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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Haltherrion" data-source="post: 1896690" data-attributes="member: 18253">It may just be quirks of your gaming group but if it could also be that what you, the ref, feel is a game that encourages roleplaying and more nuanced response is not perceived that way by the players. It can be hard on the ol' ego to have to take a critical look at your own style but it can be necessary. It sounds like you want more out of your games so it might be worth doing this. Some things to check for: <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Are you consistent? If you usually give the players encounters that require hack-and-slash but sometimes give them a more interactive encounter, you can't really expect them to catch that most of the time.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Do you make sure they feel that their non-combat actions have real, significant effect that demonstrably change the course of the campaign?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Have previous encounters with powerful NPCs required obsequious behavior?</li> </ul>There are other things to look for. There are groups that just want a simple game with simple objectives (the female half of my gaming group oddly enough but more on that below) but more often the players have consciously or unconsciously taken the measure of a campaign and a ref and are responding accordingly. (In my own case, as I write this, I wonder if my failure to engage the female players in my campaign in the non-combat side of things has more to do with me presenting plots and information in a way they don't connect to. My approach seems to really engage the guys but the gals aren't buying into it. It may be they just want murder and mayhem but maybe I haven't found the right way to engage them.) Hope some of this helps.</blockquote>

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