I'm bored with it all.

[Taureth]

My humble opinion is that video games poisoned table top RPG, a great deal.

This is a biased opinion: I'm not into video games. But my older brother was a D&Der before everyone had a games console (and so was I, though quite young) and it seems to me there was a lot more role play in RPG back then, compared to what you often get now.

The premise of most video games is ongoing shock effect and cheap thrills: Battle after endless battle, spectacular visuals, one guy facing down legions of bad guys. And that seems to create an adrenaline rush that a lot of guys get addicted to. So they expect something at least somewhat similar in their table top RPG.

But, for those of us who like a STORY, with character evolution and development, video game style play is freaking BORING!

The only solution I've found is to simply be more picky about who I game with . And that has in fact led me to doing the bulk of my gaming online, now. You get a much larger player pool to choose from, that way. Also, a fair amount of people that game online are those who have the vocabulary and intelligence to be able to write at least somewhat well, and those tend to be more interested in their characters as people, rather than just playing pieces.

For anyone whose had similar dissatisfactions, I would also highly recommend throwing online gaming into the mix to improve the quality of your gaming. (This is to say, RPGs that are played over e-mail or boards, not MUDs and the like.)

 

[Ginnel]

I've haven't been around Enworld a massive amount of time but when I came here I was shocked (and still am) by how many people didn't roleplay partly why I have the signature I do, I've always found it enjoyable even if it was very Hammy I mean without roleplay you're essentially playing an overly complicated board game right? so what to do?

There are ways to change groups but you would need an insider I reckon a player who roleplays who will interact with your npcs and monsters like his character would not in the way which gains the PC the most xp, either that or you could just talk to the group and explain the problems you're having.

Otherwise with a group who don't seem to play how you want to run I'd suggest, like others are, running a play by post game to vent that part of your dm'ing and sooner rather than later you'll begin to enjoy the relaxation of straight D&D dungeon crawl with your friends.

 

[Thanael]

Well, start with the game you're using. Do you want to stick with D&D or can you branch out into other games, like D20 Modern, Vampire and its assorted cohorts, Champions/Hero, etc?

If you want to stick with D&D, start a new campaign. Ignore the base assumptions of the D&D system. Go dark. They start in a war torn world where money, weapons, magic, are all tightly controlled. The "special" PC classes aren't available...bard, druid, monk, paladin, ranger, wizard (no one to teach!)Let the PCs be barbarians, clerics, fighters, rogues, sorcerers (inborn talent), they start with no more than 5 gp and a tattered set of clothes each. Magic items can't be bought and rarely found. Powerful wizards with armies of dread creatures rule the world.
Turn the PCs loose. They will have to survive...just survive....food, shelter..these will become treasure. There's no McGuffin to find, no princess to rescue, no evil necromancer to kill (well, that they have a prayer of taking on anyway). They will have to be smart and resourceful to survive, won't be able to take on any opponent because there aren't any magic swords, or fancy full plate for the likes of these PCs. Or and Mr Sorcerer? Better be careful will flashy magic.....if the Mages who rule everything find out about a rogue magic-user, it's sayonara.

This kind of game should make them appreciate their character's strengths as a whole, not just BAB. The PCs matter not the gear.
And give them lots of RP opportunities. With XP rewards.

Sounds like d20 Midnight, which i hear is quite good.

 

[Carnivorous_Bean]

I wish my players were a bit more like yours -- not totally, but closer. I always run intrigue-style adventures, anyway, with only a very occasional combat -- we often go weeks without mayhem breaking loose -- but the paranoid resistance of my players to plot hooks is still a source of great frustration to me.

A case in point -- a young noble was being chased through a nighttime city by a monster that had broken loose from another aristocrat's menagerie. The players had their characters use skills, magic, etc. to rescue the youth without confronting the monster, leaving that on the rampage until another bunch of NPC adventurers mopped it up. Well and good.

However, they became desperately paranoid when the young noble offered to take them back to his family's manor to get a reward. I was planning to give them about 200 GP each and a piece of information they needed for the quest I'd actually arm-twisted them into attempting. I even had the kid mention the goal of their quest to let them know that his family could help them out with information about it. There was also another adventure hook -- to be hired, if they wanted, to investigate why the monsters broke out of the menagerie.

Instead, they decided it was too "risky" to see the young noble's father about a reward, because "they might get involved in politics" and "they don't know him, so he might be hostile." They told the young noble some false names, sent him on his way, and immediately changed the inn where they were staying.

It's the same in every adventure I write. They do the utter minimum needed to reach their immediate goal, and, heads down, ignore every single last adventure hook that's thrown at them. In fact, the more obviously it's an adventure hook, the less likely they are to do anything except run in the opposite direction and hide out.

What I wouldn't give for a bit of swashbuckling and, well, adventuring.

Once or twice, I even tried railroading them into action encounters (which I hate doing) where the opposition was much weaker, so that they mopped them up easily and, I hoped, would build their confidence. But they persist in their timidity, and I'm thinking of running the game from now on as a completely combat-free RPG -- all the weapons and armor are just there to make them feel safe so that they dare to buy loaves of bread and stuff....

I've got a touch of DM burnout from this, because I'm thoroughly sick of coming up with interesting plot hooks and then having ALL of them ignored or avoided.

 

[Achan hiArusa]

I have some combat loving players. Throw in a puzzle (especially one that can't be broken), a foe that have to outthink instead of outfight (think Zelda type foes instead of Final Fantasy), an overwhelming force that wants to parley but can kill the players (for example, a trade city with lots of goods and some very powerful guardians). Even using some creativity in battle can spice things up (for example in a 3e/4e hybrid game, I had a solo summon some minions that self-destructed when attacked. He had combat reflexes so when the paladin turned them he attacked them and had resistance to the type of damage they exploded for, the players had to think real fast on that one).

 

[Galloglaich]

I'm bored with it all.

Go here. Fetch this thing. Kill this guy. It's all the same thing over and over.

Whenever I watch a film or read a book it's always a lot more interesting. There are characters with personalities and character flaws. There is intrigue and betrayal. There is evolution and dynamic. Not in terms of leveling up. I'm talking about characters that evolve and change and learn life lessons.

I almost never get that out of a game I'm running. I try to entice the players with political intrigue and they just charge in swords and spells swinging. I try to play horror-suspense and they respond with assault rifles.

I've grown complacent, so I just give them what they want. Stuff to pwn and phats to loot.

But I'm getting tired of it. I want to run a game just once where the players aren't thinking about their attack bonuses. Where the idea of stepping into combat is a dangerous and foolhardy endeavor. Where they are willing to stop for a moment and think, "What is my character's motivation?"

Maybe it's me. I think a lot of the time that I'm not clever or original enough to motivate the players with things other than carnage and gold. Maybe I'm being unrealistic and there really isn't anything besides these things.

What do you think?

You should probably try Warhammer FRPG it sounds like exactly what you are looking for and is still sufifciently mainstream and accessible and similar to DnD that your players will probably be able to handle the jump.

For something more radicalally different in that same general direction, try Burning Wheel.

G.

 

[Ktulu]

First, you must devise a situation that cannot be resolved with mindless violence.

But I thought ALL problems could be resolved with a healthy dose of mindless violence.


In all actuality, Pawsplay has it. Make a central villain someone you cannot just kill (the king, a priest, your lover, etc..) or somone that killing would worsen the situation (king, priest, lover, spy, etc..). Then set the situation where the only way to defeat them is to essentially defeat them at their own game (kill the spies moving the information and slip false info to the enemies, ensure the poisoned food is switched). Lots of espionage can really enhance a game.

Also, get emotional investment. Make the players want to succeed. I love the "win the battle lose the war" scenario. Setup situations where winning the encounter can cause the enemies to be in a better situation.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Running an Exalted campaign has been a real eye-opener for me. Here are a couple of suggestions from my experiences:

- Make clear from the beginning that the PCs are powerful, and have real influence. This doesn't mean that they should simply slaughter through hordes of enemies with ease. Instead, make it evident in the reaction of NPCs. As their reputation rises, others will bow to them, and even act subservient or ingratiating. Others will ask them for all sorts of favors, or try to bribe them to stay in their good will.

- Make clear that their decisions are meaningful. So they have slaughtered the ruler of a petty kingdom who oppressed his subjects, and the people rejoice. But who should rule the kingdom now? The locals want the PCs to rule, but if they refuse and just put someone else in charge, that person will end up being unable to maintain order by his own - he simply doesn't have the power and authority to keep it up, and the kingdom will collapse and/or be swallowed up by bigger neighbors. Show them the consequences of all their decisions, and be willing to make lasting changes to the world based on what they do.

- Create several villains, and let them attempt to ally themselves with the PCs in order to stop one of their rivals. After all, the PCs are powerful and thus a potentially useful resource. Negotiating with the PCs and giving them something they want in order to seriously weaken a rival is more convenient than wasting lots of resources and efforts to try to slay the PCs, after all - especially in a world where raise dead rituals work. And the PCs might be more reluctant to attack a nominal ally, which should impose all sorts of moral quandaries on them - which in turn makes for good role-playing.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Running an Exalted campaign has been a real eye-opener for me. Here are a couple of suggestions from my experiences:

<snip>

No reason for those to not work in D&D as well. Thhose ideas are prominent in my D&D Tale of the Twin Suns campaign world.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

No reason for those to not work in D&D as well. Thhose ideas are prominent in my D&D Tale of the Twin Suns campaign world.

True. I've only said that I learned these lessons from my Exalted campaign, but there's no reason why they shouldn't be applicable to to Epic- and Paragon-tier D&D - or even on the heroic tier, if you start at a small enough scale.