Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Can the DM drive roleplaying?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 2189698" data-attributes="member: 4937"><p>Sure, it can be done. </p><p></p><p>A DM taught me how to role play by example, by nagging me to speak in character, and by rewarding me for doing so with small 'treats' of extra experience when I made him laugh with in appropriate character comments or otherwise contributed alot to the evening (a practice that I continue). </p><p></p><p>But as a DM that's been doing it a while, I got to say that the older and more set in their ways the player is, the harder its going to be to get them to break out of thier mold.</p><p></p><p>And I agree with Gothmog on this, the best way to do handle powergamers is take away thier rules and force them to deal with the environment in a different way. You may not have to take away thier character sheets, but write down what the character's saves, spot, search, and combat bonuses are for thier most common attacks on a handy pad at the beginning of the session. This makes secret checks easy, and it cuts down on cheating by misreporting the dice and/or their bonuses. Just as importantly though, it makes the game rules less thier responcibility and more yours. Don't let them spend most of thier time arguing about what bonuses they are supposed to receive and figuring up. Don't let them stall to work out what the best move is going to be. Never allow takebacks and dithering. If a player appears to be trying to stall, I go to a six count. If they can't act before 6, they lose thier turn. That alone stops alot of powergaming calculation. If necessary, change rule systems to something that they don't know and run a short series of adventures 'just for a change of pace'. Horror/Mystery games like Chill (if you could find it) are good for this because you've got an OOC excuse for why you don't want them reading the rule books.</p><p></p><p>You've also got to crack the whip a little to get them to stop phrasing everything in terms of the rules. This means not answering gamist questions in gamist terms. Try to not put rules in your own mouth unless you absolutely have to. Don't say, 'The orc takes a 5' step and makes an attack on Bob [the player]. Take 6 damage, Bob' Instead say, 'The orc darts to the party's left and with a howl delivers a slash at Haldor's midsection with his scimitar! HRroowllloop!!! He draws blood for 6 damage!' Yes, this can get tedious if you've got 15 Orcs involved in the battle round after round, but do like a good movie maker and just edit down to the important stuff. I've got about 12 different colored d20's which I can arrange in a linear spectrum from purple to red so that I always know that say the Orange one is #8 when I line them up. In mass combat, I roll the whole bunch, figure out how many hit and who, and will say something like, "The fierce melee continues with clanging steel BANG and alot of howling and screeching, but the Orc's bark is worse than thier bite. Only Haldor is worsted, when an blow catches him unexpectedly in the thigh and deals 9 damage." Be an efficient DM rules wise, so you can spend your time being an entertaining DM rather than flipping through pages and trying to work out how things work. </p><p></p><p>Oh, and the first thing I learned as a DM is that you can't be embrassed about roll playing. If you are hesistant and nervous about RPing, then you can't expect your players to get into it either. So go ahead, make a fool of yourself.</p><p></p><p>As a player, I get bored to death while some DM's I know go, "Ok, orc #1 attacks Bob. *clatter* It misses. Orc #2 attacks Jim *clatter* It misses., etc." If you make the player wait 2 minutes between his turns, you are never going to maintain tension and excitement.</p><p></p><p>Being dramatic in combat probably won't get alot of cinematic replies, because it can be tedious thinking up new ways to phrase things again and again, but if you are consistantly 'in character' whether in or out of combat, I think it makes for a better experience on the part of the players (just don't get caught up in your own wordiness), and is more likely to encourage them to respond in character when you aren't in combat. </p><p></p><p>Be in character all the time. Be entertaining. Vary your voice between NPC's.</p><p></p><p>Ultimately, none of this is going to work if the player's don't trust you to be fair as a DM. </p><p></p><p>Also, its entirely possible that you've grown as a DM beyond the group you are with and you are't doing anything wrong. I've had some very successful sessions where everyone in the group was anxious to get back next week except me, because I was bored to tears and tired of having NPC's talking to each other. Let me tell you, there is NOTHING worse as a DM than having to have NPC's make all the conversation because the PC's refuse to talk to each other or the NPC's. I miss my old group too, so I know where you are coming from.</p><p></p><p>That's enough spammage for now.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 2189698, member: 4937"] Sure, it can be done. A DM taught me how to role play by example, by nagging me to speak in character, and by rewarding me for doing so with small 'treats' of extra experience when I made him laugh with in appropriate character comments or otherwise contributed alot to the evening (a practice that I continue). But as a DM that's been doing it a while, I got to say that the older and more set in their ways the player is, the harder its going to be to get them to break out of thier mold. And I agree with Gothmog on this, the best way to do handle powergamers is take away thier rules and force them to deal with the environment in a different way. You may not have to take away thier character sheets, but write down what the character's saves, spot, search, and combat bonuses are for thier most common attacks on a handy pad at the beginning of the session. This makes secret checks easy, and it cuts down on cheating by misreporting the dice and/or their bonuses. Just as importantly though, it makes the game rules less thier responcibility and more yours. Don't let them spend most of thier time arguing about what bonuses they are supposed to receive and figuring up. Don't let them stall to work out what the best move is going to be. Never allow takebacks and dithering. If a player appears to be trying to stall, I go to a six count. If they can't act before 6, they lose thier turn. That alone stops alot of powergaming calculation. If necessary, change rule systems to something that they don't know and run a short series of adventures 'just for a change of pace'. Horror/Mystery games like Chill (if you could find it) are good for this because you've got an OOC excuse for why you don't want them reading the rule books. You've also got to crack the whip a little to get them to stop phrasing everything in terms of the rules. This means not answering gamist questions in gamist terms. Try to not put rules in your own mouth unless you absolutely have to. Don't say, 'The orc takes a 5' step and makes an attack on Bob [the player]. Take 6 damage, Bob' Instead say, 'The orc darts to the party's left and with a howl delivers a slash at Haldor's midsection with his scimitar! HRroowllloop!!! He draws blood for 6 damage!' Yes, this can get tedious if you've got 15 Orcs involved in the battle round after round, but do like a good movie maker and just edit down to the important stuff. I've got about 12 different colored d20's which I can arrange in a linear spectrum from purple to red so that I always know that say the Orange one is #8 when I line them up. In mass combat, I roll the whole bunch, figure out how many hit and who, and will say something like, "The fierce melee continues with clanging steel BANG and alot of howling and screeching, but the Orc's bark is worse than thier bite. Only Haldor is worsted, when an blow catches him unexpectedly in the thigh and deals 9 damage." Be an efficient DM rules wise, so you can spend your time being an entertaining DM rather than flipping through pages and trying to work out how things work. Oh, and the first thing I learned as a DM is that you can't be embrassed about roll playing. If you are hesistant and nervous about RPing, then you can't expect your players to get into it either. So go ahead, make a fool of yourself. As a player, I get bored to death while some DM's I know go, "Ok, orc #1 attacks Bob. *clatter* It misses. Orc #2 attacks Jim *clatter* It misses., etc." If you make the player wait 2 minutes between his turns, you are never going to maintain tension and excitement. Being dramatic in combat probably won't get alot of cinematic replies, because it can be tedious thinking up new ways to phrase things again and again, but if you are consistantly 'in character' whether in or out of combat, I think it makes for a better experience on the part of the players (just don't get caught up in your own wordiness), and is more likely to encourage them to respond in character when you aren't in combat. Be in character all the time. Be entertaining. Vary your voice between NPC's. Ultimately, none of this is going to work if the player's don't trust you to be fair as a DM. Also, its entirely possible that you've grown as a DM beyond the group you are with and you are't doing anything wrong. I've had some very successful sessions where everyone in the group was anxious to get back next week except me, because I was bored to tears and tired of having NPC's talking to each other. Let me tell you, there is NOTHING worse as a DM than having to have NPC's make all the conversation because the PC's refuse to talk to each other or the NPC's. I miss my old group too, so I know where you are coming from. That's enough spammage for now. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Can the DM drive roleplaying?
Top