How Dragonbane Pointed out the Clashing Desires of My Gaming Group

[TwoSix]

Hey, I enjoy battles and like a fast-paced game too. I'm sorry if I gave the impression that I'm some major storyteller DM.
But there's things I'd like players to be able to do after 6+ months of play. For example,
1) Name one fellow party member. Maybe have an idea of how their character might behave in a given situation. ("Oh, that's Oswald Brummelbuck the halfling rogue. He's quick-witted but snarky with authority figures.")
2) Name a prominent location, such as the capital city they've been exploring for months.
3) Name an NPC connected to their character. (For example, a cleric able to name the high priest of their order.)
4) Have a general concept of the threat facing the setting. (Is there a necromancer releasing an undead pox on the land? High five if you can name the villain.)
5) If we're playing weekly, it would be awesome if someone could tell me the party's immediate goal. ("When we left, we were planning to investigate the thieves' guild.")

One thing I do is that I always open a session with the same question.

“Who can tell me what happened last time?”

That always triggers a 5-10 minute open table conversation that helps to remind people about the major plot threads and the names of some of the important NPCs.

It also gives me a sense of what information is connecting with the characters and what isn’t.

 

[aramis erak]

Unsuited for a typical high combat campaign, yes. Only a few classes/professions start out combat capable.

Even those can be ganked quickly if carelessness is present.

Worth noting: The damage dice mostly seem a die size higher than older editions. And armor is a point lower... which makes for a significantly lower survivability in combat. The adventure was probably fine under older additions; I do wonder when they made the change to the damages.

 

[MattSteele]

This is why GMs burn out and drop out of the RPG hobby.
I left a gaming group several years ago because our play styles and the types of games we wanted to run/play didn't align. I'm still friends with all of them, but I rarely game with any of them.

 

[pukunui]

Hey, I enjoy battles and like a fast-paced game too. I'm sorry if I gave the impression that I'm some major storyteller DM.
But there's things I'd like players to be able to do after 6+ months of play. For example,
1) Name one fellow party member. Maybe have an idea of how their character might behave in a given situation. ("Oh, that's Oswald Brummelbuck the halfling rogue. He's quick-witted but snarky with authority figures.")
2) Name a prominent location, such as the capital city they've been exploring for months.
3) Name an NPC connected to their character. (For example, a cleric able to name the high priest of their order.)
4) Have a general concept of the threat facing the setting. (Is there a necromancer releasing an undead pox on the land? High five if you can name the villain.)
5) If we're playing weekly, it would be awesome if someone could tell me the party's immediate goal. ("When we left, we were planning to investigate the thieves' guild.")

Man, that kind of inattention really bugs me too.

 

[Thomas Shey]

This is why GMs burn out and drop out of the RPG hobby.
I left a gaming group several years ago because our play styles and the types of games we wanted to run/play didn't align. I'm still friends with all of them, but I rarely game with any of them.

There's a strong thread in the hobby that you should be able to accommodate players with radically different play styles and desires or you're a bad GM. While I think it can sometimes be a little lazy to be too quick to discard people, I think it pays to realize, that fundamentally, sometimes there are people who shouldn't be playing together, and sometimes its not really about clashes in personality.

 

[Bohandas]

Something like the Castle Ravenloft boardgame might work

 

[Retreater]

Something like the Castle Ravenloft boardgame might work

They've shot down my suggestions for boardgames, from Descent to HeroQuest.

 

[MichaelSomething]

They've shot down my suggestions for boardgames, from Descent to HeroQuest.

Tell them to come to Enworld and explain to us what they want out of their play time! You giving us second hand info obviously is not cutting it!

 

[Wolfpack48]

It's the old issue of when people describe buzzwords or what they think you want to hear.

• "Deep, tactical play."
• "Extravagant character customization."
• "Mysterious political machinations."
• "Rich tapestry of world building."
• "Moving roleplaying experiences."

Yet, their characters are named like "Farty McButtface" and spend their time trying to nail the wenches.

The only one who is honest with me is my wife.
Here are some quotes. "Basically, I just want to be powerful and kick ass. I want to roll 41 points of damage. I don't want to talk to the NPCs or follow a story. I want to be a rogue and sneak attack for lots of damage. I don't want to guess where to search for a trap - I want to make a check and have that determined. All the other stuff between the fights is just fluff that takes away our time that we could be having fun."

Sounds like they want to be playing a superheroes game.

 

[Wolfpack48]

Had the talk about the game with the players tonight. Story gamer is loving it. My neighbor is coming around. My wife had a couple fun moments but overall isn't a fan - is willing to stick with it as long as others are liking it.

Glad to hear it’s growing on them. Sometimes it just takes a few dynamic encounters where everyone has a chance to shine. Once they get a bit of advancement going and don’t feel too weak they’ll start to feel more heroic. Also making characters more vulnerable feels more dangerous and therefore more badass when you do succeed.