Never Have I Ever as Character Introduction

by alcd

 

Two random peasants are sitting at a big round table in the local tavern. Already a little tipsy, they invite the PCs (interesting strangers as they are) to sit and join them for a friendly drinking game.

It’s an ancient game; they call it “Never Have I Ever.”

Give the peasants names. They're curious about the folks from out of town and generally rambunctious. Roll a d40 whenever its a peasant’s turn to ask. Skip whatever’s uncomfortable. The peasants go first:

1. Never have I ever ridden a horse
2. Never have I ever lost a fight
3. Never have I ever seen a dragon fly
4. Never have I ever stolen from a sacred place
5. Never have I ever been arrested
6. Never have I ever been married
7. Never have I ever run away from home
8. Never have I ever climbed out of a window
9. Never have I ever eaten a magical creature
10. Never have I ever cursed in a sacred place
11. Never have I ever met the duke
12. Never have I ever met a royal
13. Never have I ever respected a royal
14. Never have I ever fought a knight
15. Never have I ever gone to war
16. Never have I ever had my fortune told
17. Never have I ever stolen from a friend
18. Never have I ever met a wizard
19. Never have I ever blamed alcohol for something I said
20. Never have I ever ate an entire roast by myself
21. Never have I ever saved a life
22. Never have I ever been stabbed
23. Never have I ever got a tattoo
24. Never have I ever met a fairy
25. Never have I ever started a fire where I shouldn’t’ve
26. Never have I ever lied to a friend
27. Never have I ever met a mermaid
28. Never have I ever lied about my age
29. Never have I ever made up a story about someone who wasn’t real
30. Never have I ever met a ghost
31. Never have I ever role-played
32. Never have I ever tried blue lotus (or the local drug equivalent)
33. Never have I ever worn someone else’s undergarments
34. Never have I ever paid for sex
35. Never have I ever fallen asleep during sex
36. Never have I ever had sex with a wizard
37. Never have I ever had sex with a nun/monk
38. Never have I ever had sex with more than one person in 24 hours
39. Never have I ever had sex with more than one person at once
40. Never have I ever had sex with a member of a different species

Pros:

• Ideal for new role-players: everyone gets practice acting as their characters in a safe, non-challenging environment.
• Roleplaying decisions are fast and easy: has your character done this or haven’t they?
• The game is designed to reveal embarrassing moments rather than heroic ones.
  
• It's an opportunity to share personal character flaws.
  
• It’s an opportunity to flesh out everyone’s characters.
• It’s an opportunity to endear the party to the town and its locals.
• It’s an opportunity to role-play getting drunk in character.
• It’s an opportunity to get drunk in real life.

Cons:

• It's a silly anachronism.
  
• Doesn’t immediately lead to adventure.
• Might be a giant waste of time.

Liches Libram did a much more in depth analysis of this type of roleplaying encounter. IMO for a group of new players, fresh off an intro dungeon and looking to mingle with the locals, simple is best. Two truths and a lie also probably works.

(After writing this post, I found a Reddit story of exactly this: here)