More Than Adventure

Alright, you've got your adventurers traveling across a kingdom of your creation fighting bad guys, earning treasure, exploring dangerous ruins. What more could you ask for? While the adventure is the main goal and doing that well is a big achievement, have you considered what fun could be had outside of the main adventure?

It can be easy to get nervous as a GM and think that if your players doing quest related action all the time that people won't have as much fun, but you might be surprised at the simple things your players can enjoy role playing. Now maybe you stick very closely to action scenes because you and your group are not very comfortable or practiced in role playing. That's totally fine. I want to suggest some simple ways that you spend some time outside of the main adventure and still have fun. Whether you've created a world the PCs have known all their lives or if you've taken them to a new land of wonder, remember that these environments should have activities to offer and culture to be shared. Let me share a short example: 

After your defense of the temple, the monks and priestesses ask you to join them in a celebration ceremony to honor their deity and good fortune. You are welcomed into a large room with marble floors and beautiful streaming silks hanging on the walls. You take seats on plush floor pillows and watch a well-practiced prayer ceremony. Afterwards, everyone leads you into another room with a large pool and boards fixed over the water. They inform you that their ceremonial dance takes place on these beams and if you fall in then you will have given all the effort you can to honor their god. They tell you that the dance will become increasingly complex as the music continues before asking you to change into robes. Okay, everyone, so we are going to roleplay your characters trying to follow this dance and make a series of Dex and Athletics rolls to see how long you last. 

Have some fun! Play up the embarrassment, make it a competition, take a priest down in the water with you. Small activities like this can be a big hit with your players, and they also make your fantasy world more immersive. It gives players a chance to play into their character's personalities and really get in that head space. 

Here's a list of things you could do (this certainly is not everything): 

• Culturally significant activities like above
• Carnival games
• Non-combat challenges (such as: log rolling, boulder tossing, or obstacle courses.)
• Card or board games. Look up some authentic medieval card games and let the characters play a hand while they meet with a contact in the tavern. 
• Taking part in a play or doing something artistic
• Let your bard perform at the tavern
• Spellcasters can put on a show for kids 
• Spend some time roleplaying a party
• Drinking games

The list could go on and on, there is no limit to the possibilities. If you're running a full campaign for your group, then I highly suggest mixing in activities like this often. At least give players the option. I'm writing a professional campaign right now, and I'm starting off with all social interaction and activities, and not just "you meet in a tavern." Try to be as creative with your social environments and activities as you are with your adventures. 

If you or your group are not so comfortable with role playing, then here are some suggestions on how to change this. First, you should open up a dialogue with your group about role playing. Ask people how much experience they've had and what they're comfortable with. This will determine how much real role playing you'll do in your game. Start slow and don't put people on the spot. If everyone agrees that they want to build comfort and skill, then you can promote more in-depth roleplay. Try this: agree to have one role play practice interaction with each player each session. This is 2-3 minutes where a player has a conversation or interaction with an NPC. The rules are that all dialogue must be spoken in your character's voice, only actions are described in third person, and imagery or emotion is encouraged. Try to have one of these with each character in a session and encourage players to play like this as often as possible. Most importantly, remember to always have fun! Nothing is more important that!

As usual, you can contact me if you have any further questions or if you'd like to see me write a post on a specific topic. I am now writing general TTRPG supplements and creating maps. You can find them on my Ko-Fi page! 

You can find me on Twitter @flayer85

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