So I am running D&D5e for some of the middle school kids at the public library, but the question is more general than system.
Because of some difficulties traveling (bad roll), they had a random encounter with a group of gnolls that was meant as an obstacle. I tried to depict the gnolls as big and very dangerous. I had some of the gnolls leave in small groups to scout but made it clear that they weren’t too far away. I let them spy the group without being discovered, and they were discussing options of sneaking around but losing time vs. a risky distraction that would let them barge through – when the paladin decides to literally shout Leroy Jenkins and charge into the group. I asked, “Really, are you sure you want to do this? You’ll be outnumbered, there’s more out there, and the rest of the group wants to avoid combat,” he still wanted to charge.
Long story story short, he and another player have dead characters, two other kids are running but are being chased, and only 1 kid has a character who actually snuck away. I’m not worried about it fictionally, but how do you manage your group dynamic when one player torpedoes the game? Especially if their ages are 12-14, and there is out of game dating drama that I don’t get involved in going on as well? And the kid who started the whole ball rolling just returned to the group after a summer hiatus?
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My thought is to run a game/story where one player can’t torpedo things, just produce different interesting results. Basically, have something where the expectation is not that the PCs are always working together, but instead can sometimes at least work at cross purposes.
My thought is to run a game/story where one player can’t torpedo things, just produce different interesting results. Basically, have something where the expectation is not that the PCs are always working together, but instead can sometimes at least work at cross purposes.
If the group is consistent and/or the gaming meetup is somewhat formal, I’d take time to discuss group aims. Does everyone here want to have fun, and if so, how do we make games fun for ourselves and others? These are the type of group agreements that students are already familiar with in classrooms, so you’re just extending that covenant to the table.
Long story short, it’s not fun to be a dick and crap on other people’s plans, and socially speaking, that behavior will get folks pissed at you. So discussing and modeling why group game fun is important will help remind kids why these same social rules apply when rolling dice.
If the group is consistent and/or the gaming meetup is somewhat formal, I’d take time to discuss group aims. Does everyone here want to have fun, and if so, how do we make games fun for ourselves and others? These are the type of group agreements that students are already familiar with in classrooms, so you’re just extending that covenant to the table.
Long story short, it’s not fun to be a dick and crap on other people’s plans, and socially speaking, that behavior will get folks pissed at you. So discussing and modeling why group game fun is important will help remind kids why these same social rules apply when rolling dice.
To be fair, the kid wasn’t doing what he was doing to be a jerk. Yeah, I think a group talk about what is fun would be a good idea. I couldn’t take away his agency and say he wasn’t allowed to do something, but if the other kids felt like they could speak up and said that it wasn’t the direction they wanted to go in, that could have avoided the issue. Like I said, there was also some out of game social dynamics at work there that complicated things.
To be fair, the kid wasn’t doing what he was doing to be a jerk. Yeah, I think a group talk about what is fun would be a good idea. I couldn’t take away his agency and say he wasn’t allowed to do something, but if the other kids felt like they could speak up and said that it wasn’t the direction they wanted to go in, that could have avoided the issue. Like I said, there was also some out of game social dynamics at work there that complicated things.
Kids date in middle school? And play D&D?!
I always think character death is important. It raises the stakes and reminds player that this is not like a video game. There are no saves and not extra lives. It makes player behave rationally and realize that non-combat solutions are important and impactful. PCs will start behaving more rationally- offering gold, talk, and & service to powerful NPCs/Monsters (which is a fun quest in its own right). Which never happens in a video game.
To help character death not slow down the game as a whole, I’d suggest everyone roll a secondary character as backup.
And don’t get involve in their personal drama- use it to teach them how to behave. We all don’t always like our exes, but sometimes you have to learn to be nice in a group.
Kids date in middle school? And play D&D?!
I always think character death is important. It raises the stakes and reminds player that this is not like a video game. There are no saves and not extra lives. It makes player behave rationally and realize that non-combat solutions are important and impactful. PCs will start behaving more rationally- offering gold, talk, and & service to powerful NPCs/Monsters (which is a fun quest in its own right). Which never happens in a video game.
To help character death not slow down the game as a whole, I’d suggest everyone roll a secondary character as backup.
And don’t get involve in their personal drama- use it to teach them how to behave. We all don’t always like our exes, but sometimes you have to learn to be nice in a group.
One of the most important things to remember about role playing is that it is cooperative story telling. Clearly there were things to paladin’s player could have done differently out of respect to the other players, but you asked what you could do as a GM. And I would say resect the players right to tell the story they want to play. That means that sometimes you spend hours preparing stuff that has to be thrown out (or at least filed away for latter) and you just have to go off your cuff.
I wish i could find a link for an article Tracy Hickman wrote about “Gorilla Dungeoning”. It basically advocates exactly what the paladin did.
As GMs sometimes we forget how planning out exactly what the best thing do do next can really slow down and make playing the game less fun for some players. Especially if what is the best thing to do isn’t really what that player’s character is good at.
What for one player may be a cool opportunity to plan and role play, turns out to be an hour sitting around the room not really doing anything for another player.
The GM has so much control over the game and the players have relatively little. Players can and should be allowed to make the game fun for themselves.
One of the most important things to remember about role playing is that it is cooperative story telling. Clearly there were things to paladin’s player could have done differently out of respect to the other players, but you asked what you could do as a GM. And I would say resect the players right to tell the story they want to play. That means that sometimes you spend hours preparing stuff that has to be thrown out (or at least filed away for latter) and you just have to go off your cuff.
I wish i could find a link for an article Tracy Hickman wrote about “Gorilla Dungeoning”. It basically advocates exactly what the paladin did.
As GMs sometimes we forget how planning out exactly what the best thing do do next can really slow down and make playing the game less fun for some players. Especially if what is the best thing to do isn’t really what that player’s character is good at.
What for one player may be a cool opportunity to plan and role play, turns out to be an hour sitting around the room not really doing anything for another player.
The GM has so much control over the game and the players have relatively little. Players can and should be allowed to make the game fun for themselves.