D&D 5E How to have a constructive conversation with players?

[payn]

There's a lot of truth in this. I've had players like this, they are more interested in the social gathering more than the game. So depending on the how long this group has been together this may be a contributing factor too.

I ran a Pathfinder Carrion Crown adventure path for one of my groups a few years ago. I really got into it and laid out all this opportunity for the players to seize on. They pretty much wanted an info dump and an arrow pointing them to the action. I got burned out and was ready to toss in the towel.

After one of our game sessions, a couple of the folks told me how much they look forward to the game. It was much better than their organized play experiences and they were having a ton of fun with it. I didnt expect that, but it gave me a whole new perspective and kick started my drive again to keep the game going. I had to meet them 3/4 of the way, but their enthusiasm and enjoyment gave me renewed purpose as a GM for that game.

 

[iserith]

I played in this adventure with my regulars. The DM said it was not well-designed. We didn't notice. I've found that if the group of players and DM is solid, even the worst adventures are still great. I'm running the Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan from Tales from the Yawning Portal right now and it's awful in my opinion, but we're still having a blast with it.

 

[TwoSix]

Have you tried screaming at them, and then collapsing into a blubbering mess at the table?

No data, but purely on anecdotal experience, this doesn't work very well.

 

[R_J_K75]

I ran a Pathfinder Carrion Crown adventure path for one of my groups a few years ago. I really got into it and laid out all this opportunity for the players to seize on. They pretty much wanted an info dump and an arrow pointing them to the action. I got burned out and was ready to toss in the towel.

After one of our game sessions, a couple of the folks told me how much they look forward to the game. It was much better than their organized play experiences and they were having a ton of fun with it. I didnt expect that, but it gave me a whole new perspective and kick started my drive again to keep the game going. I had to meet them 3/4 of the way, but their enthusiasm and enjoyment gave me renewed purpose as a GM for that game.

Yeah Ive found that its hard to read players sometimes for any number of reasons. Sometimes if they appear that they arent liking the game its usually from something completely un-game related, and RL troubles. But I often ask for feedback from them. Last time I did I was surprised to find out that they were liking the game more than I thought.

 

[Ovinomancer]

I played in this adventure with my regulars. The DM said it was not well-designed. We didn't notice. I've found that if the group of players and DM is solid, even the worst adventures are still great. I'm running the Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan from Tales from the Yawning Portal right now and it's awful in my opinion, but we're still having a blast with it.

Goodness, it is awful, isn't it? It was only when it was pointed out to me that it's a tournament module, designed to be a competition to see who gets the furthest with the most, that the design was understandable to me. I used the map and a few of the encounters, but otherwise completely redid it. I did keep it as a race against time, though...

 

[R_J_K75]

It was only when it was pointed out to me that it's a tournament module, designed to be a competition to see who gets the furthest with the most, that the design was understandable to me.

Tournament module, I never heard this, for AL, please explain?

 

[iserith]

Goodness, it is awful, isn't it? It was only when it was pointed out to me that it's a tournament module, designed to be a competition to see who gets the furthest with the most, that the design was understandable to me. I used the map and a few of the encounters, but otherwise completely redid it. I did keep it as a race against time, though...

Yeah, I did some tweaks to it and set it in Eberron (Q'barra) with a Deadwood theme, but mostly didn't want to mess with it too much. I'm just using it to kill time while I work on the next longer campaign. The overlong boxed text, the one monster per room... it's not great.

 

[Ovinomancer]

Tournament module, I never heard this, for AL, please explain?

Back in the day (heh), cons would feature tournament modules, where multiple tables would play simultaneously and compete to finish/get the furthest in a module during a fixed play time. A feature of these modules is time wasting encounters and dungeon design (like a mazelike design with dead ends). The idea was the group that got the furthest was the "winner." This very much predated AL.

 

[R_J_K75]

Back in the day (heh), cons would feature tournament modules, where multiple tables would play simultaneously and compete to finish/get the furthest in a module during a fixed play time. A feature of these modules is time wasting encounters and dungeon design (like a mazelike design with dead ends). The idea was the group that got the furthest was the "winner." This very much predated AL.

Thanks for explaining, kind of what I thought, but this design philosophy on WotC part for a module that is not for AL or tournament play is just stupid. What sense does this make? Lets make a module that wastes time pitting the players against themselves in the own game. Im losing faith in them and the products they are putting out as more time goes on.

 

[Ovinomancer]

Thanks for explaining, kind of what I thought, but this design philosophy on WotC part for a module that is not for AL or tournament play is just stupid. What sense does this make? Lets make a module that wastes time pitting the players against themselves in the own game. Im losing faith in them and the products they are putting out as more time goes on.

It's a reprint of a famous module.