Bored while waiting !!!

[ivrob]

what ideas does everyone have when party members lose their focus or when players like to venture on their own, say at night fall, and their side adventure takes an hour or so, leaving the rest of the table bored. all solutions welcome.
thanks

 

[Henrix]

I discourage such activities by glossing over the events in their personal sidetreks, while possibly leaving them outside the main action, and by telling them outright that I will not spend time on their personal whims while the others are waiting.
We have, after all, gathered for a few hours of fun together.

"You venture out alone in the wood in the middle of the night? OK, roll a wilderness lore. You roll a six and get -1 for you wisdom, right. After a couple of hours you find your way back to the camp. You are wet and tired, and get too little sleep, and are fatigued until you sleep a couple of hours."

But I am a rather heavy-handed DM

 

[Bendris Noulg]

A Pool Table helps... Otherwise, video games, comic books, cards, etc., also serve as a distraction. I try to keep in-game sidetreks under 10 minutes, though, so it's rarely an issue. When I really want to side-trek, I'll split a group up and run individual games for a month or two.

 

[Saeviomagy]

I try to never have a situation where one character and only one character is doing something.

ie if person A goes off to do stuff, I'll tell them that it takes a while for them to get whereever it is that they're going, and then ask the next person around the table what it is that they're doing, then the next etc.

The only time someone is left out of it is when their answer to "what are you doing right now" is "nothing much".

Also this gives me some time to think about the first person's situation.