>players all on their phones most of the session
>some literally play Nintendo Switch at the table
>can't say shit because muh HECKIN ADHD
>constant off topic banter that goes on for a fricking fifteen minutes or more
>have to wrest back control constantly
>finish a description or recap, try to keep it short, no one fricking takes any initiative
>can't even blame them anymore because since I became a wagecuck my GMing has gone to shit
>have many great memories with this group but most of the time I end up wondering why I even bother
>I wonder what is actually coming out of me of any value that isn't just phoning it in
>they all play freakshit races and bloated annoying classes that fill the battlefield with pointless shit
>new player hasn't even gotten a chance to roleplay yet due to how Godawful the game is plus a couple combat encounters
People say to take a break but I honestly can't bear to
That's not a game at all. You should simply stop, get better players, and tell your players why they're bad.
I mean it is a game. A lot has happened in it. Its run for a long time.. I understand some off topic banter but this is too much. And I feel like I'm phoning it in, again. I used to be able to fill in the dead air with more description. With something interesting. Now I somewhat do but it just isn't the same. And even back in my early 20s when I was at the peak of my GMing there was still so much off topic bullshit and being on phones.
You're doing it out of habit, not love for the labor of GMing.
Stop dude, or get one of them to GM. If you are not enthused to get together with your buds and GM a game for them it's pointless.
I was in this hole for too long. Find a new group. It gets so much better. I feel your pain, and I hope you find the joy in it again. You sound like a good GM.
May as well just swap to a beer and pretzel game since clearly all your players are just there to hang out, may as well just simplify and streamline the process rather than make an effort.
Just fricking purge the game and restart a new, more simple one.
>I just fricking want to run my homebrewd gothic horror historicist fantasy setting, monster hunter murder mystery game using gurps
>mfw i'm currently gming 3.5e out of courtesy for a fellow forevergm friend and by the end of it the players will probably put gaming in hiatus (because work/family), let alone playing yet another fantasy game
I think i will eventually start solo gaming.
>forevergm
>wants to play 3.5
He deserves his fate for having bad taste. The only problem is he'll pass it on to his players
>3.5
>bad
Found the 5e cuck
The really sad thing is that 3aboos will never be able to see themselves clearly enough to understand that 3rd edition is the one most tonally, culturally, and mechanically different from literally every other edition of D&D. They like it but most people don't and it's for a very obvious reason.
>Spotted the 5e zoomer
3.x is basically Rolemaster without tables dressed as D&D. Rolemaster in turn was born as a set of optional rules for AD&D that gradually culminated in a standalone rulesystem.
>3rd edition is the one most tonally, culturally, and mechanically different from literally every other edition of D&D
NTA, but that doesn't sound quite right. Could you explain what do you mean?
>I think i will eventually start solo gaming.
That's what I ended up having to do.
Or, rather, will do once I get my game to a playable state.
Is there a good source to learn/watch people play GURPS? I've tried watching some youtube how to videos but it sounds so autistic its impossible to follow.
Reading the manual.
>here's how to learn gurps
>skim the book
>then come back and read the entire book
Thanks Steve
Yes, apparently it is needed to be spelled out for some people.
Skimming through the whole thing and then go back to read it carefully from atart is one of the most common ways to study. I've been told about it since highachool, and even when I was on the dirving license course they said it.
The first read let's your brain create a "layout" for all the information, while the second one starts saving it into their respective part.
Think of it as organizing all the books in a library where each shelf is properly labeled and one where shelves have no label. Having to both label (without knowing how many sections there are or how long each is) and organize the books at the same time is a titanic task.
GURPS can handle as much autism as you want, but the core of the game is 3d6 roll under. That's all you need for a playable game. If you want to eventually add more depth or a fancy power, you can because every rule is modular and optional. You could include fright check mechanics for a horror game but genuinely nothing else crunchy.
The Film Reroll is a good example of this. It's a well-established podcast where some actor friends recreate movies through GURPS, though obviously the plot alters pretty quickly. It's obvious which of them love the game and use its rules to the fullest, but 90% of the time they're roleplaying and bumping into the need for a skill check. Maybe the occasional "I have Attractive, will that help?"
3d6 roll under is really all you need to start. For combat, I recommend nose66's video on beginner combat. Oh, and don't make a character without GURPS Character Sheet
There you go ADHD fren:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK9kN8w8dWWxquFPsQQI3ow
>good source to learn/watch people play GURPS
Don't be a lazy sack of shit that's ruining the hobby.
Read the manual, make a character, mock combats and mock situations for skill checks. Then start a game, make mistakes and learn from them.
Experience is the best teacher, not some israeliteTube channel.
Bad take. Even if you go old-school, augmenting your learning by watching others is a time-honored practice. As long as it's not your primary source of knowledge, it's fine IMO.
Based take. Ignore the other b***h. Learning from failure is the best way to learn by far. There isnt a single better thing you or your players can do other than hop in and start playing. Aping someone else's style is a sure fire way to be a bad GM
I know your pain
>Guys, I'd like to run a game, would you like to play? I have ideas for Hunter the Vigil, Legend of the Five Rings and maybe GUPRS: Discworld (but I'm not a 100% confident on that last one, so you'd have to bear with me while I got up to speed). We could also do one of the Warhammer ones if you prefer, I know you all enjoyed Dark Heresy. Don't worry, I have all the rulebooks and I can teach you if you've not played before!
Oe day passes, receive message from an "experienced" player
>"Hi anon, everyone's really excited for your game. I've sold them on Pathfinder and shown them all how to make characters, so we want to do that now.
>But I don't know Pathfinder. I have nothing for this. I have no desire to play or run it.
>"I'm sure you can find an adventure path to run through, it'll be much better for everyone than something else nobody plays."
I could have strangled them. Still, the game died quite quickly and I DID get to run a very long and very good L5R campaign years and years later with another group, so it worked out in the end.
>"Hi anon, everyone's really excited for your game. I've sold them on Pathfinder and shown them all how to make characters, so we want to do that now.
I'm pretty sure it's legal to murder a Black person for that sort of homosexualry.
He should have just said "i clearly made a list of games I want to run, if you don't like any make a list of things YOU want to run. Do you want a Pathfinder game this bad? Fine by me, have the GM sit, i will gladly play at your table"
Wow, what a fricking manipulative little b***h.
>i will gladly play at your table
This. If the "experienced" guy has convinced everyone to do game X you don't run and already done character creation, he's already volunteered to do all the work and is clearly more interested in running things than being a player.
Legit curious why the GM didn't just tell him "sounds fun, but you're running it since you already took over."
I do not understand this degree of self-sabotage. I just offer to run CoC or Deadlands or whatever I'm feeling like. I have had players join and then ask me to swap to dnd 5e and I would just tell them no. A few times they all dropped out, and that's fine, but usually players who actually want to play games will just play anyway. I did have one player who agreed to a Deadlands game and then dragged her feet as much as possible to convince me to swap to DnD. She was not invited back after session 2.
>I do not understand this degree of self-sabotage
My group of old buddies (including the forever gm) are a bunch of adamant 3.5eaboos but are also good players that will play other games if you asked them. In fact, prior of this 3.5e game, the very same group (excluded the forevergm obviously) was playing in a 7 years long gurps pirates game with me that we had to put in hiarus due to one of the player having to stop gaming for a while for work reasons. The same player was in the 3.5e forevergm group so we decided to merge the two (we're two groups of 3 players each so now we have one group of 5 players) and kill two birds with one stone by throwing a bone to all the 3.5eaboos and have it out of their system for a while after this game. Problem is, like i said, i cought wind of a potential pause for the group after the 3.5e game so basically i foiled myself inadvertently.
How does one even solo game?
>some literally play Nintendo Switch at the table
I mostly run games but even as a player I'd draw the line here. I don't care how autistic and/or ADHD-riddled you are, that's insanely disrespectful to everyone at the table that bothered to show up.
I know phones/laptops at the table are contentious, but come the frick on
>laptops
GM Only
>phones
Not going to put my foot down on checking phones because sometimes shit happens. Players scrolling social media is a problem, and it's always the fricking NEETs with no responsibilities.
>Not going to put my foot down on checking phones because sometimes shit happens
The only viable solution left is to sink $100 in picrel babies, you could easily get 5 of them on any online store this way. When is game time all the players have to plug their sim in your shit phones and turn off their smartphones.
lmao
>Hey guys, I bought you all these brickphones
>When you come over to my house please take out your SIM card and insert it into your designated brick
>wait, why are you leaving?
Well if they are so spastic that they need to be forced away from their e-toys isn't much of a loss, at least you tired anyway.
Then you're free of your players, so you win.
If it's come to that then the players should probably just leave anyway
>have to plug their sim in your shit phones
Might as well ask them for credit card number, expiration date & security code while you're at it.
Oh well, then installing a phone signal jammer in my house (without telling them) it is.
You'll be running games in a Cuban Detention Center, brush up on your Arabic.
Unless you live right next to some critical infrasructure nobody gives a frick.
Just ask them to put the electronic stuff, muted, in a box when playing. Have a break every hour or so where they can check their messages or whatever. Unless they're fricking surgeons on call, they will be completely fine not being reachable for a goddamn hour.
>Players scrolling social media is a problem, and it's always the fricking NEETs with no responsibilities.
Bro when I was a NEET I was at peak GM and player level. When I was a NEET I was always on time because I didn't need to sleep in on game day and then ended up shifting the start time by the game forward an hour to cope. I just don't get the NEET hate. Honestly the least bad players in my experience are neets.
Based. These are the rules at my table too and it's worked for almost 6 years now.
If my character is not involved with a scene when the party is split up even a little i will browse the internet. I was not there ICly when the important information was shared, therefore it is up to the other players to explain it in character to me.
>If my character is not involved with a scene when the party is split up even a little i will browse the internet
Nta but while i do get your point that behaviour is still testament of your whole engagement with the game. Even if your character isn't directly involved in a particular scene you're still there as a player sitting at that very table. Players and GM are both actors and spectators jn this activity the whole purpose of which is to make a narrative emerge out of yours choices, you zoning out from the game when the spotlight moves away from your character is just testament of your disinterest for the game as whole, you only care about yours and damned be others.
>Inb4 muh metagame knowledge
You made more evident my point with your "getting explained IC the informations your character lacked" argument with which you're purposely making glaring that you don't give a shit about wasting the whole table time about something that could be easily paraphased with a "we tell anon character what happened in detail" and move on. Also you don't making decisions agaist your character well being because of oog knowledge is another point driven about "you're there only for your masturbatory enjoying" argument.
Really?
Does the game itself not interest you outside of your direct involvement with it?
Huh.
Agreed, laptops are also not allowed at my table.
ADHD cucks seems to not understand that having constant distractions within arms reach makes them 10x as insufferable. I once had to warn a player who played fricking runescape at the table. He couldn't compute that if he js constantly distracted, maybe having a laptop instead of a paper sheet made his concentration issues worse.
>laptops are also not allowed at my table.
I use laptops, because they are easier to carry than several books (and I likely carry laptop anyway for other reasons).
Surely having access the the game's rules during the game is not unreasonable demand.
Imho, rulebooks are not for fiddling through during play. It slows the game down to a crawl.
In my experience most players know the rules just fine. Having the rulebooks at the table is usually for rules lawyering, not for understanding the game.
That said, I'd allow it if my players hadnt already proven they can't handle the responsibility. If they reallyneed the books they can borrow mine.
My experience is the opposite. Some players know their spells but a lot of them simply don't remember what all their spells/feats/whatever do. To be fair, I've been running a huge group for the last year (7 to 9 players) and many are/were beginners. Having access to the rules through their phones has been beneficial. However, I will say its definitely not ideal and I wish they just knew what they were doing instead, especially with such a large group. In fact if I were to run another large party like this again, I would strictly demand that players know their stuff, and play a simpler class or no feats if they can't handle all the spells and stuff.
And frankly I'm ditching D&D for something more toned like TOR anyways, sick of super powers
If you did that you'd be essentially banning casters in general, nobody in the world can remember every aspect of dozens of spells
TOR is middle earth, there are no casters. So that wouldnt be a problem.
Its worth noting I make special exception for spellbooks. Though there is literally nothing stopping players from taking 15 minutes to write down a handful of spells on index cards. After writing them down they will also remember them better.
The only reason I allow the spellbook apps, is because classes like Druids and Clerics get a very long list of spells to keep track of at higher levels. At that point I think the convenience is worth the possible disruption. Though still, in my experience, players waste a lot of time thumbing through and rules-lawyering spells.
>other player takes fricking forever to decide to do anything
>i’ve already decided what im going to do on my turn because he is taking so long
>pull out my phone because there are still 5 more turns to go before its mine again
>can't say shit because muh HECKIN ADHD
Walk off the lot. They have to learn to live with it, or accept it estranges them.
>have many great memories with this group
They're not the same people any more, anon. People change, it's OK. You've changed too if you have a job and other priorities.
Just rip off the bandaid, tell the group bye, and take a break. Write in the meantime, if you want to put your creative energies somewhere. You can slowly stream in new, carefully selected players, later, when you have the time and mind to resume GMing.
This didn't happen.
You've never been outside of you think this shit doesn't happen. I've seen way way worse irl it's just that that was fricking Adventurers League so it was like the public toilet of RPGs. Apparently my group is sinking closer to that now.
Seriously stop that game, find new players and start a new campaign. You’re going towards a GM burnout and your players don’t care about your game.
>run the most brutal grimdark campaign ever created by man
>put this sign up
>put up a facade of welcoming atmosphere to lure them in, they just need to give up that little thing
>proceed to throw them into most horrid situation ever
>with no way out because they gave up that little thing
Sounds familiar
>some literally play Nintendo Switch at the table
>can't say shit because muh HECKIN ADHD
Anon, ADHD or not, this is unacceptable and you're a spineless coward for allowing it.
I was having most of these issues. So I just stopped playing and I've been better off for it. Taking a step back made me realize how much I just kinda hate D&D and what's its been turned into.
>inb4 d&d play sonthing else.
We did one time, an old vtm module and it was fricking fantastic, love that system. But we never did any non d&d thing after that cause the dm lost his spark and his wife was an attention prostitute at the table. The rest of the group was to pussy to call them out about it. I just left and I've been happier for it. I have no idea why they still play. I'm still friends with the other people in the group and they hate it. It's sad too cause the guy used to be a really good dm. But he got 5e aids and his wife is to batshit crazy to bother learning anything else cause it would be harder for her to not be the main charecter.
Best I can suggest is quit and find somthing else to do. Or find a diffrent group. I took up 40k and it worked for me. Did would be great if it weren't for the fricking dnd players.
>cause the dm lost his spark
That's how I feel man
I think back to when I was DMing for friends after work (I only worked a 6 hour shift then) and walked to food then gamestore after work once a week to play.
GODS I WAS STRONG THEN
That was also a different group.
>we never did any non dnd thing after that because the GM lost his spark
So you GM then, stupid playpig.
make game snacks and spike them with ritalin
Great, not they can finally focus properly on their vidya and not be disturbed be the people around.
Stop casting your pearls before swine, moron.
I made a thread about this last week so I figure this would be the thread for an update. For context:
>new player joins group and is unfamiliar with the edition we play (3.5)
>no problem, we can teach him
>barely reads the books if at all and constantly asking to do things from 5e, pathfinder, homebrew
>has mini anxiety attacks when you even ask him basic questions about his character like "did you take ranger or rogue at first level?"
>often reacts to things we resolved 30 minutes ago
>fast forward 2 months with a new campaign
>player wants to make a bard
>player describes a 5e bard
>me and another player try to explain 3.5 bards are not like 5e bards
>player refuses to listen and insists he wants to play a bard
>character is literally useless, doesnt use his bard abilities at all, and makes decisions in combat that make absolutely no sense.
I showed two of my players the thread and we agreed that we need to break him of this notion he can just play like its 5e. We were initially hopeful when he said he was reading the books. He was asking for edition appropriate spells and mentioned something about taking an alternative bard class option. When I asked him which option he picked, he refused to elaborate and just said it was in "the book". Dont care to press the matter so we start the session. Later when combat breaks out he says he only has 0 level spells so he just casts Resistance despite being able to cast up to 2nd lvl spells. When we point this out he kinda went quiet. On the second initiative, he wins the initiative so he goes first. I asked him what he was doing. He kinda sits there for a second and then says he needs to go out and have a cigarette. "Ok but what are you doing for your turn?" Just insists on stepping out for a cigarette. The rest of us stare at eachother before skipping him and continuing combat. He comes back a little later but doesnt really do anything aside from shooting his bow.
Later on in the session he starts talking about depression and brings up this story about how he was arrested in highschool (i think he brought a weapon or made threats) and how he was made fun of because he "looked like a pedo". No one really knows how to react so we just kinda go with it before moving on. Towards the end of the session he decides to just randomly activate his Daylight ability which blinds the kobold player. When I asked the kobold player how would his mount react to him being blinded, the player said he would get aggressive and attack whatever was causing his character distress... so the mount starts attacking the bard player. The mount damn near kills the bard. I start to feel bad so I start trying to convince the kobold player to reign in his mount because I genuinely thought he was going to have a breakdown if his character got killed.
After the session ended I met up with two of the other players and they just start b***hing about how useless his character is and how theyre going to kill his character because theyre just done with this whole shit show. Honestly, Im giving up on trying to help him. He genuinely needs to talk to a therapist because even if I ignore all his issues with playing the game, he still has a shit ton of issues he needs to work through.
>Honestly, Im giving up on trying to help him. He genuinely needs to talk to a therapist because even if I ignore all his issues with playing the game, he still has a shit ton of issues he needs to work through.
That is the right choice. I appreciate the idea of trying to teach someone new to the game you play but there needs to be some degree of buy-in from his side too. And walking out of the game mid-turn is fricking terrible behaviour.
>Later on in the session he starts talking about depression and brings up this story about how he was arrested in highschool (i think he brought a weapon or made threats) and how he was made fun of because he "looked like a pedo"
I fricking hate people who do this.
keep it going op. But make sure you record all future sessions and include a line in your will that your next of kin has to post them to a rumble channel after he kills you.
Points you could have put your foot down
>alternative bard class option where he didn't elaborate
>stepping out for a cigarette
>casting Daylight
>end of session wrap up
>didn't grow up with TTRPGs
>never met anyone who was into them
>got into them myself a decade ago
>introduced my friends who were interested
>every game I've done has gone off well
>everyone has fun and seems engaged
>every time after it's like pulling teeth trying to schedule the next session
>most of the time pitters out after 2-3 sessions, sometimes longer
>there's a drought for months until I work up the energy to try again
>occasionally they'll lament that we haven't played in a while
>whenever i come calling following up on that there's barely any response or commitment
>seems like everyone likes it but doesn't want to invest any energy in it but me
>thought about doing solo play but the notion of it made me genuinely sad
>now I just read fantasy books and thumb through rulebooks
>imagine games campaigns I'll never run
It's either go find some randos or pack it all up at this point. It mostly just makes me sad these days.
Could try running one shots. I'd rather be stuck doing one shots than keep getting blue-balled on longer campaigns ending prematurely.
That's about what I've settled for, a oneshot every several months when I can get everyone to commit. Try out new systems here and there. But it's not satisfying for me, no one gets familiar with rulesets (even ones I've regularly used), and it doesn't generate many stories that people recount years later.
It can be fun, but if feels an inch deep.
Why are you scheduling every session instead of having a consistent day and time that people can plan around?
Because not everyone has consistent work schedules.
>not telling your job you are super religious and require Sundays off so you can game
Are there really people that haven't figured this out?
Protip: The israeli sabbath is saturday
Because we live in an area where asking what church you go to is a common smalltalk and would immediately dismantle the lie.
That's also not addressing that some industries legitimately do not give a shit, and no your complaint to the Dept. of Labor isn't gonna do shit, because firing you for raising a stink (and maybe getting slapped with a $500 fine if the govt. actually takes the time to investigate your complaint) is easy and that's literally the least of the practices they have which are technically illegal.
>You can always say there are particular times that you can't work
No, in some industries, you cannot.
>especially true if you're only talking about 2-6 hours.
We're not.
>Your players are just moronic, like you.
I dunno you're so mad that your advice doesn't work or didn't apply. Maybe you just don't know what the frick you're talking about, rather than 7 adults don't understand how time works.
It's not the scheduling, and I swear to god this place is as moronic as plebbit in how quickly they laser in on what they personally perceive to be the problem and assume your whole situation for you. Oh, but we can say Black person while doing it, so we're not completely fricking presumptive morons.
You can always say there are particular times that you can't work, especially true if you're only talking about 2-6 hours. Your players are just moronic, like you.
>didn't grow up with TTRPGs
>never met anyone who was into them
>introduced my friends who were interested
>every time after it's like pulling teeth trying to schedule the next session
>occasionally they'll lament that we haven't played in a while
>whenever i come calling following up on that there's barely any response or commitment
Are you me?
Yes and it fricking blows. I want to explode at them, but to them I'm probably like a seething autist who showed then Monopoly one time and just will not stop asking to play Monopoly.
One of them seems interested in running, but he's similarly as disinterested in getting it going as they all seem in committing to playing in my games.
I'm afraid tabletop rpgs are the type of hobby where you either make friends with enthusiasts who already are into the hobby, or you're extremely lucky and they were already attuned to the hobby even before playing it.
I hate players who are ungrateful c**ts. Yes we are brother Mark, but that Runequest game takes hours of prep and you are a whiny b***h.
>can't say shit because muh HECKIN ADHD
I would tell them to get their mentally disabled ass out of my house. Frick people using shit like that as excuses, if this isn’t fast-paced enough for you that’s fine, but don’t drag me down with you.
Make shit up or drop little hints that a bad guy is winning.
If they don't bother investigating the bad guy's plot make the heroes lose.
now that's kino
>Player doesn't understand ranged spell attacks aren't ability checks
>Gives an immediate hostile attitude and makes passive remarks about it like I'm stupid for ruling things this way
>The rest of us write it off as personal stress when he immediately leaves after the session is done
>Bring it up softly a few days later when he's chiller to try and resolve his issues
>Immediately jumps the aggro to 12
>Acts like I'm wrong for fighting/making a big deal about this
Okay homosexual I guess you can just be mad about it. Forgive me for trying to have a conversation. Feels like a ticking time bomb because this will inevitably come up again in session but what can I do if he refuses to talk about it?
Why is it relevant that ranged spell attacks aren't ability checks
Because there are buffs/status effects that affects attack rolls but not ability checks.
I've had a younger player who did phone out, "I can do both" and he couldn't and didn't understand that if you're not paying attention, your character isn't, as much as people who would OOC without saying they're OOC are saying it.
The OOC jokes I reign in with xp bonus for funniest IC jokes/moments. People who joke are trying to make everyone laugh and they have to think about it, they're not just being disruptive. A bonus funnels them into doing it in a way that helps the game. I think it's dumb to do milestones over xp for anything but a GM level group because there's so many things you can fix with xp carrots. My players show up on time for their bonus, stuff like that.
OP may need to restart with a new system. A new system, maybe in a new genre, gives him a chance to write out new rules, kills the pets problem, etc etc.
Take a break brother, try out refereeing simpler adventures. Not sure what systems you like to play, but there a tricks to building quick and effective setting for most of them, I'm sure
Not a DM-side story but I was in a group where no one actually would talk about plans on how to resolve quests, what to do next, etc. all contend to just follow the DM's railroad all the while I was the only one that actually talked about it.
Well I eventually got kicked out of the group despite me and the DM actually otherwise meshing along pretty well on the table, those other players hardly would take initiative even when I took a step back to not hog the spotlight now and then.
I really don't get what's going on inside the heads of those players and the DM.
Videogames have ruined TTRPGS for many people before theyve ever tried putting down the controller.
Their mindset becomes "get quest, got to place, kill things" if anything unexpected happens it was clearly not their fault and couldnt have been avoided.
People seriously need to realize that the world theyre in is not static and can be shaped to your desires if you put enough work into it.
Videogames only ruined things for dumb people. They would have remained dumb in any case.
Yep, it's like drug adiction/gambling. You can remove as much substances as you want, they'll find another, because the problem is someone weak willed enough to fall for them over and over.
talk to your players like an adult.
i had a problem with players on their phones/ tablets for the first few sessions of my campaign so i said "hey guys, i put a lot of work into this campaign so id prefer if we all take this few hours to focus on the game and not be absorbed in our phones."
and it worked, of course you need to have players who understand basic social cues and dynamics and that can be a tough ask.
>had a problem with players on their phones/ tablets for the first few sessions of my campaign so i said "hey guys, i put a lot of work into this campaign so id prefer if we all take this few hours to focus on the game and not be absorbed in our phones."
They're just gonna say "yeah well I'm not involved in this scene" and "yeah I got 5 hours of sleep last night" and all that other shit.
If my game was good enough, they'd pay attention.
>players almost never even reach half of their individual HPs during combat
>after every session keep moaning and b***hing about encounters feeling too punishing
>one of them literally stood out in the open with 2x dmg received debuff on
>"WTF GM why did I die? There was nothing I could do."
Why play a tactics heavy game when you just want the victory to be handed over to you?
I GM for a big table (8 players). The size of my group means that I have a lot of these sorts of problems. I don't mind it if a few people are on their phones because I can just have the other characters play the important bits.
The one thing that was too much for me was when one of my problem players (never knows his spells, what he's gonna do, always on phone) started watching some sport broadcast on his laptop during the game. He was also distracting another player with it. That's too much for me, if you want to distract yourself, I don't care, but don't drag other players inton your crap
The Boomers are right about smartphones, honestly.
Pre-2010 I knew one guy rude/autistic enough to just whip out a portable video game and start playing mid-conversation. One person who quadruple-booked themselves and flaked constantly. One person with no ability to focus who need to get up and walk around every few minutes. And now that's almost everyone. Everyone is hyper-social and anti-social at the same time.
I don't think its sociability but lack of attention spans. With all media pursuing shorter and more concentrated, yet more attention grabbing, content constantly, and the typical content people consume nowadays being fricking tiktok, instagram and reels, the average attention span has dropped dramatically. I even see it in myself. My mind wanders reading a simple article nowadays.
Like with a lot of things, attention span is trained, and people aren't giving it the amount of exercise it needs right now. Its got nothing to do with ADHD and everything to do with sitting and watching 2 minute, high dopamine yield, videos for hours and hours.
Our hunter gatherer brains are simply not made to deal with this shit.
I play a homebrew d100 scifi game and have no problems. i really enjoy it, and the players have become my friends.
>Playoid complains up a storm and quits campaign after 2-3 sessions
>Multiple times in the span of 5 years
>Sends nastygram texts afterwards saying shit like adventurer's league pickup games with LGS rejects are more fun than ours
>Cool, just do that, our games aren't everyone's cup of tea
>Now he's sniffing around again saying we should do another campaign
Weirdly enough he's a really affable fellow for other games/hobbies and runs a regular boardgame night that's always fun. I don't get why he's acting hurt over not being invited to games he's not going to like.
>I don't get why he's acting hurt over not being invited to games he's not going to like.
FOMO, probably.
>Friend tells me she feels very down and left out because the rest play DnD during a time she was going through hard shit
>Tell her she can join but we won't drop DnD for her because we all like it too much and are all adults
>She does
>Flukes every other session
We put our main campaign on hiatus because of her and I'm pretty sure she'll leave once it's over, specially since she has a bf now.
I hate how many adults are unable to be by themselves and have this need to socialize every weekend or they'll die, but won't put any effort on activities.
>I hate how many adults are unable to be by themselves and have this need to socialize every weekend or they'll die, but won't put any effort on activities.
People quadruple book themselves constantly these days. I think it's a subconscious way of feeling important/desired. And they all expect to pick whatever activity they like best at the last possible second. Which is really annoying since a lot of my hobbies like TTRPGs and hiking/camping require a lot of planning.
I always felt like gaming buddies should be like your Tier 2 friends or your favorite coworkers. People you like to have around but not the inner circle. I've had close friendships strained by in-game drama.
all on their phones most of the session
>>some literally play Nintendo Switch at the table
>>can't say shit because muh HECKIN ADHD
That's not how ADHD works and any c**t that pretends otherwise should be flayed.
You are the GM dumbass, fricking kick them to the curb and get new players
Its not my house.
Finding a new group isn't easy.
They might be fixable.
Ah so your damned then
>Its not my house.
Then play somewhere else.
>Finding a new group isn't easy.
Yes it is. Players are a dime a dozen.
>They might be fixable.
lmao
No game > bad game, even if you can't find a new group you can find a better use for your time.
You sound like an abused wife lmao. Have some self-respect.
yeah youre right honestly. maybe I should leave.
That's what my israeli friend does. I've been forced to work saturday and they literally wouldnt accept that shit even if I was israeli theyd force it on me. Maybe even force me to show proof of judaism. I have a big nose so maybe i could manage it.
Same bro. I've considered going povertymax living in my friends basement so I can work parttime again and have energy for creativity again.
off topic banter that goes on for a fricking fifteen minutes or more
This should impact the game itself since banter is assumed to be at least partly in-game.
>players doing frick-all
>chatter
>ambush time
They eventually learn to pay attention. Also, absolutely no devices at the table.
Had my most fun tabletop session recently.
The players just kept digging themselves into a hole, all on their own volition
>Fantastic group
>Work leaves me so drained that I can barely muster the brain power to draw up battle maps by the time game day comes around
I wish I could give my group the campaign they deserve.
Dealing with players can feel like herding fricking kittens sometimes. I've got a friend who's super involved in the plot of the game we've got so far, and we change systems because the one we were in was limiting. They're doing all sorts of learning the system and it's great, and then two hours later after someone else quits they're like "uhhh yeah i'm gonna quit too" and i ask what changed since it'd only been a few hours and they're like "fine i won't" and it's just like what is with this shifting back and forth? I just want to work with people who can be a bit consistent
>Be me.
>Want to get a 40K OW game with the Imperial Knights /tg/ supplement going.
>Haven’t GM’d in a while so go to new and sole LGS to look for people and get back in saddle.
>90% are normies and dnd drones. By asking about non d20 systems the fricking owners look at me like I’m some kind of sage.
>Has one based grognard, but he’s an almost obsessive osg dnd gay, who waxes on about human male fighters and how dnd got simplified too much at 3e. Still good for chats though.
>Place charges 10 bucks a night because it’s new. Only regular dm is grognard, who can take tables of 9-10 often, many of them kids playing donut steal pcs poorly, and who get scared when the goblins they’re fighting match their numbers.
>because of prices and complicated weekly signup design,and main owner burnout, the place has been barren of people, just as I get ready to dm.
>so far looking to run a game for one of the owners and their friends after main owner took break from his game.
This is the only place within 50km where I’ve gotten chances to play. Grognard has opened his game group to me because I’m a “gem to play with”, but that’s on MMA night, frick.
Introduce your fellow MMA fighters to tabletop RPGs.
>Can RP out combat encounters.
>Can do so with physical demonstrations, and contest the GM by physical combat.
>Players guaranteed to be based morons.
Anon you’re a genius.
Shit, I've been wanting to run that 40k OW thing for a long time, but I'm at a weird cross-section where my 40k players aren't into giant robots and my giant robot guys don't care about 40k.
Preach brother. Mine get interrupted constantly by stale pop culture references and inside jokes that stopped being funny after the first time they were used.
>OMG, HAVE YOU SEEN THIS YOUTUBE VIDEO?
>No. Let's keep on ta-
>IT'S REALLY FAST, I SWEAR!
(does this at least seven times a game)
Jesus Christ, just stop bashing your head into the wall then. Swap what game you're all playing and/or swap out to a player and get someone else to GM for a while. You're clearly burnt out on whatever you're doing, so a change of pace is absolutely required if you want the group to stick together and make new great memories. If you're in the middle of something, just shelve it until you've got enough distance to come back to it and have fun. No one's making you force it but yourself at that point.
I'm starting a Goblin Slayer game with my weekly group of Beer and Pretzel 5e players, and they're all pretty hype since it's a big change-up from doing Dragon Heist for the last year (shit-tier writing, terrible encounter balance, would not recommend). We've promised to return to D&D eventually, but that's fine by me, since by the time we go back, I won't be GMing anymore and we'll have had enough of a break to enjoy it again.
>Screaming into the void
>Instead on your players
Also: none of your post happened, homosexual, for you don't play
>LOLOLOL YOU DONT PLAY GAMES
pure projection
have a nice day homosexual
Not a GM but this is why I more or less quit playing. I had stopped table top role playing until my gf roped me back in with her family, but it's just more of the same. I'm pretty sure unless you're playing with a group of grognard boomers, this is the experience now.
I play with a group of grognards boomers. I'd love to DM for them but it'd be such a prize I'd obsess over the type of campaign to run.
Lmao what are you talking about. Me and a couple guys in the group have ADHD and we don't do half this shit. We're not moronic, lmao. We just get distracted and interrupt each other a lot.
>can't say shit because muh heckin adhd
What did he mean by this? One of the symptoms of autism is hyperfocus, not this meme of just having a fried attention span
Autism and adhd are two different things. But if you have to play switch while playing dnd you need some medication.
if you like what you are doing, you activate hyperfocus, otherwise you are fricked, so it means they didn't really give a frick about dnd.
> play switch / phone at the table
Boot them. They are not engaging with the game, remove them from the game. That's unacceptable.
>be group
>bite more than you can chew while exploring
>start kitting back out of the goblin lair
>turn around corner
>lightbulb.jpg
>wizard holds action Burning Hands
>be half dead barbarian
>decide to also ambush the goblins
>stay in front of the wizard
>areyousure.gif
>"Yeah, I'll stay here and hold my attack with wizard."
>justlikenam.png
>2 goblins dead, barbarian downed
>wizard books it leaving her corpse as a distraction
She immediately flipped her shit yelling at him for killing her character and not being a team player and demanded we kick him out and retcon everything. When I refused and asked her to either calm down or leave she stormed off.
Today I receive a MSG asking if it's ok for her to come for our saturday session and that she has a new character she wants me to approve. Should I? This isn't the first time she threw a fit because of something wizard did.
Yes, give the player a second chance. However, make it understood that the sort of behavior she presented last time is unacceptable and will not be tolerated a second time around. This is assuming she hasn't done anything else that is questionable as a player.
Exactly this. Also, maybe a good time to outline why you made your decision in terms of principles. "we hold consistency to be more important than character survival" or "if I see you're making a fatal mistake I won't say more than Are You Sure" and get her agreement on those points.
If she wants a group who will be more explicit about pointing out friendly fire risks and you don't, one of you has to change or the two of you can't game.
Not the first, but the first major/disruptive thing she did. It's her first campaign, this was our 4th session (5th if you count session 0).
The guy has been playing at my table for over 2 years, this is his 3rd campaign with me. Total bro, always coming early to help setup, always leaving help to help with the clean-up, runs his own campaign when I get burned out. He has a penchant for tragic characters but he doesn't play them like edgelords so it's fine.
We had a session 0 where I outlined those sort of things, I warned that I will let them do mistakes no matter how costly. I offered her the "are you sure?" because she is new to the game.
Have sex incel, unironically. This sort of thing is not related in any way to the sex of the player.
The wizard did point out that he is holding an AoE spell that might down her. She said she needs to stay there in order to be in range and that she has enough HP.
He doesn't always plays wizards but he is usually the one who draws ire from new-comers. I think it has to do with his play-style. His characters always start the campaign as if the other party members are strangers unless they have met in the past and he refuses to meta-game under any circumstances. This lead to his character getting screwed a few times in the last campaign.
You SJW types are cutting your dicks off in an attempt to be your own girlfriends, any time you call us incels it's projection.
>SJW out of nowhere
>trannies out of nowhere
Yup, buckbroken /misc/tard. You lost, deal with it.
>i totally get laid all the time, that's why I blame every negative trait of a person on her sex
t./pol/cel
>We had a session 0 where I outlined those sort of things, I warned that I will let them do mistakes no matter how costly. I offered her the "are you sure?" because she is new to the game.
I'm sure you did, but now is a good time to reiterate and make her acceptance of such a condition of re-entry.
What were the other times? Are you sure the problem player isn't the wizard?
She's assuming her shitty behavior will be tolerated because she has a vegana, prove her wrong.
Genuine question, why wouldn't other players told her it is moronic idea? Do you not allow any OoC talking, or are they just as moronic as her? Why didn't the wizard told here to move out?
>This isn't the first time she threw a fit because of something wizard did.
Why is it always the wizard?
Because uppity homosexuals always think they're clever wizard types
>table 1
>players beg for evil campaign
>still play the game like goodytwoshoes and won't initiate any combat unless their enemy is also evil
>table 2
>campaign wrapping up after 2ish years
>power level so high that I need to start pulling bullshit at the table and everyone is getting frustrated
>table 3
>two players EVERY FRICKING WEEK will message the group an hour before and say "sowwy we're busy can't play :("
>Westmarches table(s)
>players are pieces of shit who can't coordinate anything
>Player barely makes a backstory
>Gets a bit pouty when near death or combatants with intelligence fight with tactics (I counter spelled his mass healing word)
>is a cleric
>Plays off his religion as basically modern progressive values
>Character acts pretentious and stuck up to other religions
>Ignores reasoning why others will disagree with him
>Only nice to npcs who agree with him or are useful in some way
>Conception of history is more Hollywood inspired than anything
>Ex: Players kill 3 guards about to assassinate a queen, queen is making a deal with the BBEG given a beneficial sales pitch. Players attempt to warn and ignore that their murderers before leaving.
>Last session "The queen understands that we are good guys, she can just declare we are good so people can shut up about it."
>"That's isn't how monarchies work."
>"It literally is though anon!"
He isn't disruptive and gets along fine, but his character feels off and naïve, but still acts like a know it all in character so it's definitely not intended. The players are going to be shocked when the BBEG's offer to end he peoples generational curse tying them to the underground and Utopia matters more than vagabonds that murdered her citizens before fleeing with no explanation.
Knighting or otherwise recognising brutal murderers when convenient is peak royalty behaviour. Look at Sir Francis Drake or most of the Russian aristocracy.
The two offered deals are so unbalanced it wouldn't make any sense.
BBEG: "I will bring forth a utopia, your people can no longer be condemned to live underground and I will support you with wealth and power."
Players: "BBEG might be lying, we have no evidence but our word, also we killed 3 respected civilians."
Even if the queen believes the players (they haven't contacted the overworld in 1000s of years) she isn't in a stable place in her throne with rival houses ready to usurp at a misstep.
>Players: "BBEG might be lying, we have no evidence but our word, also we killed 3 respected civilians and are the main characters."
ftfy
It is how it works tho
>introduce new enemy ooze that splashes acid upon death
>have a bandit kill one in front of the party so they see it splash acid
>party gets hired to kill oozes in the sewers
>have the guy giving them the task mention to be careful because they can throw acid upon death
>next session rolls around
>they go down in the sewers
>have the guy guarding the entrance warning them about the acid explosion thing
>combat rolls around
>fighter kills an ooze
>it explodes acid everywhere
>"WTF DM why did you tell us about this?"
>fast forward 2 sessions
>party is hiding in the sewers
>pretty banged up
>they decide to fight the oozes instead of sneaking
>fighter kills one and is instantly downed
>"WTF DM how were we supposed to know?"
>introduce new enemy to party
>pretty tough, has two stages, explodes on death
>they faced it fresh, at full health, no problem
>throw another at them later after a long defensive fight
>everyone is low on health
>most players are on the ball, constantly trying to see how damaged it is
>one dude declares he hits it with his warhammer
>"are you sure about that?"
>"yeah"
>explosion instantly takes out him and another party member
He knew what he was doing, but I have no idea why.
Schedule a game once a month/3 weeks for a whole weekend day instead of weeknights and/or weekly.
Stop playing with the same group over and over and with your old school friends just because. Vet adults who actively want to play via one-shots to create a new group.
Stop playing 'ongoing' endless campaigns, and instead have an end to your campaign in mind. Can be long form, but have at least a rough 'goal' the players can work towards.
Enjoy engaged, eager players who are refreshed and keen to play, who share the same expectations and levels of commitment, and actually 'progress' in their games.
>Stop playing 'ongoing' endless campaigns, and instead have an end to your campaign in mind
End your life
Hate to break it to you autismo, but your campaign will end too. You can't live forever not that your group will stand your company that long anyway.
What are you sperging out about here? That someone who isn't you plays a game with a final boss in mind from the start? You really need to seek mental help.
I don't understand DMs like this who willingly want to get fricked in the ass by ungrateful homosexuals.
I think is because even if they are acting like a bunch of spastic morons the general expectation of a game session is still levity and fun between friends so putting down your foot and stating to them that they aren't engaged enough would look weird in a way. I find that the best solution to this problem is to just say: "look guys, i'm not really having fun GMing for this game anymore, how about whe switch to [board game]? Also let's take some beers and something to eat, do you like the idea?"
TTRPG aren't for anyone unfortunately.
>anyone
ESL, i meant "everyone" but i brainfarted
You brought this upon yourself by allowing this behavior and not just dropping shitty players.
I no longer run games for my friends despite them asking for it again because every time I'd run a session, one would show up high, another would hop on total war warhammer without fricking fail as soon as it started. He'd get pissed off at me whenever I complained about it. It was so demotivating and tiring that I just don't bother running for them anymore. Still my friends, still love them but god damn, I'm not putting up with them for GM'ing.
My players just won't do shit if I don't railroad them.
One of the characters has an incredibly high passive perception which allows me to give them more pointers when they consistently fail to take initiative, but it's not very exciting when everything plays out exactly like I wrote it.
In the 00's I couldn't keep my players -out- of the books.
I'd announce I was running a certain game and it took place on Continent A and my players would run out and buy/pirate all the splats and inevitably come up with characters from Continent B using a combo of obscure sourcebooks I hadn't anticipated.
Now nobody reads the rules. And I could handle doing a sort of tutorial campaign intro but then the playoids get mad it's slow-paced. I even have people wanting me to prompt them to spend XP or buy new gear.
i've noticed this happen in myself to a degree. im chalking it up to general life fatigue. perhaps your players are depressed?
Yeah, I think a lot of people are depressed/alienated. I don't think people being busier explains it entirely. I mean, hobbies hit differently if you're a 35 year old professional and/or a parent but I've also seen "busy" people inhale a whole season of TV on a Saturday.
It really does feel unfair sometimes though. We have all these cool games now but good luck getting people off their asses to try them. Whereas when I was a college guy in the 00's with endless free time it was mostly complete trash like DnD 3.5 and boardgames Zombies!!! and Munchkin.
>Whereas when I was a college guy in the 00's with endless free time it was mostly complete trash like DnD 3.5 and boardgames Zombies!!! and Munchkin.
My very same issue. My tastes got refined with age but rarely i have the opportunity to enact them now. I'm running a 3.5e game right now because some old friend of mine got nostalgic and the difference from now and then is abysmal even using the very same rulesystem, let alone when i GM'd other stuff (like a couple very detailed historical games in gurps, nailing the right 70s acid rock vibes for a chaosium stormbringer game, running a massive sandbox game in the empire northlands with wfrp 1e, and so on). Now i have the know-how and the experience for having great games but time and people available are getting increasingly scarce.
>>can't say shit because muh HECKIN ADHD
I have ADHD and its literally ruining my life and I have no tolerance for that. I have this weird trick where I put my phone in the middle of the table when I am in a situation where its impolite to have it out.
Like people who have their phones out at dinner in a restaurant. The only reason to have your phone out at dinner is to show someone pictures that supplement the current conversation.
I hate it when I find good character art to use for an important NPC, and I later find out its from fricking Fortnite or some shit. A picture is just a picture, but still.
I find my focus on the game (and other things in life) falls away and I miss my players RPing or scroll on other sites whilst trying to run the game.
I'm worried I have ADHD but there is a massive backlog in the healthcare system at the moment so it'd take years before I even get seen, let alone diagonsed.
Hey Anon, I empathize. I read this article recently and while its advice is more about reviving a dead imagination than curing focus issues, I think there's much overlap between those two things: https://theangrygm.com/narration-through-visualization/
What the frick, how do you have enough downtime as the DM to be surfing the internet?
>can't say shit because muh HECKIN ADHD
This is where you're wrong
>had been DMing a game for a while, we were consistently playing and it was going okay
>was the first campaign I was DMing that lasted more than 3 sessions
>got ill for multiple months, had to suspend the campaign indefinitely, then when I wanted to pick it up again I got ill again
>finally able to pick it up again some months ago, with almost a year since the last session
>my notes are a huge fricking mess
>I never wrote down half the shit
>almost no mid-term planning, let alone long term planning written down
>have to scavenge shit out of PMs
At least we're going again, last session was a blast
You shouldn't be doing mid- and long-term planning anyway.
Except you should, but less of a drawing and more of a rough sketch.
Vivid fricking flashbacks to my horror players. My last horror group was literally so bad that I just straight up got completely burned out for 2 years.
I used to hate paid GM:ing but holy shit I just can't do it anymore for free, and I don't have any friends who are even interested in RPG's.
>We can't game tonight, it's the Stevedores vs the Catamites post pre double season matchup! I do other normie shit like hinting that anyone with time for a hobby is a loser. I don't even know why I constantly jump into nerd circles.
>I want you to send out reminders for games. I am incapable of using a physical or calendar software. I also get mad and bail out of spite because reminders make the game feel like work or school.
>I'm the token girl and I claim to be asexual or lesbian depending on my mood. I also get really catty and unpleasant if another girl is at the game..
>I listened to podcasts advocating a really specific style of game and now it's my heart's desire. Put out an ad for people who want that style of play and GM myself? Nah, I was going to just drop in your group playing a different style of campaign and try to forcefully bend the campaign to my will and then throw a fit and quit when it doesn't work.
>I have a giant immigrant family and am apparently the most stable and gainfully employed so I'm constantly getting calls with annoying ringers on full blast to send an aunt money or bail out one of my criminal cousins.
And what's funny is most of the LGS denizens are way worse. I honestly need a hard reset and I'm not even sure what to do as a 31 year old guy. I've been thinking of getting involved in re-enactment stuff, Ren Faires, indie music, board games, etc and just putting out feelers to try to find other RPGers.
You can always run an online game and vet your applicants rigorously. I've gotten good results by using optional questions as a sneaky shibboleth. If someone can't give me a decent response to "What is the answer to the Riddle of Steel?" chances are they aren't a good fit for my group.
>>I'm the token girl and get really catty and unpleasant if another girl is at the game.
Holy shit I have seen this yoo. It doesn't even have to be a player. I have seen female players be hateful to female NPCs and even try to kill them in some cases.
>>I listened to podcasts advocating a really specific style of game and now it's my heart's desire. Put out an ad for people who want that style of play and GM myself? Nah, I was going to just drop in your group playing a different style of campaign and try to forcefully bend the campaign to my will and then throw a fit and quit when it doesn't work.
I have seen this too and it's just lazy fricks. If you have a vision, put in the work to make it real. Run the kind of game you would want people to run and make the world a better place, instead of shitting up other people's games and making it a worse one.
>foreverDM for a while
>try and introduce anyone i know into the hobby because nobody other than me likes ttrpgs
>find out im really shit at dming
>through trial and tribulation get better
>start writing shit out, planning better, improv is great, only thing im lacking is voice acting lmao
>everyone that was interested in playing lost interest because of my initial shitty dming
>frick my life
Same here I spent so much time convincing my friends it not gay to play dnd and when the time came to play i had no idea wtf I was doing cuz it was 2012 and i lived in a rural area and couldnt find anyone to teach me how to play it
HYTNPDND
Resposting from the WoD thread.
>running a Sabbat campaign
>end of session, last session before an effectively suicide mission
>some characters are not even expecting to survive
>they all rejoice and do a last fire dance to frenzy and dance around (non-WoD players: this is a festivity to get everyone to frick around violently to prepare for war)
>almost everyone frenzies, fight each other in a healthy way, settle their differences
>edgy powerfantasy player botches his roll
>burns himself
>refuses to Frenzy
>another PC's retainer goes to him and hits him once, to try to get him to Frenzy or snap out of his supposed ''humiliation'' (nobody is even paying fricking attention to him)
>player decides to kill the NPC
>not out of Frenzy, just out of spite, since this was a ''betrayal'' in his eyes
>chases him into the forest
>almost gets fricking torpored because the NPC was a lot stronger and held back to not kill a moron (and try to snap some sense into him)
>Edgy-PC retreats
>sent me a DM saying now his ''mission'' is to kill the NPC
>who is a loyal Sabbat member
>also another player's Mawla
>this moron might try to pull this off -during- the critical mission
Hear, hear. A player who decided to ruin a perfectly good and useful PC in a perfectly good campaign because his player is a powertripper who can't bear to turn a botch into a good character moment and instead feels insecure about and is about to get fricked. This moron will either die (likely), kill the important NPC, cause both of them to get killed or just ruin the mission for nothing.
What a fricking stupid way to get shadowbanned from our tables. I'm all for betrayal and PvP, but why be a fricking moron about it?
>finally build the courage to run an adventure module
>never really GMd before
>it goes about as well as one would expect, game goes on hiatus, lots of frustrated PMs, became unhappy with playing TTRPGs
>like the aspect of building and writing cool characters and encounters
>every time i try to get back into GMing i start having actual panic attacks where i feel like i cant catch my breath and a horrible feeling of something going wrong holds my autist brain hostage
>tried to push through it and run a module that had lots of community support to draw on
>midway through the pressure cracks me and i have a mental breakdown and cancel the game
>want to play more RPGs still, but hate the idea of actually playing
i am actually going insane i hate myself so fricking much
>mental breakdown during the session/when thinking of playing
This is becoming more common as everyone becomes more hopelessly mentally ill. Even the people who are interested don’t have functioning brains and sperg out with nerves at the thought of playing, let alone GMing. I don’t have answers for you but I have seen you’re not alone.
>want to play but hate the idea of playing
I’m here but for different reasons. I’m content to foreverbrew my settings (autism) and do one on one campaigns with my gf, but any groups (including other family) I have found end up falling apart after <3 sessions
be the change you want to see. ttrpg's have historically been looked down upon as being the vice of the loser. However, the nature of the game itself Dictates that one engages with multiple other people, often in real life. This is something that was commonplace for the loser of the past, but not for the loser of the present. to have 5 friends at all to play with is beyond them. Thus, and this is something that can be measured by the response to 4th and 5th edition dungeons and dragons, the ttrpg becomes something enjoyed by the adult equivalent of the archetypal Theater Kid
Hang in there Anon.
Are you doing it online? If so, I wouldn't mind being a player/helping you cut your teeth on DM'ing.
t. DM'd for kids and now running an adventure module too. I have a feeling its the same as yours.
Leftoids have ruined the population, jesus.
If all my players were on their phones at the same time I would lean down sideways and shoot a revolver horizontally across the table through my skull so that none of them would ever do that again for anyone else.
So much win!
>Write notes about what is happening in the session in real time
>Have enough detail to fill out 3-8 pages on Google Docs each session, depending on how much happens
>Be so detailed and reliable that multiple GMs consider it canon, even using it for their own reference (do it for 4/7 games I'm in)
>Every now and again when some issue comes up it's "consult the [Anon] notes"
I hope that my poor attempt at note-taking (and subsequent overcompensation) makes up for some anons' players taking poor to no notes.
>Attacking the villain during the monologue
YES I GET IT, letting him speak isn't realistic and you want to just start the fight! But DON'T start whining when he plays to win seeing as you just want to only fight!
Talking is a free action, they don't get to attack until he's said what he's going to.
>DM I like started DMing a bit
>enjoyed my character, had a few good sessions
>One person quits because the other players were taking too long to take their turns (it was an online game and one person went to go to the bathroom without announcing it once) and refused any attempts at remediation
>Then another quit because it was their first time doing an online game and didn't enjoy it
>Now I haven't had a game to play in for months again
So fricking annoying. Wish I could go back to my early twenties and enjoy actually having DMs and games more.
>New campaign
>Play as 2 guest characters
>Second guest character is a bounty hunter Shepherd summoner
>My character is meant to go after the party since they have a bounty on their head
>Get told to not summon large groups of things
>"okay"
>I'm accompanied by 2 NPCs
>A gunslinger who can't take a hit and another summoner who's zombie things can't take a hit
>Session starts and me and the NPCs are off on top of a building, directly across the party
>Party immediately makes a mad dash for us by getting onto the roof to avoid the zombie summons that are on the ground
>GM didn't have me summon anything before the fight began or prep
>panic, toss out something from my Bag of Tricks
>It's an owl
>Barely hampers the mad dash to beat me to death
>Zombies aren't doing jack shit and dying
>Frickit 8 giant owls
>Everyone gets mad at me and tells me to pick something else
>I instead summon a giant elk and a giant constrictor snake
>Unfortunately I'm dealing with a party of 5 that is composed of a minmaxer and a veteran so I get bonked on the head and lose concentration
>I get bonked several more times, the zombie summoner fricking dies horribly and the gunslinger got BANE'D spell'd
>Allowed mercy and retreat
>Find out later I didn't have Shepherd on my character sheet so no perks
>Firs time playing a summoner and I blow it
>Fast forward to present and a player got kicked on and now I'm brought in
>Really want to try out my summoner character again with the right build
>"no that session wasn't fun you tried to summon 8 owls"
>"They could have just attacked with the same roll"
>"No that wouldn't be fair to the players"
>I was the enemy trying to kill them
>Find out the reason I had to play that way was because I already had one guest character so I might as well play a jobber fodder NPC this time
I was told I likely wouldn't do much but I'd also rather not feel fricking usless on purpose based off arbitrary reasoning I wasn't informed about till months later
>Friend wants to play a game
>Run that game cause it sounds fun
>Player b***hes about game not being what he wants
>Change focus to do what he wants
>Still doesn't participate
>Also complains his character doesn't get enough time to shine and do their thing
>Design an entire arc around their character, intending to let them shine. Draw on their backstory to get them invested.
>Still doesn't participate, party members are more invested in helping their character's friends than the player himself is.
>Complains that he's bored and leaves.
Another story
>ForeverGM friend wants to play warhammer fantasy
>Agree to run it, never ran WF before but it sounds fun and I want to give them a chance to play for once
>ForeverGM ONLY wants to play Skaven
>Nobody else wants to play Skaven. Not sure how to run Skaven game in the first place.
>Insists we can just play normal characters and he'll still play a Skaven
>In a party of humans
>Tell him that wouldn't make sense but he won't budge
>Fall off on running it because of this so it never gets off the ground
>Complains about being ForeverGM still.
I ran a few games for ForeverGM from time to time, but he had a consistent pattern of turning himself into a problem. Another game I ran had the whole party agree to start off knowing each other at the start to avoid the awkward "Why are we working with strangers" question. He refused to do the same, then made an edgy loner character with no reason to join the party who actively avoided the plot hook until I made it directly relevant to him and then immediately tried to abandon the party as soon as it no longer involved him directly.
Why are people like this?
The new group I'm GMing for refuses to engage with any plot hook and present 0 interest in the world at large:
>see evil cultists leave an ancient tomb talking about powerful artifacts
>lel no need to investigate, they probably took everything :^)
>orcs are attacking the south-east wall?
>lel why would we care about that :^)
>more and more undead are popping up in the north-west and west regions?
>lel we won't go there then :^)
>cultists get more and more brazen with their activities within the city walls?
>lel not our job :^)
>high official assassinated and his body vanished?
>lel that's weird :^)
>the port has been raided by orcs and guards need help evacuating people and helping the wounded?
>lel good luck with that :^)
>orcs have made camp south-west of the city and have mounted a huge attack?
>lel hope the guards will handle it :^)
>the west and north-west regions completely overrun with undead creating a refugee crisis?
>lel still not going there :^)
>stumble across a group who wants to assassinate the mayor?
>lel we won't take sides, don't want to interfere :^)
>get asked to investigate the source of the undead and find what happened with the search party they sent?
>lel why would we risk our life for gold :^)
>get asked to go search for a missing adventuring party that was sent north to ask for reinforcements from the legion?
>lel they obviously died why risk our lives too :^)
>get asked to help investigate why animals go missing in the night?
>lel take better care of your pets :^)
>rumors spread around about the local healer using weird magic?
>lel probably just rumors :^)
>archeologist wants to hire you for protection while he studies the ancient burial tombs west of the city?
>lel we are not bodyguards :^)
>one of the big nobles houses goes up in flames and undead start rising from the ashes overwhelming the guards?
>lel eat the rich :^)
>ships start going up in flames each night, a few each night?
>lel good thing we are not sailors :^)
>more and more people go missing each night?
>lel just lock your doors people :^)
>animals begin acting weird?
>lel we're not vets :^)
>we haven't explored a quarter of the city?
>lel probably nothing there
>we haven't been to half of the points of interest that we were presented with?
>lel probably not important :^)
And don't even get me started on their PCs. It feels like I'm playing with teenagers again, except we are in our mid-to-late 20s. I have half a mind to just end it the next session by letting the orcs and the undead overrun the city and killing everyone. I feel bad about the twins of the group, nice girls who are actually trying to engage with the story and actually made decent characters with clear goals instead of bland marry sues or edgelords.
Speaking of PCs let's meet the wonderful and totally original party.
Wizard:
>bland OC, basically an idealized version of the player but with big brains and magic, only adventuring because it's fun
Fighter:
>same as above, but female and totally hot people like totally wanna bang her cuz she is so hot
Sorcerer:
>edgy 1000 years old immortal, king of a far away land, broods 24/7, hates everyone (especially women because he was betrayed by one), doesn't have time to waste (despite being immortal and wasting most of the session in the tavern), still no goal, only became an adventurer because it's fun
Rogue:
>edgy 20 years old mortal, king of the streets, broods 24/7, wants to frick everyone (especially women), became an adventurer because it's fun, almost never speaks because he's so mysterious and edgy
Ranger:
>abandoned as a child, had to live in the woods for some time, raised by a group of druids before being adopted by a man, she's out adventuring because her step-father just left one night and never came back, wants to find him
Barbarian:
>older warrior, her village got raided by orcs and she was the only survivor, looking for people who would help her kill the orcs and take back the village
Can you guess which players are actually interested and which are just wasting sessions doing frick all but talking to each other in character?
If the twins are the only ones actually trying to do anything, focus the game on them. The edgelords and idiots can sit in their own corners, doing nothing and experiencing nothing, while the barbarian and ranger get the spotlight for getting things done.
Why are you wasting your time on those shitheads? Keep the twins and replace the others. Also, assuming you didn't start the campaign at high level, why did you let someone play a thousand year old king?
I didn't, I told him to frick off with that shit but he keeps it up. In-game everyone treats him like a schizo hobo.
The entire campaign started because the wiz and figther are old friends and wanted to try dnd. I am not looking into making it a permanent group as I already co-DM for a group and am a player in another.
Oh no, they won’t get railroaded boohoo
They literally write in Phandelver that you are supposed to just force encounters somehow instead of just teasing.
The few encounters I forced to get them to do something they b***hed and moaned about freedom and train tracks. After finishing the encounter they just went on their way like nothing happened, like it was a random wild encounter in a Pokemon game.
I've been pushing them to take the reigns and for the most part they did, unfortunately they don't want to split the party so if not everyone is on board they do nothing.
Yes, it is kind of a sandbox.
Yes, they are all roughly the same alignment (exception is ranger which is LN)
They basically have no motivation outside of get money, frick b***hes (exception being the barbarian and ranger).
They are together because they need each other's help but most of the time they don't do anything to actually further their goals. I keep throwing hooks, try and force them to accept quests that would make sense to their characters, throw combat encounters in the middle of the city to create a sense of danger and that things are going to shit.
I feel like I should just drop the sandbox thing all together and just force them along.
This. If players are the indecisive kind and/or antagonistic to a sandbox-y (or at least i hope it is from what i can infer from your greentext) games just put them in media res. Bonus point if you made some pointers/restrictions in chargen, for example (assuming it's a d&d game):
- they have to pick as a group one of these alignments: L/G or L/E. They can now select an alignment that is within one step deviation from their group choice for their individual character (eg: if they have pick L/G, a character can be L/G, N/G or L/G.
- Have them pick as a group a main motivation from a predetermined list, for example: Riches, Fame, Vendetta, Rescue, Escape. Have then expand the motivation for their individual character (eg: the group motivation is Escape, the player has to explain from what his character is escaping from).
- Have the players state in turn why his character is friend/allied with the player's character sitting next to him clockwise. They have also to add on why their character wouldn't ever betray that particular character.
Between this and kicking the adventure in media res you're 100% assured they won't ever frick up.
I'm pretty much done with DMing.
Keeping schedules aligned for weeks on end is just exhausting and I'm not getting the joy from it anymore I used to.
I'm pretty much switching to boardgames wholesale since I don't have to rely on the very few mega nerds I know but it's something I can play with gf/normie friends. It's also actually easy to find games on /vm/ unlike this shithole.
>Get into GMing because of a friend's shitpost
>Discover I'm really good at it
>Everyone thinks I'm really good at it too
>Run first campaign, smash hit, everyone loved it and still quote it to this day
>Second campaign was a disaster I cancelled after a couple months, the usual overreaching issues
>Third campaign is amazing, everyone loves it. Start another campaign while running third campaign, bit off more than I can chew but I'm managing, and the people love it
>Third campaign is ending soon and now my players are hankering for more
>mfw
Is this how you become a Forever GM?
>player leads the party to interact with X
>disappears in the middle of the session
Posting an update to my latex template.
I think that's enough stuff to where I can move into 5e-specific stuff like ability scores, stat blocks, etc.
So I think after a few days I'll be able to start writing specific materials for distribution.