Hi, well, this is basically about what's on the tin.
My players have in our monthly review session expressed interest in expanding their roleplaying but also hesitancy on how/when/what to roleplay, so I am now contemplating if a (partial?) ban on certain metadata might help.
For example, a Half-Orc character using Relentless Endurance usually goes like this: Player: "And I faint, but because of Relentless Endurance I retain one hitpoint and don't actually faint." If I, say, outlaw racial traits as metadata then this could look like this: "The enemy hits me dead on, my vision clouds, I stagger, but I am not willing to go down and grit my teeth to power through."
Admittedly, this is a rather rough example, but it could also open a roleplay option for other players who could be like "I see Half-Orc stagger and send Healing Word towards him before I'm... "
They are not the newest players, but I also wouldn't call them seasoned veterans. What do you think, might this be too difficult to implement?
I see what you're trying to do. And it may work if your players are extremely comfortable with their characters abilities and how to articulate them. Otherwise it would just be confusing.
For myself, it's all about leading by example. I try to keep a strong narrative during combat, and then go with Matt Mercers "How would you like to do this" when they either kill the big bad guy or do some other epic thing. At first it was just my players enjoying the storytelling, then as they got more comfortable they started adding in their own descriptions of how they were attacking etc. Also, reward strong RP. If something makes sense or is a creative solution, don't be afraid to throw in advantage to a roll. It's not going to break the game, and it's important to reward RP as much as anything else.
Again, for me, RP starts away from combat. Social encounters. Voices. Progressive and changeable plots based on RP. Last night we had an entire session of RP. Zero combat. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen, and my players really enjoy it. Players who originally were very hesitant to get out there with RP are now much more engaged and pro active with what they want to do. It's really wonderful, and helps the campaign take on a much more organic feel, and helps the players feel like they really control the storyline.
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Hi, well, this is basically about what's on the tin.
My players have in our monthly review session expressed interest in expanding their roleplaying but also hesitancy on how/when/what to roleplay, so I am now contemplating if a (partial?) ban on certain metadata might help.
For example, a Half-Orc character using Relentless Endurance usually goes like this:
Player: "And I faint, but because of Relentless Endurance I retain one hitpoint and don't actually faint."
If I, say, outlaw racial traits as metadata then this could look like this: "The enemy hits me dead on, my vision clouds, I stagger, but I am not willing to go down and grit my teeth to power through."
Admittedly, this is a rather rough example, but it could also open a roleplay option for other players who could be like "I see Half-Orc stagger and send Healing Word towards him before I'm... "
They are not the newest players, but I also wouldn't call them seasoned veterans. What do you think, might this be too difficult to implement?
I see what you're trying to do. And it may work if your players are extremely comfortable with their characters abilities and how to articulate them. Otherwise it would just be confusing.
For myself, it's all about leading by example. I try to keep a strong narrative during combat, and then go with Matt Mercers "How would you like to do this" when they either kill the big bad guy or do some other epic thing. At first it was just my players enjoying the storytelling, then as they got more comfortable they started adding in their own descriptions of how they were attacking etc. Also, reward strong RP. If something makes sense or is a creative solution, don't be afraid to throw in advantage to a roll. It's not going to break the game, and it's important to reward RP as much as anything else.
Again, for me, RP starts away from combat. Social encounters. Voices. Progressive and changeable plots based on RP. Last night we had an entire session of RP. Zero combat. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen, and my players really enjoy it. Players who originally were very hesitant to get out there with RP are now much more engaged and pro active with what they want to do. It's really wonderful, and helps the campaign take on a much more organic feel, and helps the players feel like they really control the storyline.