So, to cut a long story short, I'm running a campaign IRL where the players will start as experienced Space Wolves and, through play and before hitting Rank 2, will be seconded to the Deathwatch. One of the reasons I did this was because the Space Wolves are the only chapter I really know in detail, but also to try and give the characters connections beyond 'You were just bundled together'. But one thing that hits me is that the start of the game isn't really all that different from a vanilla Deathwatch game because really, I'm just swapping 'You're all Deathwatch initiates' for 'You're all Space Wolf veterans'. So I got thinking on ways to try to get the players to have a more involved role with each other.

So, out of curiosity and fishing for tips, have any of you done similar? And if so, how did you get the characters to see each other as more than just another gun/sword in the team?

Nalerenn said:

It's not a bad idea but I went the other route so I could let my players play their favorite chapters. I also wanted to use the 'you're loyal marines but you really are just bundled together' as a character motivator and help push inter-character conflict (not too extreme mind you). I told my players to try to remember when they last joined into a RPG campaign halfway through- you know, when a group already exists and has a dynamic and a history, and you're the outsider. But this time, everyone was the outsider. Trust was there, but it was strained.

I try to come up with places, NPCs, and villans in my adventures that let each of the PCs shine, but shine in a way the benefits the group as a whole and not just that one single Marine. I also try to dump as many RP elements into my missions as possible, discussions with other SMs, Inquisitors, Naval captains, etc, to give them clear time to act out their characters rather than just enter combat. I also have tried to apply pressure points and scenarios where team work is rewarded and the lone wolf actions result in less reward, such as intentionally letting the guy that wanders off on his own find absolutely nothing, while the group discoveres the 'prize' of the adventure. Though I do have to say, in general with DW my players have worked really well as a team and I have a lot less subterfuge or spotlight stealing going on.

Charmander said:

That was my first plan, but coupled with how I don't know a lot of the other Chapters and I couldn't think of a good reason for them to be stuck together as solo Marines of varying Chapters, I decided to go down the single chapter route. Say, for example, my players ended up playing four different Chapters. I personally would struggle to find a way to start the game without making the characters feel like just another cog in the war machine. If some threat to the Imperium required four different Chapters to launch an assault on it, I figure it wouldn't just be a handful of Marines each.

I also didn't want to force any one Chapter onto the players, as everyone had been waiting *years* to play their favourite Chapter. However, if your guys aren't bothered and are happy to be Wolves, that's cool. There's a lot of scope for doing very cool stuff in such a group. Maybe put them on a hunting trip on Fenris, or -before they leave for the Watch- have them guests of honour at a farewell banquet.

As for team-bonding and thinking of it as more than a wargame, you need to give players chance to roleplay, and for the different character elements to come to the fore. I actually think that this is another good reason to use 'mixed' teams of different Chapters, because it's easier for each one to then seem different to the others. They can still all play stereotypes from their Chapter and still all be different. Whereas if everyone plays a stereotype Space Wolf, it makes it that much harder for each person to be seen as individual.

If you've got at least one good rolepalyer in your group, he'll soon start to define his own character, and that always spurs others into doing the same thing.

I lean towards introducing a new group by giving the team-members special roles / situations / relations: For example, one of them is "the rookie" who just enters the Deathwatch, another one is the veteran who has been in the Deathwatch for a while, a third one is a non-Deathwatch spacemarine who has just been ordered to join the Deathwatch for a single mission because of his special knowledges (of course he will stay there after his trial by fire) and so on.

This grants that the players don't start the game in identical roles.