And Nad slept... [Archive] - Wizards Community

And Nad slept... [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
PeopleMcNuggets
09-23-07, 07:17 PM So we have a player in our group that some of you may or may not be familiar with....We call him Nad.

Nad has a problem. This problem has caused many a mishap. Nad tends to fall asleep during the most crucial moments in our D&D games. The PCs could be on two ships, caught in a violent whirlpool in the ocean, all while fighting a dracolich and Nad will be snoring by the time our DM asks him what he's going to do. If not that, he'll be sleeping while our DM is tell us important story info...which has caused a lot of trouble because when that info comes into play he doesn't know what the hell is going on.

So I ask you....fellow DMs and Players alike.....what do you do if a player in your group falls asleep at the worst possible times?

please....be merciless.
Eminon
09-23-07, 08:53 PM Generally when something like that happens in our group (which it has on occasion) someone in the group generally states, out loud, something they are going to do, in or out of character, to the sleeper, using their name. If this doesn't snap them out of it, the threats are usually acted on. Everything from drawing on the person to stealing things from their character (we usually don't go as far as outright character death or any physical damage to the player).

On the other hand, if this is a repeating problem (it only happens in our group on rare occasions, usually because the person hadn't slept in more than 24 hours) you might want to talk to the player. Make sure it's not something like Narcolepsy or something, or maybe just a serious schedule conflict (person has to work a labor intensive 12 hour shift before coming to play or something). Talking works surprisingly well situations like this.
Seeker95
09-23-07, 09:09 PM Change the group's beverage-of-choice from Mountain Dew to coffee. The crash after a sugar rush is horrible. A caffeine rush doesn't crash; it fades.
Artifact
09-23-07, 09:35 PM If he's doing it simply out of a lack of respect or teamwork, then you've got a problem, because nothing you or the group does will get (let alone maintain) his attention between naps.

If on the other hand, this player is sincerely sleep deprived (for whatever reason), such as has been mentioned (long, labor-intensive work days, over-schedualing, etc), then try to work with him as much as possible.

I've dozed during slower paced games and I'm the main DM ;). This is rare, but when it does happen the guys are good about taking over and running things amongst themselves for a few minutes. 10+ hr days (plus travel time), six days a week is the standard work week for myself and another fella. So, those things actually do happen, just try to deal with it as best you can and don't let it interfere with your game overly much. I've always said, bottom line is to have fun :), make the time if its important to you, even if it means going without a few hours sleep.

You know, if I were smart, I'd be an RPG game designer. Sitting in front of a computer screen for hours sounds too cool :P.
RichardAwesome
09-24-07, 04:26 AM He actually didn't fall asleep today. We're proud of him.
Fallenangel359
09-24-07, 12:39 PM my group frequently has a problem with this. We'll start at 3pm and go till 5am (15 hours), and our beverage of choice is mt dew. Maybe the sugar is part of the problem.

The other day I had to stop DMing after 4 hours due to severe sugar crash (plus I'm a hypoglycemic) combined with a player bringing in a hilarious character based off of the doctor in doctor who, with some elements from painkiller jane (factotum3/psion7/exemplar 1

Had a screwdriver of prestigitation atwill, lol...

Very odd character, with the doctor who references going left and right, combined with sugar crash, and general hypoglycemia, I just couldn't dm anymore, so we did what we usually do (we run a multi world, multi dm game), where all of a sudden, the characters blink out of existance for a short while and appearate on another plane.

I made some food, and ate... that fixed the bloodsugar problem mostly, and I was able to game again.

Maybe I'll switch to tea.
Zherog
09-24-07, 12:43 PM Rig up a system to deliver an electric shock whenever Nad falls asleep. It'll keep him awake and provide entertainment for the rest of the group.

:angelhide
BackDoorBob
09-24-07, 02:58 PM Generally Nad is a great DM/Player. But I do like the idea of drawing on Nad or stealing things from his character. But we probably wouldn't do that unless he became a repeat offender on the same day. But I may be partly at fault for Nad's bouts of midday naps. For most of the time I am the one who provides snacks for the group and most of the time the main beverage is soda and most of the time that soda is the Dew. Nad may be suffering from sugar crash off of all of the snacks and Dew. But Recently I have been bringing healthier snacks than usual. Mostly due to complaints from other players about the lack of healthiness of snacks. Maybe this will give Nad that extra bit of energy to make it through the session. We will see what happens.

But if all else fails, we could try the electric shocker device to keep Nad awake. I have the technology, I could build it, make it stronger, make it shock harder! (go into six million dollar man theme song as I construct the shocker device.):plotting:
darkneolink
09-24-07, 06:48 PM well my I gave my DM my SOP so he would know in advance what would _____ do.

We also keep an eye on the way everyone plays their characters so in case they don't get to go or fall asleep or have to leave early we have an idea about what to do
RichardAwesome
09-24-07, 08:48 PM Our host's mother put a wet teabag on his lips while he was sleeping once. It worked like a charm.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
PeopleMcNuggets 09-23-07, 07:17 PM	So we have a player in our group that some of you may or may not be familiar with....We call him Nad. Nad has a problem. This problem has caused many a mishap. Nad tends to fall asleep during the most crucial moments in our D&D games. The PCs could be on two ships, caught in a violent whirlpool in the ocean, all while fighting a dracolich and Nad will be snoring by the time our DM asks him what he's going to do. If not that, he'll be sleeping while our DM is tell us important story info...which has caused a lot of trouble because when that info comes into play he doesn't know what the hell is going on. So I ask you....fellow DMs and Players alike.....what do you do if a player in your group falls asleep at the worst possible times? please....be merciless.
Eminon 09-23-07, 08:53 PM	Generally when something like that happens in our group (which it has on occasion) someone in the group generally states, out loud, something they are going to do, in or out of character, to the sleeper, using their name. If this doesn't snap them out of it, the threats are usually acted on. Everything from drawing on the person to stealing things from their character (we usually don't go as far as outright character death or any physical damage to the player). On the other hand, if this is a repeating problem (it only happens in our group on rare occasions, usually because the person hadn't slept in more than 24 hours) you might want to talk to the player. Make sure it's not something like Narcolepsy or something, or maybe just a serious schedule conflict (person has to work a labor intensive 12 hour shift before coming to play or something). Talking works surprisingly well situations like this.
Seeker95 09-23-07, 09:09 PM	Change the group's beverage-of-choice from Mountain Dew to coffee. The crash after a sugar rush is horrible. A caffeine rush doesn't crash; it fades.
Artifact 09-23-07, 09:35 PM	If he's doing it simply out of a lack of respect or teamwork, then you've got a problem, because nothing you or the group does will get (let alone maintain) his attention between naps. If on the other hand, this player is sincerely sleep deprived (for whatever reason), such as has been mentioned (long, labor-intensive work days, over-schedualing, etc), then try to work with him as much as possible. I've dozed during slower paced games and I'm the main DM ;). This is rare, but when it does happen the guys are good about taking over and running things amongst themselves for a few minutes. 10+ hr days (plus travel time), six days a week is the standard work week for myself and another fella. So, those things actually do happen, just try to deal with it as best you can and don't let it interfere with your game overly much. I've always said, bottom line is to have fun :), make the time if its important to you, even if it means going without a few hours sleep. You know, if I were smart, I'd be an RPG game designer. Sitting in front of a computer screen for hours sounds too cool :P.
RichardAwesome 09-24-07, 04:26 AM	He actually didn't fall asleep today. We're proud of him.
Fallenangel359 09-24-07, 12:39 PM	my group frequently has a problem with this. We'll start at 3pm and go till 5am (15 hours), and our beverage of choice is mt dew. Maybe the sugar is part of the problem. The other day I had to stop DMing after 4 hours due to severe sugar crash (plus I'm a hypoglycemic) combined with a player bringing in a hilarious character based off of the doctor in doctor who, with some elements from painkiller jane (factotum3/psion7/exemplar 1 Had a screwdriver of prestigitation atwill, lol... Very odd character, with the doctor who references going left and right, combined with sugar crash, and general hypoglycemia, I just couldn't dm anymore, so we did what we usually do (we run a multi world, multi dm game), where all of a sudden, the characters blink out of existance for a short while and appearate on another plane. I made some food, and ate... that fixed the bloodsugar problem mostly, and I was able to game again. Maybe I'll switch to tea.
Zherog 09-24-07, 12:43 PM	Rig up a system to deliver an electric shock whenever Nad falls asleep. It'll keep him awake and provide entertainment for the rest of the group. :angelhide
BackDoorBob 09-24-07, 02:58 PM	Generally Nad is a great DM/Player. But I do like the idea of drawing on Nad or stealing things from his character. But we probably wouldn't do that unless he became a repeat offender on the same day. But I may be partly at fault for Nad's bouts of midday naps. For most of the time I am the one who provides snacks for the group and most of the time the main beverage is soda and most of the time that soda is the Dew. Nad may be suffering from sugar crash off of all of the snacks and Dew. But Recently I have been bringing healthier snacks than usual. Mostly due to complaints from other players about the lack of healthiness of snacks. Maybe this will give Nad that extra bit of energy to make it through the session. We will see what happens. But if all else fails, we could try the electric shocker device to keep Nad awake. I have the technology, I could build it, make it stronger, make it shock harder! (go into six million dollar man theme song as I construct the shocker device.):plotting:
darkneolink 09-24-07, 06:48 PM	well my I gave my DM my SOP so he would know in advance what would _____ do. We also keep an eye on the way everyone plays their characters so in case they don't get to go or fall asleep or have to leave early we have an idea about what to do
RichardAwesome 09-24-07, 08:48 PM	Our host's mother put a wet teabag on his lips while he was sleeping once. It worked like a charm.