Questions tagged [player-communication]
For questions on out-of-character communication between players, or between GM(s) and players.
80
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How Can I Put A Game Gracefully On Hiatus In The Middle Of The Plot?
I've been running a game for almost 50 sessions now, over the course of about 2 years. The game has been going well, the players enjoy it, and I enjoy DMing it as well.
However, due to life ...
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0
answers
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What are some alternative methods for running encounters where a PC loses control of their character? [closed]
There are a number of spells and monsters in various fantasy and sci-fi RPGs that can significantly influence a PC's behavior, take control of a PC altogether, or even replace a PC without the ...
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In session 0, how can I indicate that I'm not interested in a heavily optimized game without denigrating it as a play style?
This is a question about how to scope out prospective games where I'm a player.
"Casual" isn't really accurate as a description of me as a player, since I'm very invested in story elements, ...
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How do I tell my DM that dice don’t need to dictate the story?
So while I like my DM, it's kind of hard to say that our game has a consistent story and that she legit decides everything on dice rolls. Oh you want to persuade that character? Yeah, that depends on ...
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My sister wants to play every other week at our weekly table. How do I fix the issues that come with this?
My sister and I both play at the local game shop once a week. It costs five bucks for anyone to get in.
Recently, my sister has started attending a church program every Wednesday and wants to play D&...
- 201
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4
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Should I quit my D&D game because my DM still is showing favoritism? [closed]
Okay to start off, I'm friends with my DM and the other player in our small campaign. I adore them a lot. The DM is nice but maybe a little sensitive to criticism. This group currently is the only way ...
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Are aftercare/feedback techniques for play by chat different to in person play, and how does it work when we all have a tight schedule?
I regularly play in a game via real time chat. We all have tight schedules, and can only make a two-hour slot.
Recently I've been interested in the concept of aftercare techniques or other ways of ...
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6
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How to deal with a group of passive and non descriptive players?
I run a D&D 5e game for my SO and her family. They are all first time players and agreed to try it on my behalf.
The group consists of:
Me (25M) DM
My SO (25F)
Her father (54M)
Her mother (49F)
...
- 351
18
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6
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How do I handle players who make secret plans?
How should I handle players who make secret plans?
I am a first-time DM running Curse of Strahd for 6 new players. All of us are good friends. This week during our session, my players made a secret ...
- 245
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How can I ease a player into a table when they expect a hierarchical GM-player structure, and find none?
I am running a game with long-term established players. Our group numbers five, including myself. We have a very clear non-adversarial, non-hierarchical GM-player dynamic: we tell a story together, ...
- 574
1
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1
answer
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Player misunderstood NPC, now misrepresenting quest goals to rest of party [closed]
Overview:
One of my players had a conversation with an NPC in a language no other character or player was in on, and now the player's misunderstanding of what was said is making a simple side quest ...
- 69
29
votes
8
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How can I convey my disappointment in players ignoring huge hints
Yesterday's game was nice and intense, but at some point my fellow players disappointed me, heavily.
We're not allowed to say technical things about the game.
Basically we had this dragon that was ...
- 7,051
10
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2
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Broccoli games: or, how do you deal with unfun sessions before you get to have fun again?
This may be a silly question, but I'm still quite curious. How do deal with unfun game sessions that you feel are still kind of required?
The context of my question is, our group just had, effectively,...
- 109
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1
answer
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What are the key features of Stars and Wishes?
Stars and Wishes are a system of positive critique that has been included in the TTRPG-Toolkit since around 2020 and got some references on the stack. It seems to be all about giving feedback to the ...
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How do I help a player terrified of their character dying in combat?
Relatively new DM with a group of 5 players (some with ttrpg experience, some not) through a twist on the essentials kit module. One absolute first time player is running a 3rd level rogue with low HP ...
- 378
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How do I get my GM to include downtime to allow crafting
In D&D 5e, most characters can craft or otherwise benefit from downtime. I love the idea and when I DM I always include time for the players to build something with all the gold they have ...
- 11.1k
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How to prevent players from sabotaging themselves by engaging in long arguments about what to do next?
I feel like my players often self sabotage. Often we'll experience moments where the session will come to a complete pause as the player characters argue over what to do. At this point I've started to ...
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5
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What to do when I'm forced to make battle decisions by other players?
I've been playing a campaign in which there have been a few instances in battles where I feel like I'm being forced to make some non-optimal moves in battle by the rest of the PC group. For example me ...
- 167
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Roleplay pacing in non-combat situations
I am running the Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus module and my players are taking very long to approach certain situations. To set an example: There is a gate with two guards who are checking ...
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I'm a DM and I want a hiatus but don't know how to tell my players
So I started DMing before this pandemic and I loved it, however the swap to online has been extremely rough and every session I am extremely stressed out to the point where I lose sleep and am picking ...
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How to deal with a GM who favors other players
I have seen plenty of GMs write about how to deal with problem players, and I suppose I should ask about a GM who favors some players over others.
It's only natural if you have a more rich backstory ...
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Dealing with an extreme player reaction to a PC choice
Preface
We are playing Savage Worlds. My character is an ex-military dishonorable discharge that was granted an opportunity to waive the charge by volunteering for a Black Operation service term ...
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How I politely say to my players that I don't want to DM to them anymore?
I DM for a few different groups in a simultaneous fashion.
DM'ing is a breeze for most of those groups. We always have a blast, we have a lot of fun, and we always end our day looking forward to the ...
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Should I talk to the DM about a murder hobo that's derailing the campaign?
I'm in high school and very new to dungeons and dragons so I have no experience with this. I joined a new group recently made up of 3 mildly experienced players and a relatively new DM.
Our DM ...
- 131
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votes
3
answers
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How to ask for useful critiques?
As a GM, I strive to make the best experience for my group and adapt and improve my style and skill. I usually do this by live observation and asking for inputs after the session.
My problem lies in ...
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21
votes
8
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Accepting criticism as a DM
I've been running two campaigns as a DM for about 7 or 8 months at this point. I've been running it with 2 different groups.
The problem that I'm facing, currently, is the perception, from some ...
- 313
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How to keep specific players interested in an 8 person party?
I would like to avoid any "they should just leave" answers, as we all know that is obviously a possibility.
We have an 8 person campaign for 5e, and it has been going on for about a year now. When we ...
- 2,140
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How do you balance a group with both charismatic players who enjoy role-playing and introverted players who don't?
I have been involved with RPGs in general for a long time, but have only been involved with tabletop RPGs (like D&D 5e, currently) for a year or so.
In my current game (D&D 5e), I play a ...
- 1,065
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votes
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Should I take a side in an external player conflict, or let my game die?
I'm the DM for a Homebrew campaign that I've been running for about 2 years. Our group is me plus four players and we've been lucky enough to meet fairly consistently on a weekly basis, so I'm loathe ...
- 1,451
3
votes
1
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How can I help my players invest more in learning the mechanics of the game?
I have several players who enjoy playing the game. They seem to enjoy role-playing, exploring, and any form of social interaction.
However, it seems that some of my current players consistently ...
- 248
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I think one of my players wants to leave the campaign
I am a relatively new DM. I am running my first campaign, which started about a year ago, with some close friends from college. We have all played D&D before, but this is the first time I’m ...
- 241
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4
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What to do about a GM that does not allow for out-of-character discussion?
My GM tries to keep the game moving by not allowing for in-party discussion or out-of-character questions or remarks.
For example, our party travels across town to an NPC's place with the intention ...
- 385
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votes
6
answers
6k
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Persuading players to be less attached to a pre-session 0 character concept
I am currently running a campaign that is coming to a close. This is fine, and as planned. However I would like to start another campaign after. I mentioned this to (some of) the players, who seemed ...
- 903
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votes
2
answers
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How do I encourage my GM to relax her grip on the story and let the players have some free will?
I've been playing a number of different games with the same core group of friends for years now. We meet once a week with the occasional exception.
For the last few months, one of our players has ...
- 433
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5
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How to handle a player that cannot be convinced his actions are a problem for both GM and party
Background
You can skip to the end for a (very) short summary though...
We are a group of good friends, we've all known each other for 7+ years, since high school, and have been playing DnD since ...
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4
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How to deal with a player who makes bad characters and kills them?
This is kind of a two part question, firstly about the bad character thing and secondly wrangling table drama. For context, I am currently DMing D&D 5e Curse of Strahd, with 5 players. Some of you ...
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3
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How can we encourage a player who always plays characters like himself to try other kinds of characters?
In our group, where three of my friends and I play, one of my friends—let's call him John—always plays characters like himself, and always the same class: a swordfighter with psychic abilities.
John ...
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1
answer
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How do I as a player encourage the DM to add better drama?
My DM is running the Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage campaign, which is notoriously catering to murder-hoboism. We have currently went from level 1 to level 9 over 12 weeks. This quickly went off ...
- 5,074
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As a DM of a 4-player group, would it be appropriate for me to run a private 1-on-1 session so that one PC can act secretly?
I'm currently running a campaign with a fairly typical group of 4 players. Everyone gets along pretty well, however one of my player's Rogue has been struggling to find his niche in the party. To ...
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82
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7
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How can I get a player to accept that they should stop trying to pull stunts without thinking them through first?
How can I get a player to accept that they should stop trying to pull stunts without thinking them through first?
To explain the issue, one of the players in my game wants to assassinate a high-...
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votes
1
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How do I deal with a player that doesn’t play, but says they want to? [closed]
Forewarnings, there are a lot of very long reasons behind answering the question, but in short, this is it:
In short, I want to kick this player, my other four players want him kicked, and the player ...
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votes
6
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How do I, as a player, encourage my fellow players to role play?
I am a player in a group of 5 +1 dm. Three of them are wonderful, as well as the DM. They role play, provide commentary, and are great sports when it comes to the game.
The last two are a bit more ...
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3
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What are the benefits of using the X Card safety tool in comparison to plain communication?
I am aware that this question may come across as ignorant or as an attempt at trolling. While I cannot prove it, I hope enough people believe that this question was asked in good faith and with the ...
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4
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How do I handle a table mixing up the DM and the players' roles too often?
So, after some time I came back to playing live (not online) RPG because a friend of mine, who is used to D&D 3.5, asked me to help him with a 5e table where almost all the players are new to D&...
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What should I discuss with my DM prior to my first game?
I'm new to D&D and am making my first character for a home game. What should I discuss with my DM prior to my first game? And what do I need their permission for? Classes, races and sub-races I ...
- 1,492
-2
votes
2
answers
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Am I required to clear the use of class, race, or sub-race found in sources outside of the PHB with my DM? [duplicate]
Am I required to clear the use of class, race, or sub-race found in sources outside of the PHB with my DM?
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4
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Do you need to let the DM know when you are multiclassing?
I am planning to multi class and am curious if there is anything that says that I have to let my DM know prior to the game.
- 1,492
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1
answer
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How can I encourage more proactive players to distribute information they have gathered to other involved players?
I am preparing to run a larger plot via a MUSH that will involve several scenes, but the players between the scenes might change, so not everybody will have the same information when joining scenes. ...
- 45.1k
50
votes
8
answers
10k
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How to communicate to my GM that not being allowed to use stealth isn't fun for me?
I started with a group some times ago a new campaign. I made a thief that used a bow and was very very stealth based (level 3 thief having +21 on stealth with all effects applied). The intent was ...
- 4,001
10
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4
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768
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How to signal to my players that the following part is supposed to be played on fast forward?
So in the campaign I DM there is a ritual that is supposed to take ⅔ of a year. Obviously, we need to skip most of these days, and some of the events deserve only a bit of role playing and that's it.
...
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