Incentivize Storytelling, not Sportsmanship
How to design incentives for TTRPGs
A couple of months ago, a GM posted a list of “44 rules for dnd” on Reddit1. This list became infamous as Reddit users ridiculed them for their aggressive tone. While I don’t think this GM should have been harassed, their rules are not a great way to solve the issues at this table. The most glaring issue was the hostile language of the list of rules, but even if they were rewritten to be more friendly, an underlying issue remains. This GM was trying to fix problems with their game that cannot be solved in-game. Let’s examine the different types of incentives that exist in TTRPGs and how they should be designed.
Plot Incentives
This is the obvious one. You get experience, money, equipment, etc. from completing plot objectives. If you save the kingdom, the king will reward you. There isn’t much to say about these.
Mechanical Incentives
Some games will reward you for following the mechanical aspects of the game—rolling dice, killing monsters, solving puzzles, etc. There is some overlap with plot objectives, but mechanical objectives don’t need to further the plot. In D&D, you can gain experience by killing a creature even if it would be better for the plot to keep it alive.2
Mechanical incentives are good because they directly indicate how the game is meant to be played. In Burning Wheel, you must fail some skill checks before that skill can be advanced. This mechanic means players will take risky actions more often. In Call of Cthulu, you can improve the skills you used successfully in the session, so players will try to use a variety of skills instead of just their best ones.
The downside is that sometimes mechanical incentives are at odds with plot incentives. If the mechanics reward combat, players might not consider nonviolent options. If the mechanics disincentivize failure too much, the players might not take risks. The GM should be aware of conflicts of interest like this. Some little house rules can help resolve these situations. If it keeps happening, you’re probably playing the wrong system for the type of story you’re trying to tell.
Roleplay Incentives
What is increasingly common in modern TTRPGs3 is to directly incentivize actions that align with your character traits, such as when playing into your character’s ideals and flaws gives experience. Furthermore, you can gain experience by playing into the desired tone of the story. In a previous post, I describe how Blades In The Dark awards experience for tackling missions that align with the crew’s archetype and help bolster the crew’s reputation. This incentive structure works well because the story is supposed to be about characters who are ambitious and a little reckless.
The advantage of roleplay incentives is that it directly rewards storytelling. Players don’t have to choose between what is best for the story and what is best for getting points in the game. It fixes the issue of playing flawed characters since flaws usually work to hinder the characters from reaching plot objectives. Giving roleplay incentives tells the players it’s okay not to solve the quest perfectly if it means we’re telling a better story.
The downside is that roleplay incentives are very subjective. While slaying a monster can give a pre-defined amount of experience, determining how well a character played to their ideals is less quantifiable. As a result, roleplay incentives tend to be less granular than more mechanical experience systems. Another downside is that roleplay incentives must be nondiegetic. In other words, it makes sense to be awarded a magical sword for a character completing a quest but not for a player acting well. Roleplay incentives must be things like experience, which don’t concretely exist within the story.
Incentives for Sportsmanship/Etiquette
Sometimes you can reward or punish how players play. For example, if players are indecisive, you can implement a real-world timer, which gives the enemy a bonus if the players don’t reach a consensus within time. With the right group, this mechanic can help the pacing while being a fun challenge. However, these incentives should be used sparingly if at all.
Consider a case where players are never on time for the session. A DM may be tempted to create an in-game penalty for being late (e.g., halving the character’s hit points). It might even encourage some players to be punctual; however, it is a bad idea because it blurs the line between the game and reality. Tardiness isn’t a gameplay issue—it is an interpersonal issue and should be dealt with as such. Creating an in-game consequence absolves the player of their offense. The tardy player will think about how they will deal with their lower health rather than how they have let down their friends.
The game only exists because the players have agreed to play it. The agreement includes basic tenets of sportsmanship, including being on time, attentive, and respectful. Most of these elements are tacit, but sometimes they require discussion. Players may have different ideas of what is considered punctual. One player might think it’s okay to check their phone during a game, while another player might find it distracting. For content boundaries, it’s always recommended to have an explicit discussion before starting a campaign. When players aren’t adhering to this agreement, it exists outside of the game, so it cannot be addressed in-game. Communicate with each other and find a compromise.
Final Thoughts
Balancing plot, mechanical, and roleplay incentives is a tricky challenge for game designers and sometimes for GMs. When in doubt, go off of the players. If they lack character motivation, give them plot incentives. If they are confused about the rules, give them mechanical incentives. If they are having trouble being in character, give them roleplay incentives.
If instead, the trouble is with the players’ behavior, then you cannot solve it with reward and punishment. You need to talk it over. If you can’t find an agreement that works for everyone, that is not the right group to play with.
I am not posting a link, since the original was taken down. Reading the list is not necessary to make sense of this article. If you really want to see the list, I recommend this video by Bob World Builder, which analyzes the list well.
Okay, I don’t know anyone who actually does combat-based experience for D&D anymore. Nearly everyone does story-based advancement. Nevertheless, the rules of D&D are still written in such a way that you can gain experience through combat, and non-combat experience is just left to the DM’s discretion.
The oldest example I can find of this type of mechanic is in Vampire: The Masquerade, first published way back in 1991. The rulebook explicitly lists “roleplaying” as a source of experience. From the systems I’ve read, these kinds of incentives were rare back then. In more recently published systems, seeing these types of incentives is more common. I may be wrong since the ones I’ve read are only a small fraction of all the TTRPG systems.