How to get players to RP?
- Thread starter Muddbutt
- Start date
Well, the short answer is, you can't if they don't want to. The trick is finding the ones who want to. The best way to start is to make sure you're upfront about what you're looking for in a roleplay, and what you're looking for in a player. Make the information readily available that there are certain expectations before they can start (like making a background for their character).
Unfortunately, you'll always have people who will try to join anyways even when a roleplay isn't a good match for their playstyle, at which point sticking to your guns is your best bet. If you concede your requirements you'll set the tune for the entire roleplay and they'll know that your rules and expectations aren't really important.
As for derailing... That's trickier because it's not always a bad thing. If it's blatant derailing that makes no sense and serves only to disrupt the roleplay or constantly make themselves the center of attention, then again in my experience the best way to handle it is to make known ahead of time what type of roleplay you want to run and if they start doing this, address it quickly and remove players if they can't respect the roleplay for what it was advertised as. But sometimes derailments happen on accident, or just through a natural series of event, in which case it's the GMs responsibility to roll with it and find a discreet way to let the train go off the rails for a bit, before guiding it back around in a way that doesn't stifle the natural development of the story. In extreme cases if you have a set story progression in mind, this can even mean calling a break in the roleplay. Simply explaining to players that they went in an unexpected direction, and you need time to rework things a bit will be understood and often appreciated over being forcefully railroaded when a derailment actually makes sense.
That all said, if you have a set group of players you play with, you have already expressed your issues with the things they're doing, but you intend to keep playing with them so finding players who fit your playstyle better isn't an option, then you may want to consider making roleplays that cater to their playstyle, instead of expecting them to change to fit your roleplays. Otherwise, you guys will likely always be at odds.
Unfortunately, you'll always have people who will try to join anyways even when a roleplay isn't a good match for their playstyle, at which point sticking to your guns is your best bet. If you concede your requirements you'll set the tune for the entire roleplay and they'll know that your rules and expectations aren't really important.
As for derailing... That's trickier because it's not always a bad thing. If it's blatant derailing that makes no sense and serves only to disrupt the roleplay or constantly make themselves the center of attention, then again in my experience the best way to handle it is to make known ahead of time what type of roleplay you want to run and if they start doing this, address it quickly and remove players if they can't respect the roleplay for what it was advertised as. But sometimes derailments happen on accident, or just through a natural series of event, in which case it's the GMs responsibility to roll with it and find a discreet way to let the train go off the rails for a bit, before guiding it back around in a way that doesn't stifle the natural development of the story. In extreme cases if you have a set story progression in mind, this can even mean calling a break in the roleplay. Simply explaining to players that they went in an unexpected direction, and you need time to rework things a bit will be understood and often appreciated over being forcefully railroaded when a derailment actually makes sense.
That all said, if you have a set group of players you play with, you have already expressed your issues with the things they're doing, but you intend to keep playing with them so finding players who fit your playstyle better isn't an option, then you may want to consider making roleplays that cater to their playstyle, instead of expecting them to change to fit your roleplays. Otherwise, you guys will likely always be at odds.