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<blockquote data-quote="billd91" data-source="post: 6023124" data-attributes="member: 3400">Sometimes you have to set aside your ambitions for a stronger story if that's not the kind of game your players are interested in - and yet sometimes you can bring them along too.There are definitely groups who are more into the mechanics and damage spikes their characters can achieve. A notable example I'm familiar with is a friend's game - he ran for his teenage son and his son's buddies. They were definitely into builds and competing for alpha-geek status over them and their boasting. (he switched to 4e to reduce that dynamic, but the kids have since shifted over more to Pathfinder)But sometimes you can also use those interests to shift them into thinking about events as well. They may come to associate their pride not just with the numbers but also the event in which they achieved those numbers. I came up with a prince's tournament for Brewfest in a game once so that the fighter character, who was invested in cavalry and lance feats, had a chance to put them to good use. She worked her way through her single-elimination draw until she made it to the final against a tough close match that I had been focusing on as a rival. She ultimately lost but had a good time running up some hefty lance damage totals (spirited charge and all that). As a player, she was already pretty much focused around events rather than mechanics. But had I a players jazzed about how sick his lance damage was, this might have been a great way to channel that into story event-based highlights rather than just the numbers.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="billd91, post: 6023124, member: 3400"] Sometimes you have to set aside your ambitions for a stronger story if that's not the kind of game your players are interested in - and yet sometimes you can bring them along too. There are definitely groups who are more into the mechanics and damage spikes their characters can achieve. A notable example I'm familiar with is a friend's game - he ran for his teenage son and his son's buddies. They were definitely into builds and competing for alpha-geek status over them and their boasting. (he switched to 4e to reduce that dynamic, but the kids have since shifted over more to Pathfinder) But sometimes you can also use those interests to shift them into thinking about events as well. They may come to associate their pride not just with the numbers but also the event in which they achieved those numbers. I came up with a prince's tournament for Brewfest in a game once so that the fighter character, who was invested in cavalry and lance feats, had a chance to put them to good use. She worked her way through her single-elimination draw until she made it to the final against a tough close match that I had been focusing on as a rival. She ultimately lost but had a good time running up some hefty lance damage totals (spirited charge and all that). As a player, she was already pretty much focused around events rather than mechanics. But had I a players jazzed about how sick his lance damage was, this might have been a great way to channel that into story event-based highlights rather than just the numbers. [/QUOTE]

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