Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
World shattering events-That the PCs ignore
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Herpes Cineplex" data-source="post: 1809628" data-attributes="member: 16936"><p>This raises some interesting questions.</p><p></p><p>Say your players disagreed with your signature, or at least didn't think that D&D was <em>only</em> about heroic adventure and doing the right thing. Or maybe they got burned out on heroic adventure and doing the right thing. What if they suddenly decided that they would be having more fun playing in a game where their characters just worried about personal goals, or maybe just about how much money they had and what cool places they could go? And as a corollary, what if they decided they just weren't having fun playing through a game of wall-to-wall world-saving against impossible odds?</p><p></p><p>As a GM, would you end that campaign, as it apparently is not holding their interest? Would you change the campaign's focus to better fit what they want to do? Would you tell them to just play what's put in front of them, because you're the one running the game and providing the story? (And though I find it hard to believe that anyone would actually do that last one, I've actually <em>seen</em> it happen in real life; the campaign "mysteriously" ended a few sessions later, of course, and "somehow" that GM wasn't ever able to run anything else for that group again.) Which is more worth your time and effort, to run a plot that you love but your players don't like, or to run a plot that you sort of like but your players love?</p><p></p><p>If you were a player in a campaign whose focus had drifted towards something you were totally uninterested in and where you weren't really having much fun, would it be worth your time to keep playing in it? And which is better, to try and get the GM to shift the focus to something more fun for you, or to just "play along" and not have fun in order to keep the game moving?</p><p></p><p></p><p>I don't think there's anything approaching a uniform answer to those questions; no one's really playing these games for the same reason (and there are some really <em>weird</em> reasons out there, believe me). But man, it pays to figure out what the consensus answers in YOUR group are. Some of you might be able to get away with running a game that isn't fun for anyone, or only fun for the GM, or only fun for the players. Others probably need to keep things fun for everyone. Maybe a few need to keep everyone UNhappy, for god only knows what reasons.</p><p></p><p>But I'm pretty sure that if you ever keep dropping a plot hook in front of the PCs and they keep ignoring it, the smart thing to do is <em>let it go</em>. Figure out why they don't like it, maybe work out a way to revise it so that it interests them if you can manage it, but setting up a situation where the GM is pissed off because the players won't go along with the plot they hate and the players are pissed off because the GM keeps trying to force them to go along with the plot they hate doesn't work out well for anyone.</p><p></p><p>--</p><p>unlike breeding dogs or cats, there are no prizes for breeding resentment</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Herpes Cineplex, post: 1809628, member: 16936"] This raises some interesting questions. Say your players disagreed with your signature, or at least didn't think that D&D was [i]only[/i] about heroic adventure and doing the right thing. Or maybe they got burned out on heroic adventure and doing the right thing. What if they suddenly decided that they would be having more fun playing in a game where their characters just worried about personal goals, or maybe just about how much money they had and what cool places they could go? And as a corollary, what if they decided they just weren't having fun playing through a game of wall-to-wall world-saving against impossible odds? As a GM, would you end that campaign, as it apparently is not holding their interest? Would you change the campaign's focus to better fit what they want to do? Would you tell them to just play what's put in front of them, because you're the one running the game and providing the story? (And though I find it hard to believe that anyone would actually do that last one, I've actually [i]seen[/i] it happen in real life; the campaign "mysteriously" ended a few sessions later, of course, and "somehow" that GM wasn't ever able to run anything else for that group again.) Which is more worth your time and effort, to run a plot that you love but your players don't like, or to run a plot that you sort of like but your players love? If you were a player in a campaign whose focus had drifted towards something you were totally uninterested in and where you weren't really having much fun, would it be worth your time to keep playing in it? And which is better, to try and get the GM to shift the focus to something more fun for you, or to just "play along" and not have fun in order to keep the game moving? I don't think there's anything approaching a uniform answer to those questions; no one's really playing these games for the same reason (and there are some really [i]weird[/i] reasons out there, believe me). But man, it pays to figure out what the consensus answers in YOUR group are. Some of you might be able to get away with running a game that isn't fun for anyone, or only fun for the GM, or only fun for the players. Others probably need to keep things fun for everyone. Maybe a few need to keep everyone UNhappy, for god only knows what reasons. But I'm pretty sure that if you ever keep dropping a plot hook in front of the PCs and they keep ignoring it, the smart thing to do is [i]let it go[/i]. Figure out why they don't like it, maybe work out a way to revise it so that it interests them if you can manage it, but setting up a situation where the GM is pissed off because the players won't go along with the plot they hate and the players are pissed off because the GM keeps trying to force them to go along with the plot they hate doesn't work out well for anyone. -- unlike breeding dogs or cats, there are no prizes for breeding resentment [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
World shattering events-That the PCs ignore
Top