Hi! I'm momu. I'm new to DMing and need tips for a Full Roleplay campaign with no battles.. but the players can still use their skill for the purpose of the roleplay. but no combat at all.. no rolling initiatives.. only roleplay... because the group that i had is a new player too.. and i want them to try be encourage to do some roleplaying in DnD games.
I watched some of the creators one of them was Legend of Avantris in their "Once upon a Witchlight" campaign, they have some kind of twist or fate mechanic where the players and DM can change their roll checks, but they got debuff. for example, one of the character use the fate, he rerolled the dice check, and he had to roll 1d100, and based of the result of the 1d100 he got "all water taste like an oil including your saliva" debuff, and the character needs to act like everything that he tasted taste like an oil. so they got a List of 1d100 to get the debuff.. I think it's pretty cool for a roleplay campaign.
Does everyone got any other ideas for a Full Roleplay Campaign?
This might not be what you are looking for, but if you want full roleplay with no combat, you might want to look at a system that isn't D&D. While there are assuredly abilities, spells, magic items, etc that are useful for roleplay and outside of combat, a lot of what the rules are for is specifically for combat.
If you are just looking for roleplay, perhaps look into something like Call of Cthulhu or Candela Obscura. I'm sure other people will have some good suggestions as well, but these are two of my favorites. While there are some combat mechanics, the majority of the games are really spent investigating and doing roleplay. They can be a as combat-light as you want, and you won't feel like a lot of the game is missing like you will with D&D.
Out of 384 pages in the new PHB ~340 of them are combat related - further 89% of the stats on a typical character sheet are combat related.
Taking combat out of D&D makes the session like a creative story telling thing of some sort, but it is not D&D.
Dragons of Stormwreck Isle is the perfect starter campaign it only goes l1-3 its 50-50 rp and combat and lets you and the group ease into D&D - that is actually what that module is designed to do introduce new players and DM's to the game. It is almost like a tutorial.
If you have a new player, you might want to give them an actual D&D experience. I'd be very disappointed if I joined a D&D group and was met with political intrigue.
DnD is designed mostly around combat. You can definitely run a political campaign in it, but a lot of mechanics are based around combat and exploration. I don't have a lot of advice for that kind of playstyle though, as I haven't really ever run anything nearly as unique.
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He doesn't have much besides the skin on his bones. Me: I'll take the skin on his bones, then.
"You see a gigantic, monstrous praying mantis burst from out of the ground. It sprays a stream of acid from it's mouth at one soldier, dissolving him instantly, then it turns and chomps another soldier in half with it's- "
In addition to everyone else saying D&D just isn't the right game for a campaign with no combat I'm going to echo Maruntoryx and say if you've got a new player don't thrust them into a game that *isn't* D&D. In my experience new players are rarely comfortable role playing and by giving them a game that is nothing but RP you risk making them really uncomfortable and putting them off the game for life. And even if they do enjoy it have they really played D&D? They'll go through a full campaign and still have no idea how 85% of the rule book works. I don't know the background of the new player but at the moment it's very common for new players to have watched Stranger Things as their inspiration for trying and they're expecting to be fighting monsters, give them what they expect
I'd also say for you as a new DM this isn't the time to be trying something exotic, you're still learning how to run a game so go for something as standard as possible. You don't have the experience to know if complex house rules like the ones you mentioned actually work and just like the new player you need to learn how run a game. In many ways DMing is a totally different game to playing so you need to give yourself a chance to ease in
Thank you all For all the feedbacks! First of all. My Players are gamers, especially they played a turn based game. so for all basic mechanic and the instinct of a gamer when they met a combat. So I hosted an oneshot campaign, and what I found on my player is that they are lacking the RP when they describing things even though they can play amazing on combat. And for what I Understand from D&D is that you are telling a story. Me as a DM want to tell the story, but I want my players to immersed with the world that I build, and tell their own story on it. And for me, to tell your own stories is by Roleplaying the character that you made.
I understand that Combat is a part of the D&D, from the oneshot that I hosted, my players wasn't roleplaying really well. Hence the idea to make an oneshot campaign with full RP (probably I should say an oneshot campaign at the beginning) to familiarize my player with roleplaying in D&D.
Once again, Thank you for the feedback! I appreciate it!!
First off, moderate your expectations, gamer-brains who love strategic combat aren't going to suddenly turn into method-actors creating a shakespearean play at the table. You can certainly encourage them to RP more, but don't expect them to suddenly change who they are or what they like in a game. So you're going to have to come to a compromise you all enjoy.
What kind of RP do you want them to learn?
If you want them to get into character you should spend some time with a session 0 talking to them about the personalities and backstories of their characters and then run a short campaign with a few sessions highly relevant to those personalties / backstories.
If you want them to learn to engage with the environment / world, I'd highly recommend a one-shot focused on puzzles and/or solving a mystery where they are either explorers or investigators and they have to use clues in the world to figure out what is going on or what to do.
If you want them to learn to RP with each other more, I'd suggest playing a "silly" one-shot where all their characters know each other well. For instance a one-shot where they are all bards in a band looking for their next gig, or one where they are all mages at a magic-school in detention together, or they are all martials on some kind of sports team competeting in some kind of competition.
Thank you all For all the feedbacks! First of all. My Players are gamers, especially they played a turn based game. so for all basic mechanic and the instinct of a gamer when they met a combat. So I hosted an oneshot campaign, and what I found on my player is that they are lacking the RP when they describing things even though they can play amazing on combat. And for what I Understand from D&D is that you are telling a story. Me as a DM want to tell the story, but I want my players to immersed with the world that I build, and tell their own story on it. And for me, to tell your own stories is by Roleplaying the character that you made.
I understand that Combat is a part of the D&D, from the oneshot that I hosted, my players wasn't roleplaying really well. Hence the idea to make an oneshot campaign with full RP (probably I should say an oneshot campaign at the beginning) to familiarize my player with roleplaying in D&D.
Once again, Thank you for the feedback! I appreciate it!!
So, they don’t like to role play, and your solution is to make them role play? Trying to force your player to do what you want is a losing proposition.
Telling a story doesn't require roleplaying. Rescuing the princess from the evil dragon is still a story, even if the character's past traumas and whatnot weren't involved.
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Hi! I'm momu. I'm new to DMing and need tips for a Full Roleplay campaign with no battles.. but the players can still use their skill for the purpose of the roleplay. but no combat at all.. no rolling initiatives.. only roleplay... because the group that i had is a new player too.. and i want them to try be encourage to do some roleplaying in DnD games.
I watched some of the creators one of them was Legend of Avantris in their "Once upon a Witchlight" campaign, they have some kind of twist or fate mechanic where the players and DM can change their roll checks, but they got debuff. for example, one of the character use the fate, he rerolled the dice check, and he had to roll 1d100, and based of the result of the 1d100 he got "all water taste like an oil including your saliva" debuff, and the character needs to act like everything that he tasted taste like an oil. so they got a List of 1d100 to get the debuff.. I think it's pretty cool for a roleplay campaign.
Does everyone got any other ideas for a Full Roleplay Campaign?
Thank you!
This might not be what you are looking for, but if you want full roleplay with no combat, you might want to look at a system that isn't D&D. While there are assuredly abilities, spells, magic items, etc that are useful for roleplay and outside of combat, a lot of what the rules are for is specifically for combat.
If you are just looking for roleplay, perhaps look into something like Call of Cthulhu or Candela Obscura. I'm sure other people will have some good suggestions as well, but these are two of my favorites. While there are some combat mechanics, the majority of the games are really spent investigating and doing roleplay. They can be a as combat-light as you want, and you won't feel like a lot of the game is missing like you will with D&D.
I wish you good luck!
Out of 384 pages in the new PHB ~340 of them are combat related - further 89% of the stats on a typical character sheet are combat related.
Taking combat out of D&D makes the session like a creative story telling thing of some sort, but it is not D&D.
Dragons of Stormwreck Isle is the perfect starter campaign it only goes l1-3 its 50-50 rp and combat and lets you and the group ease into D&D - that is actually what that module is designed to do introduce new players and DM's to the game. It is almost like a tutorial.
If you have a new player, you might want to give them an actual D&D experience. I'd be very disappointed if I joined a D&D group and was met with political intrigue.
DnD is designed mostly around combat. You can definitely run a political campaign in it, but a lot of mechanics are based around combat and exploration. I don't have a lot of advice for that kind of playstyle though, as I haven't really ever run anything nearly as unique.
He doesn't have much besides the skin on his bones. Me: I'll take the skin on his bones, then.
"You see a gigantic, monstrous praying mantis burst from out of the ground. It sprays a stream of acid from it's mouth at one soldier, dissolving him instantly, then it turns and chomps another soldier in half with it's- "
"When are we gonna take a snack break?"
In addition to everyone else saying D&D just isn't the right game for a campaign with no combat I'm going to echo Maruntoryx and say if you've got a new player don't thrust them into a game that *isn't* D&D. In my experience new players are rarely comfortable role playing and by giving them a game that is nothing but RP you risk making them really uncomfortable and putting them off the game for life. And even if they do enjoy it have they really played D&D? They'll go through a full campaign and still have no idea how 85% of the rule book works. I don't know the background of the new player but at the moment it's very common for new players to have watched Stranger Things as their inspiration for trying and they're expecting to be fighting monsters, give them what they expect
I'd also say for you as a new DM this isn't the time to be trying something exotic, you're still learning how to run a game so go for something as standard as possible. You don't have the experience to know if complex house rules like the ones you mentioned actually work and just like the new player you need to learn how run a game. In many ways DMing is a totally different game to playing so you need to give yourself a chance to ease in
Thank you all For all the feedbacks! First of all. My Players are gamers, especially they played a turn based game. so for all basic mechanic and the instinct of a gamer when they met a combat. So I hosted an oneshot campaign, and what I found on my player is that they are lacking the RP when they describing things even though they can play amazing on combat. And for what I Understand from D&D is that you are telling a story. Me as a DM want to tell the story, but I want my players to immersed with the world that I build, and tell their own story on it. And for me, to tell your own stories is by Roleplaying the character that you made.
I understand that Combat is a part of the D&D, from the oneshot that I hosted, my players wasn't roleplaying really well. Hence the idea to make an oneshot campaign with full RP (probably I should say an oneshot campaign at the beginning) to familiarize my player with roleplaying in D&D.
Once again, Thank you for the feedback! I appreciate it!!
First off, moderate your expectations, gamer-brains who love strategic combat aren't going to suddenly turn into method-actors creating a shakespearean play at the table. You can certainly encourage them to RP more, but don't expect them to suddenly change who they are or what they like in a game. So you're going to have to come to a compromise you all enjoy.
What kind of RP do you want them to learn?
If you want them to get into character you should spend some time with a session 0 talking to them about the personalities and backstories of their characters and then run a short campaign with a few sessions highly relevant to those personalties / backstories.
If you want them to learn to engage with the environment / world, I'd highly recommend a one-shot focused on puzzles and/or solving a mystery where they are either explorers or investigators and they have to use clues in the world to figure out what is going on or what to do.
If you want them to learn to RP with each other more, I'd suggest playing a "silly" one-shot where all their characters know each other well. For instance a one-shot where they are all bards in a band looking for their next gig, or one where they are all mages at a magic-school in detention together, or they are all martials on some kind of sports team competeting in some kind of competition.
So, they don’t like to role play, and your solution is to make them role play? Trying to force your player to do what you want is a losing proposition.
Waterdeep Dragon Heist and Wild Beyond the Witchlight prove as some great examples.
Hello! You can call me Link. Here’s a bit about me:
Roomba Knight, Architect of the Cataclysm, Foxy Lunar Archpriest. Dubbed The Fluffy Bowman by Golden. He/Him
A chaotic mess, Ravenclaw, bookworm, DM, Lego fanatic, mythology nerd, pedantic about spelling. I also love foxes, cats, otters, and red pandas!
I love K-pop Demon Hunters and the theatre. If you want to ask me about something, send me a PM!
I absolutely love Korean mythology, so if you want to talk about that, feel free to!
Telling a story doesn't require roleplaying. Rescuing the princess from the evil dragon is still a story, even if the character's past traumas and whatnot weren't involved.