I have known players who delight in role-playing, to whom a NPC with a dark secret can give many hours of fun.
I have known players who delight in problem-solving, to whom a murder mystery or a logic problem (chess puzzle) is the best type of experience, to be savoured and enjoyed.
Then I have my current players.
Give them monsters and some treasure (orc and pie!) and they're ready for hours upon hours of play. Plot? Why do you need plot? Just send in the monsters!
My players enjoy facing a variety of monsters, so that they can test their combat skills and their character-building skills. They enjoy getting treasure, because they can use it to get better stuff to kill monsters.
Every so often, they like to travel through the wilderness killing monsters rather than dungeon-delving.
However, the central theme is obvious: they enjoy combat.
And, you know what? We all have a lot of fun.
I do throw in role-playing encounters their way from time to time, or a puzzle, or a weird trick, and I do endeavour to give them reasons to kill the monsters...
...but, eventually, it boils down to something they enjoy.
Last week, I ran a RPGA module (Legacy of the Green Regent: "In Cold Blood") that played (at least for my players) as a bunch of combats with a plot that gave a reason for the combats to happen. There was opportunity for role-playing and investigation, but my players rushed past that into the combat.
They really, really loved the module.
There's such a wide range in playing types. I don't think some people have realised that, insisting that an adventure or supplement is bad because it emphasises one style of play.
Learn what your players like, and learn what companies make material suited for their style.
(Also, if your own DMing style is antithetical to what your players like, it's probably a very good idea to stop DMing them, rather than provoke the stylistic conflicts that can occur).
Me: I'm happy DMing in any one of several styles. I've run heavy role-playing games and heavy combat games.
As long as everyone is enjoying the game, I know I'm running it right.
Cheers!
I have known players who delight in problem-solving, to whom a murder mystery or a logic problem (chess puzzle) is the best type of experience, to be savoured and enjoyed.
Then I have my current players.
Give them monsters and some treasure (orc and pie!) and they're ready for hours upon hours of play. Plot? Why do you need plot? Just send in the monsters!
My players enjoy facing a variety of monsters, so that they can test their combat skills and their character-building skills. They enjoy getting treasure, because they can use it to get better stuff to kill monsters.
Every so often, they like to travel through the wilderness killing monsters rather than dungeon-delving.
However, the central theme is obvious: they enjoy combat.
And, you know what? We all have a lot of fun.
I do throw in role-playing encounters their way from time to time, or a puzzle, or a weird trick, and I do endeavour to give them reasons to kill the monsters...
...but, eventually, it boils down to something they enjoy.
Last week, I ran a RPGA module (Legacy of the Green Regent: "In Cold Blood") that played (at least for my players) as a bunch of combats with a plot that gave a reason for the combats to happen. There was opportunity for role-playing and investigation, but my players rushed past that into the combat.
They really, really loved the module.
There's such a wide range in playing types. I don't think some people have realised that, insisting that an adventure or supplement is bad because it emphasises one style of play.
Learn what your players like, and learn what companies make material suited for their style.
(Also, if your own DMing style is antithetical to what your players like, it's probably a very good idea to stop DMing them, rather than provoke the stylistic conflicts that can occur).
Me: I'm happy DMing in any one of several styles. I've run heavy role-playing games and heavy combat games.
As long as everyone is enjoying the game, I know I'm running it right.
Cheers!