So I'm currently running a DnD campaign and we have been doing one once every two weeks since session 1. However I have 7 players and they are somewhat hard to manage, all of them are my friends and enjoy dnd, some more than others. Two of the seven are somewhat less interested but also want to be included, and I don't want to actually kick them out of my campaign especially because I love their characters and actually homebrewed one of their races. I want to find some really good ways to keep some players intrested in the game, in their seats, and invested in roleplaying and thinking outside the box. Any suggestions to keep them hooked?
I mainly asked the ones that who weren't being a little bit unruly, and they responded I should just ditch them. But I want to try and be empathetic and give them a chance to step their game up.
7 players is a lot and it's not on you, as DM, to build the story *AND* keep everyone focused or interested.
If they aren't interested but still want to feel invited, go bowling, or something, but this sounds like a group talk. Let them know they are being unruly and ask for suggestions, from the group, of how to handle it.
Do *not* let them put it back at your feet as DM, say something needs to be fixed and let them self-police/self-manage.
"two of the seven are somewhat less interested but also want to be included"
I would ask these two if they would rather be involved every now and again rather than a core campaign member. Sometimes you have people come and go, i had a person who played what would've been an npc that was walking with the party for a bit into his character for a week or two, before he got busy again. I think that if their interest in being there to be included more than be heavily involved, that might be something that allows them the flexibility to be involved without having to be overly involved.
tbh as long as you have 6 or more, without splitting it on two parties you always gamble, because you need to be both quite decent dm and have party with good understanding and self time management otherwise some rp and combat can really take long
Though your issue seems like your party itself not fully commited rather than size, and some of your party members don't allign with others (which can be an issue even in party of two)
Also to keep them hooked even for giving basic and generic advices people need know campaign content, issues players voiced, expectations players voiced, monents when you consider x player is most bored on antagonistic and so on - way more data needed
My suggestion is to slit the party in two groups. I don't run games with more than 4 -5 players nowadays because things gets more complex, combats takes significantly longer etc....
"Less interested" can manifest in some different ways. Is it that they don't get enough time to play and participate while other players go? Is it that they have too much time and they don't know what to do? Is it that they aren't good at RP, or at rules? Is it that they get to their turn and don't do anything interesting? Is it that they're not paying attention when not their turn? Do they want to be in the room but maybe have less responsibility?
One thing my groups have started doing is having a turn order for RP. This ensures everyone has a chance to say what they are doing, and also that they know when their turn will be. There's no worries about stepping on another player to interject nor is there constant anxiety that you'll miss a chance to do something. I think the RP turn order solves a lot of issues for smoothing out the party even when only 4 people are in the party, but it's pretty essential for a larger group.
Another thing we have available is text RP on discord between sessions. Sometimes it gets used and sometimes it doesn't but it's a way to maybe have people thinking about their characters between sessions, or to retconn a little RP of what the character was thinking in some quiet time, maybe a letter home. If a player just is not as quick in the moment for roleplay, this can be effective.
I would talk to them, in an open ended way, ask them if they are having fun, if there's some help they need, where they want to go with their character, etc. Maybe they're afraid to make mistakes, maybe they just aren't into the complexity, maybe they just like being there and experiencing the energy of everyone else. It might be there's something you can do, it might be that pairing them with another player is helpful, you might get them excited about a particular direction, or it might be that they'd prefer more of a support/guest star role.
"Less interested" can manifest in some different ways. Is it that they don't get enough time to play and participate while other players go? Is it that they have too much time and they don't know what to do? Is it that they aren't good at RP, or at rules? Is it that they get to their turn and don't do anything interesting? Is it that they're not paying attention when not their turn? Do they want to be in the room but maybe have less responsibility?
One thing my groups have started doing is having a turn order for RP. This ensures everyone has a chance to say what they are doing, and also that they know when their turn will be. There's no worries about stepping on another player to interject nor is there constant anxiety that you'll miss a chance to do something. I think the RP turn order solves a lot of issues for smoothing out the party even when only 4 people are in the party, but it's pretty essential for a larger group.
Another thing we have available is text RP on discord between sessions. Sometimes it gets used and sometimes it doesn't but it's a way to maybe have people thinking about their characters between sessions, or to retconn a little RP of what the character was thinking in some quiet time, maybe a letter home. If a player just is not as quick in the moment for roleplay, this can be effective.
I would talk to them, in an open ended way, ask them if they are having fun, if there's some help they need, where they want to go with their character, etc. Maybe they're afraid to make mistakes, maybe they just aren't into the complexity, maybe they just like being there and experiencing the energy of everyone else. It might be there's something you can do, it might be that pairing them with another player is helpful, you might get them excited about a particular direction, or it might be that they'd prefer more of a support/guest star role.
Thanks for the advice, I think it's not so much that they are not good at roleplay, but the fact that they don't have musch to contribute. Their ideas are slightly bland in combat as well, during one encounter they don't try a variety of things like some of my more attentive players do. The main problem I need to fix is having them be more creative with their general are of play in both roleplay and combat.
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So I'm currently running a DnD campaign and we have been doing one once every two weeks since session 1. However I have 7 players and they are somewhat hard to manage, all of them are my friends and enjoy dnd, some more than others. Two of the seven are somewhat less interested but also want to be included, and I don't want to actually kick them out of my campaign especially because I love their characters and actually homebrewed one of their races. I want to find some really good ways to keep some players intrested in the game, in their seats, and invested in roleplaying and thinking outside the box. Any suggestions to keep them hooked?
When you asked your players this, what did they suggest?
I mainly asked the ones that who weren't being a little bit unruly, and they responded I should just ditch them. But I want to try and be empathetic and give them a chance to step their game up.
7 players is a lot and it's not on you, as DM, to build the story *AND* keep everyone focused or interested.
If they aren't interested but still want to feel invited, go bowling, or something, but this sounds like a group talk. Let them know they are being unruly and ask for suggestions, from the group, of how to handle it.
Do *not* let them put it back at your feet as DM, say something needs to be fixed and let them self-police/self-manage.
Have a group chat and consider breaking the group into 2 parties. Running two games of 3/4 is far easier than 7.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
"two of the seven are somewhat less interested but also want to be included"
I would ask these two if they would rather be involved every now and again rather than a core campaign member. Sometimes you have people come and go, i had a person who played what would've been an npc that was walking with the party for a bit into his character for a week or two, before he got busy again. I think that if their interest in being there to be included more than be heavily involved, that might be something that allows them the flexibility to be involved without having to be overly involved.
What exactly does "somewhat less interested" and "a little bit unruly" mean?
tbh as long as you have 6 or more, without splitting it on two parties you always gamble, because you need to be both quite decent dm and have party with good understanding and self time management otherwise some rp and combat can really take long
Though your issue seems like your party itself not fully commited rather than size, and some of your party members don't allign with others (which can be an issue even in party of two)
Also to keep them hooked even for giving basic and generic advices people need know campaign content, issues players voiced, expectations players voiced, monents when you consider x player is most bored on antagonistic and so on - way more data needed
My suggestion is to slit the party in two groups. I don't run games with more than 4 -5 players nowadays because things gets more complex, combats takes significantly longer etc....
"Less interested" can manifest in some different ways. Is it that they don't get enough time to play and participate while other players go? Is it that they have too much time and they don't know what to do? Is it that they aren't good at RP, or at rules? Is it that they get to their turn and don't do anything interesting? Is it that they're not paying attention when not their turn? Do they want to be in the room but maybe have less responsibility?
One thing my groups have started doing is having a turn order for RP. This ensures everyone has a chance to say what they are doing, and also that they know when their turn will be. There's no worries about stepping on another player to interject nor is there constant anxiety that you'll miss a chance to do something. I think the RP turn order solves a lot of issues for smoothing out the party even when only 4 people are in the party, but it's pretty essential for a larger group.
Another thing we have available is text RP on discord between sessions. Sometimes it gets used and sometimes it doesn't but it's a way to maybe have people thinking about their characters between sessions, or to retconn a little RP of what the character was thinking in some quiet time, maybe a letter home. If a player just is not as quick in the moment for roleplay, this can be effective.
I would talk to them, in an open ended way, ask them if they are having fun, if there's some help they need, where they want to go with their character, etc. Maybe they're afraid to make mistakes, maybe they just aren't into the complexity, maybe they just like being there and experiencing the energy of everyone else. It might be there's something you can do, it might be that pairing them with another player is helpful, you might get them excited about a particular direction, or it might be that they'd prefer more of a support/guest star role.
Thanks for the advice, I think it's not so much that they are not good at roleplay, but the fact that they don't have musch to contribute. Their ideas are slightly bland in combat as well, during one encounter they don't try a variety of things like some of my more attentive players do. The main problem I need to fix is having them be more creative with their general are of play in both roleplay and combat.