Help me save my game

[Dremmen]

..my first double post!! woo hoo!!

 

[Treebore]

I recently found out that 2 of my players are quiting my weekly Savage Tide Campaign. It didn't come as a shock. For the past three sessions everyone seems detached and constantly gets off track. I take blame for this happening, and I want to badly fix it.

Our main problem is just staying focus and on track and the pace of the game. Everything goes pretty smoothly till they are exploring then I start to slow down or can't information about a certain room which leaves an opening for a long offtopic convo to start. This is partially because of poor notetaking. Players come unprepared constantly. I don't feel that the players are very enthusiastic anymore, and quite frankly Im starting not to be. Which quite frankly is because I look forward to it every weekend and things just don't go very well.

Any suggestions on how to save my game?

I'm willing to bet (realize this is without reading the rest of this thread) that this is a side effect of railroading.

Don't get insulted.

Like I said in the "railroading" thread, running an AP is inherently a railroad. So your players lack of interest may simply be they know that what they do, or want to do, is going to be restricted, influenced, or spun to keep them on the AP. So why play when so much of what they are going to do is already predetermined for them?

Of course it would be more constructive if they would open their mouths and tell you if this is indeed the problem. So you may want to ask them. "Hey! Do you think my game sucks because I am a lousy DM, or do you have a problem with playing an AP where so much of what your going to do and where your going to go is already pre-determined?"

See what they say.

OK, now I will go and read the rest of this thread.

 

[Treebore]

Yep, I stand by my previous post. Like it, and others here, said, talk to them and find out. Can't hurt anything since your game is apparently going to fall apart anyways. So hopefully this will lead to a fix.

 

[Dragon Vindaloo]

Never tell the players their playing a pre-written adventure, especially an 'adventure path'.

just tell them you have all the details on this really cool city called 'Sasserine' and you want to start a campaign there, fill them in on the theme of the intended campaign, explain a bit about the genre, region etc and hand them out the map.

And be prepared as the DM to only use the adventure path as a basic frame work for the campaign, dont force it on them and be ready to chop and change as story flows and PC's grow.

 

[Seeten]

I've heard you can be a pirate in this game, and as such, I am jealous. I wanna be a pirate.

Also, a big hey to Mitchbones, I normally only see him on #dnd3e, the official irc chat of ENWorld, where he is a regular. =)

 

[fusangite]

It sounds to me like what you really need is a little more information about why your players are dissatisfied.

The great thing about GMing is that one can be a great GM with very different skills. Some GMs are weak on mechanics and fairness but make incredibly alive NPCs so that players don't mind picking up the slack for the mechanical errors and incorrect calculations. Some GMs are strong on narrative but have trouble with the details and local texture. What you need to do is play to your strengths, first and foremost. What works for you is going to be based on how your skills and personality mesh with this particular gaming group. You can still suck at pacing and be a good GM. You can still suck at NPC dialogue and be a good GM. You can still not really know the rules and be a good GM.

So, stop worrying about what you are weak at and start focusing on what aspects of GMing you have the most fun doing and what aspects of GMing you are good at. Build your campaign around that. If you are an awesome tactics and combat GM, have stories with big sprawling combat scenes that take more than an episode to finish. Thinking about what you are bad at and focusing your consciousness on compensating for it is not what gets you through a date, a job interview, a public speech or a D&D game. Focusing on what you love and what you have a knack for is what gets you through.

Now, of course, this has to be placed in dialogue with what your players want. Be frank about your anxieties and ask what they want. What you need to do is come to an agreement with your players on the kind of game that will play to your strengths while also being about things that interest and engage them. Any good gaming social contract is about finding that meeting point between your talents and passions and your players interests and desires.

 

[Seeten]

Fusang has the right of it.

 

[Rel]

Fusang has the right of it.

Also, water is wet.

 

[Graf]

I think you're actually in a better spot than you realize.

Few people are great DMs.
Most people don't appreciate this, and many people who DM can't self criticize. They want to be god, they want their ego massaged and that's that.
So you've taken the most important step: you want to improve.

The good news is that it's possible to improve:
most of the widely heralded DMs(Piratecat for example) will say that it's a learned skill. They ran games, they tried to improve and that's what counts.

So keep thinking and keep running games.

A good tip is to talk to people about what they liked and didn't like.
Start with open ended questions and just wait for people to talk. Don't push and don't rush. Just listen and think.
Let them: 1) vent (catharsis is good)
2) allow yourself to reflect on ways you could respond to their concerns