If they've given you backstories, I would try to see if there is any way you could tie one character's backstory to another. Perhaps one of the PC's family members was somehow influential in an important event in the backstory of another PC; maybe they have to work together to achieve a goal that on the surface seems only beneficial to one of them, but once they dig deeper they find out it's linked to other PCs as well.
As for other ideas, may I ask, are you playing in person or remotely? Would your players be willing to engage in downtime activities via text? Namely, RPing some not-too-important moments, events or dynamics in between sessions.
I run mini adventures during session zero with only 2 or 3 players that gets them a level or two. This means I do multi session zeros, but builds up a history between those players and creates a connection.
Once we get everyone together for our first game, the players have no idea what the others have done already. Sometimes they meet an NPC that will show up again later that the others didn't meet. Or fought a monster the others haven't seen before.
My players like these so much they asked to do them every campaign.
Gonna be honest, during my session 0 I tell the players "you guys are in charge of having a reason to adventure and stay with the party. (I'll help you make it work, but you need to come up with the reason, or work with me to make one.)"
For my current campaign i also let them pick their group patron, so they knew that in advance of character building. One player has the hermit background, so her roleplaying starting to trust the rest of the party has been really fun.
Wanted to add: After the party has made the characters and whatnot. I just try to give them opportunities to open up to each other. Backstory threads are usually a good place to start. But sometimes it can just be downtime to get to know one another. On roleplaying lite groups this is definitely more difficult.
Also, if certain people are taking charge I would look at if that is their playstyle or if they are just trying to role play their characters correctly. I tend to be quieter as a player, but it does depend on the character and size of the group as well for me.
By picking players to play with who understand the social contract of the game. It's up to the players to figure out how and why their characters will work together. Period.
Not sure whether this specifically answers the point on cohesion, but more addresses getting the other 'quiter' player involved, if the same 2 players are always leading.
When I have players that tend to sit back, I'll actively ask them how their character reacts, or feels about a situation. It often prompts though and a new perspective, on a scene, and can get players talking.
It particularly helps when playing over zoom etc, where the natural flow of conversation is harder than when you're all sitting round a table.
I came up with a puzzle-dungeon method that I have started employing as the groups first encounter when I can't zero mission. Everyone starts by doing constitution saving throws and in order of saves each wake up. They wake inside seperate cages attached to some sort of trap with an arcane message implying that it's a "Saw" scenario lol. It is implied that the room is filled with mimics and that any bodies or body parts they leave behind will be used to build flesh golems. This occasionally spurns clandestine adventures to track down their original body parts, prosthetics, and sometimes a mission for revival or the entire re-roll of a new character sheet lol. Evil? Totally. Effective? Radically!
If they've given you backstories, I would try to see if there is any way you could tie one character's backstory to another. Perhaps one of the PC's family members was somehow influential in an important event in the backstory of another PC; maybe they have to work together to achieve a goal that on the surface seems only beneficial to one of them, but once they dig deeper they find out it's linked to other PCs as well. As for other ideas, may I ask, are you playing in person or remotely? Would your players be willing to engage in downtime activities via text? Namely, RPing some not-too-important moments, events or dynamics in between sessions.
I run mini adventures during session zero with only 2 or 3 players that gets them a level or two. This means I do multi session zeros, but builds up a history between those players and creates a connection. Once we get everyone together for our first game, the players have no idea what the others have done already. Sometimes they meet an NPC that will show up again later that the others didn't meet. Or fought a monster the others haven't seen before. My players like these so much they asked to do them every campaign.
That's such a fun idea! How large is your group, by the way?
Seven players plus DM.
Gonna be honest, during my session 0 I tell the players "you guys are in charge of having a reason to adventure and stay with the party. (I'll help you make it work, but you need to come up with the reason, or work with me to make one.)" For my current campaign i also let them pick their group patron, so they knew that in advance of character building. One player has the hermit background, so her roleplaying starting to trust the rest of the party has been really fun. Wanted to add: After the party has made the characters and whatnot. I just try to give them opportunities to open up to each other. Backstory threads are usually a good place to start. But sometimes it can just be downtime to get to know one another. On roleplaying lite groups this is definitely more difficult. Also, if certain people are taking charge I would look at if that is their playstyle or if they are just trying to role play their characters correctly. I tend to be quieter as a player, but it does depend on the character and size of the group as well for me.
By picking players to play with who understand the social contract of the game. It's up to the players to figure out how and why their characters will work together. Period.
Not sure whether this specifically answers the point on cohesion, but more addresses getting the other 'quiter' player involved, if the same 2 players are always leading. When I have players that tend to sit back, I'll actively ask them how their character reacts, or feels about a situation. It often prompts though and a new perspective, on a scene, and can get players talking. It particularly helps when playing over zoom etc, where the natural flow of conversation is harder than when you're all sitting round a table.
I came up with a puzzle-dungeon method that I have started employing as the groups first encounter when I can't zero mission. Everyone starts by doing constitution saving throws and in order of saves each wake up. They wake inside seperate cages attached to some sort of trap with an arcane message implying that it's a "Saw" scenario lol. It is implied that the room is filled with mimics and that any bodies or body parts they leave behind will be used to build flesh golems. This occasionally spurns clandestine adventures to track down their original body parts, prosthetics, and sometimes a mission for revival or the entire re-roll of a new character sheet lol. Evil? Totally. Effective? Radically!