How Do You Tell a Group: "Maybe This Isn't for Us?"

[Thomas Shey]

Even when explicit, many GMs ignore difficulty mods...
EG: FASA STRPG 1E... It stated routine tasks were 1d10, only unusual actions required rolling 1d100 vs the skill. Yet, most GMs seem to have ignored that...

That's why I say it needs to emphasis positive mods much more strongly in most games; its really easy for GMs to end up using the default difficulties (which are usually intended for use-under-stress cases at least) for things they aren't intended for, and thus make either the world seem much harder than it should be or the characters much less competent than intended.

 

[Retreater]

I finally started getting responses this afternoon to my email. (We usually discuss via email between game sessions just because everyone's free time is variable through the week.)
So I've got four players and three responses so far.
The two players wanting more action and combats basically want to stay with the current campaign, even after I told them that the system and campaign doesn't really lend itself to action or combat.
I have another player who doesn't like the campaign at all and wants to do something else.
Considering myself as a player (who also deserves to have fun), I don't see how we can stick with the current campaign and have me enjoy it as written with the current group how they're playing.
What a quandary!

 

[aramis erak]

I finally started getting responses this afternoon to my email. (We usually discuss via email between game sessions just because everyone's free time is variable through the week.)
So I've got four players and three responses so far.
The two players wanting more action and combats basically want to stay with the current campaign, even after I told them that the system and campaign doesn't really lend itself to action or combat.
I have another player who doesn't like the campaign at all and wants to do something else.
Considering myself as a player (who also deserves to have fun), I don't see how we can stick with the current campaign and have me enjoy it as written with the current group how they're playing.
What a quandary!

TEW has plenty of combat. It's just that players need to "play smart" in it. (I have run TEW to City of Chaos 4 times; the characters opted to retire either just before or just after City of Chaos.

Doomstones is a much more D&D-ish adventure. Brutal as hell under 1E.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I finally started getting responses this afternoon to my email. (We usually discuss via email between game sessions just because everyone's free time is variable through the week.)
So I've got four players and three responses so far.
The two players wanting more action and combats basically want to stay with the current campaign, even after I told them that the system and campaign doesn't really lend itself to action or combat.
I have another player who doesn't like the campaign at all and wants to do something else.
Considering myself as a player (who also deserves to have fun), I don't see how we can stick with the current campaign and have me enjoy it as written with the current group how they're playing.
What a quandary!

While I've made it quite clear my opinion of the degree of elevation of the GM over the players the hobby in general and D&D in particular has promoted over the years, at the end of the day, if you're really not enjoying the game, its going to be extremely difficult for you to run it well. And that likely means it isn't going to end up being good for anybody.

 

[Retreater]

TEW has plenty of combat. It's just that players need to "play smart" in it. (I have run TEW to City of Chaos 4 times; the characters opted to retire either just before or just after City of Chaos.

Doomstones is a much more D&D-ish adventure. Brutal as hell under 1E.

That's not what we're finding in the current release of the campaign. It could be that "plenty" has different definitions for the playstyles of our tables.
Our last fight was a month ago IRL (with weekly sessions). Only one character did any damage (with magic) while the other failed with every attack and the other spent the whole battle sliding in raw sewage (the fourth player was absent that session). The previous combat was a month before that.
So we're averaging one fight per month of real time. Some of this is because we have short-ish sessions, but we didn't have this feeling of lack of progress in D&D.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

That's not what we're finding in the current release of the campaign. It could be that "plenty" has different definitions for the playstyles of our tables.
Our last fight was a month ago IRL (with weekly sessions). Only one character did any damage (with magic) while the other failed with every attack and the other spent the whole battle sliding in raw sewage (the fourth player was absent that session). The previous combat was a month before that.
So we're averaging one fight per month of real time. Some of this is because we have short-ish sessions, but we didn't have this feeling of lack of progress in D&D.

I wonder if short sessions are an issue also, particularly with investigation focused play. I have often found it can take a while for players to get back in to a game at the beginning of a session and that short sessions favour a more bang bang action style game.

 

[Retreater]

I wonder if short sessions are an issue also, particularly with investigation focused play. I have often found it can take a while for players to get back in to a game at the beginning of a session and that short sessions favour a more bang bang action style game.

It could be. I think there are probably numerous factors working against us.

 

[Piratecat]

Yeah, we have an investigation-heavy game and biweekly (if we're lucky) 3 hour games. I start every game session with a summary of what's going on/known, and we use a Discord channel to summarize clues and ongoing plot threads.

 

[aramis erak]

It could be. I think there are probably numerous factors working against us.

Online play, for me, is much slower than FTF. Depending upon game, 1.5:1 to 3:1.

 

[Piratecat]

Online play, for me, is much slower than FTF. Depending upon game, 1.5:1 to 3:1.

We don't use a battlemap, so online play is as fast or faster for us. We actually get an extra half hour of play in because no one needs to commute.

It's different when I use a game with a battlemap, though.