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Now, let's see what I've got for this one...

First In-game possibility: Combat Experience 'wears off'. Of course, in most systems, there's an experience value given for slaying a certain kind of monster - but it wouldn't be too realistic to award this amount of points each time the PC slays one of them as soon as it becomes routine work... if the brave hero slays his 20th Ancient Giant Multi-Headed Red Dragon, it's surely not an experience as impressive as his _first_ one, so I would also only award about 1/20 of the Dragon's XP value. This forces the players who want to advance to come along with new ways of surviving such encounters - the first Ancient Giant Multi-Headed Red Dragon being _talked_ into submission would be worth as much XP as the first one - maybe even more, depending on how brilliantly it was done.

Second In-game possibility: Involve PCs in Non-combat action. Maybe the Player's favor towards combat comes from the simple fact that they haven't encountered any other things that really are fun to them... WHAT exactly you should do to get your players out of their roleplaying lethargy depends heavily on players and GM. Maybe you could get one of the PCs involved in a love affair? Maybe a few puzzles would do them good? Maybe you could come up with an enemy the players cannot possibly defeat in combat, but only through roleplaying? Depending on the solution, it could even be helpful to confront them with an _extremely_ boring combat situation short before you come up with The Other Possibility. Sometimes contrast does a lot.

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1. Opened subplot for another player. (Ex: Tom shoots his mouth off about how Rex can shoot even better than William Tell, and so the local Baron demands that Rex compete in the upcoming competition against his champion Sir Tell.)
2. Opened subplot for Self. (As above, but lesser xp award.)
3. Unselfish bonus. (To reward the Good Guys who either stick to their character's character in spite of evil reward or who try to stay honorable in spite of the other characters.)

I also penalize xp for reusing the same ability over and over or trying to milk an ability for all it's worth.



From: John B.

With regard to Encouraging Roleplaying over combat I think one good way to encourage players not to shoot first, ask later is to allow them to go into a combat situation, slay the bad guy and then present an unexpected outcome from the combat.

For example, one of the "villains" just killed could have been an undercover agent for the king and the players actions instead of being heroic have just put the kingdom on the brink of war. For this to work properly you do have to provide the players with some way to figure it out before they enter combat through roleplaying. If they rush into combat without thinking they face the consequences of their actions...


From: Tony

I've found that the most effective way to encourage roleplaying is to ask each player to write a detailed history for their character before the campaign begins. Some players will be able to write detailed histories without any trouble at all. For those that have difficulty, spend some time outside of your normal gaming sessions talking to them about the game world and asking them questions about their character. Throwing around ideas for an interesting character background can be a lot of fun.

Player: "Maybe he used to be a soldier in some army." GM: "Yeah good idea, the Kingdom of Arthania is at war with the Gors at the moment, your character might be a Knight of Arthania, or a hired mercenary?" Player: "A mercenary yeah cool! He'd be a hard old guy like Clint Eastwood except with a soft heart..." etc.

It's a lot of fun and really primes the player, even a new player, to start roleplaying from day one. Character histories are great for the GM too, as they usually supply a whole bunch of NPCs and story ideas ready to work into the campaign.


From: Toran

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Set up events before they occur.

This tip sort of relates to the last one. Many stories rely on a breach of the normal state of affairs - this only works well when you set up what the normal situation is in the first place. For example, we see Conan's village before it is raided by Fulsa Doom (or however you spell it!), all peaceful and happy. This gives us something to prepare the coming carnage to. To breach something, you must demonstrate what it's normally like first.

You also need to set things up to create tension. Give hints as to coming events so that there is some kind of build up. I always used to get really annoyed when no one found the terrible war/sudden death of ruler/other large event shocking. They just bounced along happily. For something to have impact you need to build up to it. Use prophesies, hints, and small clues to allude to the coming large event. Have NPCs fear it for a while. Wait until the PCs fear it before having it happen. The Shadow War in Babylon 5 would have been far less interesting if the story had started with it, and without all the hints and dire predictions.

Finally, you need to set up the normal way of doing things, and why it is so incredibly dangerous to do it some other way. That way when the PCs invariably chose to do it the dangerous way it will seem cool and challenging. Try showing what happens to an NPC who does it the dangerous way (something bad!), or have NPCs talk about what they think would happen. Try to make it so that the players really think their characters could get seriously fried doing something the wrong way. That way when they choose to do it, it will be more intense and rewarding.



From: Delos

To solve this problem, I chose to not award experience for (say) killing monsters/npcs and allow their loot/death to be its own reward. But I do award xp for these kinds of actions:
1. Came up with own consequences (Ex: Remembered to limp after being wounded in the foot.)
2. Played a Disadvantage (Ex: I didn't have to remind Tom that he's colorblind at any point in the session.) [I don't award xp for taking disadvantages, just playing them.]
3. Player contributed a Goal at the end of the game. (Ex: The next game, Tom decides that he'd like to meet his evil twin.)
4. An extra Sign is added. (I use Signs like Over the Edge does.)
5. Played an NPC well. In those times when the party is divided, I have an NPC prepared (pregame) for a player to play. I record the relevant stats and skills just for the purpose of the encounter, along with a few Signs and other mannerisms. I usually have to tell the npc-player how difficult or easy to be and they take it from there.

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From: Riina
1. Design general descriptions and encounters before the game.

Usually when GMs prepare for a game they work out the main plot encounters and so forth which are going to happen, with a general notion of when they'll happen. This is definitely a useful thing to do! However, I've also found it very useful to design some bits of description and minor encounters which can be inserted anywhere in the game. They can be used whenever you need time to think, when you need something to do right now, or just to enhance the imagery of your game world.

Examples -
o Work out some generic descriptions of the weather. Make them as detailed and evocative as possible, and use them to enhance or contrast the mood of the game. eg. "The rain pours down onto the darkened cobblestones and drips from the eaves of the small wooden houses. You see no one but a few huddled beggars as you make your way to xyz." Try to describe light sources, smells, sensations and noises, appeal to all the senses. Insert these whenever you want to make the gameworld seem more vivid, or to evoke a mood.
o Work out some generic descriptions of the location of the game world. Devise and note down in point form some basic imagery for your game world - eg. descriptions of the city the game is set in, or the mountain range they are passing through. Include people and animals and minor, mundane mishaps (broken cart wheels, fallen trees on the road etc.). Insert these whenever the PCs are moving around in the world frame. Have them reflect the state of affairs (has there just been a war? Is there famine? Is the market bursting with goods? Are their a lot of soldiers around? etc.)
o Devise generic NPCs. Invent a series of normal people of different ages, genders and social classes. Give them names, physical descriptions and a couple personality traits. Wheel them out when the PCs talk to someone you didn't expect them to, or put them around the place to demonstrate the reality of the PCs actions (eg. the inhabitants of the house they break into). Again, have their situations and concerns reflect the mood/theme/events of the game world. Or for something different have it contrast.
o Devise minor encounters. For example, the PCs could be robbed by a common thief, or come across a "domestic dispute", or a lost child. These events can be inserted to illustrate all sorts of points about the nature of the world, or to take up some time when you need to think, or to break up the more important events of the story. They can be used to add interest to the unexpected actions of the PCs. Make sure they are simple and mundane, otherwise you defeat their purpose of giving you time to think, or of reflecting the normal events of the game world.

All of these things can be devised without the exact context in mind, and then inserted in wherever you like. Their advantage over just making things up on the spot is that they will fit better with your game world, they will be more complex and you can use them as a subtle way of controlling the mood of the game. They will also look pre-planned, which helps to keep the players from trying to pin point the "real plot" and then pursuing it to the exclusion of all else.