Topics concerning the dynamics of RPG groups.
3
votes
3answers
168 views
Running a “Chaotic Evil” PC in a morally ambivalent group?
So I've been running in a Shadowrun group for a while now and my character served as the group's only moral compass. He got killed in a rather dissatisfying string of events, but now it's time to whip ...
8
votes
4answers
134 views
Encouraging players to play games they normally wouldn't?
So one of my traditional groups has a member who's gone through a pretty serious health crisis, and in addition to that the remainder of the group is going on some traveling soon. Eventually we'll get ...
10
votes
3answers
247 views
Dealing with a disgruntled player leaving my campaign
So I've been running a game of Shadowrun over the internet for the past few weeks online, and I've had a hectic personal schedule, so I haven't been able to do lengthy sessions. I've got a player who ...
26
votes
6answers
644 views
How can I check whether an extremely adult/mature plot idea would be accepted by players without revealing any details of the idea itself?
I am running a post-apocalyptic zombie game with a dark and mature story, exploring a number of adult themes. I have complete buy-in from the players; some of them have stated it is their favourite ...
7
votes
5answers
307 views
Resolving confusion & conflict re: group's relationship with system rules
RPG groups have a unique relationship to rules: we have total control over them. Sure, we choose a ruleset and study it, but it's up to us how much of the rules we ignore or modify, and we can add ...
23
votes
6answers
327 views
Non native speakers and Pen & Paper Role-Playing Games
I'm among a group of people which doesn't share the same mother tongue. We are speaking English every day and can communicate very well in daily situations and even in an academic way.
Some of them ...
5
votes
2answers
93 views
Reward distribution and story continuity with rotating players/GMs
There are some people who like to GM, and maybe even like it more than role playing themselves. If you have one of those rare specimen in your group consider yourself lucky. Others are not averse to ...
12
votes
3answers
306 views
Tips and pitfalls for a variable-size group
My gaming group has very fluid attendance. From week to week it's been known to fluctuate between ten and two players, usually hovering around three to five. I've become reasonably adept at building ...
23
votes
5answers
657 views
Problems with a party of only Spellcasters?
Given a party of only spellcasters (and only unique classes, i.e. only one character can take any specific class), what are possible roadblocks or problems the group may run into? Should they be ...
5
votes
1answer
228 views
How do I handle a PC - NPC?
In my online game, it's often hard for me to handle NPCs with the loads of characters we have so sometimes I ask or a player volunteers to play some of them. The issue is though, that one player ...
17
votes
9answers
556 views
How to help players settle down and focus?
We have a weekly game in the evenings; however, we often don't start playing for a few hours after we get together, if at all. This has been exacerbated recently by other events with the same people ...
11
votes
3answers
265 views
Are there tips on reconciling the playing differences in this group?
My Werewolf game is going along quite swimmingly to the point that the players will ask that I keep the server (We play using maptools) open so they can discuss the plotline for hours after each ...
24
votes
5answers
623 views
Dealing with people who turn up late for sessions
I run sessions every Monday evening at a pub in the centre of London, and most people come to play straight from work. Up until recently we were attempting to start at 7pm, but there were one or two ...
50
votes
21answers
1k views
How can I avoid players spending too much time planning?
Several times when I have played in or ran a game in which the players had an objective and reasonable resources, a lot of (real) time was spent trying to plan for every contingency.
For example, ...
11
votes
4answers
295 views
Maintaining balance with a very large group
I played DnD 3.5 while in the military and due to a shortage of DMs, was constantly flooded by players. Some of my games would include up to 10 or 11. I discovered quickly that balancing for this in ...
10
votes
2answers
291 views
How can I rescue the game when the player characters refuse to work together?
I am a Game Master, and the characters in my group have started to regularly split up. The group's mage has always been a summoner and recently started summoning smaller demons. The fighter's player ...
6
votes
4answers
425 views
Bringing a pre-made character to the table or not; pros and cons?
Sometimes a player will have a pre-made character and bring it along to the first gaming session. Other times they will make the character at the table. Sometimes you get a mixed bag. As both a player ...
16
votes
11answers
706 views
How can you find a balance between effective/optimised characters and creative characters?
When creating characters, I often face a dilemma between making a character. It feels like they can either be optimized so they can "pull their own weight" or having a character I think is creative ...
13
votes
6answers
370 views
Finding time to play
How do people find time to play an RPG with friends, around work, study and partners? I've a preference for weekly play but I just can't find the time to dedicate to roleplaying anymore. And when I ...
30
votes
6answers
940 views
What To Do When You Just Seem To Not Belong With a Group?
I'm looking for some advice and input on a situation I've found myself in as a player. To give a little background, my gaming group (4 men, 2 women, between the ages of 25 and 32) is about to end a ...
18
votes
5answers
941 views
Group social issues when roleplaying as the opposite gender
Some time ago I was thinking of a character for a system (which I won't mention, to avoid any bias) who was of the opposite gender. I'm fairly convinced that it's because of the characters background, ...
16
votes
8answers
495 views
How do you deal with a player that's determined to play the game in a way that is detrimental to the advancement of the story?
I GM a Dresden Files campaign, and I have a first time role-player that has become a problem in terms of advancement of the story. At first I chalked it up to inexperience, but its become more and ...
7
votes
1answer
216 views
How do I start a gaming group? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Where can I find other RPG players?
I would like to start an AD&D group at my local library. But how do I start one? How do I spread the word? Any help would be ...
7
votes
2answers
143 views
Good storylines to accompany adding another player to the game?
I just ran my first two sessions as GM and we are probably going to be adding a 4th player to the group soon (making 5 of us total). I'm trying to thing of a good premise for the party to meet the new ...
16
votes
5answers
503 views
Cooperative character building?
I'm aware of games where the players cooperatively build elements of the story world (I hear Dresden Files does this), but are there any where the players cooperatively build their characters?
What ...
22
votes
5answers
473 views
How do I increase role-playing during combat?
Right now, the group that I GM for is very, very tactical combat focused. To some extent we may as well be playing a dungeon crawl boardgame for all the role-play we manage.
Now, in itself that's not ...
4
votes
1answer
345 views
Average gaming time and session frequency
Any (semi) hard data on average gaming time and session frequency?
(How often does an average party play and how long does an average session of theirs last?)
Has anyone surveyed this yet (with ...
16
votes
6answers
364 views
Techniques for speeding up a game with many players at the table?
I have a table of six players already, and have more people interested in joining my game. I wanted to consult people who had experience with running large tables to see if running for larger groups ...
24
votes
5answers
2k views
How do I quit a game gracefully?
I've been in a game for a while and I've been distracted for several sessions because the game simply hasn't been very interesting to me. The setting and story set by the GM aren't very gripping and ...
16
votes
11answers
508 views
Narrativist Gaming: How do you transition more traditionally-trained players into them?
This was obviously inspired by the corresponding question on GM-less gaming.
For the past couple of years I've become really interested in RPGs that are less about dungeon-crawling and combat and ...
20
votes
8answers
759 views
How do I make my role playing group a not exclusively male one?
My role playing groups have been, almost exclusively, male. What are some ideas/options for making the group and the experience more likely to attract, and retain, female players?
2
votes
1answer
191 views
Looking for Group in RPG-deprived cities [closed]
I live in Santiago de Chile. RPG resources here are -to my knowledge- few and far between. AFAIK there's one single shop selling RPG dice, the rest of the bookstores having dwindled and waned their ...
39
votes
11answers
926 views
How do I deal with GM burnout?
There are groups that share the role of GM/DM/Storyteller/Ref, and there are those that don't. In either type there is always the threat of burnout - too much responsibility is put into the hands of a ...
17
votes
11answers
727 views
Encouraging out-of-the-box thinking in combat encounters
I'm a GM currently running D&D 3.5.
I try to think of situations that present the players with a number of possible solutions.
The players, however, always resort to the same pattern of killing ...
27
votes
15answers
619 views
Where's my share of the loot?
How do you handle loot disputes as a DM? Say we are doing a random loot drop from a felled enemy, and there happens to be one thing that two players really want. Do you make an initiative roll to see ...
7
votes
3answers
178 views
How to gather a group of players in a foreign country?
I am a person who has to relocate a lot due to employment reasons. I tried to build English-playing groups with little or no success. In some cases, I was able to gather only one person or two. Only ...
18
votes
5answers
357 views
How do I run a game for a larger group?
I am currently running a Dungeons and Dragons 4 campaign for a group of 9 players. Whittling the group down to a more manageable size is not really an option since they are all family. When we do ...
