Oryan77
Adventurer
So I realized something was happening at our table that I would like to deal with, but I just don't think it's possible because no one is actually doing anything wrong or unusual.
I have 2 players that are the exact opposite gamers. One is a powergamer/optimizer who likes to read D&D crunch and focuses heavily on combat. The other is a casual gamer that doesn't care to read much outside of the game, doesn't really like combat, but really enjoys roleplaying and social interaction with NPCs.
I enjoy roleplaying a lot myself, but I've been focusing heavily on hack-n-slash with this group because no one really roleplays with my NPCs. But I'm missing the verbal interaction and I can tell I'm getting really rusty at it. Plus, I think the casual gamer needs more roleplaying opportunities.
Players have told me that a lot of the time they don't understand what the plot is in an adventure even after they complete it. I've explained that in order to understand things, they gotta talk to NPCs rather than kill them on site every single time. So this last adventure I was trying to remember to do more NPC dialogue when the PCs encountered them. I haven't had much luck striking up a conversation with the PCs and I'm beginning to feel lame trying. Then our last encounter over the weekend was the "boss" encounter. I assumed this was going to be my chance to do some good roleplaying, let the casual roleplayer do some roleplaying, and hopefully the players would understand the BBEG plot this time.
They step into the room and see the BBEG. The BBEG tells them to 'go away and leave his treasure alone unless they are interested in buying his wares from him' (he's sort of a merchant). The powergamer was already trying to interrupt me to let me know he's attacking. I ignored him until I could finish my dialogue. Then the casual gamer tries to ask the BBEG what his asking price is for his wares and as soon as he replies with his price, the powergamer interrupts me again to tell me he's casting a spell. So I tell everyone to roll initiative.
It was late so we ended up stopping the game at that point because the battle could take awhile. But the powergamers hack-n-slash gameplay is starting to grind on me. It wasn't a problem before because most of the group prefers combat...but I'm also needing to cater to my interests and I feel bad for the casual gamer who hasn't been getting any enjoyment out of the game lately.
I don't think the powergamer is doing anything wrong because he sees a fight happening sooner or later and he just wants to get to it (like so many gamers do). But if I can't even have a conversation in game with the 1 guy that can clear up any confusion with the players, then I don't know what else to do. I place letters as treasure to give away bits of the plot, but I need some roleplaying interaction too!
What are your thoughts?
I have 2 players that are the exact opposite gamers. One is a powergamer/optimizer who likes to read D&D crunch and focuses heavily on combat. The other is a casual gamer that doesn't care to read much outside of the game, doesn't really like combat, but really enjoys roleplaying and social interaction with NPCs.
I enjoy roleplaying a lot myself, but I've been focusing heavily on hack-n-slash with this group because no one really roleplays with my NPCs. But I'm missing the verbal interaction and I can tell I'm getting really rusty at it. Plus, I think the casual gamer needs more roleplaying opportunities.
Players have told me that a lot of the time they don't understand what the plot is in an adventure even after they complete it. I've explained that in order to understand things, they gotta talk to NPCs rather than kill them on site every single time. So this last adventure I was trying to remember to do more NPC dialogue when the PCs encountered them. I haven't had much luck striking up a conversation with the PCs and I'm beginning to feel lame trying. Then our last encounter over the weekend was the "boss" encounter. I assumed this was going to be my chance to do some good roleplaying, let the casual roleplayer do some roleplaying, and hopefully the players would understand the BBEG plot this time.
They step into the room and see the BBEG. The BBEG tells them to 'go away and leave his treasure alone unless they are interested in buying his wares from him' (he's sort of a merchant). The powergamer was already trying to interrupt me to let me know he's attacking. I ignored him until I could finish my dialogue. Then the casual gamer tries to ask the BBEG what his asking price is for his wares and as soon as he replies with his price, the powergamer interrupts me again to tell me he's casting a spell. So I tell everyone to roll initiative.
It was late so we ended up stopping the game at that point because the battle could take awhile. But the powergamers hack-n-slash gameplay is starting to grind on me. It wasn't a problem before because most of the group prefers combat...but I'm also needing to cater to my interests and I feel bad for the casual gamer who hasn't been getting any enjoyment out of the game lately.
I don't think the powergamer is doing anything wrong because he sees a fight happening sooner or later and he just wants to get to it (like so many gamers do). But if I can't even have a conversation in game with the 1 guy that can clear up any confusion with the players, then I don't know what else to do. I place letters as treasure to give away bits of the plot, but I need some roleplaying interaction too!
What are your thoughts?