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Message: <blockquote data-quote="hawkeyefan" data-source="post: 9676571" data-attributes="member: 6785785">Not just mine, but also the other folks at the table. And it's not about dramatic weight... stop trying to shoehorn the drama angle into things. It's about play that is interesting and has stakes. Have we not all had someone who wants to speak in character to the innkeeper or some other NPC at length in a rather aimless way while everyone else is just watching, waiting for something to happen? No, not really. Generally, my players aren't going to aimlessly wander in most games. It becomes more of an issue in more trad-leaning games because the instinct fostered by traditional thinking is to follow the characters at length and to never skip over any time at all. I don't like that approach to play, even when I'm playing something more trad-leaning. I'm going to skip ahead at times. I'm going to say "okay let's move things along". I'm going to ask "what is it you're trying for here" to bring things to a point. What I'm not going to do is let a player be self-indulgent to the point that play is tedious for anyone else. You often describe the role of the GM as one involving leadership... and though I generally don't agree, based on your take, I wouldn't think this would be that strange to you. A GM should be facilitating play. To me, part of that is to make sure that things remain interesting. One of the way I think is best to address this kind of thing... because the spotlight will rotate at times... is to keep whatever is happening for one or two characters to be interesting to all the players, including the GM. That usually means some kind of stakes or importance. Watching another player dicker with an NPC shopkeeper about prices makes me want to smash my head into the table. Watching another player speak to the ghost of his ancestor that lives in his sword and who has ideas about the characters actions? That's something I want to watch. Yes, I know this. But how do you reconcile this with your earlier point that your job is not just to make the players happy. What if they're doing something that isn't satisfying to you in some way? Or maybe two players are into it, but two or three others are not?</blockquote>

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