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Message: <blockquote data-quote="BlackMoria" data-source="post: 3277158" data-attributes="member: 424">Hmmph.  After 30+ years of DMing, I have a low tolerance now for the 'sensitive' types.  I've tried on many occasions to 'engage' the players in the adventure and it is sometimes like pulling teeth.Players who want motivation spoon fed to their characters constantly gets real old, real fast for me.  Nowadays, when a character(s) bawk about something (like refusing to enter a sewer), I ask what that character is going to do and then I hammer 'em with the consequences.  Consequences can be "in story"  ie.  the wererats are overrunning the city now or your friends are now infected by wererats.  The BBEG advances his plan since nothing was done to stop him.  That sort of thing.  These consequences directly or indirectly affects the characters. "Out of story" consequences affect the player - like this example..."Well, the rest of the party enters the sewer.  You chose to not go with them and instead return to the tavern.  I intend to focus on the primary adventure in the sewer for now so unless you are changing your mind about going with them, consider that you return to the tavern, nothing interesting happens to you that evening, you get drunk (or not) and when morning comes, if the rest of the party haven't returned by that point, I will pick back up with your character and see what you want to do at that point."When faced with the prospect of sitting the rest of the evening watching the other players play while they just sit and do nothing, the 'sensitive' types usually will get some motivation to plunge into the adventure with the others.  And if they don't - well, that is their call.I consider such behavior completely self indulgent and attention seeking and unless dealt with, it will suck the life out of what is supposed to be a good time.That may not be the case here and it may be just real life projections into the character they play - sort of a "well, I personally wouldn't ever crawl through sewer waste, so I don't see my character doing it".   Which is okay only so far,  but it still disrupts the adventure and has to be dealt with.</blockquote>

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