So I DM for a larger group (6+ players usually), and I've run into issues of people staying focused/engaged.
Our last session I had laid out a little role playing for one player who's sister had mysteriously showed up. We were going through the conversation, and after about a minute, 2 of the people at the table were having a side conversation and showing each other stuff on their phones, one had completely tuned out, and another had found a skull mask and was putting it on and making faces at people.
So now I wonder, is my campaign not engaging enough for people to pay attention? Is the group just too big?
Or am I playing with a bunch of squirrels? Or worse, a bunch of a$$holes?
Either way, I'm looking for some suggestions to help the group stay focused when they aren't directly interacting with the DM (me). The most focus I've seen is during combat, and even then, that's rough at times.
So I DM for a larger group (6+ players usually), and I've run into issues of people staying focused/engaged.
Our last session I had laid out a little role playing for one player who's sister had mysteriously showed up. We were going through the conversation, and after about a minute, 2 of the people at the table were having a side conversation and showing each other stuff on their phones, one had completely tuned out, and another had found a skull mask and was putting it on and making faces at people.
So now I wonder, is my campaign not engaging enough for people to pay attention? Is the group just too big?
Or am I playing with a bunch of squirrels? Or worse, a bunch of a$$holes?
Either way, I'm looking for some suggestions to help the group stay focused when they aren't directly interacting with the DM (me). The most focus I've seen is during combat, and even then, that's rough at times.
Talk to your group. That's the only way you are going to sort out whether they were acting the way they were because they were being a-holes, or if they just didn't realize that their not paying attention to what appeared to be only relevant to one player would have a negative impact.
And there is no such thing as a campaign that is engaging to everyone all the time - even with the absolute best of storytelling and table management, there will be some things which a player just doesn't have an interest in. So there is a good chance that the players who didn't have anything to do within the sister chat scene were not paying attention because they assumed (even if it was correct) that the stuff going on wasn't directly relevant to their characters' goals, and were actually trying to be polite and stay out of it (even if they managed to be a distraction by how they chose to do so).
While talking to your group, you can work out how this will can be solved - there's no one-size-fits-all solution.
So I DM for a larger group (6+ players usually), and I've run into issues of people staying focused/engaged.
Our last session I had laid out a little role playing for one player who's sister had mysteriously showed up. We were going through the conversation, and after about a minute, 2 of the people at the table were having a side conversation and showing each other stuff on their phones, one had completely tuned out, and another had found a skull mask and was putting it on and making faces at people.
So now I wonder, is my campaign not engaging enough for people to pay attention? Is the group just too big?
Or am I playing with a bunch of squirrels? Or worse, a bunch of a$$holes?
Either way, I'm looking for some suggestions to help the group stay focused when they aren't directly interacting with the DM (me). The most focus I've seen is during combat, and even then, that's rough at times.
Talk to your group. That's the only way you are going to sort out whether they were acting the way they were because they were being a-holes, or if they just didn't realize that their not paying attention to what appeared to be only relevant to one player would have a negative impact.
And there is no such thing as a campaign that is engaging to everyone all the time - even with the absolute best of storytelling and table management, there will be some things which a player just doesn't have an interest in. So there is a good chance that the players who didn't have anything to do within the sister chat scene were not paying attention because they assumed (even if it was correct) that the stuff going on wasn't directly relevant to their characters' goals, and were actually trying to be polite and stay out of it (even if they managed to be a distraction by how they chose to do so).
While talking to your group, you can work out how this will can be solved - there's no one-size-fits-all solution.
I appreciate the insight. I'll let the group know my frustrations and we'll see what kind of response I get, haha. Thanks
So I DM for a larger group (6+ players usually), and I've run into issues of people staying focused/engaged.
Our last session I had laid out a little role playing for one player who's sister had mysteriously showed up. We were going through the conversation, and after about a minute, 2 of the people at the table were having a side conversation and showing each other stuff on their phones, one had completely tuned out, and another had found a skull mask and was putting it on and making faces at people.
So now I wonder, is my campaign not engaging enough for people to pay attention? Is the group just too big?
Or am I playing with a bunch of squirrels? Or worse, a bunch of a$$holes?
Either way, I'm looking for some suggestions to help the group stay focused when they aren't directly interacting with the DM (me). The most focus I've seen is during combat, and even then, that's rough at times.
Talk to your group. That's the only way you are going to sort out whether they were acting the way they were because they were being a-holes, or if they just didn't realize that their not paying attention to what appeared to be only relevant to one player would have a negative impact.
And there is no such thing as a campaign that is engaging to everyone all the time - even with the absolute best of storytelling and table management, there will be some things which a player just doesn't have an interest in. So there is a good chance that the players who didn't have anything to do within the sister chat scene were not paying attention because they assumed (even if it was correct) that the stuff going on wasn't directly relevant to their characters' goals, and were actually trying to be polite and stay out of it (even if they managed to be a distraction by how they chose to do so).
While talking to your group, you can work out how this will can be solved - there's no one-size-fits-all solution.
I agree with this. I've had issues come up where people will be on their phones while they wait for something to play out, this happened often due to a big group of players. I prefer smaller groups now because of it, but talking to the group is a good outlet for your thoughts. Making a cell phone policy where maybe people can respond to texts mid-game, but not surf or be on social media, or maybe everyone puts their phones in a bowl until a mid-game break or something, but definitely talk to your group and have a majority consensus on how you guys want to run the game.
So I DM for a larger group (6+ players usually), and I've run into issues of people staying focused/engaged.
Our last session I had laid out a little role playing for one player who's sister had mysteriously showed up. We were going through the conversation, and after about a minute, 2 of the people at the table were having a side conversation and showing each other stuff on their phones, one had completely tuned out, and another had found a skull mask and was putting it on and making faces at people.
So now I wonder, is my campaign not engaging enough for people to pay attention? Is the group just too big?
Or am I playing with a bunch of squirrels? Or worse, a bunch of a$$holes?
Either way, I'm looking for some suggestions to help the group stay focused when they aren't directly interacting with the DM (me). The most focus I've seen is during combat, and even then, that's rough at times.
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