I am a newish DM running my second campaign for a group of friends. We've had about 4 or 5 sessions now and for the most part I felt they were going pretty well - we are running a modified version The Shattered Obelisk and so far the players have arrived in the small town of Phandalin, explored the various goblin crime scenes, ran through a small, simple dungeon I designed to ease them back into dungeon-crawling and are now doing some downtime activities within the town. While I thought that everything was going good so far, one of my players expressed that they felt I was biased towards some of our other players, saying that I more often let their characters do what they wanted to do compared to her's. I personally did not notice this, but didn't want to discount the experience my player had. I've been thinking of incorporating some new rules to help manage player activity and to make sure all my players get a chance to do what they want to do, like a passive initiative system (link here). Before our next session, though, I wanted to post and ask if there's anything else I can do to avoid player favoritism or bias? I just want to make sure all my players are having an equally fun experience. Any advice would be appreciated!
Did your player offer any examples to help guide you? I won't be clicking that mystery link but I will assume it is a pretty novel idea. I would encourage you to not over-correct when this happens though. In our efforts to meet player needs sometimes we overlook that the best path forward is to just pay attention to our own choices more and not really do much else. You are now aware of a possible problem with you. It may be that you only need to be aware of this possibility and account for it when DMing, rather than making sweeping and possibly unnecessary changes to your game.
I mean, if this is one session then no one really has enough data to go on. It's a rare session where everyone truly gets to share the spotlight equally; doesn't hurt to be mindfully of it, but I wouldn't try implementing any homebrews into your game based on it, especially for a soft area like roleplay. If they're still unhappy after another session or two, ask for some examples.
As a GM, I've encountered this problem. It's possible some of the problem rests with me - but I'll say this: Some players just have bad ideas. 'How come my ideas never work?' Because you don't pay attention, that's why. You want to fireball what I just described as a heavy stone door. You're welcome to waste a spell slot, but it will make precisely zero impression on the door. Go ahead.
That was like literally a decade ago, and I'm still slightly annoyed, I can feel - it was a long session =)
Anyways, point is: It needn't be your fault, but when you turn down a players favourite idea, give them a nice logical explanation for why it wouldn't work.
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
I agree that the first step shouldn't be an elaborate plan to regulate your actions. It's going to be onerous to maintain and honestly, it's likely to have unintended side effects like removing spontaneity.
Ask yourself these questions during and after the sessions:
How often is each player getting to contribute? Is anyone getting squeezed out?
How often is each player getting talked over?
Am I being even-handed in my approach, especially with the aggrieved player?
How often am I saying no? Do I really need to be saying it that often?
One of the key skills to master in D&D is the "Yes! And..." approach. The idea is that you shouldn't really being say no all that often, if at all. I can't remember the last time I said no to a player. Instead, you do your level best to make it work. Of it's not something that you can say yes to straight, then offer an alternative suggestion that does something very similar but does work.
Some times a player can be silly and just suggests disruptive things and you have to say no. Most of the time though, you can either just say yes, or offer something else that will help them with their goal.
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If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
As a DM, part of my job is to make sure everyone is involved. I let my players do their thing, to a point. If I haven’t heard from a player for a while, sometimes I will address them directly and ask them what their actions are. Other times, I will give certain rolls to certain characters. Yes the fighter and ranger can both use tracking, I’d like the ranger to roll their check first, because they are the ranger.
1) Dice. Make sure you are using dice as much as possible to adjudicate situations. This visualize of players succeeding with the chance of failure should help alleviate some of the concerns of favoritism in rulings. Now not ever situation will require a roll, so this option might not apply. But if you tend to say to other players "Ok, sounds good" and let them proceed without making a roll attempt, and another player is being told "No" or having very difficult DC rolls then I can see how the latter will be questioning a bias.
2) Use table initiative to poll the players for actions, ideas, suggestions, etc. For example, number positions at the table and roll a die (the DM position is optional) and as the person at that position of the numbered roll "What do you want to do?". Then go counter clockwise asking each player for their plans. This is incorporating a system to give everyone a chance to be heard and involved.
3) Track players who are speaking up more, and as the session continues, make an effort to address a different player as situations arrive. If a more vocal player tries to chime in, remind them you are talking to different player at the time. Do your best to give each player the opportunity to engage and have a voice to make their suggestions. You might get distracted because another player has a "better idea"; but this is a game and not real world evaluation with significant implications on life so it is ok to not always poll for the best options. Instead allow everyone a chance to speak up and offer input.
4) When you say "No" make sure you follow up with one of the following:
a) Reference the game mechanics to justify the ruling. This can be the spell description, cost for the action (BA, RA, 1 Minute, or Full Action), or a requirement for effect. This helps to confirm the ruling and educates the players for future instances. b) Explain why the player cannot do something, and if applicable, describe what may be attempted. For example, you tell the player they cannot climb the wall because the stone is smooth and nothing to grab onto; they would need mountain climbing equipment and with that it would be a DC 20. I would suggest in this instance, it is ok to share the DC value because you are trying to justify the difficulty to the player. Help the players visualize why you are making difficult to impossible rulings; remember this is theatre of the mind and they need assistance in setting the scene. c) Ask the player what ultimately they are trying to achieve. Climbing the wall isn't the main objective. The main objective is to escape or infiltrate. Help them talk through ideas so they can come up with other plans that are more attainable.
As a DM I go around the table one at a time asking each player what they want to accomplish Make a note of what they want to do is and move on to the next player.
1) Dice. Make sure you are using dice as much as possible to adjudicate situations. This visualize of players succeeding with the chance of failure should help alleviate some of the concerns of favoritism in rulings. Now not ever situation will require a roll, so this option might not apply. But if you tend to say to other players "Ok, sounds good" and let them proceed without making a roll attempt, and another player is being told "No" or having very difficult DC rolls then I can see how the latter will be questioning a bias.
2) Use table initiative to poll the players for actions, ideas, suggestions, etc. For example, number positions at the table and roll a die (the DM position is optional) and as the person at that position of the numbered roll "What do you want to do?". Then go counter clockwise asking each player for their plans. This is incorporating a system to give everyone a chance to be heard and involved.
3) Track players who are speaking up more, and as the session continues, make an effort to address a different player as situations arrive. If a more vocal player tries to chime in, remind them you are talking to different player at the time. Do your best to give each player the opportunity to engage and have a voice to make their suggestions. You might get distracted because another player has a "better idea"; but this is a game and not real world evaluation with significant implications on life so it is ok to not always poll for the best options. Instead allow everyone a chance to speak up and offer input.
4) When you say "No" make sure you follow up with one of the following:
a) Reference the game mechanics to justify the ruling. This can be the spell description, cost for the action (BA, RA, 1 Minute, or Full Action), or a requirement for effect. This helps to confirm the ruling and educates the players for future instances. b) Explain why the player cannot do something, and if applicable, describe what may be attempted. For example, you tell the player they cannot climb the wall because the stone is smooth and nothing to grab onto; they would need mountain climbing equipment and with that it would be a DC 20. I would suggest in this instance, it is ok to share the DC value because you are trying to justify the difficulty to the player. Help the players visualize why you are making difficult to impossible rulings; remember this is theatre of the mind and they need assistance in setting the scene. c) Ask the player what ultimately they are trying to achieve. Climbing the wall isn't the main objective. The main objective is to escape or infiltrate. Help them talk through ideas so they can come up with other plans that are more attainable.
Thank you for the advice! I'll definitely try to utilize some of these approaches next session.
One of the issues is to make sure you that you are clear about things as early as possible. Do not do things like say "Oh, I forgot to mention, there fireball is a 4th level spell in my world" after someone has already learned it. That is something you say when you are making the characters, not after 5 levels. This lets players plan ahead, which is key.
Another issue is to make sure you understand the everything before hand and if you make a mistake eat it. For example if someone draws Xs to represent traps and you forget about it and move a monster on an X, that monster is in the trap. If you thought trolls regenerate from all non-fire damage but then realize later they do not regenerate at all the round they take any fire damage, accept it.
Note, you can always say "Next comes the Troll King, who seems to be wearing a burning crown and regenerating anyway." A uber boss that follows it's own rules is OK if you make it clear this is done on purpose ahead of time.
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I am a newish DM running my second campaign for a group of friends. We've had about 4 or 5 sessions now and for the most part I felt they were going pretty well - we are running a modified version The Shattered Obelisk and so far the players have arrived in the small town of Phandalin, explored the various goblin crime scenes, ran through a small, simple dungeon I designed to ease them back into dungeon-crawling and are now doing some downtime activities within the town. While I thought that everything was going good so far, one of my players expressed that they felt I was biased towards some of our other players, saying that I more often let their characters do what they wanted to do compared to her's. I personally did not notice this, but didn't want to discount the experience my player had. I've been thinking of incorporating some new rules to help manage player activity and to make sure all my players get a chance to do what they want to do, like a passive initiative system (link here). Before our next session, though, I wanted to post and ask if there's anything else I can do to avoid player favoritism or bias? I just want to make sure all my players are having an equally fun experience. Any advice would be appreciated!
Did your player offer any examples to help guide you? I won't be clicking that mystery link but I will assume it is a pretty novel idea. I would encourage you to not over-correct when this happens though. In our efforts to meet player needs sometimes we overlook that the best path forward is to just pay attention to our own choices more and not really do much else. You are now aware of a possible problem with you. It may be that you only need to be aware of this possibility and account for it when DMing, rather than making sweeping and possibly unnecessary changes to your game.
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I mean, if this is one session then no one really has enough data to go on. It's a rare session where everyone truly gets to share the spotlight equally; doesn't hurt to be mindfully of it, but I wouldn't try implementing any homebrews into your game based on it, especially for a soft area like roleplay. If they're still unhappy after another session or two, ask for some examples.
As a GM, I've encountered this problem. It's possible some of the problem rests with me - but I'll say this: Some players just have bad ideas. 'How come my ideas never work?' Because you don't pay attention, that's why. You want to fireball what I just described as a heavy stone door. You're welcome to waste a spell slot, but it will make precisely zero impression on the door. Go ahead.
That was like literally a decade ago, and I'm still slightly annoyed, I can feel - it was a long session =)
Anyways, point is: It needn't be your fault, but when you turn down a players favourite idea, give them a nice logical explanation for why it wouldn't work.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
I agree that the first step shouldn't be an elaborate plan to regulate your actions. It's going to be onerous to maintain and honestly, it's likely to have unintended side effects like removing spontaneity.
Ask yourself these questions during and after the sessions:
One of the key skills to master in D&D is the "Yes! And..." approach. The idea is that you shouldn't really being say no all that often, if at all. I can't remember the last time I said no to a player. Instead, you do your level best to make it work. Of it's not something that you can say yes to straight, then offer an alternative suggestion that does something very similar but does work.
Some times a player can be silly and just suggests disruptive things and you have to say no. Most of the time though, you can either just say yes, or offer something else that will help them with their goal.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
As a DM, part of my job is to make sure everyone is involved. I let my players do their thing, to a point. If I haven’t heard from a player for a while, sometimes I will address them directly and ask them what their actions are. Other times, I will give certain rolls to certain characters. Yes the fighter and ranger can both use tracking, I’d like the ranger to roll their check first, because they are the ranger.
1) Dice. Make sure you are using dice as much as possible to adjudicate situations. This visualize of players succeeding with the chance of failure should help alleviate some of the concerns of favoritism in rulings. Now not ever situation will require a roll, so this option might not apply. But if you tend to say to other players "Ok, sounds good" and let them proceed without making a roll attempt, and another player is being told "No" or having very difficult DC rolls then I can see how the latter will be questioning a bias.
2) Use table initiative to poll the players for actions, ideas, suggestions, etc. For example, number positions at the table and roll a die (the DM position is optional) and as the person at that position of the numbered roll "What do you want to do?". Then go counter clockwise asking each player for their plans. This is incorporating a system to give everyone a chance to be heard and involved.
3) Track players who are speaking up more, and as the session continues, make an effort to address a different player as situations arrive. If a more vocal player tries to chime in, remind them you are talking to different player at the time. Do your best to give each player the opportunity to engage and have a voice to make their suggestions. You might get distracted because another player has a "better idea"; but this is a game and not real world evaluation with significant implications on life so it is ok to not always poll for the best options. Instead allow everyone a chance to speak up and offer input.
4) When you say "No" make sure you follow up with one of the following:
a) Reference the game mechanics to justify the ruling. This can be the spell description, cost for the action (BA, RA, 1 Minute, or Full Action), or a requirement for effect. This helps to confirm the ruling and educates the players for future instances.
b) Explain why the player cannot do something, and if applicable, describe what may be attempted. For example, you tell the player they cannot climb the wall because the stone is smooth and nothing to grab onto; they would need mountain climbing equipment and with that it would be a DC 20. I would suggest in this instance, it is ok to share the DC value because you are trying to justify the difficulty to the player. Help the players visualize why you are making difficult to impossible rulings; remember this is theatre of the mind and they need assistance in setting the scene.
c) Ask the player what ultimately they are trying to achieve. Climbing the wall isn't the main objective. The main objective is to escape or infiltrate. Help them talk through ideas so they can come up with other plans that are more attainable.
How long has the player been playing 5e, and what class are they playing?
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Thank you! I appreciate the advice. Apologies on the link!
As a DM I go around the table one at a time asking each player what they want to accomplish Make a note of what they want to do is and move on to the next player.
Thank you for the advice! I'll definitely try to utilize some of these approaches next session.
This is their second campaign in 5e (and TTRPGs in general) and they are playing a Tiefling fighter.
One of the issues is to make sure you that you are clear about things as early as possible. Do not do things like say "Oh, I forgot to mention, there fireball is a 4th level spell in my world" after someone has already learned it. That is something you say when you are making the characters, not after 5 levels. This lets players plan ahead, which is key.
Another issue is to make sure you understand the everything before hand and if you make a mistake eat it. For example if someone draws Xs to represent traps and you forget about it and move a monster on an X, that monster is in the trap. If you thought trolls regenerate from all non-fire damage but then realize later they do not regenerate at all the round they take any fire damage, accept it.
Note, you can always say "Next comes the Troll King, who seems to be wearing a burning crown and regenerating anyway." A uber boss that follows it's own rules is OK if you make it clear this is done on purpose ahead of time.