"Hey look, a distraction!"

[palleomortis]

Basically self explanitory. We (My gamming group) have the unfortunate tendancy to be distracted at the slightest thing. One joke turns into ten, wich sparks a conversation, wich... and so on. Just wondering what you guys do to keep out the needless delays.

 

[Boss]

My group is the same way. We get distracted EXTREMELY easily, especially as we all have the same hobbies... rpg's, computers, cars, and paintball. So once one guy brings up a topic, everyone is involved. Except John. I feel for him, as the game is the only association he has with the rest of us.

So, as the GM and because of John, I usually let everyone go for a minute or two, then try to get the game back on track by asking what their characters are going to do, describing a scene, rolling dice, etc. In short, the GM controls the flow of the game, and it is his or her responsibility to keep things moving. Sure, there will be distractions, but the GM needs to stay somewhat focused or the game will disolve (as has happened in our games more than once).

 

[Oryan77]

Our group gets distracted pretty easily. We've appointed the hack-n-slasher of the group to be the one that says, "Ok guys, lets get back to the game!"

 

[HeavenShallBurn]

Every group has that problem to one extent or another. When gaming face to face our answer is "The FROG!" I don't remember exactly when or where it showed up, I think sometime during the Beanie craze of the nineties from a player's girlfriend. Anyway if we're gaming face-to-face and things wander off-track too long someone grabs FROG and throws it at someone. It's our personal cluebat. When online gaming there's an ugly counter made from a picture of a treefrog that I drop onto the map to get people's attention back where it belongs.

 

[Prince of Happiness]

Ususally as the DM, when I'm tired of the off-topic convo a good shouted "HEY!" works.

As a player...I'm just as bad as the rest of 'em.

 

[Roadkill101]

I run games with my friends and our collective teenage offspring (who outnumber the adults by one to three depending on attendance). The game sidetracks with lots of distracting conversation quite frequently. Usually I or one of my friends will speak up to get the focus back to the game. Some sessions very little happens game-wise, which is of little concern because we always end up having fun, even when the session devolves into more of a hanging out get together than a focused game.

 

[+5 Keyboard!]

Basically self explanitory. We (My gamming group) have the unfortunate tendancy to be distracted at the slightest thing. One joke turns into ten, wich sparks a conversation, wich... and so on. Just wondering what you guys do to keep out the needless delays.

You really can't avoid it, only minimize it. Try to remove some of the things that would be distracting beforehand, but otherwise, all of that stuff is kind of a part of the game. You just have to try to keep things flowing and interesting enough that the players find the game itself the most interesting distraction in the room.

Incidentally, myself and some other writers from the WereCabbages wrote a d% encounter list called "Short Encounters for Short Attention Spans" for exactly this kind of thing, which will be included in a 64 page book in the near future. Basically, if the group is fading on you or the game is devolving into out of game conversations and jokes, you roll on this table and announce that this encounter is happening. It doesn't really matter if it doesn't make sense. It often gets the group's attention by virtue that it doesn't.The point is to get the players back into the game, trying to figure out what the hell just happened. laughing about it afterwards, and basically ready to get back to the regular flow of the game again.

Here's a few from the list to whet your appetite.

17 A stubborn innkeeper demands the adventurers dance for their supper.
18 An ashen faced witchdoctor throws powder at the party and vanishes.
19 One of the adventurers is on a MISSING poster.
20 A goblin runs up to a male character jabbering, “Daddy! Daddy!”
21 A mob of young commoners rushes the heroes demanding autographs.

 

[palleomortis]

20 A goblin runs up to a male character jabbering, “Daddy! Daddy!”

Hmmm....This sounds like a book I might buy! With my luck, though, my PC would probably claim the thing as his own.

 

[STARP_Social_Officer]

Usually we don't stop it, or even minimise it. We're there to have fun and socialise. The game is mostly a kind of optional extra. I've been at a session where two players were playing Halo 2 and still managing to contribute to the RPG at the same time. I'm still not quite sure how.

 

[Fifth Element]

Usually we don't stop it, or even minimise it. We're there to have fun and socialise. The game is mostly a kind of optional extra. I've been at a session where two players were playing Halo 2 and still managing to contribute to the RPG at the same time. I'm still not quite sure how.

That's good, so long as everyone there has the same attitude. If three people want to goof around but two more actually want to play, that can cause problems.

It's just the sort of thing you have to agree on beforehand. How much goofing around is tolerable by the group, and how much time should be spent on the game itself.