Do you spend a lot of time chatting, cracking jokes and bantering in your group when you play, or do you focus purely on the roleplaying?
My group tends to get distracted by tangents such as the utility of the raspberry pi to hacking, the weight of muons, whether it's possibly to accidentally invent a parachute in a medieval setting, etc.
Kind of like /tg/ threads, really.
Yeah, we goof of a hell of a lot. But that's half the fun of RPGs isn't it? Shoot the shit with your friends and pretend to kill goblins, right?
>>46649495
No? The fun in RPGs for me is entirely in roleplaying. I get fucking pissed whenever people go off on tangents. If I wanted to do other things, I would do other things.
Some offtops now and then are normal and unavoidable. But they do ruin the atmosphere and good gm should try to keep them at minimum. I ussually punish players that offtop too much with exp penalty and give additional exp to those that roleplay well. Howewer the most important thing is gm skill to fully draw players' attention to the session. For example recently I ran a horror one shot which went surprisingly good and I managed to create such a good atmosphere that all the players were completely focused on the game, there was litterally no offtops.
>>46649602
Jeez man, lighten up. It's just a game. Chill.
>>46649454
>This series of pictures living their own lives
My current players tend to GREATLY overthink all issues.
I still remember their first session, an absolutely basic stuff intended as introduction to mechanics and for some - the sole concept of role-playing.
So the quests was given by the monks from remote monastery to stop bandits raiding the monastery and its premise.
Literally go to forest, track them, capture/kill them, get back to monastery, move on.
They've turned it into excruciating CAMPAIGN for SIX game sessions, one of characters dying in the process, two players dropping completely from the group and everyone being just sick and tired of playing.
And it's not helping they are "film illiterate", so it's not like I can give them some subtle clues and they will figure out the rest based on "wait, I saw that once in the...", because they didn't saw anything.
I mean they were fucking unable to play two gangs against each other, since they never saw For a fistful of dollars or any of its clones.
The funny thing is how I still enjoy hosting games for them and they still like to play this stuff after more than a year. But boy, oh boy, I really wish they would stop making a brain storm every five minutes about the slightest of issue or clue given. I still remember when they were dealing with side-quest to kill a monster living under a bridge and it took them 5 hours to decide to poison it, the way how to do it and then the way how to hack it.
And then spent another half hour trying to find someone to buy the carcass, because they just couldn't wrap their heads around the simple fact none of the locals was interested.
>>46649454
Our group does allot, we had an imfamous game of rogue trader which was almost unplayable for the amount of tangents we went off on (but hilarious). From this we created such gems as spending most of a session discussing the intracacies of turning the population of a mountain city on a feudal world into dwarves via the use of controlled eugenics and the decision to upgrade our crews rations from regular oats to quaker oats because apparently they taste 'slightly nicer' than regular oats. Mixing milk with these oats to make porridge was an offence punnishable by being thrown out the airlock.
Normally all my players will arrive and we'll spend about an hour bullshitting and goofing off. I'll start the session and everyone'll calm down and it'll be all good. Occasionally something so ridiculous will happen that we'll all break character and laugh about it, but we can all reel it in pretty easy.
>>46649680
>It's just a game
I had a player that'd show up late, do dumb stuff on purpose, and generally ruin sessions for everyone else use this excuse. Don't be that guy. A lot of time goes into a session.
>>46649495
>>46649680
My group gets together once a week for roughly 4-5 hours.
3 of those hours are spent looking at fucking stupid youtube videos or getting distracted by inane shit.
I was under the impression it was D&D night, not "lawl so randumb" internet humor night.
>>46649680
>just a game
Sick of this shitty niggerspeak. To many of us it's more of a storytelling experience than a game. Do you talk through movies? Do you walk up to people reading books and interrupt them?
If you want to be a fat piece of shit and quote Monty Python while pushing your dice around with your grubby Cheeto-dusted fingers and obsessing over "epic loot" and "shenanigans XD", then by all means go for it.
Just don't expect me to enjoy that approach to RPGs, because that's not what I come to D&D night for.
>>46649993
>All the good points
>And then he decided to bring D&D into equation
Seriously? This is your "high in role-playing" game?
>>46649905
>>46649925
>>46649993
Goddamn, didn't know pretending to be an elf was such serious business. You guys are getting really worked up over nothing.
>>46649454
I keep tally marks each time I'm interrupted, if it reaches 5 I cancel the session and tell my group "we'll try again next week". Only had to do it once, but I've never had a serious problem with being interrupted again
>hurrr why so serious XD
Because I run Delta Green and Call of Cthulhu, and nothing will kill the atmosphere faster than someone checking their laptop or carrying on side conversations
Half the session is investigation. Half of it is combat. The whole thing is sprinkled in with small in-game things that everyone changes or discusses and finds enjoyable.
Example: Last session the not!hulk and wolverine had a ten minute long philosophical discussion on the right of property and material value over the issue of who has to pay for candles.
>>46650195
For horror games, yes, you really need to focus.
For all other games, goofiness is part of the fun.
>>46650127
>>46650195
You know what?
I'm borrowing this idea. If it will work, I'm fully stealing it. Sounds fucking reasonable.
>>46650195
You could've just said that you're a passive aggressive cunt and been done with it.
>>46650288
Found the ADD laptop guy
>>46650377
Hey man, I don't know about you, but having the GM go "Hmm, looks like we'll have to end the session because ANON destroyed my carefully crafted atmosphere. Feel free to thank him later," because someone cracked a joke sounds like bullshit to me.
>>46650468
Have you actually ever played CoC? Or Delta Green?
Either you focus on the gameplay, or just leave if you are going to ruin the atmosphere. Because those games are ALL about creating and maintaining the atmosphere.
>>46649454
I take joking very seriously and I never tell jokes to my friends, unless it's a quality joke or if it's subtle enough to not break the flow of a conversation. Telling constant jokes can seriously be taxing on your social circle and it can also be a sign that there is something wrong with you on a physical level.
http://mentalfloss.com/article/76910/some-rare-instances-brain-damage-can-lead-joke-addiction
>>46650468
This is a standard way of dealing with people who keep disrupting the gameplay. Nobody cares about atmosphere, but if you are just there to flip your phone or sit on laptop - leave. It's just fucking disrespectful to both GM and other players, because you openly declare "I don't give a fuck".
>>46649993
Are you autistic?
>>46650721
You should never be checking out stuff on your phone when hanging out with friends anyway. It's crass as fucking hell and it displays a general disinterest of people in your surrounding.
They are just boring to be around.
>>46649993
Yeah, all RPG groups I have ever been in have just been a bunch of beer and pretzels tier assholes. Might as well just play boardgames instead. They are better structured for that kinda fun in mind.
>>46650786
Nope. He is obviously someone that wants something different out of a flexible hobby. Let me explain it to you in different terms, such as video games.
Here we have timmy and tony playing Mario.
>>Timmy
>Loves the music and level design along with the story.
>Wants to collect all the stars in a level before finishing.
>Takes his time and tries to unlock the secrets of the levels without looking online.
>Has fun.
>>Tony
>Likes to speed run through levels.
>Enemies are merely dots and minor challenges to be repeated over and over while going for the best time.
>Searches online for different tactics and tips for speed running certain levels.
>Has fun.
See? Two people can have entirely different ways to play the same game. Now replace Timmy with Roleplayers and Tony with Dungeon Crawlers and the example sticks.
>>46649454
We have lots of bants, but we keep it all IC.
It helps that we're filming a reality TV show, so excellent bants is good roleplaying.
>>46650048
System doesn't matter much if you're focused on RP. We use D&D because it's what we know. No need to constantly dive into splat books
>>46650904
When he is getting mad about it, and accuses others of being somehow lesser because they don't have fun the same way, yes, he's a fucking cunt, and you should not be defending him.
Your example should end with:
>Tony calls Timmy a stupid cunt because Timmy's fun is inherently lesser than Tony's fun
But it's bait anyway, so roll on.
>>46650944
>the system renowned for having the most issues with it's core book for the last 16 years
Yea, look, anon, if you choose to play D&D, go ahead, have fun.
But don't try to defend it with lies. Just say you like it and have fun, and you need not say anything more.
>>46650957
It's more like
>Tony says that it's okay to drench his game station in soda and cover the controller in cheeto dust because "It's just a game".
Btw has every Tyler you've met turn out to be a douchebag?
>>46650944
I remember playing a Swedish RPG called Eon that had rules and items for fucking everything. We had to constantly look up all kinds of stuff because it didn't occur to the GM to just improvise shit to avoid breaking the flow of the game.
Since then I have been a big fan of less being more.
>>46650996
>I don't like your fun hurrhurr
That's what it comes down to.
Stop trying to reuse the same bait.
>>46650904
Indeed, and I wouldn't mind it normally if it was executed under other situations, but the situation to play a rpg should be light and relaxed because you're getting together with your friends to play a game.
Of course, having some focus is desired, but the absolute objective of a game is to have fun, and being with a group with a different way to have fun is harmful for everyone involved.
Also, stupid comments during a narration mean something and should be considered during a session.
People getting distracted? They're not involved enough.
People joking here and there during your horror campaign? That's a defense mechanism to deal with stress, it can be exploited.
>>46650944
>mind control diplomacy
>ability checks that make no sense
>powerlevel going up to dragon ball tier
There are hundreds of games that make the RP aspect work better than D&D, consider giving them a shot.
>>46651041
DnD diplomacy is made with dungeoncrawling in mind.
>>46651064
Certainly, diplomacy is made quick and simple to solve situations in a sequential manner which can work wonders during dungeon delving, but its lack of depth is actually harmful for RP focused games.
>>46651064
My boy, roleplaying certainly has it's place in dungeoncrawls, but let's not pretend that systems built for dungeon crawls aren't suitable for much more than light roleplaying with occasional bursts of moderate to heavy roleplaying.
Personally, having banter and jokes is half the fun. We don't tend to take everything seriously, and immersion/actual voice roleplay isn't regarded too important.
I understand people who want a stricter RPG session, but I still don't understand people like
>>46649602
>>46649905
>>46649925
>>46649993
Fair enough if your group has mutually decided you want your sessions less jokey, but I can't imagine any non-autistic person not being able to deal with it and joke along.
>>46651092
I agree, but roleplaying actual diplomacy would also require insight into the hostile opponents. If the player is new and don't know what the hell a Bugbear is, running it dungeon delving style should be fine. It's kinda boring and unreasonable to have a player studying meta knowledge in a fictional setting instead of just having the player learn from experience.
>>46651017
I GM Eon and have done so for the last i don't even know years.
You have to improvise and houserule, since it's written in large part by freelancers, not everything meshes well, and many systems are extremely clunky, and some don't make even a bit of sense.
>>46651114
Wouldn't that mean half the complaints about dnd not doing x well being easily thrown out by its fans?
Sounds like an excuse for people still using it, really.
>>46651201
>Wouldn't that mean half the complaints about dnd not doing x well being easily thrown out by its fans?
Yep. A system performs optimally when you use it for the kind of game it was designed for and terribly when you use it for kinds of games completely unlike what it was designed for. Who would've thought?
>>46651201
Sort of.
Criticizing a car for not being able to drive up trees isn't valid... unless you're specifically trying to use a car to go up trees, in which case everyone is justified for telling you you're a fucking idiot.
"D&D sucks at political intrigue campaigns." = Immaterial; criticizing a duck for not being a swan.
"I think I'm gonna run a political intrigue campaign in D&D." "But it fucking sucks at that." = Valid, and all too common because "abluh but D&D is all I know and besides I'm sure I can houserule it abluh"
"D&D sucks at fantasy dungeoncrawling." = Also valid, since now you're telling a duck it's bad at being a duck.
>>46651187
Yeah, I remember there being a 10 minute holdup because I found a herb in an adventure module that wasn't explained what it was in the actual adventure module. It turns out we needed a separate module that we didn't possess just to find out what I picked up.
The combat system in Eon was fun, though. However, I rather just have a lot or things simplified - like having the money use the standard DnD gold/silver/copper system instead of having to figure out exchange rates.
>entire group is super into role-playing
>we can spend hours chatting in-character
>no dice rolls, no mechanics, just having a conversation
HOWEVER:
>GM is completely the opposite
>gets distracted while GMing, we have to goad him back into it
>asks players off-topic questions about sports and games
>cuts short our in-character chatter and asks us to "get back to the game"
>throws combat at us that we don't really want
>constantly has NPCs and monsters fight each other so he can do lots of dice rolling too
I don't know how this happened.
>>46651180
That's part of the funin my opinion, at least the bit of dealing with unknown foes. If you check out older versions of D&D, you may find that some custom character sheets included a "known enemies" list which is part of the character's curriculum and possible ways to know how to deal with them during future dungeon delving, but for more complex situations where you have to think twice what to do, having some extra options during "diplomacy phase" to approach your opponent is usefuland fun.
>>46651146
>but I still don't understand people like
Start playing horror games then.
You will understand instantly.
>>46651316
One easy way is to just reward the player with more XP for good roleplaying efforts and creativity.
>>46651336
Some peoples idea of horror might be campy stuff like Army of Darkness, though. Hell, Cthulhu is basically a meme monster now.
>>46651336
I play CoC almost exclusively nowadays and with different groups. If your group can't multitask having banter and being serious when the tension comes then you're with a group of malcontents and autists.
>>46651461
>Cthulhu is basically a meme monster now.
I wish you weren't right, but you are
>>46650195
>>46650266
>>46650278
>>46650645
>>46650721
This discussion reminds me of this essay:
http://johntynes.com/revland2000/rl_mofo.html
And this was written *before* mobile phones.
Playing in a game like this would be amazing. I don't think it's passive-aggressive or petty to have strict rules like this that enhance the fun for everyone.
>>46651379
Yeah, but is it really fun that way? It's like giving someone a good grade to someone in an assignment, but why should that assignment exist in the first place?
It's true that experience rewards can give good habits to players, but you shouldn't be holding the carrot in front of players to make things right.
>>46651482
Dracula, Godzilla and King Kong was regarded as scary back in the day. Their respective subject matters being the corruption of life, a walking nuclear holocaust and nature's primal rage against the post industrial era.
That's the price horror figures pay for fame.
>>46651533
If it's effective conditioning, you might as well use it.
I'd understand if it was something massively game-breaking like the best role-player gets a rare magic item at the end of each session, but a few bonus experience points here and there aren't hurting anyone.
And sure, you might just be able to talk to players and get them to roleplay more, or maybe you'll decide you don't want an RP-heavy game. But if you do like roleplaying and it makes the game more fun, the advantage here is that it'll also appeal to people who aren't really into it (since they get a tangible reward).
Yeah, it actually takes up more of the time than the RP, but we all have fun anyways.
>>46651533
Make it optional. The players can just do a diplomacy roll or they can actually try to be convincing. It worked fairy well for my That Group that I was a part of. The GM rewarded me with XP for not acting like a toddler murderhobo in our dungeoncrawler games, not kicking in all the doors and tripping over all the traps. It kinda made the other players act less like assholes due to their competative nature and they didn't want me to get ahead out of principle.
>tfw your group is powered by spite
>>46650195
My group would just tell you not to come back.
Being a srs-business shitler for rp's is garbage that-guy level behavior.
>>46649602
REEEEEE
>>46649454
My groups are half and half, so we strike a balance of serious roleplaying and pontless bantering. Plus we always crack jokes every time we get the chance.
>>46649602
This.
Fair enough if we've decided on a campaign being super 'lite' (or well, casual,) but if we've decided to do a serious campaign, I expect a SERIOUS party, and a SERIOUS approach.
>>46651517
I'm not even playing horrors and I'm taking those rules, since this looks easy to apply and efficient
>>46651533
>Giving exp as reward is bad
Then how the fuck are you suppose to both reward and empower the PCs, you stupid cunt?
>>46649454
My group came upon a barbarian fighting a bear, and the ranger tried to talk to the bear who said the guy attacked him. The rest of the players helped the barbarian but the ranger said "I'm taking the bears word for it" and everyone was cracking up for at least 5 minutes.
>>46652430
I'd say by fucking ur mom, but that would make players hit level 20 even before the first session
>>46651146
(I'm ..9993)
There's a lot of humor and lightheartedness in our games. It's just that it's in character or situational humor. Not a constant string of distractions and breaking the immersion. It tilts me to no end when people suddenly start talking about some shitty anime or whatever comic book in the middle of a session.
>>46652666
If a conversation about a anime is taking your players' attention away from your narrative, then your narrative is less interesting than that shitty anime.
>>46652645
Well I think most GMs would know their players or explain that there might be this kind of thing.
Horror films have jump scares and content people might be sensitive to, yet those are still going.
What was that weird horror show in New York or somewhere? The performers do live sex acts as you walk around the house. It sounded very strange.
>>46652847
>Being this tier retarded
>>46652934
That's exactly what's happening, dickwad. Sorry that your special snowflake campaign isn't appreciated by your players.
>>46653018
So let me get this straight.
Player 1 is a dickwad. He just came in, because he was hoping to bang Player 4 in her tits, but she's more interested in the game than him
So he starts scrolling 9gag on his phone
And this is somehow GM's fault.
Are you really trying to push for this, or "just pretending"?
>>46653112
>I know that someone is not interested in the game and only wants to fuck another player
>I'll invite him, I'm sure he'll be invested in the narrative!
You got what you deserved
>>46652847
Nice try faggot but that literally makes 0 sense
Also you're assuming this is "my narrative" rather than "the group's narrative".
>>46653246
Yeah, it doesn't make logical sense, why would someone invite a guy to a game that he's not interested into and proceed to complain about him in the internet?
I ask you, retard. I'm legitimately curious.
>>46653112
>And this is somehow GM's fault.
If GM can't engage the players it might be GM's fault. Or bad player. Possibly both.
>>46652847
>>46653182
>>46653358
>>46653358
He comes to play the game and since he isn't enjoying it he interrupts the fun of other people to spew his memes and anime quotes (which, contrary to your false beliefs, are cringe as fuck). You, kid, are the faggot.
>>46653424
Then why don't you kick him, you overgrown child?
>>46653449
Who said we don't kick out people like those?
But the damage is already done, you fucking cunt. The game was already disrupted
>oh no I accidentally posted a suggestive image on /tg/ I guess I'll have to keep posting poorly drawn suggestive furfag art teehee~~~
We all see what you're doing here, OP and it's fucking retarded.
>>46653471
Aw, poor thing! Your campaign was absolutely destroyed by a couple of jokes!
Grow a fucking pair and don't invite douchebags to your sessions, but considering how easy is to mess up your game, consider don't inviting people at all and write your masturbatory fantasies in your basement.
>>46653656
>>46653787
Is that Bowie?
>>46652666
>(I'm ..9993)
Hownew.ru
>>46654039
Not at all
He quoted multiple faggots so I wanted to clarify which faggot was responding
After a point, all the in character shit just gets too cringey for me.
50/50 banter/skull smashing for me
>>46651937
This but we have the tiniest scrap of decency and usually don't joke at the truly serious moments of a story. I actually break this rule more than anyone else in the group and I hate that have the least self control in that regard.
>>46654650
Unless the others are terrible roleplayers, why don't you play a board game? Not trying to be dismissive, I just mean if you don't like more than basic RP why not play some light-rp board game instead? It just sounds like you would enjoy that more.
>>46651715
I don't play with shitters anyway
>>46654750
More freedom in pen and paper games than games like monopoly.
>>46654750
Because I want to play an rpg? Not waving your opinion aside, but I think it odd that you think getting rowdy and rolling dice is only for board games and has no place in an rpg setting. The absolute best memories I have are with people who played like that, and the absolute worst experiences were with people who had to be in character all day erry day and would shit themselves if you didn't follow suite.
Strokes
>>46650696
That's not "constant jokes" as in "commonly makes jokes", if you read the actual article, the guy had a distinct obsession with jokes, even waking his wife up in the middle of the night, and had a complete lack of humor with regards to jokes not his own.
You can be a curmudgeon if you want, but don't accuse jokesters of having brain damage.
>>46650920
What show, m8?
>>46649454
Depends on how far it goes.
As long as it sticks to the game and doesn't last the entire night on one tangent, that's fine.
Even if it's a serious game, a few jokes are alright, sometimes even better.
Browsing your phone or silencing people because they made more than their joke quota are both terrible.
>>46650904
And don't forget Little Tommy!
He giggles whilst slowly pulling apart living things with his hands. Their screams make him long for the day he can get a boner so he can rub the warm blood of victims all over it. Over and over and over and-
What? It's called 'fun' Mr. Killjoy. It's all the same, right? It can't be 'bad' or 'wrong.'
STOP LIKING WHAT I DON'T LIKE
