I recently started a campaign for SW5e, but the players and PC's all tend to work independently of each other, and as their first adventure is about to end they faced their first PC death and no one really reacted to it. How do I get them to bond for their next adventure?
What I do to get players invested in their characters from the start is ask them questions in session 0 as an out of cannon scenario to learn more about them. For instance in the campaign I just started I asked the bard if he was presented with an opportunity to play for the most money he's ever been offered, but he knows the owner of the venue is tied to organized crime would he take the gig? I also start every game with a RP exercise just to get everyone in their characters headspace.
In terms of getting them to work together... Take the answers they give you and form them into a sub plot in your story. If they don't give you answers the first time that you can work with keep asking questions about their characters until you find something you can work with, or lead the questions until they give you the answers you want :)
Reminding the party that this is a cooperative game where success requires goal oriented focus by the entire group might be a helpful start. Maybe try to design encounters that rely on each character's strength (special ability) to be applied in conjunction with the other characters' strengths in order to succeed. Making decisions and actions have in-game consequences beyond those that are experienced by the PCs directly involved could have some effect on the players decision-making process. And maybe, you are working with a group of players that haven't gotten on-board with the group game concept and are still thinking that this is just like a first person, open-world video game.
Generally speaking, reward teamwork and group play. And maybe, if a player wants to do something independant of the party's plot-line, so be it. They can sit on the sidelines while everyone else enjoys being part of the game. You can only run one game at a time, after all.
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“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
The players are running their characters as they want to. I've played in a game where the characters didn't like or care about one another at all, and I'm running a game where the characters are heavily invested in one another. Both games were/are fun, but I prefer the latter.
I suspect that the players might feel shy or embarrassed about showing kind and caring emotions. You can prompt them to do this:
After a fight, ask them the following questions during downtime (e.g. when they're resting, on watch etc)
Your ally, <fighter> got knocked unconscious during the last battle. How does your character feel about seeing that happen?
As you're sitting looking into the fire, you reflect on the perils you've faced with your allies. How much do you feel your character owes them?
Your ally, <cleric> said she wanted to go to the Myriad Pools to help her family. What are your character's thoughts about that?
Since <dead friend> died, how does your character feel about it? Is there anything that they wished they had said to them, now that they can't?
What you want is for the characters to realise that alone, they would be dead, and that they owe their lives to their companions. If that isn't going to bond them, then they're all playing loner characters and don't want to be part of a group.
Additionally, ensure that there is more going on in your game than just adventuring and combat. If the PCs have fun together when there's no danger, the players should like one another's characters and should feel bad if they die. Include parties, festivals, competitions, drinking sessions, pets that they all like and mutually care for and romantic plot lines (if you think they're mature enough). If they're high enough level, consider giving them a long-term project like a house that they all work on together. Downtime is the main time for bonding, but they need time to sink into it and know that they're not in imminent danger.
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I recently started a campaign for SW5e, but the players and PC's all tend to work independently of each other, and as their first adventure is about to end they faced their first PC death and no one really reacted to it. How do I get them to bond for their next adventure?
What I do to get players invested in their characters from the start is ask them questions in session 0 as an out of cannon scenario to learn more about them. For instance in the campaign I just started I asked the bard if he was presented with an opportunity to play for the most money he's ever been offered, but he knows the owner of the venue is tied to organized crime would he take the gig? I also start every game with a RP exercise just to get everyone in their characters headspace.
In terms of getting them to work together... Take the answers they give you and form them into a sub plot in your story. If they don't give you answers the first time that you can work with keep asking questions about their characters until you find something you can work with, or lead the questions until they give you the answers you want :)
That's what happens when you wear a helmet your whole life!
My house rules
Reminding the party that this is a cooperative game where success requires goal oriented focus by the entire group might be a helpful start. Maybe try to design encounters that rely on each character's strength (special ability) to be applied in conjunction with the other characters' strengths in order to succeed. Making decisions and actions have in-game consequences beyond those that are experienced by the PCs directly involved could have some effect on the players decision-making process. And maybe, you are working with a group of players that haven't gotten on-board with the group game concept and are still thinking that this is just like a first person, open-world video game.
Generally speaking, reward teamwork and group play. And maybe, if a player wants to do something independant of the party's plot-line, so be it. They can sit on the sidelines while everyone else enjoys being part of the game. You can only run one game at a time, after all.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
The players are running their characters as they want to. I've played in a game where the characters didn't like or care about one another at all, and I'm running a game where the characters are heavily invested in one another. Both games were/are fun, but I prefer the latter.
I suspect that the players might feel shy or embarrassed about showing kind and caring emotions. You can prompt them to do this:
After a fight, ask them the following questions during downtime (e.g. when they're resting, on watch etc)
What you want is for the characters to realise that alone, they would be dead, and that they owe their lives to their companions. If that isn't going to bond them, then they're all playing loner characters and don't want to be part of a group.
Additionally, ensure that there is more going on in your game than just adventuring and combat. If the PCs have fun together when there's no danger, the players should like one another's characters and should feel bad if they die. Include parties, festivals, competitions, drinking sessions, pets that they all like and mutually care for and romantic plot lines (if you think they're mature enough). If they're high enough level, consider giving them a long-term project like a house that they all work on together. Downtime is the main time for bonding, but they need time to sink into it and know that they're not in imminent danger.