last January-ish. It's worked quite well, IMO. One advantage to using AP as the reward (rather than XP) is that it's a self-perpetuating cycle. Doing cool stuff earns you AP. Spending AP lets you do more cool stuff. In my campaign thus far, I think we've had more AP spent on the "Succeed with Complications" than the normal activities (rerolled dice). It's added a lot of positive fun value to the campaign. On a vaguely related noted, I'd considered adding a new Character Disadvantage type rule, where you get AP as a reward for your Disadvantage coming up in play... That said, I do foresee one possible problem - Feats (or Special Abilities) that are fueled with AP. We haven't had an active artificer for awhile, nor does anyone yet have one of the AP-burning Feats. Ordinarily the limited AP pool PC's get is a good limiter on how often those (fairly impressive) AP-burning Feats can be used. If you start handing out AP like candy, it means you may see those feats being used "too often." I think the long-term solution may be to split up Dramatic Editing points and Action Points into separate pools. AP become the strict mechanical reroll system/Feat/SA fuel they are now; Dramatic Editing handles the rest. So if you want to encourage role-playing, let your players know that by interacting with the world, they'll be getting more Action Points. Have a romantic moment with your Best Girl at port? Cool, take an Action Point. Some good in-character dialogue with another party member (not the DM)? Also good, take an Action Point. Come up with a great plan to take out the bad guy without actually killing her? Action Point again. By staying in character and building dramatic scenes, your characters are better able to control the world in which they live. Good advice here. Plus, you get the added benefit where the reward for the roleplaying adds to a better overall experience for everyone (the RP award results in more RP). Were you to use solely XP rewards, you'd have the problematic (IMHO) situation where you're giving mechanical rewards (the RPers progress faster). Furthermore, the guys who aren't RP are getting actively penalized - which they'd be quick to blame on their personal inability adversely affecting their character... It's fair, it's dynamic, and it's fun. Definite agreement with you on that one.
Commissar 02-13-06, 12:36 PM	The problem with ad hoc awards for many DMs, I think is knowing when and how much to give. I know I have difficulty keeping my parties within their proper experience curve when I'm dealing with a lot of encounters or moments that don't have clearly defined CRs and XP awards attached to them -I tend to lowball it somewhat and award characters less than they should be getting in the long run, particularly in strethes of campaign that doesn't have a lot of clear CRs. That's the down side. But the up side is that you can control the rate of advancement more precisely, and (most importantly IMHO) the players are liberated from the notion that there is a certain "optimal" way to play. I like to think of it like the difference between two of my favorite computer games: Deus Ex 1 and Deus Ex 2. I think that 2 was better than 1 because 2 didn't have experience points... in 1 you had to search every nook and cranny, explore the whole world and solve every subplot to get all the XP. In 2 you don't have to worry about any of that, but there's still a complicated story - so you can engage with the story and joint whatever faction you want, etc. without looking over you shoulder to be sure that you made all the choices the game designers wanted you to make. As a DM, I don't think it's my job to make the players make the choices I want them to make - I think it's my job to represent and adjudicate the processes that arise from their choices (ideally). I bring it up because of things like the "Guts award" you mentioned. What if one of the player's characters is a coward, and he does a really good job role playing him to be a coward? Should I penalize him? Myself, I'm inclined to reward him... as long as the character works within the theme of the game (i.e. I don't mean rewarding him because he is a coward, but because he is playing an entertaining character that is contributing to everybody's fun at the tabe).
(Psi)SeveredHead 02-13-06, 12:49 PM	You might want to keep those backstories short, especially if they're 1st-level characters. Long backstories lead to divergent agendas. If your players come to the game and one wants to look for his long-lost sister and the other wants to start a new business and the third wants to smackdown the Boromars, you're going to have a hard time getting them to get on with the adventure.
Sehkemet 02-13-06, 12:49 PM	Thanks for all the comments/critique/suggestions. I really like some of the other ideas posted here, especially about the use of Action Points. I realize ad hoc XP awards are kind of hard to judge sometimes (I've played and DMed for 6 years), but I really want to encourage the players to feel they are part of political intrigue and Indiana Jones style exploration and adventure rather than thinking "Hey, let's go kill all the Orcs we can find." I also do not allow the PCs to wander freely through Sharn fully armed and armoured unless they want to be treated like terrorists or are already something of a celebrity and therefore left alone by the watch. Spellcasters need rare and/or expensive reagents. Stuff like that.