Red Baron
First Post
I agree, H-phile. I certainly don't mean this to be insulting, but, creamsteak, how old are your players and how long have they been playing? I think most, if not all of us who started gaming when we were quite young probably went through a phase in which having bizarre, outlandish characters (often of decidedly N if not even NE/CE alignments) who only cared about getting Cool Stuff was pretty normal. It's pretty natural to most younger/new players. Still, if you're trying to DM in a different vein, then things can become uncomfortable for you (and, as a result, for everyone else).Humanophile said:I'd think that anyone who wanted to roleplay would go for the big, neon "family member in danger" sign, especially in a group of relative novices.... I'd also reccomend putting a kibosh on all non-PHB races or possibly even all non-humans after this. (I know some people will disagree with me, but in my experience good roleplayers would rather be known for their exploits and abilities, while bad roleplayers are more likely to want grand, implausible backgrounds and lists of stuff. Templates and odd races tend towards the latter.)
My advice: If the many good suggestions above don't help, then take some time away from DMing with this group, or at least with certain players in the group. It's tough, but having fun is really the bottom line, isn't it? If you're not having fun any more, take the few players (nine is an enormous number of players to keep entertained...) who do roleplay, and continue whith just them -- let the others "spin off" into their own game with one among them DMing in their favourite style. You'll find that everyone's happier, I think. After a while, the others may grow tired of playing their way and come to see the role-play beyond the roll-play.