My group is not feeling good about Motivation. They do not like that it rewards good roleplaying to just one player. They feel that the xp reward (5 xp) is holding them back.

In general they would prefer something more like personality traits. Something that gives a character a quirk that can be brought into play continously to add colour. As opposed to the Motivation which we interpret as something that is meant to now and again add the spotlight on a PC for a whole scene.

I've told them that I more or less agree with them but that i want to try out Motivation as is for a while longer before cutting or changing it.

I have interpreted Motivations as a Mechanic to specifically add the spotlight on a character. To push the narrative of this character and create drama and tension and add meat to the overall story. There are similar mechanics in many other rpgs with a narrative bend.

I would love to hear some success stories about Motivations and when GMs reward the 5 xp (and 10!).

I think motivation works best as a broad spectrum. So it shouldn’t be too detailed because it is hard to stick to it in that way...

I found that things like Overthrow the Empire might not come up in a session so acting towards it would seem out of place, but a more competitive character might be able to make his motivation shine every time you sit down to play.

A player with overthrow (for instance) might act paranoid and see the emperor’s hand in everything and vocalize it at certain turns in the game which would make for good roleplaying.

It is hard however to reward someone for playing towards their motivations when they hardly had the chance to do so...

Perhaps the players themselves should tell you how they gave body to their motivation in the session they just played, in this way they create awareness of how to incorporate it in their game over time and makes them think more about the psyche of their characters.

Motivation has been an issue for my group, at least for some of the players staying within the alternatives offered by the book - we've usually played slightly different types of games with a lot more freedom, i.e. less focus on roleplaying structure, but with more focus on rules and system.

For the one, or two, players the chose their own motivation it seems to work, but being from such an egalitarian society I rarely award any player more XP than the others, in fact I usually give players not present a quarter, or third, of what the present players got. Last session was also the first time I ever (with this group) awarded a player bonus XP, but that was major plot progression for that player's story. When I played back when I went to college in the UK we had a bonus-XP award program that worked like this: At the end of each session the GM will start with one player and then ask the rest of the group why that player should get bonus XP, the GM will then say why s/he thinks so. The GM will then go through the each player in group like that, no one will speak for him- or herself (unless of course someone missed something vital, the GM usually remembers these things though). In the end the GM awards anywhere from 0 to 5 XP in this type of game - of course we played HARP so XP increments was a tad different.

I like bladerunner_35's suggestion about personality quirks, some of my players definitely already have picked up this as defining traits of their character - sometimes related to their motivation. Others haven't and I think it'd be weird to force it upon them.

I try to cater to all my players each session, but without it being too obvious its hard with a somewhat large group of very different players and characters...

Not a fan of it as a carrot (even less as a stick). I don't like having to sum up my characters with set in stone rules, though.

Does my character want A? Yeah, but not at the expense of B.

Would my character be motivated to take action against X? Yeah, unless Y occurs.

It's why when I GM, I reward what I perceive as good roleplaying with tailored plots rather than XP. Plots, everyone can get involved in. With bonus XP, I'm going to end up hanging someone out to dry because I don't understand their character as well as they do (and never could).

It's worked really well in my group.

As long as it colors decisions and actions made by the player, they get the reward.

If someone has Freedom as a Motivation, and sometime during the course of the session they decide to free someone because they can't stand to see anyone in a cage, choose to run rather than risk capture, check for exit points before entering a structure, react negatively to an NPC with servants, etc. then they get the XP.

If anything, it makes the ambiguous "what is good roleplaying of your character" decision a lot easier for the GM.

It also makes it easier to set up fun plot points. Have a PC with an honor motivation? Make sure there is an NPC in the adventure that will challenge his honor in some way.

Thanks for the input guys. Glad to hear I'm/we aren't the only one having trouble Motivation work.

It's why when I GM, I reward what I perceive as good roleplaying with tailored plots rather than XP. Plots, everyone can get involved in. With bonus XP, I'm going to end up hanging someone out to dry because I don't understand their character as well as they do (and never could).

Perhaps my issue is that I am too strict. For me a Motivation is not just someone trash talking the Empire or being gruff with the Strom Trooper Sergeant (Overthrow the Empire), thats a personality quirk.

Someone with a Motivation would go out of their way, when the opportunity presents itself (not constantly derailing the story) to pursue their Motivation. Meaning to needlessly capture or kill the Storm Trooper sergeant (Overthrow the Empire) or refuse to accept certain terms to work for someone else or leave the prison without releasing all the prisoners (Freedom). Or maybe refusing to take part in the rescue attempt for fear of being caught and imprisoned.

Naturally it should not just be a block, a "no, my character wouldn't do that". But it should always be a choice between the Motivation and following along without a fuss.

I have a player with Motivation Greed. He is pretty good at capturing a greedy personality and generally bring it up in play - but always as fluff, a way to add colour and spice to his character. So far I've judged it is not enough for the 5 xp reward. This is also the player who feel that the xp reward is constraining. He feels that pursuing he reward risks hogging to much time and would feel more relaxed if there were no reward.

On the Krayt Fang the greedy character thought about selling the Wookie skins found in the hidden compartments. He talked to the other characters about it but dropped it soon enoug when they didn't go along with him.

I think this is a good example of one the one hand a personality quirk and on the other a Motivation as I understand it from the book. If the player would have forced the issue with the skins, creating a tense scene between the group, or perhaps had tried to smuggle the skins of the ship and sell them himself - then it would have been a Motivation worthy of 5 xp. As it was it just added some spice.

Do not get me wrong. I am not saying this is the way to play Motivations. I think that the player talking about selling the skins was a nice touch. But right now I am solely trying to figure out how Motivation is supposed to work in theory as well as in practice. I think the idea has merits but just can't get it of the ground.

One way to to make it easier could be to simply divorce Motivation from "good roleplay". Instead the question is simply - did the player involve his Motivation in a substantial way during the session?

Edit: sorry for all the typos, writing on a tablet is a pain

If I know someone's got a handle on their character I'll write something that speaks to their style of play. Or purposely against it, just to see how they'll jump. Either way, it's their turn to be in the spotlight.

I've had issues wrapping my head around motivation and xp rewards. My intro to EoE campaign is almost over and I specifically didn't reward for motivation. I've toyed with pitting motivations against each other for group RPing and it sort of worked but to reward the person who won would only push individual motivation over group play. So, I've thought about only using motivation for plot rewards. Ex. One of my players wants to be the best mechanic around and start a business. With that in mind I am developing plots around that motivation. So, my players motivation is really only driving long term plot items. I think this works better than rewarding xp for him trying to fix everything he finds.

Personal motivation is interesting but I find that it can create group infighting. If everyone is pushing to do thier personal thing, why be in a group with differently motivated people? So, wrapping everyones motivation into a plot makes group play more fun. It does make creating plots more difficult though.

I've had issues wrapping my head around motivation and xp rewards. My intro to EoE campaign is almost over and I specifically didn't reward for motivation. I've toyed with pitting motivations against each other for group RPing and it sort of worked but to reward the person who won would only push individual motivation over group play. So, I've thought about only using motivation for plot rewards. Ex. One of my players wants to be the best mechanic around and start a business. With that in mind I am developing plots around that motivation. So, my players motivation is really only driving long term plot items. I think this works better than rewarding xp for him trying to fix everything he finds.

This is interesting. I've told my players almost exactly the opposite:

It is their job to bring their Motivations into play. I'll happily support them and riff of their roleplay but those 5 xp is there as a way to reward the player for adding to the story from their character's personal level.

Again I am not sure if it's supposed to be played like this. I have a feeling that I am bringing to much baggage from other games into Motivations in EotE. It certainly seems that everyone else is doing something completely different than I.

My GM would think I was on a fishing expedition, rather than roleplaying.

My GM would think I was on a fishing expedition, rather than roleplaying.

I do not get what you're saying.

My GM would think I was on a fishing expedition, rather than roleplaying.

I do not get what you're saying.

He'd assume I was bringing up my Motivation just to get bonus XP, rather than for roleplaying reasons.

Well, I'm not really following the book.

I can see were two characters, one with support empire and one with support rebellion, getting into it. If those motivations revealled themselves why would either character work together. In those cases maybe a stronger group motivation would work or something similar. I don't have this specific issue but I do have a player who almost jumped ship because it wasn't advancing his personal goals. If I reward him for being religiously true to his motivation, then I've made a mess. It's tricky.

It sounds to me that you are perhaps focusing a bit too closely. I know the GM section on rewarding it says 5XP, but I think the better thing to do is combine it into good roleplaying for most sessions. Then award that bonus XP when a character pays off on the motivation on a long term goal.

If your smuggler has an anti-imperial motivation maybe he's just getting the roleplaying XP for all those session when he's dodging the law and pulling off odd-jobs for the local Hutt. But when he takes a job that let's him really stick it to the Empire? Boom: Motivation paying off with some bonus XP.

Motivation is, within my circle, used more as a guiding trait, in the same way that Alignment was in DnD. Not sure how your character would react to a certain encounter, offer, or opportunity? If it conflicts or benefits his Motivation, then it should be more likely that he or she would play to it.

The XP reward I rarely award, unless someone plays to their Motivation (and helps/hinders it in a significant, enjoyable way); but even then I try to do my best to ensure that everyone has a chance to have their Motivations come into play/conflict with the story. Then again, I suppose it helps that my campaign is made up of Chapters that are smaller than set adventures, and they in turn are cut into Parts - this means that a spotlight will be less likely to shine on a single player for too long a time.

My GM would think I was on a fishing expedition, rather than roleplaying.

I do not get what you're saying.

He'd assume I was bringing up my Motivation just to get bonus XP, rather than for roleplaying reasons.

That's the other problem with rewarding. Some will fish and some will RP it. Rewarding one vs the other can also piss players off even if its obvious. I don't like to facilitate rp elitism.

It sounds to me that you are perhaps focusing a bit too closely. I know the GM section on rewarding it says 5XP, but I think the better thing to do is combine it into good roleplaying for most sessions. Then award that bonus XP when a character pays off on the motivation on a long term goal. If your smuggler has an anti-imperial motivation maybe he's just getting the roleplaying XP for all those session when he's dodging the law and pulling off odd-jobs for the local Hutt. But when he takes a job that let's him really stick it to the Empire? Boom: Motivation paying off with some bonus XP.

That's about what I do but I reward the group for an individual's decision. That creates a more team approach to motivation and campaigning.

Maybe I've misunderstood the book, but I go about motivation a bit differently.

First a character can chose to ignore motivation or they can use it as an RP tool to decide how their character will act.

Second as a GM I will create changes for characters to act on their motivation to get reward XP. If the characters act on their motivation outside of that I probably won't reward bonus XP unless it turns into a big plot point.

For example a droid in my group has the motivation to free all other droids. He spends a good part of his time chatting up other droid about what they really want to do with their existence (he tried to convince the master AI at the wheel to take up gardening). I don't give bonus XP for this. But during our last session I gave him a chance to free a medical droid which meant some effort on his and the groups part (not to mention credits). He freed the droid and got some bonus XP. Within my current adventure (Beyond the Rim) I plan on giving each character a chance to get bonus XP this way. It also helps me to come up with story ideas.

The only thing I don't like is as I mentioned above sometimes it takes effort and resources of the whole party for one person to get that bonus XP.

The only thing I don't like is as I mentioned above sometimes it takes effort and resources of the whole party for one person to get that bonus XP.

That's why I make it more of a group function vs an individual thing. Its also not about the characters either but about the players playing. If you've got a few people playing and the adventure allows an opportunity for one character to trigger his motivation, you probably should have chances for everyone else too if you're playing by the book. Even then, players may not pick on their chance and then may feel slighted or discouraged when later you hand out xp for others or explain that that was a chance to trigger. Then you run into trying to satisfy everyone all the time.

If you make it clear that helping one member of the party's motivation, everyone will get rewarded. This would allow your player group members who don't care about helping droids feel engaged with the player who does. If they support his motivation, reward the group for acting like a group.

Think about Ep 4 when Luke and Han discussed about saving the Leia. Luke had to convince Han to save her by saying she was rich. Obviously, Luke is playing on Han's motivation (and probably obligation) of money. Later, Han gets his reward and is getting ready to take off. What's to stop him from staying? Friendship? Love? No, he flies back into danger and saves the day creating a group bond. "You owe me one". Players need to feel invested in the group. Helping a group member with his or her motivation should be rewarded as much as the player fulfilling it. Then everyone is happy in the end.

If you make it clear that helping one member of the party's motivation, everyone will get rewarded. This would allow your player group members who don't care about helping droids feel engaged with the player who does. If they support his motivation, reward the group for acting like a group.

I think I like this idea better. I see motivation more of a tool then a mechanic anyway. However it can be used to make the game more fun for the group is the best way to go.

Encouraging good role playing usually isn't a problem with our group, we're a pretty story heavy band. We tend to reward everybody equally, just for bookkeeping sake if nothing else.

Motivation is often more of a roleplaying aid then anything else as far as I'm concerned, so as long as everybody in the group is roleplaying well, and generally keeping towards the characters motivations I'm happy, everybody gets their points. I don't think it's fair to favor based on motivation in every game just because the opportunity doesn't come up for everybody in every session, and some people have motivations that are just more awkward to fit into a particular game.

I like the idea that is being thrown around in here to reward the entire party for a single PCs acting on motivation to add to the story with good RP. It encourages the rest of the group to assist that PC that has the opportunity to play to his/her motivation. In this way, it doesn't punish PCs that did not have their motivation come in to play in a given session. I would say, reward 1xp per major instance, that way the other PCs are encouraged to try to act on their motivations as well so the whole party maximizes their bonus. Just because XP is spent in multiples of 5 doesn't mean you can't reward 1, 2 or 3 bonus XP per player in a session...they just have to wait until they get a few more to cash it in.

My GM would think I was on a fishing expedition, rather than roleplaying.

I do not get what you're saying.

He'd assume I was bringing up my Motivation just to get bonus XP, rather than for roleplaying reasons.

Ah, right, sorry for being thick!

While I see your point I am not sure it is a problem. I mean, that's the whole point of the Motivation mechanic. To push players to bring more of their character into the story. And they are rewarded for it.

I guess I make no real distinction between doing it for "the reward" or "the roleplay". Shouldn't the outcome be the same (assuming the player's not just being a ****)?

Well, I'm not really following the book.

I can see were two characters, one with support empire and one with support rebellion, getting into it. If those motivations revealled themselves why would either character work together. In those cases maybe a stronger group motivation would work or something similar. I don't have this specific issue but I do have a player who almost jumped ship because it wasn't advancing his personal goals. If I reward him for being religiously true to his motivation, then I've made a mess. It's tricky.

This is not an issue with Motivation. It is an issue with group/player dynamics and expectations. If the group has created their characters together they will either have made characters that work together, or decided that they want (and can handle) internal conflicts within the party.

The only thing I don't like is as I mentioned above sometimes it takes effort and resources of the whole party for one person to get that bonus XP.

That's why I make it more of a group function vs an individual thing. Its also not about the characters either but about the players playing. If you've got a few people playing and the adventure allows an opportunity for one character to trigger his motivation, you probably should have chances for everyone else too if you're playing by the book. Even then, players may not pick on their chance and then may feel slighted or discouraged when later you hand out xp for others or explain that that was a chance to trigger. Then you run into trying to satisfy everyone all the time.

If you make it clear that helping one member of the party's motivation, everyone will get rewarded. This would allow your player group members who don't care about helping droids feel engaged with the player who does. If they support his motivation, reward the group for acting like a group.

This is very interesting and probably something I will use if/when we decide to ditch or modify Motivation. Although if we do end up not using Motivation as it is written (which seems likely) I will probably shop around for another system with the same purpouse. There's a lot of cool games with nifty ideas out there.

It's no longer an issue, really. Ignoring the RAW incentive to bring up a character's mechanical Motivation lets me play more naturally. I don't second guess my own choices because there's nothing influencing them beyond my own sense of fun.

It's no longer an issue, really. Ignoring the RAW incentive to bring up a character's mechanical Motivation lets me play more naturally. I don't second guess my own choices because there's nothing influencing them beyond my own sense of fun.

Fair enough. I think one of my players (the "greedy one") would agree 100 %.