Hi I have been a DM for a while, and I'm looking for some advice on a new player.
hear is the problem. The player (my sister-in-law) really likes the fantasy setting and wanted to play with my group, but she is more into the roll playing instead of the role playing. If any of you have had this problem in the past please let me know how you have fixed the problem.
thanks a bunch Drizzt1977
I think there are a few ways you can do this.
1. You can pull her aside and explain to her what you expect from her as a player.
2. You can talk to the other players and have them talk to her about whats expected from her as a player.
3. Or you can use my personal favorite and just engage the group in a session of mostly ROLEplaying with very little ROLLplaying. Get the other characters involved and all of you engage each other in just great roleplaying. She will either get into it with everyone else or she wont. If she doesnt then you really need to see if her player type is good for your group or not. Being your sis-in-law it might be very hard for you to dismiss her from the group so I really hope that it really goes well for all of you guys.
On a side note my wife and I just moved to Hill AFB from Germany in late March and I was wondering if you knew of any good Gaming Stores. We are looking get involved with another group when I get back from Iraq after the first of the year. Hope my advice helps and Thanks for any help you can give me.
I have a player who used to fit this bill. He made no bones about the fact that all he enjoyed was combat. Whenever combat ceased, he shut himself off. One time he even went to sleep on the couch. It was not a good thing.
After that particular session, I asked each player to give me at least one good thing and one bad thing about the session and/or campaign so far. I made it clear that some players enjoy roll-playing more than role-playing, and I wanted to find the balance that would make this group happy. Nothing came of the responses, or so I thought.
I also started having the players critique eachother on their ability to stay in character during play, how well they play their class/alignment/etc., and some other things. This critique is what determines bonus XP at the end of the night. That feedback got some tempers up - but it gave voice to the concerns I was having about some of our players, without me having to be the lone voice on the subject.
Lastly, I made a session where there was no combat. None. The party needed information from locals in town, so I structured an entire evening around trying to get that information. I paid attention when my hack'n'slasher went in to town to buy some armor / speak with the blacksmith. On a whim I made the blacksmith a female, and what do you know? He roleplayed trying to get on her good side. At first he was trying to pump her for information, but quickly turned it into a dating game. I had no problem with that - as he was coming out of his battle mode for the first time. Now, he still prefers combat... but when it's time to "go to town," he has a nice side story that he can roleplay for his own enjoyment. It's working out well.
Thank you guys for the help, and I will try your suggestions. lykusthedm When you get back there is a really good gameing store called the bookshelf it's on washington between 24th and 25th. It's my fav place. If you are looking to get involved in a game when you get back I would LOVE to have you join my game. That is if you dont mind playing 2nd edition. If you want shoot me a line here or at jonesjs77@hotmail.com.
P.S. If you know a ssgt Dearborn let her know that her neighbor says hi.
Again thaks for the help
I had a girl in my group once that was pretty new to RPGs, so her role-play was a bit lacking. Then, for some reason, we started to play in the Star Wars universe. A universe she knew absolutely nothing about (she didn't particularly like sci-fi films). So I made her play an Ewok and have her discover the Star Wars universe through the Ewok's eyes. It limited her role-playing (as she and her Ewok didn't even know what a stormtrooper was), and I got her to play an Ewok pretty good.
Where I'm going with this is, maybe make the player who doesn't like to role-play too much make a barbarian or an other low-intelligent character, who doesn't have to get involved other that for a good fight.
Ultradan
(After a few months of playing in the Star Wars universe, I had the group over to watch episodes 4,5, and 6. The Ewok player really enjoyed the movies.)
You know, different people enjoy different things about gaming. If she's not being disruptive, I'd say just leave her be.
You know, different people enjoy different things about gaming. If she's not being disruptive, I'd say just leave her be.
This is good advice.
Also she is new to this and often the roll plaaying is what first grabs you. Exciting combat is...well, exciting. Its easy to be a roll player when everyones blood is running high.
It's also stress relieving....the more stress my wife has had at work, the more she wants to KILL during the D&D game. She also enjoys shooting high powered handguns....man, I married right!!
You know I've played sooo long that I had forgotten that was the roll playing that got me going. Then after awhile I got better at the role-playing. So thanks for all of the replies.
...the more stress my wife has had at work, the more she wants to KILL during the D&D game. She also enjoys shooting high powered handguns....man, I married right!!
So, YOU married LARA CROFT?
Ultradan
Nothing says "I love you" by shooting a magnum!
You know I've played sooo long that I had forgotten that was the roll playing that got me going. Then after awhile I got better at the role-playing. So thanks for all of the replies.
Yup, I guess most people start with pure roll-playing and gratituous min-maxing and over time start to notice also other good things in games...I know I did too (some of the things we did in our first games...makes me shudder to think).
It's also stress relieving....the more stress my wife has had at work, the more she wants to KILL during the D&D game. She also enjoys shooting high powered handguns....man, I married right!!
I'm glad I'm not the only one. I don't know how many improv games I've run because Tigerlilly has had a bad day and needed some blood shead. Her violent side makes me all warm inside.