Post/Author/DateTime	Post
drizzt420 09-04-07, 11:14 AM	Lately, our large group (4 players, 1 DM) has been struggling with unity. How do you guys create team comradery? Out of game, we all know each other well enough - we have been gaming together off and on for over five years and are friends and hang out outside of gaming. We have great games comprised of a few combinations of all of our players - 2 players and a DM. However, it seems when we all get together for the big game that our group just does not "click." Half of the PC's are more of the "I like to roll dice" type and only seem to have fun when they kill stuff or roll big damage. The quiet type who enjoy the "game" part of D+D. However, when playing in smaller groups they are like the other half of the PC's The other half are happy with the diplomatic/comedic/situational elements of social gameplay. Character interaction, portraying situations that have varied outcomes based off of roleplaying rather than dice. When the first half of the PC's are rolling initiative and picking out spells to kill with, we are thinking of ways to parley the situation. What is a good way to balance these two types of players out as the DM? I feel one of the major problems is that the PC who is suppose to be the center of the campaign is the quietest of the bunch. The DM sort of wrote a majority of the plot around him and is now struggling with the game in general. Any advice for a player looking to help out his DM?
Sol_Aedh_Avoth 09-04-07, 11:41 AM	Unfortunately, there's nothing to do... if some players want just a "shoot'em all" and the others like the role playing, the only compromise is that the role playing ones renounce and play "shoot'em all" too, because the others will never try to properly role play... This is personal (horrifying) experience, and I never found a solution... :(
drizzt420 09-04-07, 12:35 PM	Ewww, that does not sound good. It is quite the conundrum we are facing and have basically stopped roleplaying and only roll dice when dice rolling is appropriate. I just do not understand though because these "dice rollers" roleplay fine when it is just them and the DM but when they get around larger groups, they seem to "clam up" - so to speak.
Sol_Aedh_Avoth 09-04-07, 12:45 PM	Lucky you, that they at least sometimes roleplay... My fellows of that kind only roll dice, always... :( Have you already tried to talk to them? Hopefully, they'll understand and roleplay even when there is the full group...
Cantankerous 09-04-07, 01:22 PM	I've had a different experience. My wife is a great example. Sandra loves playing big tank Barbarians who later in their careers discover magic and then are big tank Barbarians who also blow things up from a distance as well. She loves the tactical side of the game and a full out RP gorn like myself had to find a way to deal with this. The answer for me was to make the tactical considerations breath a bit themselves...make that side of the game too something that needed discussion and gave the tank a chance to demonstrate that he wasn't JUST a tank. In character start talking about (with all the nifty pseudo medieval -jabbering you want in place of the anachronistic phrases) aggressive responses, whens and whys and hows, so that the "I want to kill something crowd" feels that they aren't JUST there to do the dirty work when things get dicey. These kind of discussions can draw them out, get them thinking in character. It's not one size fits all, but it gives you a starting place. Isshia
weasel0 09-04-07, 01:50 PM	HAHAHAHAHAHAAaaaaaaahhhh..... LOL good one. Heehee. you said large = 4 My group has maxed out at 12(including DM). And yeah, there's no happy middle ground. It simply just doesn't exsist. We've had quite the number of the big rollers only players and it really is near impossible(I use the word near) to get them out of that mode. What doesn't help is that our DM, as much as he complains that we don't role-play, is at least as much if not more blood-thirsty than the rest of us.
Crawdaddy75 09-04-07, 01:57 PM	Award the role-players ad-hoc xp. The more they interact he more xp they get. even if it's just 10 here or there. Have some of the monsters more powerful than the group can handle and have them directly comunicate only to the quiet player. They like the quiet player for some reason. Directly question the quiet playerand ask them "what do YOU think the party should do?" Have the quieter players be the group leaders for a couple games. Mix it up with major battles and rolepalying situations. Throw in some small easy pickings monsters that the power gamers can smash through just so they can get thier fill "i.e. easy goblin lookouts and such." It's hard to balance different playing styles. You need to establish balances with the PCs before the campaign begins. What the DM expects and how the PCs want to play.
drizzt420 09-04-07, 02:50 PM	Lucky you, that they at least sometimes roleplay... My fellows of that kind only roll dice, always... :( Have you already tried to talk to them? Hopefully, they'll understand and roleplay even when there is the full group... Yeah, we have talked about it before but nothing has come of it. I generally try to drop hints and try to encourage the guys to get more involved - i.e. to the quiet cleric "You know the people look up to you a lot and this small village thinks you are pretty much the incarnate of Helm himself." Which they do, it seems his whole existence is rooted to this small village. HAHAHAHAHAHAAaaaaaaahhhh..... LOL good one. Heehee. you said large = 4 My group has maxed out at 12(including DM). And yeah, there's no happy middle ground. It simply just doesn't exsist. We've had quite the number of the big rollers only players and it really is near impossible(I use the word near) to get them out of that mode. What doesn't help is that our DM, as much as he complains that we don't role-play, is at least as much if not more blood-thirsty than the rest of us. Hehe, yeah I have played in groups as large as 16 and that is a completely different story. To me it seems that if you do not speak up in those type of games that your character never gets a chance to develop and no one even remembers what class you are let alone your name. I credit these large groups as to molding me into the player I am today. Award the role-players ad-hoc xp. The more they interact he more xp they get. even if it's just 10 here or there. Have some of the monsters more powerful than the group can handle and have them directly comunicate only to the quiet player. They like the quiet player for some reason. Directly question the quiet playerand ask them "what do YOU think the party should do?" Have the quieter players be the group leaders for a couple games. The quietest guy IS the party leader in a sense so I will definitely heed your advice on that one I really like you final lines. It's hard to balance different playing styles. You need to establish balances with the PCs before the campaign begins. What the DM expects and how the PCs want to play.
Nessaj 09-04-07, 06:34 PM	Despite being a definite RP-oriented player, I can mix/max well enough to survive the average DM, so I guess my question is why can't you do both? Considering both the DM and the roll-players are directing the game towards combat-scenarios that don't favor the role-players, if you can't beat em, join em...To a point. You as a PC can only do so much to influence matters. If the DM won't reward or encourage RP-encounters, force the others to Rp with you. Insist on talking in character and otherwise act in character, even during combat encounters. It does work, and if people start to catch on, perhaps the game will take a different turn over time. And they'll never even suspect it was you who put the ball into motion ;)
Divokej 09-04-07, 06:45 PM	Roleplay a tavern. The biggest bonding in my game came when one of my characters was drunk and wanted to find a lady friend. (He's the only guy in our group, it was fun to see everyone else roll aid checks to give plus two to Geoff's *spot check for hotties* [his words, I'm not so crude {okay, maybe I am, I found it funny}].) Well, he failed miserably and now it's sort of a running joke that we need to get him a lady. But the benefit came from having my players really get into the RPing aspect of the game. See, before this some people weren't sure about letting lose with their attempts at it, but this was so funny everyone had to get in on the fun. Except for Geoff, he didn't have any. :) (I'm sorry, I'm a horrible person)