Questions tagged [spotlight]
For questions about the time individual and groups of players have the focus of the game on their characters and actions, or are “in the spotlight”. This tag covers spotlight management, spotlight problems (such as “spotlight hogging”), and all issues about spotlight time during play.
37 questions
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How can I give my players more short rests without breaking immersion?
While there are a lot of questions concerning how to give players fewer resources (usually by reducing the frequency of rests), this question is the inverse: I've had issues at my table with the ...
- 144k
17
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6
answers
2k
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Is it possible to run a combat tournament without players feeling left out?
One classic trope of shonen anime is the tournament arc. Characters get to show off their individual skills and personalities, you get the opportunity to introduce and spotlight lots of interesting ...
- 50.3k
14
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5
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7k
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How do you deal with a player slowing the group because of indecisiveness/excessive RP?
The campaign is set in an open world, giving the players lots of freedom, including the option to split up.
This specific player was unfortunate enough to become plagued with a terrible illness, and ...
- 144k
1
vote
1
answer
298
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Player Conflict [closed]
I am new to D&D and still learning the game. My bf is the DM. I was playing with 2 other characters who are very experienced.
In general terms, I wanted to talk to a book that was scried, but this ...
- 154k
45
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10
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12k
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How should I respond to a player who roleplays too selfishly?
In our last session, a player of mine spent the last 30 min blowing up on me for "restricting" her character's story, and the story of the campaign, when I would not allow her to bring back another ...
- 50.3k
8
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3
answers
1k
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How to approach your DM about an issue?
I'll preface this with a bit of detail about our game. It's all online (thanks, pandemic). We use Discord voice, D&D Beyond, and Roll20. It has been a nice distraction so far. This was my first ...
- 2,801
11
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1
answer
725
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Ways to run net runners that doesn’t monopolize time?
We have started a cyberpunk red game, and one of our party is a net runner. However, we have found the game slows down while he is doing his thing. It doesn’t seem to be the players or GM's fault; it ...
CommunityBot
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32
votes
5
answers
8k
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How can I handle a PC wanting to be a "twist" villain?
My group has been following a premade campaign that has a decentralized plot structure that relies mainly on adventurers "finding their own adventure". This means that while the campaign ...
- 22.6k
21
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2
answers
3k
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How to deal with Mary Sue NPCs
This question is a bit different than the one here, because the NPC is not a jerk. In fact, they're actually quite nice. However, this is not the first time the GM has done this.
In our game, we have ...
CommunityBot
- 1
8
votes
1
answer
285
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As a player, how can I avoid stifling new players but also avoid letting things stall?
I have just started a Cyberpunk campaign. 2 of us are experienced RPG-ers, 1 hasn’t played in about 10 years and the other 2 are complete newbies. The GM is not new to RPGs, but is new to Cyberpunk, ...
- 12.7k
55
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10
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How can I use powerful NPCs without overshadowing the player characters?
I’ve been playing P&P for years and have taken my first tentative steps into DM’ing over the last year, mostly leading One-Shots. I am also a passionate world-builder and so I jumped at the chance ...
CommunityBot
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24
votes
4
answers
5k
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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 ...
- 144k
18
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2
answers
4k
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How do you deal with a player who always wants to be in the spotlight?
How do you deal during play with a player who makes things miserable for the others when he or she is not actively in the spotlight? Such miserable-making activities include frequently doing things in-...
CommunityBot
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3
votes
3
answers
937
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How can I prevent one character from leaving the group to do his own thing?
I have recently made a rather epic story for my players to play though. (In the sense of a long overarching story). I have been running for a few sessions but a particular player is constantly trying ...
CommunityBot
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16
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6
answers
2k
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How to keep the group engaged when the party is split?
I recently pitched a game to my group, to which they were receptive. However they pointed out some problems I would have to solve before the game started.
The Pitch
The game is set in the near-...
- 50.3k
8
votes
2
answers
649
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How to effectively divide spotlight time with a split party?
In a campaign I was testing, the party got split. They are now in separate parts of the world, without any long range communication.
Now, we have only one day a week to play D&D, so separate ...
- 50.3k
15
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3
answers
1k
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As a DM, how can I ensure that everyone feels involved when only a single player is driving the story?
I've ran into a bit of a dilemma with a 5e campaign that's soon coming to a close. It's been running for about a year, and one of the primary goals that I had when I started the campaign was to focus ...
CommunityBot
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8
votes
3
answers
502
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How to manage sharing the spotlight outside of combat in a fun way?
I noticed something as a game master of one ongoing game and a player in another. In both games, whenever a decision had to be made outside of combat, the most high energy players were blurting out ...
CommunityBot
- 1
87
votes
15
answers
39k
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A player always wants to recruit NPCs into the party. How do I handle this?
TL;DR: I have a player who wants to recruit lots of NPCs to avoid putting his own character in danger and to grab more spotlight for himself. I'm concerned about how this will affect challenge balance ...
CommunityBot
- 1
14
votes
7
answers
606
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What systems or special mechanics enforce equal stage-time between players most effectively? [closed]
What systems/mechanics have proven most effective at giving each player about equal spotlight-time and enforcing that equality between look-at-me players and 'turtles'?
There's a pretty shy player who ...
- 50.3k
19
votes
5
answers
3k
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Playing a Character as Unobtrusive and Subservient, Yet Not Passive
In one of the campaigns I'm in, I'm playing an AI/robot that belongs to another PC, and acts as an automated assistant. The other players and GM seem to like the drone's spotlight moments (in the '...
CommunityBot
- 1
26
votes
4
answers
5k
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Handling a player (unintentionally) stealing the spotlight
Quite recently, I replaced a friend as DM for a D&D game.
During that game, I came across something I did not expect: One of the players was just too good.
When I am saying "too good" I am not ...
- 660
12
votes
1
answer
186
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Jurassic Spark kids game needs to distribute fun more evenly [closed]
I recently made up an outdoor kids adventure game that is really fun for most, but could use help with making the game more fun for ALL the kids.
I conducted an anonymous survey afterwards and some ...
CommunityBot
- 1
16
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4
answers
1k
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How to deal with players who take up most of the time by doing solo actions?
I am sure this has been asked already, as this is probably a very common problem, but I didn't find anything.
I am playing in a campaign I made myself using homebrewed rules based on a German pen-and-...
- 747
7
votes
1
answer
251
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Which game mechanics have measurably higher risk of causing spotlight imbalance?
At different times, I have encountered statements that this or that game-mechanical phenomenon should be avoided because it leads to spotlight imbalance and/or narrative imbalance. To clarify the ...
- 42.2k
52
votes
6
answers
11k
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As a player, how do I deal with a spotlight hog?
I’m usually the GM but I’m not this time, and my usual methods of managing spotlight, and hogs thereof, aren’t available to me. I’m at a bit of a loss.
We have a player who is very enthusiastic and ...
- 9,766
18
votes
3
answers
4k
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What to do if the DM ignores all but one player character's backstory?
My current DM in their homebrew campaign has centered the campaign almost entirely around the barbarian in the party. The campaign has been going for about 6 months of play roughly once a week (about ...
CommunityBot
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23
votes
4
answers
5k
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Feeling left out as a character and a player [closed]
Recently my boyfriend, his friends and I started a game of Palladium. The night we all were rolling for our character stats and creating our characters was a lot of fun. This was my first RPG and I ...
CommunityBot
- 1
15
votes
2
answers
1k
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How to engage the party when one player is significantly more social than the rest?
My party has a warlock who IRL has high Charisma, and is fond of persuading, manipulating, and corrupting NPCs.
I am looking for ways to engage the rest of the players while not restricting the ...
CommunityBot
- 1
4
votes
1
answer
174
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How can I minimise the time players spend when they have many creatures with actions to take each turn?
Each action during combat requires time for the player to run and communicate. Pathfinder allows character builds that grant some players dozens of actions more than other characters. This bottlenecks ...
CommunityBot
- 1
7
votes
3
answers
479
views
How to make an ill-assorted group work together
I'm running a Dark Heresy V2 campaign and am up to four sessions. The characters are:
a former trade-princess now seeking revenge for the Inquisitor who raided her family (because of shady ...
CommunityBot
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18
votes
8
answers
6k
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How to handle a fellow player who has painfully long conversations with NPCs?
Lately, it has become more difficult to ignore that one of the other players in my D&D 5e group takes an excruciatingly large amount of the group's time. What I mean is that they'll get locked ...
CommunityBot
- 1
11
votes
2
answers
902
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How do I spotlight a new-to-roleplay player's character in Dungeon World?
Context: I've started a Dungeon World campaign as a new GM with three other players. We've finished a single session thus far. For one of the players, this is her first time playing a roleplaying game....
- 1,772
23
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6
answers
3k
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A witcher and their apprentice…
In an upcoming game set in the Northern Realms of the Witcherverse, two of my players decided to come up with this character concept: One plays an older established Witcher, the other plays their in-...
CommunityBot
- 1
29
votes
11
answers
11k
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How to stop one player taking control of the game?
In my Pathfinder game, I have a problem with a player who constantly tells people what to do with their characters and turns and never lets anyone get a word in during roleplaying. I've told him he ...
CommunityBot
- 1
29
votes
5
answers
5k
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How to deal with overzealous questioning from one player?
So I'm playing a home brew scifi game where one of the players is playing a scientific character who collects a bunch of samples. That's all fine and good, but the problem is that he want really ...
- 459
4
votes
3
answers
1k
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How do I keep a player engaged whose starship pilot doesn't get to go on away missions? [closed]
We're playing Stars Without Number. It's story telling heavy; not simulationist.
The starship pilot doesn't get to go on away missions, and the player is feeling left out. I'm currently using A/V ...
- 244k