Hey! So, I'm running my first dnd campaign, and the first few sessions, have been working out great.
All my players are new to dnd except for one.
The problem I'm having now is, the current plot they were in is about to end, and while I have material for more, the players voiced their worries that their characters are likely to not stick with the group because they haven't bonded enough, which, I agree.
They were so eager to learn how to play the game and discover the world, they didn't really spend enough time getting to know each other.
As a result, since they just fought off a boss, I'm thinking maybe giving them downtime in order to bond?
I don't know? How do you guys usually write things to make your player characters stick together?
I do not. The Players are in a game supposedly to play together. As such, it is incumbent upon them as players to find reasons to not only accept the hooks that the DM lays out to go on the adventure, but to also stick together and develop into a team. Sometimes that can happen in the Session Zero, where players can decide that their PCs are somehow connected to each other through blood or familial relationships, long standing friends from childhood, fellow townspeople that weathered a great tragedy together, or what have you. Failure to do this is not on you as the DM. Remind them that they need to talk among themselves and develop a reason RETROACTIVELY if needed to cement their PCs alliance.
Granted some Snowflake parties have a more difficult time establishing ties: the Goliath, the Drow, the Tabaxi, the Half-Orc, and the Sea Elf/Aasimar homebrew race you incautiously allowed are going to have to put in more effort to gel. But again that is on them, not you. You can moderate that conversation, but you don't at this point need to write something that now suddenly makes them need to be together.
You can if you want to, I mean the trope of now having defeated this BBEG, reveals a larger and deeper plot and more potent shadow masters behind it, is a trope for a reason: it works! Those shadow masters now consider the party to be of prime interest and only by sticking together can the party withstand the assaults and hope to eventually prevail.
In general, I agree with Hawksmoor. The players need to come up with reasons why their characters would choose to adventure together.
Why is your character adventuring in the first place? (They need answer for this one since it sets up the motivations for their character)
What is their character like? What is their alignment? Do they like working with other folks? Do they like earning money, finding magic items? Do they like fighting evil and righting wrongs? All of these can be the basis for choosing to adventure with others since it is much safer to pursue any of these things in a group than it is by yourself.
If the players all made anti-social loner characters who have no desire or motivation to work with others then that is the fault of the players. Of course these characters won't want to play nice with others so the players need to establish reasons WHY these characters have chosen to work together.
The explanations of why the characters choose to work together are not something the DM can come up with or impose though an experienced DM can make suggestions to specific players based on the character backgrounds but it is really up to the player to figure out why the character wants to stick with the group even if the reason is "WTF, why not, I have nothing better to do".
Finally, the characters in your adventure have presumably traveled together, made camp and set watches, eaten meals together, visited taverns or inns, encountered and fought various foes side by side, learned a bit about their travel companions (or at least they should have). Even if you didn't actually role play all the boring minutiae of the characters every day existences ... the characters lived it. If you have had ANY appreciable in game time go by then the characters would certainly have had time to form bonds. The players need to realize that and incorporate it. Perhaps if the players/characters sat around at a bar after the boss fight and recounted some of the things that should have happened during their travels so far they may realize that there has been far more opportunity for the characters to "bond" than the players realize. Who made the meals? Who set up the camp? Who stood watch? What did they chat about in the wee hours of the night? Who couldn't sleep and went down to the bar for a late night snack and chatted with one of the other characters? The "bonding" process except when the players really try to throw in some role playing for fun (which usually takes a more experienced group) is expected to happen in the background.
In the games I play, that is usually determined in the first session, or before then.
We function like Hawksmoor mentioned, which is "You are all adventurers, and this is your party, so there is an assumption that you will care about each other"
And some of the players will figure out how their characters knew each other beforehand.
I actually tend to go the opposite direction of the above opinions in my campaigns, as I tend to run campaigns for strangers getting together for the first time at session zero. While a group of good-aligned people may be naturally inclined to work together to do good things, the more complicated (and thus interesting, in my opinion) a character is, the more they are going to have personal motivations that have nothing to do with your campaign. Assuming that the characters have a life that existed before the campaign started, it makes sense that they will have personal goals that have nothing to do with the group of randos they met in a tavern one evening and decided to fight some goblins with...
It's easy to come up with something in session zero that explains why they work together, such as a pre-existing relationship, but again, I find that unless it's handled carefully, it makes for one-dimensional PCs. We're friends and we're always going to want to do the same thing isn't the most interesting relationship dynamic.
Personally, I think it's on the DM to create scenarios that inspire the people to want to stay together. If your PCs are saying they don't have a reason to remain a group (even if their players want that to be the outcome) then *give* them a reason... Maybe they encounter an item that curses them at the end of your first arch and now they all have a reason to work together to lift the curse... maybe they are approached by a mysterious figure that invites them to join an organization, as a team, so they have a common cause... Maybe they discover some dark secret that over-rides their previous motivations...
There's a lot of ways that a DM can give a party an excuse to stay together, with differing levels of heavy-handiness. Only you know your campaign, but I'm assuming that you have a new arch coming up with its own hook, so you were prepared to offer them *some* excuse to go on an adventure. Often times that's enough, as long as the Players aren't actively trying to break up the group. If they're still on the fence, hit them with some motivational Ex Machina
I'm of the same opinion actually, I believe that, while an effort from the player's side is appreciated, a dm should weave a story in a way that brings them together .
In my group of six players, 4 of them are either chaotic neutral, or chaotic good, which in itself is very...varied.
Their first adventure featured them getting stuck inside a cursed town, unable to leave until they solved the problem.
So it's been 3 days so far in the campaign, i expect 1-2 more sessions to tie loose ends with this town and then they're going to be off.
I have the option to steer them where I want via putting scary in the paths I don't want them to take or something of similar dissuasion, but I feel like that's a bit forceful. So I'm more looking for opportunities to make them bond and want yo stick together?
I feel that a few things are over looked when trying to decide things like party bonding. I figure that if you and I ended up fighting along side eachother for our lives we would mostly likely become good friends in short order.
Secondly I assume that the party while traveling several days or even hours from point a to point b talk to each other, when they sit around the camp fire at night I would imagine they talk and become friends. A lot happens in the down time we don't play out, so I don't worry much about having the players bond, that to me takes care of itself.
Have them fall into a short dungeoncrawl before the main quest ends. It should be completely unrelated to the main quest. It should have a few traps and puzzles they have to work together to beat, a memorable boss fight like a mummy and a bunch of skeletons or something, and a swag pile of shinies and maybe a mysterious magic weapon at the end. Something that the locals will appreciate them for like rescuing a little girl from a short sewer dungeon. Now they all feel good about themselves, grateful for each other, and curious about that mysterious sword....
You could do a time jump and then have something from the first campaign coming back to bite them. The BBEG has a parent/child/friend/disciple out for revenge and the party will have to stick together if they expect to survive. Some colorful NPC they liked is threatened and reaches out for help. Just enough of a hook to give them some external reason to stick together for a bit longer. Then explain to them out of character that they need to start developing some camaraderie so they can carry on. It doesn’t have to even be “on camera.” Two of them decide to go drinking. A different set visit the church, etc. They don’t necessarily have to RP it, but the idea it’s happening can help.
The truth is that the Characters often don't need a reason to bond at all, and you can ignore the issue altogether.
Many Characters will decide to adventure together at the beginning for no other reason than they all happen to be controlled by Players ( yes, that's a meta-gaming reason, but that's not universally a bad thing ), and they'll stick together through inertia and - as time goes one - a body of shared experiences.
If they come up with an in-world reason that they're together at the start, that's a bonus for the DM, but it isn't necessary - and past a certain point, their shared adventures together are the in-world reason.
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
... but the dm needs to make a story that helps them do that.
You already did that though. You gave them an adventure and they went on it. Boom! Shared experience and reason to remain together. If they need more, tell them to come up with one, you DID your part.
Perhaps i can get them to bond via a town celebration for taking that last villain down
If you feel you need to cement a reason in-world, explicitly, I think this is a good idea - emphasize their shared experience to them.
One further technique you could use - which I'm totally stealing from Critical Role Campaign 2, episode 8, starting at 1h03m - have the Party be rewarded by someone official, and as part of the disbursement of the reward, need to note down their Adventuring Party's name in the paperwork, thus forcing the Party to name themselves as a group and found a group identity.
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
I think the party naming makes a big difference. That said, I think your downtime instinct is a good one. Not just because it can help your characters build up their connection to each other, but also because, in my opinion, it adds a bit of versimilitude, as there not usually supernatural horrors that occur all the time. Your characters doing downtime (which can really by about 15 minutes at the start of the game) can give you insight into their desires that you can weave into their next "hot" adventure.
Bonding comes from shared experiences. The characters are not just sharing the combats, they are also sharing the times between encounters.
As a GM, you can help this by asking the players to narrate things from downtime.
For example, in a previous games, the characters travelled together for 6 weeks. I said to the group, "Your characters have spent 6 weeks in close confines, travelling and camping. Please tell the group one thing that everyone has leart about your character, good or bad doesn't matter."
I think the party naming makes a big difference. That said, I think your downtime instinct is a good one. Not just because it can help your characters build up their connection to each other, but also because, in my opinion, it adds a bit of versimilitude, as there not usually supernatural horrors that occur all the time. Your characters doing downtime (which can really by about 15 minutes at the start of the game) can give you insight into their desires that you can weave into their next "hot" adventure.
I might suggest if you employ this technique that you actually spend between 40 minutes up to half a session role playing out that celebrator. That extra time will give them more time to build their bonds together under very happy circumstances (as opposed to the life-or-death of adventure), AND it would give you an opportunity to show them (not tell) them!) how much of a positive influence their GROUP has had in the world.
Anyway, we had our session. It had...mixed results?
Some players were really into the chance to bond in downtime, others just wanted to get a move on to the next fight.
I think thats more of an issue of maybe one of the players play style not matching up with the others. During the whole session she refused to participate in any shopping, talking or drinking party, and kind of just hung back. At one point even asked me an information her character wasn't privy of and did nothing to learn about, so I told her she didn't know, and she just called me a useless DM as a joke (or is it?). IDK, we'll see if that player sticks around, ironically it's the one with experience in DND.
The others were, somewhat trying to bond, it hasn't solved the issue in full now, but at least its enough for them to stick around on their next trip, which as the goal. (yay)
next adventure, if all goes well, I intend to throw them into a house of many puzzles and magical trickery, to make them work together. We will see how this experiment goes :) thanks everyone that gave me opinions so far! they really helped!
Hey! So, I'm running my first dnd campaign, and the first few sessions, have been working out great.
All my players are new to dnd except for one.
The problem I'm having now is, the current plot they were in is about to end, and while I have material for more, the players voiced their worries that their characters are likely to not stick with the group because they haven't bonded enough, which, I agree.
They were so eager to learn how to play the game and discover the world, they didn't really spend enough time getting to know each other.
As a result, since they just fought off a boss, I'm thinking maybe giving them downtime in order to bond?
I don't know? How do you guys usually write things to make your player characters stick together?
I do not. The Players are in a game supposedly to play together. As such, it is incumbent upon them as players to find reasons to not only accept the hooks that the DM lays out to go on the adventure, but to also stick together and develop into a team. Sometimes that can happen in the Session Zero, where players can decide that their PCs are somehow connected to each other through blood or familial relationships, long standing friends from childhood, fellow townspeople that weathered a great tragedy together, or what have you. Failure to do this is not on you as the DM. Remind them that they need to talk among themselves and develop a reason RETROACTIVELY if needed to cement their PCs alliance.
Granted some Snowflake parties have a more difficult time establishing ties: the Goliath, the Drow, the Tabaxi, the Half-Orc, and the Sea Elf/Aasimar homebrew race you incautiously allowed are going to have to put in more effort to gel. But again that is on them, not you. You can moderate that conversation, but you don't at this point need to write something that now suddenly makes them need to be together.
You can if you want to, I mean the trope of now having defeated this BBEG, reveals a larger and deeper plot and more potent shadow masters behind it, is a trope for a reason: it works! Those shadow masters now consider the party to be of prime interest and only by sticking together can the party withstand the assaults and hope to eventually prevail.
In general, I agree with Hawksmoor. The players need to come up with reasons why their characters would choose to adventure together.
Why is your character adventuring in the first place? (They need answer for this one since it sets up the motivations for their character)
What is their character like? What is their alignment? Do they like working with other folks? Do they like earning money, finding magic items? Do they like fighting evil and righting wrongs? All of these can be the basis for choosing to adventure with others since it is much safer to pursue any of these things in a group than it is by yourself.
If the players all made anti-social loner characters who have no desire or motivation to work with others then that is the fault of the players. Of course these characters won't want to play nice with others so the players need to establish reasons WHY these characters have chosen to work together.
The explanations of why the characters choose to work together are not something the DM can come up with or impose though an experienced DM can make suggestions to specific players based on the character backgrounds but it is really up to the player to figure out why the character wants to stick with the group even if the reason is "WTF, why not, I have nothing better to do".
Finally, the characters in your adventure have presumably traveled together, made camp and set watches, eaten meals together, visited taverns or inns, encountered and fought various foes side by side, learned a bit about their travel companions (or at least they should have). Even if you didn't actually role play all the boring minutiae of the characters every day existences ... the characters lived it. If you have had ANY appreciable in game time go by then the characters would certainly have had time to form bonds. The players need to realize that and incorporate it. Perhaps if the players/characters sat around at a bar after the boss fight and recounted some of the things that should have happened during their travels so far they may realize that there has been far more opportunity for the characters to "bond" than the players realize. Who made the meals? Who set up the camp? Who stood watch? What did they chat about in the wee hours of the night? Who couldn't sleep and went down to the bar for a late night snack and chatted with one of the other characters? The "bonding" process except when the players really try to throw in some role playing for fun (which usually takes a more experienced group) is expected to happen in the background.
In the games I play, that is usually determined in the first session, or before then.
We function like Hawksmoor mentioned, which is "You are all adventurers, and this is your party, so there is an assumption that you will care about each other"
And some of the players will figure out how their characters knew each other beforehand.
Site Info: Wizard's ToS | Fan Content Policy | Forum Rules | Physical Books | Content Not Working | Contact Support
How To: Homebrew Rules | Create Homebrew | Snippet Codes | Tool Tips (Custom) | Rollables (Generator)
My Homebrew: Races | Subclasses | Backgrounds | Feats | Spells | Magic Items
Other: Beyond20 | Page References | Other Guides | Entitlements | Dice Randomization | Images Fix | FAQ
I actually tend to go the opposite direction of the above opinions in my campaigns, as I tend to run campaigns for strangers getting together for the first time at session zero. While a group of good-aligned people may be naturally inclined to work together to do good things, the more complicated (and thus interesting, in my opinion) a character is, the more they are going to have personal motivations that have nothing to do with your campaign. Assuming that the characters have a life that existed before the campaign started, it makes sense that they will have personal goals that have nothing to do with the group of randos they met in a tavern one evening and decided to fight some goblins with...
It's easy to come up with something in session zero that explains why they work together, such as a pre-existing relationship, but again, I find that unless it's handled carefully, it makes for one-dimensional PCs. We're friends and we're always going to want to do the same thing isn't the most interesting relationship dynamic.
Personally, I think it's on the DM to create scenarios that inspire the people to want to stay together. If your PCs are saying they don't have a reason to remain a group (even if their players want that to be the outcome) then *give* them a reason... Maybe they encounter an item that curses them at the end of your first arch and now they all have a reason to work together to lift the curse... maybe they are approached by a mysterious figure that invites them to join an organization, as a team, so they have a common cause... Maybe they discover some dark secret that over-rides their previous motivations...
There's a lot of ways that a DM can give a party an excuse to stay together, with differing levels of heavy-handiness. Only you know your campaign, but I'm assuming that you have a new arch coming up with its own hook, so you were prepared to offer them *some* excuse to go on an adventure. Often times that's enough, as long as the Players aren't actively trying to break up the group. If they're still on the fence, hit them with some motivational Ex Machina
I'm of the same opinion actually, I believe that, while an effort from the player's side is appreciated, a dm should weave a story in a way that brings them together .
In my group of six players, 4 of them are either chaotic neutral, or chaotic good, which in itself is very...varied.
Their first adventure featured them getting stuck inside a cursed town, unable to leave until they solved the problem.
So it's been 3 days so far in the campaign, i expect 1-2 more sessions to tie loose ends with this town and then they're going to be off.
I have the option to steer them where I want via putting scary in the paths I don't want them to take or something of similar dissuasion, but I feel like that's a bit forceful. So I'm more looking for opportunities to make them bond and want yo stick together?
It’s not all on the players and it’s not all on the DM, it’s supposed to be a group game.
Also PCs run toward scary, not away from it. Especially scary with loot.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
I feel that a few things are over looked when trying to decide things like party bonding. I figure that if you and I ended up fighting along side eachother for our lives we would mostly likely become good friends in short order.
Secondly I assume that the party while traveling several days or even hours from point a to point b talk to each other, when they sit around the camp fire at night I would imagine they talk and become friends. A lot happens in the down time we don't play out, so I don't worry much about having the players bond, that to me takes care of itself.
Have them fall into a short dungeoncrawl before the main quest ends. It should be completely unrelated to the main quest. It should have a few traps and puzzles they have to work together to beat, a memorable boss fight like a mummy and a bunch of skeletons or something, and a swag pile of shinies and maybe a mysterious magic weapon at the end. Something that the locals will appreciate them for like rescuing a little girl from a short sewer dungeon. Now they all feel good about themselves, grateful for each other, and curious about that mysterious sword....
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
You could do a time jump and then have something from the first campaign coming back to bite them. The BBEG has a parent/child/friend/disciple out for revenge and the party will have to stick together if they expect to survive. Some colorful NPC they liked is threatened and reaches out for help. Just enough of a hook to give them some external reason to stick together for a bit longer.
Then explain to them out of character that they need to start developing some camaraderie so they can carry on. It doesn’t have to even be “on camera.” Two of them decide to go drinking. A different set visit the church, etc. They don’t necessarily have to RP it, but the idea it’s happening can help.
@Lyrica: What do you think? Hear any suggestions you like?
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
The truth is that the Characters often don't need a reason to bond at all, and you can ignore the issue altogether.
Many Characters will decide to adventure together at the beginning for no other reason than they all happen to be controlled by Players ( yes, that's a meta-gaming reason, but that's not universally a bad thing ), and they'll stick together through inertia and - as time goes one - a body of shared experiences.
If they come up with an in-world reason that they're together at the start, that's a bonus for the DM, but it isn't necessary - and past a certain point, their shared adventures together are the in-world reason.
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
I like all of them to be honest, they give me a lot to think about.
It's a particularly hard thing to manage when five of your players are new, the important thing is we've been talking about it.
I still think it's something of a mixed responsability, the players need yo make an effort, but the dm needs to make a story that helps them do that.
Still it is interesting to hear everyone's experiences and views on how to go about this.
Perhaps i can get them to bond via a town celebration for taking that last villain down
You already did that though. You gave them an adventure and they went on it. Boom! Shared experience and reason to remain together. If they need more, tell them to come up with one, you DID your part.
If you feel you need to cement a reason in-world, explicitly, I think this is a good idea - emphasize their shared experience to them.
One further technique you could use - which I'm totally stealing from Critical Role Campaign 2, episode 8, starting at 1h03m - have the Party be rewarded by someone official, and as part of the disbursement of the reward, need to note down their Adventuring Party's name in the paperwork, thus forcing the Party to name themselves as a group and found a group identity.
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
I think the party naming makes a big difference. That said, I think your downtime instinct is a good one. Not just because it can help your characters build up their connection to each other, but also because, in my opinion, it adds a bit of versimilitude, as there not usually supernatural horrors that occur all the time. Your characters doing downtime (which can really by about 15 minutes at the start of the game) can give you insight into their desires that you can weave into their next "hot" adventure.
Fenchurch, Gnome Wizard, Red Skies in Mourning
Bonding comes from shared experiences. The characters are not just sharing the combats, they are also sharing the times between encounters.
As a GM, you can help this by asking the players to narrate things from downtime.
For example, in a previous games, the characters travelled together for 6 weeks. I said to the group, "Your characters have spent 6 weeks in close confines, travelling and camping. Please tell the group one thing that everyone has leart about your character, good or bad doesn't matter."
I might suggest if you employ this technique that you actually spend between 40 minutes up to half a session role playing out that celebrator. That extra time will give them more time to build their bonds together under very happy circumstances (as opposed to the life-or-death of adventure), AND it would give you an opportunity to show them (not tell) them!) how much of a positive influence their GROUP has had in the world.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
ok, thought I'd update this for...science?
Anyway, we had our session. It had...mixed results?
Some players were really into the chance to bond in downtime, others just wanted to get a move on to the next fight.
I think thats more of an issue of maybe one of the players play style not matching up with the others.
During the whole session she refused to participate in any shopping, talking or drinking party, and kind of just hung back. At one point even asked me an information her character wasn't privy of and did nothing to learn about, so I told her she didn't know, and she just called me a useless DM as a joke (or is it?). IDK, we'll see if that player sticks around, ironically it's the one with experience in DND.
The others were, somewhat trying to bond, it hasn't solved the issue in full now, but at least its enough for them to stick around on their next trip, which as the goal. (yay)
next adventure, if all goes well, I intend to throw them into a house of many puzzles and magical trickery, to make them work together. We will see how this experiment goes :) thanks everyone that gave me opinions so far! they really helped!
My pleasure. Please keep us posted on how it goes.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting