I'm seeking advice. How do you encourage players to talk to each other and do stuff?

[garbagetier]

Most of my players prefer to be passive and react to things. They may discuss among themselves when facing the immediate problem, but small talk never occurs.

In searching this site for the term "bored" (which my players were tonight because I BOMBED) I found this article: 11 ways to be a better roleplayer, the Safe for Work version - LOOK, ROBOT

How would you, as a DM, encourage players to do the things that article suggests without outright sending them the article. The "do stuff" mention really spoke to me. If I think the table is getting quiet or my players bored, I'll inject something into the scene in an attempt to pick it up. Because of this I end up constantly driving. I feel like I am actively writing a choose your own adventure book for them to play rather than writing the story together.

Groups I run with more active, extroverted personalities are a breeze. How do I stop failing my current players?

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Honestly, talk to them about it.

Don’t try to trick them into being more engaged, talk to them. Ask them why they don’t engage more, and listen.

 

[Lanefan]

Without knowing your table this'll be a complete shot in the dark, but there's a few things you-as-DM might want to try:

Encourage - or certainly don't discourage - inter-character relationships within the party. These can be romances, rivalries, friendships, whatever; as long as the characters are interacting with each other. To get this sort of thing started you could lob in an adventuring NPC for a while to stir the pot.

A more dramatic option might be to, one session when they're in downtime, sit back and say "Right - you lot are on your own tonight - all I'm going to do is react to what you give me, if I have to. Anything you say henceforth will be interpreted as if your characters said it, so get in character and talk to each other - get to know each other, decide what you're going to do next and how you're going to go about it, and that's what I'll run."

 

[jsaving]

There are several reasons why your players might take a passive approach to your campaign. Probably the most benign is that they simply enjoy being passive, either because they're tired from work/school or because they prefer listening to the stories you tell. A less benign possibility is that they take longer than you do to formulate plans and have stopped trying because they know they'll be interrupted by an "injected" encounter before they can finish. Or, it could even be that they aren't enjoying the campaign enough to take any action.

Under none of these scenarios would it be helpful to send an article urging your players to be more proactive. Instead, especially if your players are unusually introverted, a more personalized approach might prove fruitful.

I would start by speaking individually to your players and asking what they would like their characters to accomplish in-game. Perhaps they have interesting ideas but are unsure how to get from point A to point B and would benefit from a conversation with you on how to do that. You could even encourage them to write background stories for their characters which you would offer to treat as canon in your campaign, giving them an opportunity to "write the story together" as you say you would like. This wouldn't work for some players but for highly introverted people it would potentially be just the jump-start the campaign needs.

If in some of those conversations your players are unable to name any objectives for their characters, you could then explore why this is so. Would they like to brainstorm a new character with you that would get them more excited? Is there something about the current campaign they would like changed? Is there a different campaign/module/AP they would like you to run? Are they enjoying your homebrew material or would they prefer a setting they know, like the Forgotten Realms? And last but not least, are there tangible improvements they would like you to make for future gaming sessions?

That last question would probably be the toughest to ask but might also potentially be the most fruitful. If you do ask it, I'd suggest letting them speak their piece even though you may be tempted to rebut each point as it is made. That kind of honest feedback isn't something you get every day and if it enabled you to improve your DM style, it could be a "win" for everyone no matter what the reasons are for your players' passivity. Best wishes and good luck!

 

[Doug McCrae]

Groups I run with more active, extroverted personalities are a breeze. How do I stop failing my current players?

Stop running games for them. Only run games for the first type of player. That will work much better and faster than a futile and time consuming effort to change people's personalities.

 

[Phion]

Groups I run with more active, extroverted personalities are a breeze. How do I stop failing my current players?

Honestly it does not sound like you are failing your group and would advice any other DM in your position to not blame yourself, sometimes a group can actually just fail themselves. Is it possible however that you get more of a buzz from a extrovert group and actually your more introvert group are enjoying themselves just as much but you are not getting the same kicks from running?

 

[S'mon]

Stop running games for them. Only run games for the first type of player. That will work much better and faster than a futile and time consuming effort to change people's personalities.

Heh. Yeah I would say either stick to type 1 players, or for type 2s run a simple dungeon bash campaign that doesn't require them to roleplay much or be proactive.

 

[S'mon]

A more dramatic option might be to, one session when they're in downtime, sit back and say "Right - you lot are on your own tonight - all I'm going to do is react to what you give me, if I have to. Anything you say henceforth will be interpreted as if your characters said it, so get in character and talk to each other - get to know each other, decide what you're going to do next and how you're going to go about it, and that's what I'll run."

Chance of Turtles 80%.

 

[Randomthoughts]

Most of my players prefer to be passive and react to things.
In searching this site for the term "bored" (which my players were tonight because I BOMBED).
I feel like I am actively writing a choose your own adventure book for them to play rather than writing the story together.
How do I stop failing my current players?

First, I think you’re being too hard on yourself. It’s great you want to improve your game, but keep in mind it’s just a game.

Second, there are a couple of things to parse out here. Are they bored? Or are the merely passive?

One could be passive or reactionary, but still be engaged. As mentioned above, some players play to escape and relax so being reactionary is their preferred mode (but they still enjoy playing). Boredom of course is more concerning.

Third, re encouragement to be more proactive, what system are you running, if I may ask? Some systems are designed to elicit a more proactive approach (FATE Core comes to mind).

 

[Umbran]

Honestly, talk to them about it.

Don’t try to trick them into being more engaged, talk to them. Ask them why they don’t engage more, and listen.

Yeah. Unless you are a bunch of teenagers... treat folks as if they were mature adults. If you have a problem, talk to them.

I recommend doing this in a non-accusative manner - "Hey, folks, I have noticed a pattern, and I was wondering if this is the way you want to play..."

Be ready to get some critique yourself, as you may have supported the behavior you've been seeing.