Roleplaying Tips Weekly E-Zine Issue #163

When Players Attack: Tips For Encouraging PC Co-Operation

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SENT BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY With Compliments

From: Johnn Four, http://www.roleplayingtips.com
johnn@roleplayingtips.com

CONTENTS:
--> A Brief Word From Johnn

--> This Week's Tips Summarized:

1. Let'Em Kill Each Other
2. Have A Group Chat
3. Hit'Em When They're Down
4. Throw Away The Books
5. Create A PC Vs. PC Campaign
6. Seek Advice
7. Find Replacements
8. Diagnosis: Power Struggle
9. Make'Em Family
10. Create In-Game Consequences
11. Give The PCs A Tough Boss
12. New PCs Must Start From Scratch
13. Invoke A Curse
14. Re-Educate Your Players
15. Unroot The Motives

--> Readers' Tips Of The Week:

1. Add 6 Cool Things To Each Combat
2. Making Combat Interesting
3. Increasing Player Satisfaction
4. Technology As Reward
5. Dealing With Player Freedom Of Choice
6. Recovering From GM Error

--> SSP: NPC Essentials

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A BRIEF WORD FROM JOHNN

New Contest: Interesting Combat Or Roleplaying "Scenes"

-------------------------------------------------------
This is an "ideas" contest, my favourite kind. Unlimited
entries are allowed, with each scene representing one entry.

To enter, read Varianor's Reader Tip #2, "Making Combat

Interesting," in this issue where he provides several cool,
one-two sentence combat "scenes". Think up new scene ideas
summarized in 1-2 sentences, and send them in to me. All
genres are accepted. I'd also like to see the equivalent for
role-playing type scenes. So, feel free to make your entries
1-2 sentence cool scenes for RP encounters as well.
Up For Grabs:

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* 3 e-Roleplaying.com 30mm Floorplan CDs that include 50+

cool printable floorplans, counters, and tiles. For more
information, see Dirk's ad in this issue or click here:
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* 2 copies of the NPC Essentials eBook. Written by Yours

Truly, it's jam-packed with NPC tips and advice, and hardly
any fluffy text--just good, solid info.
http://www.gmmastery.com/index.php?page=pro&product_id=9

Contest ends March 15. Send your entry(s) to:

johnn@roleplayingtips.com

Good luck! And feel free to email me if you have any

questions.

Cheers,

Johnn Four
johnn@roleplayingtips.com

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WHEN PLAYERS ATTACK: TIPS FOR ENCOURAGING PC CO-OPERATION

Compiled By Leslie Holm

Editor, RPG Gateway
Reviewer, RPG Reviews
Moderator, Outlanda Games
Owner, DM Resources

Recently, the GM Mastery mail group received a letter from a

beleaguered GM whose group refuses to form a cooperative
adventuring party. He says that no matter what tact he
takes, from alignment restrictions to common enemies, this
group draws swords and begins to kill each other at every
opportunity.

From the response received on the list, this problem

evidently struck a familiar chord with many. I'd like to
take credit for solving his problem, but my instinctive
response was "Kill 'em all!" Luckily, others found more
reasonable solutions. Following are some of them.

1. Let'Em Kill Each Other

=========================
Let those PCs who feel the need go ahead and kill each
other. Then you continue playing with the rest of the group
while those two/three players sit back and watch for awhile.
If they can't find a reason for their PCs to want to live
rather than die, so be it. Eventually, after killing a new
character at every game, they'll get the hint.

2. Have A Group Chat

====================
In these kinds of situations, consider taking it outside of
the game-level. You have to deal with the players. The first
question is, "WTF are you guys doing?" Do they WANT to play
or not? No, the PCs don't have to be all Boy-Scouty and
trust each other. But that doesn't mean the characters have
to be blood-thirsty either.

Tell the players that THEY need to find reasons and ways for
their characters to get along. Your job as DM is to present
them with a reasonable excuse for adventuring together. It's
up to the PCs to make it work, just like with any group
(real world or in-game).

Approach the other (non-combative) PCs (via NPCs) and ask

why they put up with this kind of crap unnecessarily? There
are dozens of (NPC) people out there looking for an
adventuring group to join.

Another GM Mastery list member advises:

Removing the racial tensions, alignment restrictions, etc.

won't have an effect because the players aren't really role-
playing why their PCs feel the need to kill each other. They
are doing it because they think it's fun. They're probably
the same people who go around in "PK" mode in one-line RPGs,
randomly plugging other people.

I'm not a psychiatrist, but I get the feeling it's about

needing to always feel better than the next guy. You
definitely need to ask them, out-of-game, why they behave
this way and tell them that you're not having any fun. Who
was their GM before? Did they drive him to quit because of
their antics? Or did he indulge them? Where did this bad
habit start? Ask one of them to be the GM for a day, and
when everyone starts misbehaving again, see how that guest
GM feels.
3. Hit'Em When They're Down
===========================
If you want an in-game, in-character solution, try having
their enemies show up in full force when the PCs are in the
middle of their free-for-all intra-party brawl. The enemies
will just hang back and laugh. If asked, the enemy says he's
just waiting for the PC-group to do his work for him, then
he'll pick off the wounded afterward.

Usually, it's a matter of the players not taking the game

seriously enough to get over the "lone-wolf" syndrome. There
are MANY other personality types to roleplay that would be
much more fun.

4. Throw Away The Books

=======================
Throw away the RPG books and get out a nice antagonist board
game, like Talisman or even Monopoly, where the players are
supposed to be enemies. You'll have just as much fun
(probably more) and your head won't hurt from banging it
against the wall so much.

In the meantime, you can continue your search for some

mature people to role-play with. And don't be afraid to
play in a group with minors, you might just be surprised at
how well they can fall into character.

5. Create A PC Vs. PC Campaign

==============================
You might be better off running a game where the PCs are
supposed to be at each other's throats. Build PC vs. PC
conflicts into the game:

* A gladiatorial campaign
* The Rune RPG by Robin Laws
* A race, rally, or treasure hunt
* Monster vs. monster
* Competing bounty hunters
* The Paranoia RPG
* In-game competitions, like gambling, jousts, pit-fighting,
fantasy sports leagues, tavern competitions, medieval
Olympics, etc.
* An evil campaign
* An espionage campaign

Another idea is to try setting the characters up as

representatives of competing/hostile groups and make it
clear that you expect them to betray, backstab, and take
advantage of one another. If your game rules don't lend
themselves well to this style, cast your gaze on the
Birthright RPG and Amber RPG.

6. Seek Advice
==============
Ask the players how you'd like them to be game mastered.
Also ask the non-combative players for solutions and ideas
based on their personal knowledge of the other players.

You can also find some good advice in the Uncle Figgy RPG
Guides: http://members.aol.com/dwcope/guides.htm

7. Find Replacements
====================
If you have two good players who want to participate in the
game and be co-operative, and you have three who just want
to kill things, then you might be immensely satisfied if you
politely remove the latter three. Then, ask the ones you've
left behind to recruit some friends.

8. Diagnosis: Power Struggle

============================
It's possible that you're witnessing a player power struggle
within your group. Are there any players whom you'd consider
as the primary instigators of the melees?

It could be that some of your players are using these free-

for-alls as a means of establishing dominance in the group
(or they're just not interested in roleplaying).

In this case, try establishing one PC (preferably one the

whole group can accept) as the unquestioned leader. This
could be done through group vote, secret ballot, or an in-
character (non-lethal) contest.

You might also consider setting up a game-within-the-game

where group leadership can only be challenged under certain
in-character circumstances through specific procedures or
protocols. "The Rules Of Mutiny" should be agreed upon by
every player before the game so that things remain
consistent and fair.

9. Make'Em Family
=================
Make the PCs all brothers and sisters, members of the same
clan, or members of the same organization, like the police
or a branch of the armed forces. Families aren't supposed to
kill each other are they?

10. Create In-Game Consequences

===============================
a) Set your adventures in a city so that the law is always
at hand to arrest people who kill others. If anyone steps
out of bounds, then do your best as the GM to make sure that
the police/guard DO catch them and that they ARE punished,
executed, or exiled for their crime.

b) What happens when a player dies? If there's a penalty to

the group, then the players might hold off a bit.
* Deep in a dungeon, sword dripping with his comrades'
blood, the lone warrior realizes he cannot possibly get
back out alive...
 * The prophecy says *four* must "ride the sun to catch
the moon".

* EXPs at the end of the night are calculated by

multiplying the number of surviving members with the
base amount. i.e. 100 EXPS x 4 surviving PCs = 400 EXPs
each.

11. Give The PCs A Tough Boss

=============================
Give the group, or perhaps just the troublesome player(s), a
powerful boss or patron who threatens bad things for any
party members who fight with each other.

Potential penalties are:

* Patron sends NPCs out to kill offending PCs
* Patron withholds the treasure/reward at the end
* Patron becomes the PCs' enemy or a villain
* Patron sends the PCs into an ambush or trap
* Patron rewards a rival group of NPCs instead

12. New PCs Must Start From Scratch

===================================
Players who instigate party conflicts and lose must create
brand new, weak PCs. Victims of unprovoked attacks are
allowed to create new PCs that are more powerful.

See http://www.roleplayingtips.com/issue129.html for more

tips on creating new PCs mid-campaign.

13. Invoke A Curse

==================
a) Way back in the era of CGA monitors, there was a game
called Heroes Quest. The entire village was under a
protective spell cast by a friendly sorceress. The moment
anyone reached for a weapon they were overcome by sudden
feelings of peace, harmony and nonviolence. Make the players
role-play that.

b) Let them kill each other but don't have them create new
characters. Instead, their corpses are found by a high-level
spellcaster who raises and charms/quests them to work
together for his own purposes.

c) In Basic/Expert D&D, a group of 5 sprites could cast a

special curse together. You could have PCs be cursed so they
have exceptionally bad luck in combat, unless working
together against a common foe.

14. Re-Educate Your Players

===========================
Your players may simply be inexperienced or have been
exposed to bad examples of play. Re-educate them. As to
"adult gamers", I've often found that maturity has little to
do with age. Basically, you need to put your regular
campaign on hold and take the time to train your players
into being the type of people you do want to game with,
assuming you can't just find other players, that is.

[Comment from Johnn: sometimes training players with the

goal of changing their behaviour won't work. You can't force
people to change. The best you can do is to set a shining
example yourself with your NPCs and encounters, expose "bad"
players to "good" players who espouse the gaming qualities
you value, and to maintain an open dialogue about the nuts
'n bolts of roleplaying.]

15. Unroot The Motives

======================
A couple of GMs on the GM Mastery list have mentioned
talking with the players away from the game table. I vote
for this too. However, players won't often give you the real
answer in a discussion (because they might not know it
themselves), so pay attention for clues that might reveal
their true motivations:

* Rivals, friendly. Many relationships thrive on friendly

competitiveness.

* Rivals, antagonistic. Some people just don't get along.

* Alpha player. The group's/players' competitive spirits

cause them all to play King Of The Hill.

* Misunderstanding. The players don't know that RPGs,

especially with your style of GMing, are meant to be
cooperative affairs.

* Ignorance. The players have been taught to PK (Player

Kill), don't want to learn, or don't know how to cooperate.

You might consider chatting with the players individually to

reduce peer pressure and bravado. If you can determine the
real motivation behind the conflicts, you might be able to
change things.

* * *

I'd like to emphasize once more that as GM, it is your game.

It is important that you present a well thought out,
balanced campaign with the elements your players will
appreciate. It is equally important, though, that you enjoy
what you are doing. With the amount of work involved, if
your heart isn't in it, it just becomes a chore. And that's
not what roleplaying is all about.

-- Leslie Holm

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READERS' TIPS OF THE WEEK

1. Add 6 Cool Things To Each Combat

From: John G.
===================================
For making combats fun and interesting, use the scenery.
Someone on another list suggested writing at least 6 cool
pieces of scenery, or props, into each combat and then USE
THEM in the combat.

Bar fights are much better with flying mugs, tables

overturned, etc. The same is true of any combat. Watch any
swashbuckling movie if you don't believe me. Fighters move
from table tops, to swinging on ropes, etc. Great drama.

One of my favorites was a running chase/fight inside a hedge

maze. The chase actually started at a ball when one of the
guests bolted out the French doors and over a balcony onto a
lawn and into the garden. Props included glass doors,
curtains, a fountain, low hedges, and the maze with 8-foot
hedges as the walls.
How about a vineyard/winery? Wine presses/vats, lots of
stacked barrels and bottles, and the vineyard, which was
covered in chicken wire at a height of about 4 feet. Imagine
chasing a villain who's hiding under that. What a fight.

A town square or road is loaded with potential props.

Pedestrians (hostages, obstacles), hitching posts, water
barrels, *mud*, little dogs running around, kids playing,
vendors of any types of goods you care to put there (fruit
are great missile weapons). How about a gang of street
toughs who decide to aid one side or the other in a brawl
just for kicks? (Combine that with the apple vendor and you
have one, or both, sides being pelted by apples while trying
to fight).

Look at any room in your house and try to figure what would
have been there in the era you play in. Dozens of items are
universal. Kitchen utensils, chairs, tables, decorations,
stands, doors (I love having NPCs slam doors in PC faces--do
that enough times and the PCs definitely slow down when
chasing someone through a door!), armoires, stairs, glass
windows, or the ash-bin from a fireplace (just for laughs).

Even in a dungeon you have stalactites, stalagmites, stone

columns, rubble, mud, mineral deposits, steam, noxious
fumes, gas spurts (remember the Fireswamp in Princess
Bride?), and mud. (And mud makes a great missile weapon, by
the way).

Maybe d20 players can consider a new feat: Improvised

Weapon, so their players won't take minuses when playing
this way. (7th Sea has attack and parry knacks for
improvised weapons, plus an improvised missile weapon
knack).

Of course, if NPCs start using props to their advantage,

players will, too. And I encourage this by letting them
pretty much always find what they need or want to use. It
makes for a freewheeling style of combat that's fun. Players
cut ropes holding chandeliers in place, chairs and tables
fly about, it's great.

2. Making Combat Interesting

From: Varianor via the GM Mastery List
=========================================
My theory on interesting combat is "make it fun." At least
once per adventure I like to have an unusual encounter.

Here are some examples:

1) A fight on a mountaintop. The PCs have to climb stairs

carved into it to get there and are at risk of falling off
the sides.

2) Stopping an evil priest in a poison factory full of giant

medieval machinery that the PCs have to run through and
dodge around.
3) Marine gargoyles attacking when PCs are attempting to
cross a river by tight-rope walking. Followed up by a water
naga in the water (getting cover bonuses) that came in only
if the gargoyles are beaten.

4) A climactic battle in a cloud palace, made entirely of

ice, where the PCs have to watch their footing while fighting
a dragon that they have agreed to capture, not kill.

5) Combat at a high pillar (500 ft. off the ground) that the
PCs must to somehow to the top of and destroy. It's guarded
by invisible monsters in the air and stone colored
oozes/slimes.

6) A fight on a walkway between towers used by town guards.

The villain sets the walkway on fire as the PCs come out
onto it!

7) A villain escapes in a rowboat. He has a flintlock to

the head of a local villager to make him row. The PCs have
to get in another rowboat and chase him out to his waiting
ship.

8) Enemies with a kidnapped prisoner are sailing down the

opposite side of a swift river. They are heading downstream-
-toward a waterfall! The PCs must try to sail cross the
stream, rescue the prisoner, and not go over the edge.

9) Combat with the PCs chasing an escaping thief through a

cramped campground. Leaping over tent ropes, dodging poles,
ducking under flaps, running through tents, and avoiding
fires while chasing through groups of people is fun!

10) A combination chase/fight scene in a medieval style

flour mill. The flour can be explosive because it's such
fine dust (although the damage is low). And if the villains
dive into the water or run through the mill wheels it's
really tricky to get them.

Think of something unusual. Then make it happen! The PCs

love it.

3. Increasing Player Satisfaction

From: Andrew
=================================
re: http://www.roleplayingtips.com/issue146.html

Johnn,

In response to Issue #146, one GM enquired as to how to make

the PCs pay attention in the game at the grand finale. It
would seem to me that the PCs saying "Yawn..OK, next" is
indicative of the fact that they can take more.

Solution: make it so that they CAN'T take more. It would

seem to me that the PCs are not being challenged enough.

First, make your storylines more engrossing. Look at your

storylines from a player perspective and see if they would
be fun. Put unique things in. My most popular game (12
players wanting to play, 7 actually playing) involves the
PCs being the players themselves being sucked into the D&D
world by Boccob, and then being set loose upon the world,
put at it's mercy, to take on a quest of epic proportions
that the gods themselves cannot handle. Storyline achieved.

Second, increase the challenges. A good GM always makes the

players feel that there is a 50/50 chance that they will
succeed, and that in every encounter (except for
roleplaying), the PCs are in mortal danger. My advice to
the GM who has these concerns - hurt the PCs. Badly. If you
find that the challenges you are pitting the PCs against are
supposed to be challenging but repeatedly fail in this role,
then consider pitting them against challenges higher than
they should be facing. Then grin evilly when your 8th level
players scream "A MIND FLAYER?!?!?"

If this still does not hurt them enough, get the characters
on a personal level. Take their most prized possession (for
my campaign and my fighter, a +1 rapier of speed), and then
let slip that the only way that they can get it back is to
catch the culprit. Oh, and make sure that that character,
as well as the other characters, does not have enough money
to simply replace the item in question. Not only do they
want, and NEED, the item back (especially against enemies
with damage reduction), but THEY WANT VENGEANCE. This
ensures that they get satisfaction out of dispatching the
villain.

4. Technology As Reward
From: Dean Martin
=======================
I have been running a campaign for almost 6 years now and it
has evolved so far beyond how it started that you can see it
taking on a life of it's own. One key to this has been the
advancement of technology through the years. I have tried to
keep a balanced progression as far as technological advances
go, and one of those discoveries came in the form of a rare
find in a treasure chest.

In my game, one can have gunpowder pistols. These weapons

are quite clumsy though, prone to misfire, and very
expensive. I also made a rule that gunpowder could only be
used in small quantities. No one could ever get the mix to
be stable enough, and if it were used in large quantities it
would explode. However, one of the PCs located a diary
belonging to an old engineer from 300 years ago who actually
had a formula that allowed gunpowder to be used in large
quantities and that was stable.

The PCs realized the value of their find as they excitedly

discussed the repercussions this would have on the world.
Soon, cannons would be made, which in turn would affect how
castles would be defended, etc.

Anyway, it's just a reminder that not all treasure need be

gold and magic items. Sometimes, knowledge is power enough!
5. Dealing With Players Freedom Of Choice
From: Galen Ciscell
=========================================
Whenever I end a session with my players, I ask them what
their characters plan on doing next, in response to whatever
options have presented themselves during the session. This
way I can plan the next session's adventure during the week
based on their input and be assured that, although they
may take sidetreks, the adventure I have planned will be
what they want.

6. Recovering From GM Error

From: Heather Grove
http://www.burningvoid.com/
====================================
I don't know how helpful this is, but I'd say that
"recovering well" [from a GM mistake] means not getting too
wound up about it. In my experience, the less seriously you
take your own mistakes, and the more calmly you handle them,
the less serious your players seem to think your mistakes
are.

When I make a mistake I try to calmly think about how to

handle it. Would it be best to just let it slide? Back-track
a bit? Come up with a new way of handling things? If the
solution isn't obvious, I talk to my players about it for a
moment and see what they think. Then I make my decision and
go with that.

Just handling something calmly and taking a couple of

minutes to think about it, instead of trying to come up with
an answer too quickly, can give your players a lot of faith
in you. That way they know you're thinking about the issue
instead of being arbitrary. It can be tempting when you're
all flipped out over making a mistake to try to resolve the
situation as fast as possible, which is exactly the opposite
of what you should be doing, IMO.

That's another thing, actually. If you drag your players

into helping you out, then they often tend to be happier
with the results. They feel like their issues were taken
into account, even if you end up deciding something
different than what they wanted. In fact, I find that
getting your players to help you undermines most "bad" or
antagonistic interactions between GM and player--it gets
the players to start thinking like they're on your side,
which tends to make them much more forgiving of your
mistakes. :)

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That's it for this week's issue.

Have more fun at every game!

Johnn Four
mailto:johnn@roleplayingtips.com

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