Hi, I'm a fairly new DM running a homebrew campaign. Currently, the campaign involves a lot of political intrigue and general -> you've got to use your brains. In order to accomplish things the pc's have to talk about stuff together, and figure out what to do. I love my players, and a lot of them have good ideas, but they often will start talking over each other and arguing about small things instead of collaborating or talking to each other about the issue at hand. They'll sometimes talk over me as well, or make it hard for me to start talking, which is also a problem. I don't want to discourage them from role playing, but the talking over each other often isn't productive and can lead to in-fighting or keep one of the pc's from joining in the conversation. How do I guide them to communicate with each other in a more productive, inclusive, way, without squashing their role playing?
Have a talk with them. They are probably just so into it they don't realize they are interrupting each other. If you tell them look, you appreciate the enthusiasm and you want everyone to be able to talk, but it's not polite to talk over each other, they should understand. Maybe you can say something like, as DM, you will make sure everyone gets a turn to talk, so there is no need to jump in and interrupt.
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WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
try role-playing more that way they know that they will get to talk also explain what happens when they do something as a fellow dm i would recommend that you watch critical roles Matt mercer hes a great dm and knows what he is doing i learned a lot from him and he makes everything sound awesome here is one of his vids for dms specifically https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0SjRJNENME watch his videos and watch their campaigns u get to know what to do in more situations but there will always be times where u just gotta pull stuff right outta your butt
If the side banter is in character, I tend to let it go. If it is interfering with an encounter... Well, no one says that your NPCs have to wait for them to finish a chat.
The main thing is to find a balance that works well for you and your group. There will always be distraction, especially as for many gamers this is our social time with friends. I'd suggest that you take some time at the beginning of a session to tell them your concerns and set some guidelines.
Hi, I'm a fairly new DM running a homebrew campaign. Currently, the campaign involves a lot of political intrigue and general -> you've got to use your brains. In order to accomplish things the pc's have to talk about stuff together, and figure out what to do. I love my players, and a lot of them have good ideas, but they often will start talking over each other and arguing about small things instead of collaborating or talking to each other about the issue at hand. They'll sometimes talk over me as well, or make it hard for me to start talking, which is also a problem. I don't want to discourage them from role playing, but the talking over each other often isn't productive and can lead to in-fighting or keep one of the pc's from joining in the conversation. How do I guide them to communicate with each other in a more productive, inclusive, way, without squashing their role playing?
Have a talk with them. They are probably just so into it they don't realize they are interrupting each other. If you tell them look, you appreciate the enthusiasm and you want everyone to be able to talk, but it's not polite to talk over each other, they should understand. Maybe you can say something like, as DM, you will make sure everyone gets a turn to talk, so there is no need to jump in and interrupt.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
try role-playing more that way they know that they will get to talk also explain what happens when they do something as a fellow dm i would recommend that you watch critical roles Matt mercer hes a great dm and knows what he is doing i learned a lot from him and he makes everything sound awesome here is one of his vids for dms specifically https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0SjRJNENME watch his videos and watch their campaigns u get to know what to do in more situations but there will always be times where u just gotta pull stuff right outta your butt
If the side banter is in character, I tend to let it go.
If it is interfering with an encounter... Well, no one says that your NPCs have to wait for them to finish a chat.
The main thing is to find a balance that works well for you and your group. There will always be distraction, especially as for many gamers this is our social time with friends. I'd suggest that you take some time at the beginning of a session to tell them your concerns and set some guidelines.