Comments on: Better Characters…Through Homework?

By: Arcade

Arcade — Wed, 27 May 2009 12:04:18 +0000

One item I found that is a great resource to pull homework from is the PC’s diary. It’s a writing journal with 365 questions for your character to answer- one for each day of the year. Just pull out one of these each week and give it to your players.

http://www.errantdreams.com/files/365charques.pdf

By: Ameron

Ameron — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 12:52:43 +0000

When I'm the DM I insist that he PCs have some kind of back-story and motivation for adventuring. The 6 guys in my regular gaming group have played D&D for 20+ years. We need to keep things fresh and interesting to get more out of the game. By coming up with these little details we've found that we have a lot more fun. Plus it gives the DM something to work with when creating side-plots and larger story arcs. We've gained a lot of character development by creating a campaign blog. It allows the PCs to do things outside of the weekly session that are strictly for character development purposes and it works great.

By: David

David — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 15:49:04 +0000

I really like the idea of the homework, as long as there is some incentive to it. I doesn’t really need to be points or something. Even a neat ingame result is cool. My only problem is sometimes you get to busy and you just don’t have the time to think about it away from the table. Thats why low pressure is important. If the DM starts docking rewards because you didn’t do your homework, then there is a problem.

By: gamefiend

gamefiend — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 19:19:26 +0000

I can see that. In my games, I dont actually call it homework (avoid triggering all those bad moments) and it’s completely, totally optional. Some of my players get into it, some don’t. I give incentives, but don’t demand that anyone do it. The other part that I should have mentioned in the article is to make it low-pressure.

By: The Last Rogue

The Last Rogue — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:09:10 +0000

I’ve done similar things in the past, usually with decent results. What is funny about this post, is that I am currently on a similar kick to increase ‘player involvment’ and have been using a roleplay points in much the same way you’ve been using story points.

Good post.

By: Joseph Gambit

Joseph Gambit — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 17:13:27 +0000

I still think assigning homework would turn me off as a player. I prefer laid back role playing, without too many rules, and homework just seems too much like school