D&D 5E DMs: How do you handle purely combat-focused groups?

[Meliath1742]

I'm running my older kids (2 boys, 2 girls) thru the Phandelver adventure. The oldest boy is having a real problem understanding that it is a living world he is interacting with and like your group has a tendency to want to shoot first. I believe this is because he is used to playing video games where the goal is usually to kill everything in sight. He easily sways the younger boy to follow him in this method of play. My two girls are just the opposite...eagerly looking at interaction as the first move in any situation. The boys and girls went separate ways in the Cragmaw hideout...and almost had a TPK before figuring out their mistake. Once they arrived in Phandalin they split up again. The girls did some real role playing while the boys suffered from gold fever and went around selling off everything they had brought back with no intention of sharing with the girls. At the end of the session I awarded the girls with slightly more EP's which had the boys crying foul! I clearly informed them that the girls were being rewarded for good role play and actually advancing the groups knowledge in the right direction. The boys whined but I think they got the message.

 

[Scorpio616]

Sahuagin Sushi.

FIFY

 

[Mishihari Lord]

Talk to them first. That's always the first step in trying to resolve an issue like this. Then kill 'em all. (The characters, not the players)

Up the difficulty on some of the encounters to solid TPK territory, then provide alternate solutions, like npc interactions with enemies or potential allies, finding a way around through exploration, and use of terrain.

Give fair warning. Tell them that there are encounters in the upcoming adventure that may not be best solved by combat. Provide in-game cautions too. "You remember Sir Whatzisface you met two weeks ago? The one who was tougher than all y'all? That looks like what's left of his armor melted into the wall there, with a charred skeleton inside." Or "This is clearly a defensive structure, but it's been wrecked. The heavy portcullis on the far end of the cavern is lying in three pieces, there are seven dwarven ballistas lying shattered like so much matchwood, and even the stonework is broken up. Based on the condition everything's in, it's been between six months and a couple of years since this happened." Make sure they can run away the first time they're seriously overmatched.

When they complain, remind them that you told them that there would be encounters where fighting is not the best solution.

Hopefully they'll start trying alternate solutions and see how much fun it is. If they come around, great. If not, start to replace the players that aren't a good fit with what you want to do. There's nothing wrong with purely combat focused games if that's what you enjoy. But if you're not having fun then why go through all the effort associated with being a DM?

I frequently hear people blame this kind of behavior on video game experience, and while that's probably true, I think it should be overcomeable. After all, the first RPG players came from a wargame background, which was all combat no story or interaction. If they could make the leap, then current players should be able to do the same.

 

[Superking]

This is a topic near and dear to my gaming heart. I agree with the other posters about both sides of the table having fun. In an ideal world we would all be playing at tables with people with similar styles of play. Over the years I have grown to understand other play styles are equally valid and not everyone enjoys the same thing. There is no right way to play.

As DM, I have tried to cater to the needs and wants of players. Less story and more hack-n-slash in my case (like the OP) only to find myself not having much fun. I have also done the opposite and attempted to do mostly what I enjoy, (more story based) and experienced resistance along with some detachment at the table.

Bottom line is you can't force others to have fun. The tough love answer is to game with others that have similar play styles. A harsh pill, but true. Gets tougher when you don't have access to other players or the ones you have are friends outside of game night.

My current mantra is: No gaming is better than bad gaming.

 

[Nebulous]

This is a topic near and dear to my gaming heart. I agree with the other posters about both sides of the table having fun. In an ideal world we would all be playing at tables with people with similar styles of play. Over the years I have grown to understand other play styles are equally valid and not everyone enjoys the same thing. There is no right way to play.

As DM, I have tried to cater to the needs and wants of players. Less story and more hack-n-slash in my case (like the OP) only to find myself not having much fun. I have also done the opposite and attempted to do mostly what I enjoy, (more story based) and experienced resistance along with some detachment at the table.

Bottom line is you can't force others to have fun. The tough love answer is to game with others that have similar play styles. A harsh pill, but true. Gets tougher when you don't have access to other players or the ones you have are friends outside of game night.

My current mantra is: No gaming is better than bad gaming.

The good and bad news, just to reiterate what you're saying: there are thousands and thousands of gamers who share your EXACT preferred gaming style.....but finding them is not necessarily easy, particularly if you're in an isolated community. Try to find them though, it's a world of difference.

 

[the Jester]

First of all, the basic answer is probably "give them what they want"- let them play a lot of combat-heavy stuff. But if that's not satisfying to you, you can just think about the reactions of the various npcs and how they play off each other.

Enforce the logical consequences of the pcs' actions. This means, among other things, that they're going to get a reputation for plowing through things without subtlety. They will miss a lot- that's okay. There's no way to get the information they need to find the dungeon/magic item/special powder/whatever? Then they don't find it. Oh, they can't finish the adventure? Oh well, time to chalk up another mark in the "Fail" column and move on to the next one.

This approach means that, eventually, they will stop getting hired for jobs that aren't "Kill kill kill". That's okay; it may suit them. But it also means that they will probably eventually get hired to do something that they really ought to avoid (slaying an important person, kidnapping the heir, threatening a powerful official, etc).

It also means that it's likely that the pcs will eventually do something- kill a guy in a bar fight, get a reputation for casting fireballs in the city, etc.- that makes them either persona non grata or actually wanted by the authorities. This means that they can't easily buy supplies, find an inn, get a meal, hire a cobbler, go to the weaponsmith, etc. And if they try to go get a disease cured or a curse removed- well, the local clergy isn't likely to help if the consequence is the loss of their clerical rights in the city for aiding fugitives. When they're in town, they may be confronted by a large group of watchmen offering to escort them out or trying to arrest them outright. If they resist, suddenly there's a huge price on their head for killing guards (because, let's face it, this type of party is often the type that slays anyone without thought of the consequences).

It's also possible that someone will choose to frame them for something that they didn't actually do. With this kind of reputation, it's eminently believable, and a war could start or something equally dire could happen, all because they don't have the connections and reputation to clear their names and point out the real guilty party.

 

[Joe Liker]

I feel like some of your players would rather be playing Krosmaster.

Encourage them to do that, and find other players to replace them. Despite your best intentions, your chances of "converting" them into actual roleplayers are slim to none.

I mean, sure, talk to them and give it a try, but don't try to force the issue. The carrots-and-sticks approach will only annoy them if they honestly don't care about RP.

 

[Superking]

Agree with Nebulous. There are some similarities with play styles though that are not exact, but are 'close enough'. The closest thing to Storyteller preference is someone that enjoys role playing. I can often find some common ground there. Powergaming is on the other end of the spectrum. Try and be a storyteller as DM with a group of power gamers or vice versa is tough in my opinion.

We did have one occasion where we as a group built a random dungeon. Sort of a round robin approach where we used dungeon tiles to randomly build a room and populated it with a random appropriate CR monster or monsters. After that room/section was defeated we would switch DM's, also randomly determined. At first thought, this was my absolute worst nightmare. The thing that made it work for me is we all had to come up with an improvised storyline of why they were there and what the purpose was. It was fun for the one night we did that. I got my story element in there and the others got their hack-n-slash in. Have not done it since, but good for a one shot.

 

[GX.Sigma]

I don't think they're "bad players." I just think they don't know what they want (or what you want).

People who come from games like Diablo and WoW (or even other TRPG campaigns) bring assumptions with them. They've never played this before, so they try to play it like the closest thing they know. If their previous fantasy gaming experiences have been hack-and-slash, they'll assume that's all it is, and all the story is just for flavor ("We're saving the world, yadda yadda, where's the loot?").

Questions for OP:

How did you introduce them to your campaign? If you just said "Hey, let's play D&D; make a character and see me next week"--there's your problem.
Why are their actions succeeding? How can they fight every monster they see, and come out on top? If fighting works every time, why should they not fight every time?

It seems like you want them to think, but you're running an adventure that doesn't require them to think. Stop doing that. Put a beholder in the first room of the dungeon. If they fight it, it kills a few of them and goes about its business. If they keep fighting it, it kills the rest of them. That's life, kids. Next time, think before you fight. That's an extreme example, but my point is: if you want your characters to stop fighting everything they see, you should stop rewarding them for fighting everything they see.

 

[BigVanVader]

No no no, Beholders are cliche. But they'll never see a skateboarding Balrog coming!