Non Serious Players

[elbandit]

Howdy!

I have been running my current D&D campaign since 2001 and it is based in a modified greyhawk setting with an epic plot of another anchient evil coming back. I have a party of 8 player characters.

Recently I have noticed the the players do not seem to be taking the game that seriously.

For instance the party is looking for a black prymid in the Bramblewoods that has one of the arch evils imprisioned. They were supred on to seek this out due to dreams the cleric had and an anchient map found in another evil tower. The prymid was burid in an earth quake but has been escavated by some forgotten rat-man race... and the cleric could easily locate the work but using commune with nature spell. Instead one of the players actually stated "Oh, we will just wander around the woods until we find a convient plot device"

I was stunned. Eventually the cleric did use the spell and locate a friendly ranger... who is a plot device and has been following them for sometime..,. and the site where the prymid is bing escavated.

What also bothers me is I introduce one of the main villains of the campaign and he apprently knows the party and can call them by name. Yet my group is not bothered by this... nor are they bothered when he retreats after almost killing them stating "My work here is done". Instead they call the main villain names... like monkey boy.

The villian was low on hitpoints and out of most spells. The majority was burned buffing the mercenaries he had. Besides, he was only to delay the party by wearing them down so that the ritual could be completed and the imprisioned evil released.

I am a big fan of levity, but instances such as this are getting more and more common in the game sessions. Any thoughts on how I can get my group to take the game more serious... or am I just being over sensitive?

 

[Zombie-a-GoGo]

Instead one of the players actually stated "Oh, we will just wander around the woods until we find a convient plot device"

Not that I claim to be any expert on anything at all, but it sounds like this first problem is the old "proactive vs. reactive" schtick. Let your players know, in the most basic of terms, that the setting reacts to them just as much as they react to the setting. They're adventurers, after all - inherent in the idea of "we can change the world" is the fact that they must change the world.

 

[jmucchiello]

Consequences. Let them travel the woods for days finding nothing. Let evil have a field-day as good waits for the clues to be handed to them on a silver platter.

OTOH, are you sure your play style matches that of the players? Maybe they don't want to play in a "only we stand between the commoners and the void" type of setting. Maybe up until now so many plot devices have walked up and tapped them on the shoulder that they imagine the world has wandering plot devices.

 

[Altalazar]

Something like that ultimatley boils down to personalities and styles of play. While some people may be open to more serious play, some people never are and the only "solution" is not to play with those people if their style clashes with yours. The sad thing is all it takes is a single person in the group to ruin serious play for everyone else if they are obnoxious enough with it.

There's nothing wrong with levity, even in a serious game - it helps to diffuse tension, something which serious games can have in abundance. But when everything is a joke, then you are left with either choosing some different players or playing Paranoia...

 

[MarauderX]

Kinda sounds like things are running amok among your players to me. Since there are 8 of them, they probably have enough time to chat and goof off about what is happening, and they don't really want to think too much so they wait for you to carry the story for them. I took over as DM for a smaller group that behaved a lot like you are saying, so I tried a few things to get them to care and think for themselves. IMO you would be ok if a few players dropped or joined another group. Add in more consequences for actions to their PCs, and not as much as to your game world because players don't care about it as much as their own PCs.

If you keep giving them direction they will keep taking it, such as 'cleric, you could use a commune to find out the next thing...', so spell it out for them in a different way next time. Right now it sounds like you as the DM are leading the way for the players, giving them direction as to what to do next so why would they bother to think for themselves when you are just going to tell them. You may have everything all worked out for them in your mind, and instead of leading them around to follow the steps you have mapped out, just let them go. I never rely on a PC to use a spell to figure out the next course of action, I always give the players a good clue about what/where is the next plot point to chase. A good way to take off a lot of the burden is to find/buy an adventure as they usually have enough pointers for the PCs to investigate on their own.

Also it sounds like your BBEG was a little too big/bad for the party of slackers and you let the party live when many should have died. They won't really care about beating the BBEG if they don't see any consequences they can directly relate to them, so make them care by bribery (save the merchant's daughter for a load of cash & magic instead of the kindness of their hearts) or other means. Get them to care about their PCs, as it seems a TPK doesn't scare them too much whenever you rein in your BBEG from killing them.

Try this, put them up against a load of lower CR critters against them, and don't let up on them. The critters gang up on one PC at a time, to which that player will ask for help from the others. The other players may not care too much, thinking that you won't kill him because you didn't kill them before. Kill the PC. Then move on to the next one, ganging up on the melee PCs first if they get into the thick of it, targeting only one at a time no matter what. Show them you mean business and your soft gentle side is now gone. Kill as many as you can. They may rebuke after what just happened as your higher level heroes run away from a vicious pack of gnolls who know how to use flanking & backstab as well as use 5' steps with long reach weapons efficiently. They will want to know why you used uber-gnolls on them for a simple encounter, and just tell them they were normal critters. You may lose the lazier players out of it, as they will think it was unfair compared to the waltzing around they have done through adventures past, so tell them it's not going to be as easy anymore.

Don't be too upset about things like this though, it's a process of gaming. It's supposed to be fun, not confrontational or frustrating. Roll with the comments and let them slide off of you, it's only a way of feedback after all.

 

[Czhorat]

First off, I feel your pain. It is tremendously frustrating to put effort into any endeavor and have it ignored or, worse, treated as a joke. That being said, is it possible that a bit of this could be your fault? The very powerful and knowledgable villain with a greater knowledge of the heroes than they have of him is a classic character, but he can be a bit of a cliche. Is every villain like that? If so, you can understand the players rolling their eyes and not being phased by the villain's seemingly omnicieant knowledge. I recently got out of a game, for example, in which nearly every NPC the party met was disrespecful, rude, or overtly hostile to the party - despite our having two very high charisma characters with maxed-out diplomacy skills. It bothered us at first, but it got the the point that we'd shrug and say "OK... another NPC who hates us."

The other question is how the players have learned about things in the past. If too many adventurers start with "suddenly, you stumble across a clearing containing.... ", "You see a richly dressed man running across the street. As he passes you, an ivory scrollcase falls out of his pocket and rolls into a gutter", or anything else that feels too much like a coincidence being handed to them then that's what they'll start to expect. I can easilly see a player just wanting to wait for the plot device, especially if it seems that the device will be simply handed over for free if the group waits long enough.

My advice? SIt down and talk to the group about this. Say that it isn't fun for you if they don't take the game seriously and ask what you can change to get them more excited about it. Maybe it means changing your style a bit. Maybe it means letting them know that the clue to find the evil necromancer's lair was available several days of gametime earlier, and that had they found him sooner he'd not have had time to animate all of those undead warriors. Maybe it just means a different style of adventure. THe important thing is to do it in a manner that isn't confrontational. See if you and the players can all change your behaviours a bit so that everyone has fun.

 

[Castellan]

Consider that it might be possible that your players need a change of pace. If you've been doing some intense adventures where the PCs' actions are important to the world and the plot, they may be getting burnt out on the whole hero thing.

Back in early 2001, when I started my current FR campaign with my players, we started with a simple dungeon crawl, followed by ever-more-intense events. About 6 months after we started playing, the players really began to "lose interest." I don't think they didn't care anymore, but instead, I think they were just tired of being "heroes" who had to save the world. (or in this case, their home town)

So, we ran a few sessions where there were more comical NPCs and events, and the players really relaxed. They had a lot of fun, and let down their guard. Then I had an NPC trick them into doing some work for an Illithid, captured one of the players' sisters, nearly killed her, and set the PCs running for their lives, rather than saving everyone.

They're just now reaching a point where they're really back to "saving the world," again.

Basically, when they were starting to get goofy, I let the game get a little goofy to keep their interest. Then, I just changed the theme of the game from time to time so they wouldn't get bored. I don't think I've got it down really well (I'm sensing now that they need something new, again) and I'm learning as I go, but there's something to be said for not letting the players get used to one kind of game.

In short, try changing the tone of the game for a little while. Take them on a side track that is more humorous or silly. Then after a couple of months of gaming, try something else. Maybe a sea journey (my players got their first one of these over the last two weeks, and they're literally drooling for more) or a completely different culture. If they're used to dungeons, give them an above-ground adventure. If plot hooks usually come to them, try making up 6 or 7 and just leaving clues around until one of them gets curious. Or, don't be so subtle. Curse them in some way that none of the locals can help remove it, so they have to figure out what's going on with them and where to go to solve the problem.

Of course, you could also set D&D aside for a week or two and play a good game of Robo-Rally, or poker, or something, too!

 

[Christian Walker]

Maybe it's the size of the group? I've played in groups that big before and it's really hard to get into it. There's very little opportunity for role-play, and when combat begins play grinds down. You pretty much sit around with your thumb in yer butt waiting for your turn.

 

[NCSUCodeMonkey]

Honestly, I think it all depends on your players. I had a similar thing occur in a game a month or so ago. In the middle of a combat, the party burst into the villan's inner sanctum and I tried to give a description of the scene, only to be interrupted by one of the players with, "Yeah, bloody, whatever. I go hit him." My solution was, I told the group that I didn't appreciate having work that I've done carelessly discarded. It worked for my group because I know my players and they like the cinematics and details just as much as I do. I enjoy listening to the descriptions of their actions as much as I like describing the scene to them.

However, the solution is not forcing them to do anything. If you don't think that asking them what is lacking in the game will improve the sessions, do something along the lines of Castellan's suggestion. Change the pace or tone, or run a mini campaign with different characters to illuminate another area of your campaign world, run a different system entirely, etc.

NCSUCodeMonkey