Explaining Groups to New Players
Explaining Groups to New Players
So out of my players, the mechanic they most struggled with at character creation was the idea of Groups. Even I had trouble describing it at first, but last session I had 2 new players and I think I stumbled across something rather elegant.
Basically, once they roll their stats, I ask the player why their character has those numbers. In essence, what—in fiction, of course—has happened in their life to warrant those scores.
“Why does your Wise character have such high INT?”
“Because they studied at a wizard college.”
“Your CHA score is abysmal, what’s up with that?
“People don’t like half-orcs. It’s why I took up burglary, I couldn’t find honest employment.”
“For a Strong character, your STR and DEX scores are pretty low.”
“Yeah, I was an officer in the war. Family name precluded any frontline combat.”
This puts a focus on very high and very low scores, but there’s no reason it couldn’t be used for average ones as well. I’m considering making it a standard part of character creation for all my players.
So out of my players, the mechanic they most struggled with at character creation was the idea of Groups. Even I had trouble describing it at first, but last session I had 2 new players and I think I stumbled across something rather elegant.
Basically, once they roll their stats, I ask the player why their character has those numbers. In essence, what—in fiction, of course—has happened in their life to warrant those scores.
“Why does your Wise character have such high INT?”
“Because they studied at a wizard college.”
“Your CHA score is abysmal, what’s up with that?
“People don’t like half-orcs. It’s why I took up burglary, I couldn’t find honest employment.”
“For a Strong character, your STR and DEX scores are pretty low.”
“Yeah, I was an officer in the war. Family name precluded any frontline combat.”
This puts a focus on very high and very low scores, but there’s no reason it couldn’t be used for average ones as well. I’m considering making it a standard part of character creation for all my players.
Sounds great - "Ask questions and use the answers" :)
ReplyDeleteI encourage all manner of question and response, including those asked by other players, during “session 0” and what I call the mundane part of any new adventure. The more a player responds to such questions, the better formed their own character concept becomes and thus the more clear everyone else’s idea of that character becomes.
ReplyDeleteThis!! I’ve used this strategy with my games as well, and you’re right, that lightbulb moment is immediate. Nice post David Shugars :)
ReplyDelete