I haven't posted on a forum in a long while so bear with me.
I've gotten into DnD in the past year and finally am a player in a campaign under a DM of 14 years. His methods inspired me to write out a zombie apocalyptic world, giving the players freedom to do whatever. They have had some amazing ideas and I think I've done okay with story telling to keep it interesting. They have all the freedom as long as it's realistic and they themselves would do it.
My issue is the players, they're too childlike to take things seriously. Example is I had a player (For 2 weeks) keep trying to figure out a way to fornicate with the zombies.
Basically, how does one get past the burden of putting in so much effort, just for no effort to be returned?
The advice I always give people getting into tabletop RPGs for the first time is that there's a broad spectrum of how seriously people want to take games like this, and there's nothing wrong with being in any particular place on that spectrum. And when you run into someone who wants to take the game either much more seriously or much less seriously than you do, there are two things you shouldn't do:
Don't judge them for being in a different place on that spectrum than you are.
Don't play with them.
The unfortunate reality is that some groups of players (and DMs) are just not compatible with each other because they're doing it for different reasons and hoping to get different things out of it. There's nothing wrong with that and it happens all the time. But it's not worth chasing after people to try to get them to change the way they approach D&D. It might be that the best thing you can do here is just explain this to them, politely back out, and find a different group of people who are looking for the same things you are.
Wagnarokkr gives good advice above. I’d also add this is the kind of thing to work out during a Session 0. There the group gets together and has an out of character discussion about the kind of game they want to play. One of the topics to find is where you all want to be on the serious-to-silly spectrum.
The good news is, it’s never too late to have one of these discussions. I’d say you try to set aside a portion of your next session and all talk about this, and any other issues that anyone (you and all the players) might have. Then you be able to either figure out a compromise level of silliness that keeps everyone happy, or you’ll figure out that some members of the group aren’t compatible. It’s always good to know that sooner, so you don’t waste everyone’s time — they can find a game that works for them, and you can look for a player who’s a better fit.
I'll just play counterpoint here. If it were me as the GM, I'd state quite clearly:
Not at my table. If that's the game you want to play, you'll have to find someone else to indulge you.
I can generally be negotiated with about anything and everything. But if you want apples, and all I have is oranges, there's no deal to reach.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
You should set aside time for a session zero or discussion where you and your players can align on tone and expectations. This ensures that everyone understands the kind of game being run and can adjust accordingly, making the experience more enjoyable.
If it were me being as the DM (and as I have already done in a similar setting) make it so every dumb choice has disastrous results proportional to how serious the campaign is meant to be. In my case a player decided to try to forcefully take the leader of a town to bed and use that as a reason for the leader to be ousted. that character was promptly chased off a cliff after not backing down through the whole plan.
Add-on: This helps because it allows them to still be themselves however silly but forces those silly personalities to interact with the world in a more realistic and smart way
Wagnarokkr really hit the nail on the head. DND at it's core invites everyone to bring their idea of a good time to the table, but the fact is that some of those ideas are more compatible than others. That does NOT make them wrong however, and it's super important to remember that as much as you might look down on the goof-ball, juvenile "I will lay the zombies" type of players, someone out there is looking down on your idea of good DND being 'take this seriously'.
The only real solution is to be clear about what game you're running, and to make sure you and your players agree on the premise. Equally important is to make sure this doesn't become a "I don't want to play with you because your ideas suck" situation. It's a matter of whether or not it's the type of game you/ they mutually enjoy, and if not, great, everyone goes to do what they DO find fun instead.
Let him fornicate with the Zombie then give him a horrible debilitating STD that cripples his character. If a player insists on doing something that is obviously a bad idea then make it clear that there will be horrible consequences.
But in the end communication is always going to be the best method, if the player insists on doing something like this just straight up tell them that you aren't comfortable narrating such a thing and would prefer if they took the game a little more seriously.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
I haven't posted on a forum in a long while so bear with me.
I've gotten into DnD in the past year and finally am a player in a campaign under a DM of 14 years. His methods inspired me to write out a zombie apocalyptic world, giving the players freedom to do whatever. They have had some amazing ideas and I think I've done okay with story telling to keep it interesting. They have all the freedom as long as it's realistic and they themselves would do it.
My issue is the players, they're too childlike to take things seriously. Example is I had a player (For 2 weeks) keep trying to figure out a way to fornicate with the zombies.
Basically, how does one get past the burden of putting in so much effort, just for no effort to be returned?
The advice I always give people getting into tabletop RPGs for the first time is that there's a broad spectrum of how seriously people want to take games like this, and there's nothing wrong with being in any particular place on that spectrum. And when you run into someone who wants to take the game either much more seriously or much less seriously than you do, there are two things you shouldn't do:
The unfortunate reality is that some groups of players (and DMs) are just not compatible with each other because they're doing it for different reasons and hoping to get different things out of it. There's nothing wrong with that and it happens all the time. But it's not worth chasing after people to try to get them to change the way they approach D&D. It might be that the best thing you can do here is just explain this to them, politely back out, and find a different group of people who are looking for the same things you are.
pronouns: he/she/they
Wagnarokkr gives good advice above. I’d also add this is the kind of thing to work out during a Session 0. There the group gets together and has an out of character discussion about the kind of game they want to play. One of the topics to find is where you all want to be on the serious-to-silly spectrum.
The good news is, it’s never too late to have one of these discussions. I’d say you try to set aside a portion of your next session and all talk about this, and any other issues that anyone (you and all the players) might have. Then you be able to either figure out a compromise level of silliness that keeps everyone happy, or you’ll figure out that some members of the group aren’t compatible.
It’s always good to know that sooner, so you don’t waste everyone’s time — they can find a game that works for them, and you can look for a player who’s a better fit.
I'll just play counterpoint here. If it were me as the GM, I'd state quite clearly:
Not at my table. If that's the game you want to play, you'll have to find someone else to indulge you.
I can generally be negotiated with about anything and everything. But if you want apples, and all I have is oranges, there's no deal to reach.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
You should set aside time for a session zero or discussion where you and your players can align on tone and expectations. This ensures that everyone understands the kind of game being run and can adjust accordingly, making the experience more enjoyable.
If it were me being as the DM (and as I have already done in a similar setting) make it so every dumb choice has disastrous results proportional to how serious the campaign is meant to be. In my case a player decided to try to forcefully take the leader of a town to bed and use that as a reason for the leader to be ousted. that character was promptly chased off a cliff after not backing down through the whole plan.
Add-on: This helps because it allows them to still be themselves however silly but forces those silly personalities to interact with the world in a more realistic and smart way
Just a goober doing my own work when I want to. I like the idea of not just high fantasy dnd.
You can reach me over discord as well, Handle is royalsupsi as well
I am open to work on joint homebrew projects, just DM me.
All my projects so far are in the extended signiture
Extended Sig
Wagnarokkr really hit the nail on the head. DND at it's core invites everyone to bring their idea of a good time to the table, but the fact is that some of those ideas are more compatible than others. That does NOT make them wrong however, and it's super important to remember that as much as you might look down on the goof-ball, juvenile "I will lay the zombies" type of players, someone out there is looking down on your idea of good DND being 'take this seriously'.
The only real solution is to be clear about what game you're running, and to make sure you and your players agree on the premise. Equally important is to make sure this doesn't become a "I don't want to play with you because your ideas suck" situation. It's a matter of whether or not it's the type of game you/ they mutually enjoy, and if not, great, everyone goes to do what they DO find fun instead.
Let him fornicate with the Zombie then give him a horrible debilitating STD that cripples his character. If a player insists on doing something that is obviously a bad idea then make it clear that there will be horrible consequences.
But in the end communication is always going to be the best method, if the player insists on doing something like this just straight up tell them that you aren't comfortable narrating such a thing and would prefer if they took the game a little more seriously.