Sunday, August 11, 2019

#RPGaDAY 2019: Day 9 & 10


I think it is CRITICAL for players at a table to buy into the story. In the past, I've watched too many games get wrecked because of the age old "my character wouldn't do that". That's fine and all, but make a character that would. That doesn't mean the GM should railroad the players, but at a basic level, either take the GM's bait for a story or as a group work out your goals.

In this day and age I think it's important that everyone at the table FOCUS on what is happening. I think smartphones are the biggest problem for player focus and it makes sense for everyone to take talk about expectations and appropriate behavior before things get started.

4 comments:

Scott Anderson said...

1. Agree. One of the unspoken axioms is that no matter what your character is, it’s up to you to justify him buying in on the initial DM offering each week. Not “would he do it” but “why does he agree to do it.”

2. Disagree. There are times to focus and times to zone out. Overall you have to be engaged but nobody can stay super focused for three or four hours or whatever. I also disagree about smart phones. They are wonderful tools at the table as long as they are being directed toward table activities. Just fr’instance, characters speaking in code or secret messages from GM to a player can be handled via text.

Cross Planes said...

Good points about smartphones.

Tom Doolan said...

I largely agree with you. But, I am personally a bit lenient about phones. My wife has her phone or iPad out a lot because she has anxiety issues, and has a hard time focusing on one thing. A phone is a good "fidget" for her. I also take into account specific players. After you game with someone for a while you can get an idea of whether a distraction is really a distraction, or just diversion. Does that make sense?

Cross Planes said...

More great points. I have anxiety as well, and it's nice to be distracted. I doodle at the table.

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