How to cut back on distractions? help

[pawsplay]

Does anyone have any advise, stories, or suggestions on how to cut down on distractions during a gaming session?

The Master says: Allow distractions, and you will not have to.

 

[amerigoV]

I'm with the zombies approach mentioned above; though it does raise the question (perhaps unfairly) of whether the game is sufficiently compelling, (novel, spontaneous, 'fear of God', shock and awe, tantalising, mysterious), enough to make the errant player/ s shake his/ her head at being dumb enough to tune out.

I posted earlier about pace - I do think the above factors into it. When I 'game' as either a GM or playing video games (hell, even monoply), I am fully engaged. Depending on the GM and what is currently going on at the table, I very well may not be engaged at all as a player. If Bob decides he wants to roleplay haggling over horseshoes while in town, I'll probably check out for awhile. In that case, I would pray to have a GM like Troll Slayer where a horde of zombies comes rolling into town.

So the disengagement may manifest itself as building dice towers, side conversionations, flipping through the newest shiney RPG book, or now with technology - websurfing/texting. Its not always players just being rude - the GM needs to read the table and up the action (or engage the player if it is isolated).

 

[Piratecat]

We had spectacular success using "The Pig." We got a piggy bank after everyone agreed that distraction was a problem. Once the game officially started, The Pig was in effect. You paid the pig when:

- Out of Character comment (Monty Python quote, "I found a cool restaurant last week, etc.) - $.05

- Awful pun (good puns got refunds!) - $.10

- Old character war story ("I had this awesome drow paladin...") or opening up something electronic - $.25

The money went to pay for soda. It's not much, obviously, but it reminded us that we needed to focus once the game had started. I would do it again, but only if the group agreed there was already a problem.

 

[Oryan77]

We had spectacular success using "The Pig."

Not a bad idea. Although since my wife is a player and I seem to get on her about putting down the iphone more than anyone, and the fact she's jobless at the moment; I'll be the one adding the money to the pot.

Plus all of my friends are broke and they probably need their $0.05. I bet they lost their jobs and are broke on purpose now that I think about it. They knew one day I'd implement a rule like this.

 

[TarionzCousin]

We had spectacular success using "The Pig." We got a piggy bank after everyone agreed that distraction was a problem. Once the game officially started, The Pig was in effect. You paid the pig when:

- Out of Character comment (Monty Python quote, "I found a cool restaurant last week, etc.) - $.05

- Awful pun (good puns got refunds!) - $.10

- Old character war story ("I had this awesome drow paladin...") or opening up something electronic - $.25

The money went to pay for soda. It's not much, obviously, but it reminded us that we needed to focus once the game had started. I would do it again, but only if the group agreed there was already a problem.

Fart at the table - $20.00

 

[amerigoV]

Fart at the table - $20.00

GM, noticing Player1 just put a stack of 20's down on the table.
GM - "Whats the $20s for?"
Player1 - "I had White Castle last night..."

 

[Mournblade94]

Friends if anyone here can find a viable solution to this that works everytime...

there is money to be made by you in the education field.

 

[Piratecat]

GM, noticing Player1 just put a stack of 20's down on the table.
GM - "Whats the $20s for?"
Player1 - "I had White Castle last night..."

We've had people throw in a dollar and say "it's that kind of night." That's okay - it's still better than it used to be, and we get a dollar for snacks!

 

[Janx]

At my table:
TV is off.
no non-game related device usage (I allow tech for running a PC, looking up a rule at d20srd.org)
get the chitchat done before the game, and during breaks (remeber to HAVE breaks).

In game, keep the pacing lively. Don't let things get sidetracked with one player. be prepared to bring in something to spark action and interest with the whole group (like zombies).

use a battlemat with minis or tokens to show where everybody is. Saves time explaining positioning, and makes for faster "catch-up" if attention did drift.

use tokens for PCs/monsters to show initiative order in front of the DM screen. This also makes it easy for everybody to see when their turn is. A stack of initiative cards is only good for the DM. A conga-line of characters is really easy to recognize.


I'd ban specific activities (texting, video games) before banning technology, but then I use technology as a player to play the game (I run my PC off my laptop). But I also don't sit on FB or Youtube and interrupt or not pay attention to the game.

Ultimately though, if you have problem behavior, its a sign of a problem player. And that you may find, you can't fix, except to eject them from the game.

 

[anest1s]

Jam their communications.

If it works in-game, it works off-game too...

Also, when ppl don't pay attention, whisper "secrets" to players paying attention.