141
votes
Accepted
How can I convince players not to offload a seemingly useless weapon?
Let them sell it. Later, when they realize they needed it, let them troop back and buy it again. It can be a little mini quest: "figure out what happened to that sword we vendored".
I think your more ...
- 87.8k
137
votes
Accepted
Is saying "Your PC wouldn't do that" to a player denying their agency?
Yes -- if you use that specific phrasing, "your character would not do that", you are denying their character's agency. The player is an authority over what their character wants to do; your ...
- 87.8k
95
votes
Accepted
Dealing with a Repeatedly Cheating Friend
You are in a toxic cycle with this player.
The sheer magnitude of offenses and the effort they put into going unnoticed demonstrate forethought. This isn't something they just fell back into like it ...
- 11.4k
91
votes
How can I deal with a 'soft' alpha gamer player?
I've been that player; how did GM's get me to back off?
The best GM at handling my over-eagerness to help a novice player had 3" x 5" card that he'd hold up to me. On it was written three ...
- 142k
90
votes
How to discourage mundane play?
NautArch's answer of "Session Zero" is an excellent starting place, and should be the first option.
If, however, everyone claims to be on the same page - and that page is "adventure in the great wide ...
- 17.9k
90
votes
Accepted
What's the name of the role of characters who buff teammates?
The term I have heard the most would be Support, as it is their role to assist the other party members.
While in a lot of system Healers double as Supports, or Supports double as Healers, they're not ...
- 4,791
89
votes
DM is playing mind games with us!
This is a valid way to run a game.
The problem you are having is that you're asking questions that your character wouldn't know the answer to. So an equally valid response to your questions would be:...
- 87.8k
76
votes
How can I show-not-tell my players that they are The Bad Guys?
You know you need to signpost your actions - but something I've learned in my - cough - years of DMing is that often when I think I'm making something incredibly obvious, my players think I'm dropping ...
- 22.3k
75
votes
How do I deal with this very annoying teammate who engages in player versus player combat?
“This behavior is ruining the game for me.”
This sounds very not fun. Your friend needs to understand this. This is an out-of-game conversation that needs to be had. You need to cordially explain to ...
- 144k
73
votes
8 hour sessions require a meal! How can we incorporate meal breaks into the game itself?
I'm going to take a radical position and suggest that eight hours is a long time to roleplay without a break from playing a role in any case, and that the meal-as-a-break may actually be a welcome ...
- 2,118
73
votes
Accepted
I saved my players from a tough battle, what now?
The Sword of Teamwork and The Hammer of Not Bickering
Your party is in the middle of a classic movie plot, where the team has an initial setback caused by a failure to work together effectively. Take ...
- 25.6k
71
votes
Accepted
How can I deal with someone that wants to kill something that isn't supposed to be killed?
I have a personal favorite line I give to players who are trying to argue about this:
If you encounter [insert unimaginably powerful being here] in-game, you're welcome to try your plans.
And if ...
- 64.8k
69
votes
Accepted
Which Article Helped Get Rid of Technobabble in RPGs?
"Causality and Choice in RPGs, Part 1: Getting rid of the {TECH}" on The 20' By 20' Room blog by Neel Krishnaswami
It was a bit challenging to find this ...
- 49.6k
67
votes
Accepted
Is it possible to emulate common polyhedral dice rolls using just a d6, and if so, how?
It's pretty trivial if you allow occasional discarding of rolls/rerolls.
d2 (gonna need this later): if result is odd, read as a 1. If result is even, read as a 0.
d4: discard any results of 5 or 6.*
...
- 101k
64
votes
Accepted
How do I convey that players can solve problems in ways that don't involve punching them?
You could say to your players, "Y'know, in this campaign, not all problems can be solved by punching them. And some problems that could be solved by punching could be better solved by not punching, or ...
- 22.2k
61
votes
How to handle players who make unmotivated characters
Your players are telling you that they might not want to adventure.
First and foremost, ask your players if this is the case before acting on advice from random strangers on the internet.
It appears ...
- 9,789
59
votes
Accepted
How to explain to a new player that metagaming is encouraged in this group
There are so many ways to enjoy roleplaying games that we sometimes — often, actually — forget that fact and just assume that how we play is the way.
Unsurprisingly, this results in unpleasant things ...
- 243k
59
votes
Accepted
How do I deal with being envious of my own players?
If you are not having fun as the GM, maybe its time to pass the torch.
When I started playing D&D, the person GMing was really good at it, but did not enjoy it. One day after the session was ...
- 4,302
58
votes
Accepted
How can I help my players make meaningful choice during dungeon navigation?
As a GM, the solutions are all about providing more information:
Sounds and Trails
When they examine their choices, give them hints what lies down each passage. A part of the dungeon in use by kobolds ...
- 5,656
58
votes
Accepted
How would combat work without opportunity attacks?
Coming from a D&D point of view...
The game becomes a lot more mobile, speed is more valuable, the concept of front-liner diminishes, and being at range is either difficult or not important.
I ...
- 46k
54
votes
Accepted
How do I make engaging Man vs Wild encounters that aren't excercises in rolling dice?
I used to play a game that was fun and exciting: you rolled a dice and depending on the result moved up some ladders or slid down some snakes and the first one to the top won, its name escapes me for ...
- 206k
52
votes
Make the player roll even if there is no chance of success?
No, don’t
Here I’m echoing the advice of Angry GM in his Five Simple Rules for Dating My Teenaged Skill System. Please do note that Angry GM lives up to his name, and his articles are littered with ...
- 345k
51
votes
Player wants to play their one favorite character and nothing else, but that character can't work in this setting
“I’m here for the basketball tournament” ... “Sir, this is the table tennis club.”
This is basically the conversation I’m hearing. You and the rest of the group have showed up to play one sort of game,...
- 144k
50
votes
Make the player roll even if there is no chance of success?
Does the player know the action will fail? Does the character know?
There are two kinds of actions that are guaranteed to fail - obvious ones and non-obvious ones. If a character tries to jump to the ...
- 15.7k
50
votes
How can I limit (but not outright ban) exotic races?
Optimize for pearls, not sand.
You are trying to optimize your approach for sand, when you should be optimizing your approach for pearls. Allow me to explain.
When an oyster gets some sand or grit ...
- 144k
49
votes
Accepted
Player wants to play their one favorite character and nothing else, but that character can't work in this setting
Understand their underlying motivation
Like in every negotiation, often one of the most powerful things you can do is to understand the real, underlying needs of the other party. It is not uncommon ...
- 96.2k
48
votes
What's the name of style where GM assumes idiotic behaviour unless stated otherwise?
The root cause here appears that the GM is taking player agency away. Either no information or obfuscation of information in one case and die roll only when convenient for the GM in the other.
I ...
47
votes
New player decision paralysis
Psychology
The phenomenon of overchoice may be the root of the problem. Particularly for a new player having a large number of options for her character to take is not helpful. Since you specifically ...
- 206k
46
votes
How can I show-not-tell my players that they are The Bad Guys?
Some suggestions:
Wanted posters. Historically, paper was expensive and many people in the middle ages weren't literate, but fantasy roleplaying games are not necessarily this historically accurate. ...
- 78.9k
46
votes
Accepted
How can I make conversations with NPCs more succinct?
Handwave and summarise the boring stuff
I have struggled with a similar problem. I like to make my world immersive and give distinct characteristics to every NPC my group encounters. However it can ...
- 30.6k
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