I very recently began a campaign online with a few of my close friends. Two of which I have been playing with rather consistently over the past year or so, and the other two we have only recently began playing with again. Now, I am well aware of the challenges that online play brings (all of my campaigns have been online thus far), but this is a stranger kind of disengagement. The two are in love with their characters (they have connected backstories and are family) and are more than enthusiastic to play. During combat they are well engaged and during things involving either of their characters. Otherwise they are checked out, either on their phones or out of frame. They’ve both also made little effort to roleplay with the other two. It’s hard to control electronics while online, especially since we utilize D&D Beyond for character sheets. But through my many searches on Reddit I haven’t found a great answer for this situation. Any help would be appreciated greatly!
Just for more information; 1. I did have a session zero, these two have never been great about writing down backstories and such though. I’ve been trying to get that out of them recently but that’s been a whole other struggle.
2 .It’s not like they don’t like to roleplay, it seems that they do. Just, only with each other. I realized I forgot to add that their two characters bicker a lot and being online they haven’t really picked up the cues when to stop.
3. I have talked about this with the other two players and they don’t mind too much the lack of rp between them and the problem players, more that their bickering and inter-personal roleplaying getting in the way of their roleplaying and interaction with the story (if that makes any sense).
4. This problem came about rather recently. In previous sessions they were completely engaged, but then the sessions were not very story centric yet.
5. They are OBSESSED with their characters and their backstory, it’s pretty much the only thing they talk about with me outside of game. So I don’t have to worry about them not wanting to play, because they are so eager to do so. But it seems they don’t care about the story or full plot of the campaign.
Maybe remind them that ALL characters have a reason to be in the party adventuring. That means they have to interact with the party, otherwise, the party has good reason to ditch their characters.
Yeah, there's some Main Character Syndrome going on. A gentle reminder that this is a collaborative game and the adventure is meant to be shared with all members of the party, working together, might be in order here. It's great that they are invested in their characters, but they need to be respectful players as well. Their fun doesn't need to eclipse everyone else's. Moreover, you can even strategize with them about how to tie their characters in with the other members of the party so in-game relationships can flourish. Look at this as a brainstorming conversation, not a disciplinary one.
I recommend an OOC, private conversation to start with. This is a player issue, not a story issue. Once you have that conversation, however, you also have some DMing tools at your disposal to help them integrate with the rest of the party.
One tactic could be to split them up - a cave-in forces them to partner up with other members of the party to escape. An NPC benefactor has a task suited to specific pairings in the party and they have to work with different people to achieve their goals. An experimental magic item makes it so each of them can hear one of the other party member's thoughts for a day. Basically, you can construct a scenario that forces them to interact with other people and hopefully do some bonding.
Another tactic is to give one of them and another player a spotlight arc. Something linking them together forces the whole party to band together to solve a problem or pursue a quest for a couple sessions. Integrate them with the others via McGuffins and Plot Flotsam. You can do this with a spotlight arc on the two of them as well, but I fear it'll just put gas on the fire instead of sating their cravings for the story to be about them and them alone.
Ultimately, you're on the right track with this. You recognize that there's an issue and something you should address. Not enough DMs even get to this point, so good on you. Best wishes as you work with your players on this!
To answer the question in the title: give your monsters Sentinel.
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Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny. Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
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I very recently began a campaign online with a few of my close friends. Two of which I have been playing with rather consistently over the past year or so, and the other two we have only recently began playing with again. Now, I am well aware of the challenges that online play brings (all of my campaigns have been online thus far), but this is a stranger kind of disengagement. The two are in love with their characters (they have connected backstories and are family) and are more than enthusiastic to play. During combat they are well engaged and during things involving either of their characters. Otherwise they are checked out, either on their phones or out of frame. They’ve both also made little effort to roleplay with the other two. It’s hard to control electronics while online, especially since we utilize D&D Beyond for character sheets. But through my many searches on Reddit I haven’t found a great answer for this situation. Any help would be appreciated greatly!
Just for more information;
1. I did have a session zero, these two have never been great about writing down backstories and such though. I’ve been trying to get that out of them recently but that’s been a whole other struggle.
2 .It’s not like they don’t like to roleplay, it seems that they do. Just, only with each other. I realized I forgot to add that their two characters bicker a lot and being online they haven’t really picked up the cues when to stop.
3. I have talked about this with the other two players and they don’t mind too much the lack of rp between them and the problem players, more that their bickering and inter-personal roleplaying getting in the way of their roleplaying and interaction with the story (if that makes any sense).
4. This problem came about rather recently. In previous sessions they were completely engaged, but then the sessions were not very story centric yet.
5. They are OBSESSED with their characters and their backstory, it’s pretty much the only thing they talk about with me outside of game. So I don’t have to worry about them not wanting to play, because they are so eager to do so. But it seems they don’t care about the story or full plot of the campaign.
Maybe remind them that ALL characters have a reason to be in the party adventuring. That means they have to interact with the party, otherwise, the party has good reason to ditch their characters.
Yeah, there's some Main Character Syndrome going on. A gentle reminder that this is a collaborative game and the adventure is meant to be shared with all members of the party, working together, might be in order here. It's great that they are invested in their characters, but they need to be respectful players as well. Their fun doesn't need to eclipse everyone else's. Moreover, you can even strategize with them about how to tie their characters in with the other members of the party so in-game relationships can flourish. Look at this as a brainstorming conversation, not a disciplinary one.
I recommend an OOC, private conversation to start with. This is a player issue, not a story issue. Once you have that conversation, however, you also have some DMing tools at your disposal to help them integrate with the rest of the party.
One tactic could be to split them up - a cave-in forces them to partner up with other members of the party to escape. An NPC benefactor has a task suited to specific pairings in the party and they have to work with different people to achieve their goals. An experimental magic item makes it so each of them can hear one of the other party member's thoughts for a day. Basically, you can construct a scenario that forces them to interact with other people and hopefully do some bonding.
Another tactic is to give one of them and another player a spotlight arc. Something linking them together forces the whole party to band together to solve a problem or pursue a quest for a couple sessions. Integrate them with the others via McGuffins and Plot Flotsam. You can do this with a spotlight arc on the two of them as well, but I fear it'll just put gas on the fire instead of sating their cravings for the story to be about them and them alone.
Ultimately, you're on the right track with this. You recognize that there's an issue and something you should address. Not enough DMs even get to this point, so good on you. Best wishes as you work with your players on this!
To answer the question in the title: give your monsters Sentinel.
Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny.
Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)