So, we just had a session on Monday. (In this game we take turns DMing.) When one of our players hosted the adventure this time, we had new players at the table, two of them dominant. We reached a peak of 6 players + 1 DM, on Discord's voice chat.
We found ourselves in a situation where we have 2 or 3 dominant players who call most of the shots, while the rest of us struggled to get a word in. It's like were a bunch of dogs in a kennel and the GM is a guy with a bone, and we're all trying to see who barks the loudest.
of the players said something very important, that for future sessions, if our group becomes this big, we need to find a solution for how we can all get a word or an idea in in a fair way, and we're struggling to get ideas out that will work for the group on a discord voice chat, to streamline our social interactions in a natural way.
We hear people all the time who say "if you want the spotlight, you gotta fight for it", or that you otherwise have to outspeak the the dominant players if you want to get your piece in. We understand all too well that this doesn't work. It's not the introverts who are at fault for being quiet, but rather they are spoken over by more dominant players who get to act first.
We also got a few character relations that we wanna flesh out somehow.
----------the party composition in a nutshell (or you can just skip to the end if you don't think it's relevant)------------
The extroverts (two of which have just joined/returned to the game):
One wacky character wants to be friends with everyone and do a bunch of crazy stunts.
One character is a smooth talking bard who unintentionally dominates the roleplaying scene. Hits on the druid princess from the introverts.
One character is a mercenary barbarian who doesn't trust any of us yet, but wants to earn money by selling this adventure's macguffin to the highest bidder. Player's goals is for this character to open up to us, and to be jealous of the princess fron the extroverts because the men fawn over her.
The introverts (who until now could mostly Express themselves):
One paladin of a love deity who wants to marry people together but feels like he's useless at the table. Given the opportunity, he ships the druid princess with the rock star bard and would marry the two tomorrow if he could.
One rock star bard from the future who's also a smooth talking bard until he talks to a certain character, whom he has feelings for, at which point he becomes a bumbling, suicidal and overprotective baka.
One druid princess Feyish elf who also has feelings for the rock star, but she is too shy and awkward to make the first move. She's also been through a traumatic experience, which we hope to flesh out sooner rather than later.
The DM:
This guy has a lot on his plate atm and struggles to balance between his six players, his plot, and any sort of RP we want to do. It's a total utter mess and he struggles to make order. Puts us in an adventure where getting the macguffin was the easy part. Now we gotta get it back to our quest givers.
------
So that's my group in a nutshell. Are there any Hope's for us? What can we do to mitigate the spotlight hogging in a way that feels organic? How can we make everyone feel like they have what to contribute?
I'm not - nor was I ever - your "obstacle" until you've deemed me as such, nor am I your wallet, my hard earnt money is not yours by deault.
Je suis Consumer - We are the foundation, the floor beneath your rug. our support is the fate of every retail product, business, and franchise. for success you need support.
I will always miss what you were, but I will never miss what you've become.
IMHO, table and spotlight management are the DM's responsibility.
The players should never be talking over the DM - you didn't mention this as a problem, but if it is, it needs to be nipped in the bud, now.
If it's not an issue, then it's up to the DM to reign in the players, by asking "OK, Introvert #2, what do you think?", explicitly handing the spotlight over to a new player ( of course, this assumes that Introvert #2 wants to contribute; some players panic if forced into the spotlight when they don't want it).
I have never minded players going off on role-playing conversations, or inter-character interactions, as it give me some breathing room - although, if it goes on too long, you can reign it in, and go "OK, Bob, while this is going on, what are you guys over there doing?" - or "while you guys are doing this, the city guard comes around the corner, and ... ".
It's also worth discussing things with the group, and set out expectations about "hogging the spotlight" and "letting other people play as well" - although the DM can use techniques like those above to control the table flow if the players forget and get out of hand.
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
IMHO, table and spotlight management are the DM's responsibility.
The players should never be talking over the DM - you didn't mention this as a problem, but if it is, it needs to be nipped in the bud, now.
If it's not an issue, then it's up to the DM to reign in the players, by asking "OK, Introvert #2, what do you think?", explicitly handing the spotlight over to a new player ( of course, this assumes that Introvert #2 wants to contribute; some players panic if forced into the spotlight when they don't want it).
I have never minded players going off on role-playing conversations, or inter-character interactions, as it give me some breathing room - although, if it goes on too long, you can reign it in, and go "OK, Bob, while this is going on, what are you guys over there doing?" - or "while you guys are doing this, the city guard comes around the corner, and ... ".
It's also worth discussing things with the group, and set out expectations about "hogging the spotlight" and "letting other people play as well" - although the DM can use techniques like those above to control the table flow if the players forget and get out of hand.
Hey! Thanks for replying!
Well, the thing is we don't have one DM, we take turns at it. Having everybody practice that sort of adjudication for who gets the spotlight and when is very hard for many of us.
If a given DM can do that - great! But we feel as a group like we need more solutions than just saying it's the DM's responsibility to manage it on his own.
I'm not - nor was I ever - your "obstacle" until you've deemed me as such, nor am I your wallet, my hard earnt money is not yours by deault.
Je suis Consumer - We are the foundation, the floor beneath your rug. our support is the fate of every retail product, business, and franchise. for success you need support.
I will always miss what you were, but I will never miss what you've become.
I have to agree with Vedexent, and I think your group might want to reconsider its position. You mentioned that the DM is struggling with balancing player rpg, storytelling, and the hassel that is having 5+ players (it is harder!).
BUT! Vedexent's suggestions are ways to fix those balance problems. A group can't manage itself, groups need leaders, and the DM leads. If the DM is interjecting when one or two players start to hog the spotlight (even unintentionally) the DM can move along their plot, and make the rpg more inclusive. Over time the group dynamic might improve naturally, as everyone gets used to the DM's new approach.
If talking to the current DM about this is too difficult or doesn't work, the next person to swap into the DM role can do it.
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So, we just had a session on Monday. (In this game we take turns DMing.) When one of our players hosted the adventure this time, we had new players at the table, two of them dominant. We reached a peak of 6 players + 1 DM, on Discord's voice chat.
We found ourselves in a situation where we have 2 or 3 dominant players who call most of the shots, while the rest of us struggled to get a word in. It's like were a bunch of dogs in a kennel and the GM is a guy with a bone, and we're all trying to see who barks the loudest.
of the players said something very important, that for future sessions, if our group becomes this big, we need to find a solution for how we can all get a word or an idea in in a fair way, and we're struggling to get ideas out that will work for the group on a discord voice chat, to streamline our social interactions in a natural way.
We hear people all the time who say "if you want the spotlight, you gotta fight for it", or that you otherwise have to outspeak the the dominant players if you want to get your piece in. We understand all too well that this doesn't work. It's not the introverts who are at fault for being quiet, but rather they are spoken over by more dominant players who get to act first.
We also got a few character relations that we wanna flesh out somehow.
----------the party composition in a nutshell (or you can just skip to the end if you don't think it's relevant)------------
The extroverts (two of which have just joined/returned to the game):
One wacky character wants to be friends with everyone and do a bunch of crazy stunts.
One character is a smooth talking bard who unintentionally dominates the roleplaying scene. Hits on the druid princess from the introverts.
One character is a mercenary barbarian who doesn't trust any of us yet, but wants to earn money by selling this adventure's macguffin to the highest bidder. Player's goals is for this character to open up to us, and to be jealous of the princess fron the extroverts because the men fawn over her.
The introverts (who until now could mostly Express themselves):
One paladin of a love deity who wants to marry people together but feels like he's useless at the table. Given the opportunity, he ships the druid princess with the rock star bard and would marry the two tomorrow if he could.
One rock star bard from the future who's also a smooth talking bard until he talks to a certain character, whom he has feelings for, at which point he becomes a bumbling, suicidal and overprotective baka.
One druid princess Feyish elf who also has feelings for the rock star, but she is too shy and awkward to make the first move. She's also been through a traumatic experience, which we hope to flesh out sooner rather than later.
The DM:
This guy has a lot on his plate atm and struggles to balance between his six players, his plot, and any sort of RP we want to do. It's a total utter mess and he struggles to make order. Puts us in an adventure where getting the macguffin was the easy part. Now we gotta get it back to our quest givers.
------
So that's my group in a nutshell. Are there any Hope's for us? What can we do to mitigate the spotlight hogging in a way that feels organic? How can we make everyone feel like they have what to contribute?
I'm not - nor was I ever - your "obstacle" until you've deemed me as such, nor am I your wallet, my hard earnt money is not yours by deault.
Je suis Consumer - We are the foundation, the floor beneath your rug. our support is the fate of every retail product, business, and franchise. for success you need support.
I will always miss what you were, but I will never miss what you've become.
#OpenDnD #CanceltheSub #DnDBegone.#NeverForgive #NeverForget
IMHO, table and spotlight management are the DM's responsibility.
The players should never be talking over the DM - you didn't mention this as a problem, but if it is, it needs to be nipped in the bud, now.
If it's not an issue, then it's up to the DM to reign in the players, by asking "OK, Introvert #2, what do you think?", explicitly handing the spotlight over to a new player ( of course, this assumes that Introvert #2 wants to contribute; some players panic if forced into the spotlight when they don't want it).
I have never minded players going off on role-playing conversations, or inter-character interactions, as it give me some breathing room - although, if it goes on too long, you can reign it in, and go "OK, Bob, while this is going on, what are you guys over there doing?" - or "while you guys are doing this, the city guard comes around the corner, and ... ".
It's also worth discussing things with the group, and set out expectations about "hogging the spotlight" and "letting other people play as well" - although the DM can use techniques like those above to control the table flow if the players forget and get out of hand.
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Hey! Thanks for replying!
Well, the thing is we don't have one DM, we take turns at it. Having everybody practice that sort of adjudication for who gets the spotlight and when is very hard for many of us.
If a given DM can do that - great! But we feel as a group like we need more solutions than just saying it's the DM's responsibility to manage it on his own.
I'm not - nor was I ever - your "obstacle" until you've deemed me as such, nor am I your wallet, my hard earnt money is not yours by deault.
Je suis Consumer - We are the foundation, the floor beneath your rug. our support is the fate of every retail product, business, and franchise. for success you need support.
I will always miss what you were, but I will never miss what you've become.
#OpenDnD #CanceltheSub #DnDBegone.#NeverForgive #NeverForget
I have to agree with Vedexent, and I think your group might want to reconsider its position. You mentioned that the DM is struggling with balancing player rpg, storytelling, and the hassel that is having 5+ players (it is harder!).
BUT! Vedexent's suggestions are ways to fix those balance problems. A group can't manage itself, groups need leaders, and the DM leads. If the DM is interjecting when one or two players start to hog the spotlight (even unintentionally) the DM can move along their plot, and make the rpg more inclusive. Over time the group dynamic might improve naturally, as everyone gets used to the DM's new approach.
If talking to the current DM about this is too difficult or doesn't work, the next person to swap into the DM role can do it.