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
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
DISCUSSION: How long is it reasonable to hold the spotlight?
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="Shiroiken" data-source="post: 7950479" data-attributes="member: 6775477"><p>There's two types of spotlight: focused attention and solo activity. Focused attention is when each player gets to be active, even during group moments (the face during social activities, the scout/tracker during exploration, etc.). Solo activity is when a part of the group breaks off, taking time completely away from the other part of the group.</p><p></p><p>Focused attention tends to natural evolve within the group. Some players tend to be more dominant, while others are more passive. Sadly it's possible to have two "alpha" players who try to dominate the game, causing friction within the group. The easiest solution is to make sure they build characters with different focuses, and when they both have the spotlight they try to share.</p><p></p><p>Solo activity can be very good, or very, very bad. As a DM I often have solo activity occur during urban activities, because different PCs will want to interact with certain PCs (and vice versa). Most of the time these activities I try to keep down to 10 minutes tops, as to avoid focusing too much on one player (unless it sets up a plot hook). When a player decides to go off and do something on their own, this seldom goes well. Either the player is attempting to wrest the spotlight for an extended period of time, or they're going "batman," trying to solve everything themselves. I tend to discourage this by asking the player what their goal is; if it can be resolved within 10 minutes, then I'm okay with it.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Shiroiken, post: 7950479, member: 6775477"] There's two types of spotlight: focused attention and solo activity. Focused attention is when each player gets to be active, even during group moments (the face during social activities, the scout/tracker during exploration, etc.). Solo activity is when a part of the group breaks off, taking time completely away from the other part of the group. Focused attention tends to natural evolve within the group. Some players tend to be more dominant, while others are more passive. Sadly it's possible to have two "alpha" players who try to dominate the game, causing friction within the group. The easiest solution is to make sure they build characters with different focuses, and when they both have the spotlight they try to share. Solo activity can be very good, or very, very bad. As a DM I often have solo activity occur during urban activities, because different PCs will want to interact with certain PCs (and vice versa). Most of the time these activities I try to keep down to 10 minutes tops, as to avoid focusing too much on one player (unless it sets up a plot hook). When a player decides to go off and do something on their own, this seldom goes well. Either the player is attempting to wrest the spotlight for an extended period of time, or they're going "batman," trying to solve everything themselves. I tend to discourage this by asking the player what their goal is; if it can be resolved within 10 minutes, then I'm okay with it. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
DISCUSSION: How long is it reasonable to hold the spotlight?
Top