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<blockquote data-quote="thegrumpyyoungman" data-source="post: 5455224" data-attributes="member: 97257">about tardiness...i was always taught (and practiced in the business world) that when you are late, you are saying one thing:&quot;whatever i'm doing is more important than what everyone else is doing&quot; and &quot;my schedule is more important than yours&quot;.&nbsp; that is exactly what being late means.&nbsp; 5 minutes late?&nbsp; no big deal.&nbsp; 15 minutes late?&nbsp; im starting to look at my watch.&nbsp; 30 minutes late?&nbsp; you just dont care about when we start or what's going on at the meeting place.&nbsp; as most DM's that have players of the older age group (i would say 27 and up or so...i know its not that old, but its not teenager either), getting everyone together to jive with work schedules, spouses, kids, social schedules, etc....is like getting the planets to align.&nbsp; when you do actually get on Saturday set and everything is ready to go...and someone comes in 30-45 minutes late, it screws everything up.&nbsp; i want to have fun, but i want to not be playing for 5-6 hours.&nbsp; well i take that back, i want to, but i respect the schedules of my players who want to be there no more than 4 hours.&nbsp; they have places to go, people to see, families to care for.&nbsp; i respect that, and keep my game sessions down to a 4 hour max.&nbsp; so when one guy shows up 30-45 minutes late, and then he gets something to eat, and then has to look over his character sheet...we've lost an hour.&nbsp; this is where i get frustrated.&nbsp; yes i could just say &quot;well if you cant get here on time, then you cant come&quot;....but ive only got 3 guys.&nbsp; if i had 6, then id make the late people &quot;late to the game&quot;.&nbsp; i dont have that luxury right now.anyway...about getting them to be creative.&nbsp; the more i DM, the more im starting to get to the point where i can just kinda flow with it and let things happen.&nbsp; my first few games i really tried to make DnD like the old game Heroquest which is basically DnD on rails with no choices really other than to open this door or that with one door being a dead end.&nbsp; that did NOT work out well as you can imagine and my players got bored.&nbsp; this past session though my players were immersed into the world i had created and i got lots of compliments.&nbsp; it will really hit the roof though when they start being more creative which will come with experience and time for them.&nbsp; i do like the idea though of forcing them into situations where they have to be creative.&nbsp; on the same note, have you guys ever used a reward system for being creative.&nbsp; i've seen &quot;fate points&quot; or something similar that DM's give out to the players when they decide to push the pillar on top of the monster and slide down the pillar to drop kick the other monster...instead of attacking it head on.&nbsp; im considering doing that, but i want to make sure i dont make the game TOO easy for them.&nbsp; thoughts?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="thegrumpyyoungman, post: 5455224, member: 97257"] about tardiness...i was always taught (and practiced in the business world) that when you are late, you are saying one thing: "whatever i'm doing is more important than what everyone else is doing" and "my schedule is more important than yours". that is exactly what being late means. 5 minutes late? no big deal. 15 minutes late? im starting to look at my watch. 30 minutes late? you just dont care about when we start or what's going on at the meeting place. as most DM's that have players of the older age group (i would say 27 and up or so...i know its not that old, but its not teenager either), getting everyone together to jive with work schedules, spouses, kids, social schedules, etc....is like getting the planets to align. when you do actually get on Saturday set and everything is ready to go...and someone comes in 30-45 minutes late, it screws everything up. i want to have fun, but i want to not be playing for 5-6 hours. well i take that back, i want to, but i respect the schedules of my players who want to be there no more than 4 hours. they have places to go, people to see, families to care for. i respect that, and keep my game sessions down to a 4 hour max. so when one guy shows up 30-45 minutes late, and then he gets something to eat, and then has to look over his character sheet...we've lost an hour. this is where i get frustrated. yes i could just say "well if you cant get here on time, then you cant come"....but ive only got 3 guys. if i had 6, then id make the late people "late to the game". i dont have that luxury right now. anyway...about getting them to be creative. the more i DM, the more im starting to get to the point where i can just kinda flow with it and let things happen. my first few games i really tried to make DnD like the old game Heroquest which is basically DnD on rails with no choices really other than to open this door or that with one door being a dead end. that did NOT work out well as you can imagine and my players got bored. this past session though my players were immersed into the world i had created and i got lots of compliments. it will really hit the roof though when they start being more creative which will come with experience and time for them. i do like the idea though of forcing them into situations where they have to be creative. on the same note, have you guys ever used a reward system for being creative. i've seen "fate points" or something similar that DM's give out to the players when they decide to push the pillar on top of the monster and slide down the pillar to drop kick the other monster...instead of attacking it head on. im considering doing that, but i want to make sure i dont make the game TOO easy for them. thoughts? [/QUOTE]

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