Hello there, I have been dming for over a year and have more or less gotten a good grip on how to run a good game for my players. However, in my last session the players were on a ghost ship trying to retrieve an important item. They were battling a construct who was trying to safeguard said item but three of the five players got it and magicked away to their ship to keep the item safe. I think they were only the assumption that their companions would follow but the only two chose to stay.
The construct they were battling was close to dead so they wanted to stay and finish it off despite struggling. Since the other 3 players already left the scene, I did two rounds of combat with just those two players to speed things up. However, this took longer due to dice rolls making it hard to hit and the other three players wanted to join back in after 30 min of waiting. I allowed it as I didn't want to last longer as I sensed people wanting to end for the night. The other three rejoined and it ended when one of the other players did the final kill.
At the end, one of two players who stayed behind to fight messages me. He said the moment felt taken away from him as it felt anticlimactic and in battle, the others would only have been away for less than 30 seconds. Looking back, I should of told the other players that they can start making checks or start their way back but haven't let them rejoin battle at that moment. Things were drawing out and I was trying to end session as we were an hour later than usual.
The player who messaged me isn't mad or angry. He's also a dm so he understands the DM POV of the situation but he wanted to have that bonding moment with the other player who stayed behind in the fight and also thinks the he should of had the final kill than the players who just rejoined. No one did anything wrong but I want to find a way to give them that bonding moment next session.
No reconning but I played with the idea of the ghost ship now breaking. Where the mast falls and breaks the ship in two. One group on one side and the other two in the other. Where each group has to try to get out as debris fals on them. That will give some good rp opportunities for the two who stayed behind to fight as they now have to try to survive together. However, I'm not sure this is the route I should go. I want to make it up to those two but don't want to make the others feel punished as they didn't want their friends to die. What are your thoughts of the situation?
Well, it's a bit of a stretch, but what if the BBEG was watching the fight (or tuned in late) and saw the pair fighting his minion. He (or she, or it) is pissed and magically whisks the pair to a demi-plane where a new guardian awaits them to dole out punishment for the destruction of the construct. This punisher might even have a clue on it to help the group identify the master? Could be a violent, but brief battle, with the PC's poofing in a puff of smoke as the creature falls, reappearing on the ship with their friends.
Kind of cheesy maybe, but offers an opportunity for the pair to get the satisfaction of a win and develop a bit more of a bond. Not overly unrealistic, as maybe the boss was only "pinged" when his minion was badly hurt.
Given that you acknowledge the situation and actually care, I expect whatever route you choose should satisfy the players as I am sure they will recognize the extra effort put in to give them their moment as it were.
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Talk to your Players.Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
30 minutes for 2 rounds of combat involving 2 PCs and 1 NPC?
I'd be wanting back in as a player if I saw combat going that slowly too - especially after 30 minutes only seeing 2 combat rounds occur.
My feeling exactly. If I've been waiting a fortnight to play, say, four hours of D&D, I want to play for those four hours. What I don't want to do is sit disconnected from this scene watching three people punching at thin air because their dice are failing them.
I appreciate bonding moments, and sometimes those moments are even greater when someone says "we have to go. Now." There can be some great RP moments with nearly besting the foe and arguing about how they could've taken the golem if only this, that and t'other, or meeting with a glorious end (see Warhammer Fantasy's Slayers). Other moments may come about in the future, but this wasn't theirs. The dice weren't in their favour, an ordinary circumstance in a dice-based game.
As for giving them their moment in the next session, I don't think they're going to get the same satisfaction from it. It feels like ticking a box, and the players would again have to sit to one side because the dissatisfied player has been designated to have that session's The Moment™.
Either play with the idea of the ship falling apart (their bond strengthening will only help their chances of escape) or carry on as you had originally intended, but at least you've learnt to recognise a player's behaviour and what they want out of the session. If they don't give feedback, you can't act on it. It's also good they're willing to talk about these things, it shows confidence in your ability to DM for them.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Zero is the most important number in D&D: Session Zero sets the boundaries and the tone; Rule Zero dictates the Dungeon Master (DM) is the final arbiter; and Zero D&D is better than Bad D&D.
"Let us speak plainly now, and in earnest, for words mean little without the weight of conviction."
I don't think you need to worry about "fixing" the moment. Just take this as a learning opportunity, and when something like this happens again, you can fix it by not repeating the mistake.
Learning is a constant process, and mistakes are a crucial part of it. You don't need to fix every mistake, but you can at least assure the player that they've been heard and that you'll consider this lesson going forward.
The only mistake you need to really apologize for is one you keep making.
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Hello there, I have been dming for over a year and have more or less gotten a good grip on how to run a good game for my players. However, in my last session the players were on a ghost ship trying to retrieve an important item. They were battling a construct who was trying to safeguard said item but three of the five players got it and magicked away to their ship to keep the item safe. I think they were only the assumption that their companions would follow but the only two chose to stay.
The construct they were battling was close to dead so they wanted to stay and finish it off despite struggling. Since the other 3 players already left the scene, I did two rounds of combat with just those two players to speed things up. However, this took longer due to dice rolls making it hard to hit and the other three players wanted to join back in after 30 min of waiting. I allowed it as I didn't want to last longer as I sensed people wanting to end for the night. The other three rejoined and it ended when one of the other players did the final kill.
At the end, one of two players who stayed behind to fight messages me. He said the moment felt taken away from him as it felt anticlimactic and in battle, the others would only have been away for less than 30 seconds. Looking back, I should of told the other players that they can start making checks or start their way back but haven't let them rejoin battle at that moment. Things were drawing out and I was trying to end session as we were an hour later than usual.
The player who messaged me isn't mad or angry. He's also a dm so he understands the DM POV of the situation but he wanted to have that bonding moment with the other player who stayed behind in the fight and also thinks the he should of had the final kill than the players who just rejoined. No one did anything wrong but I want to find a way to give them that bonding moment next session.
No reconning but I played with the idea of the ghost ship now breaking. Where the mast falls and breaks the ship in two. One group on one side and the other two in the other. Where each group has to try to get out as debris fals on them. That will give some good rp opportunities for the two who stayed behind to fight as they now have to try to survive together. However, I'm not sure this is the route I should go. I want to make it up to those two but don't want to make the others feel punished as they didn't want their friends to die. What are your thoughts of the situation?
Well, it's a bit of a stretch, but what if the BBEG was watching the fight (or tuned in late) and saw the pair fighting his minion. He (or she, or it) is pissed and magically whisks the pair to a demi-plane where a new guardian awaits them to dole out punishment for the destruction of the construct. This punisher might even have a clue on it to help the group identify the master? Could be a violent, but brief battle, with the PC's poofing in a puff of smoke as the creature falls, reappearing on the ship with their friends.
Kind of cheesy maybe, but offers an opportunity for the pair to get the satisfaction of a win and develop a bit more of a bond. Not overly unrealistic, as maybe the boss was only "pinged" when his minion was badly hurt.
Given that you acknowledge the situation and actually care, I expect whatever route you choose should satisfy the players as I am sure they will recognize the extra effort put in to give them their moment as it were.
Talk to your Players. Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
30 minutes for 2 rounds of combat involving 2 PCs and 1 NPC?
I'd be wanting back in as a player if I saw combat going that slowly too - especially after 30 minutes only seeing 2 combat rounds occur.
My feeling exactly. If I've been waiting a fortnight to play, say, four hours of D&D, I want to play for those four hours. What I don't want to do is sit disconnected from this scene watching three people punching at thin air because their dice are failing them.
I appreciate bonding moments, and sometimes those moments are even greater when someone says "we have to go. Now." There can be some great RP moments with nearly besting the foe and arguing about how they could've taken the golem if only this, that and t'other, or meeting with a glorious end (see Warhammer Fantasy's Slayers). Other moments may come about in the future, but this wasn't theirs. The dice weren't in their favour, an ordinary circumstance in a dice-based game.
As for giving them their moment in the next session, I don't think they're going to get the same satisfaction from it. It feels like ticking a box, and the players would again have to sit to one side because the dissatisfied player has been designated to have that session's The Moment™.
Either play with the idea of the ship falling apart (their bond strengthening will only help their chances of escape) or carry on as you had originally intended, but at least you've learnt to recognise a player's behaviour and what they want out of the session. If they don't give feedback, you can't act on it. It's also good they're willing to talk about these things, it shows confidence in your ability to DM for them.
Zero is the most important number in D&D: Session Zero sets the boundaries and the tone; Rule Zero dictates the Dungeon Master (DM) is the final arbiter; and Zero D&D is better than Bad D&D.
"Let us speak plainly now, and in earnest, for words mean little without the weight of conviction."
- The Assemblage of Houses, World of Warcraft
I don't think you need to worry about "fixing" the moment. Just take this as a learning opportunity, and when something like this happens again, you can fix it by not repeating the mistake.
Learning is a constant process, and mistakes are a crucial part of it. You don't need to fix every mistake, but you can at least assure the player that they've been heard and that you'll consider this lesson going forward.
The only mistake you need to really apologize for is one you keep making.