So ive been forever DMing my two best friends Biscuit, and Uncle B for about 3 years now. Uncle B told me and Biscuit that he wrote a campaign! Well, that certainly sounds fun. So, we made characters, i made a hexblood sorcerer named Discord Nightshade, and Biscuit was a tabaxi sorcerer named Ryu.
The basic plot of the campaign was that our characters were convicted of crimes (Discord impersonated nobles, and Ryu killed a bunch of kids) and were sent to a penal colony island to explore dungeons for the king to shorten our sentences, that's cool!
Now, the problems I have are with the npcs.... Uncle B introduced us to two npcs, a guy named Wicker and an orc named Garuth. He kinda just dropped them into the party and now they have a lot of spotlight. We'll be trying to solve a dungeon puzzle and the npcs will talk and talk, sometimes having arguments with eachother! I've tried to ditch them but they keep following us around, and their backstories are treated with utmost importance.
I dont hold it against Uncle B or anything because its his first time, but can anyone tell me how to nicely tell him his npcs are stealing the show too much?
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my name is not Bryce
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Oof wow thats a interesting problem, hmmm I would just say hey Unlce B the npcs are getting a lot of attention and it's not fun with all of them getting the attention could we maybe give them not so much attention?
I would say something like that, but I'm the kind of girl who doesn't really sugar coat things.
If he's young, then I'd leave it be. Just enjoy the game.
If he's older and mature enough, just mention it. Say you enjoy the campaign and the NPCs, and you're excited to explore your character, but it sometimes feels as though time is a little too short and with the NPCs exploring their arcs, it's hard to fit your own characters in.
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If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
If he's young, then I'd leave it be. Just enjoy the game.
If he's older and mature enough, just mention it. Say you enjoy the campaign and the NPCs, and you're excited to explore your character, but it sometimes feels as though time is a little too short and with the NPCs exploring their arcs, it's hard to fit your own characters in.
I agree if he's just a kid then don't mention it but if he's like old and mature definitely bring it up
If they are an adult (not in a condescending way. Just a are they literally an adult) then if just say hey, can I give you some feedback on the game?
I really like this and this part. But the NPCs are getting a lot of the spotlight and it’s making it a little hard to feel like the heroes. Could we put a little less focus on them. Because I am looking forward to X and I want to give it my full attention and feel like my choices matter.
Personally, I would come at it gently. I'd ask if I could talk with him about something that's bothering me, then I'd say "I'm feeling X about this, and I'm wondering how you feel about it." I'd ask questions and try to understand where he's coming from and what his objectives are. Once I understand his position, I'd ask if he'd be willing to listen to my advice. Basically, try to genuinely understand where he's coming from and see if he's open to receiving input. Perhaps explain that you think the players would have more fun if the NPCs were less prominent. I'd be careful to phrase things in a non-critical way. Criticism and judgment can make people defensive. If you take a collaborative approach (let's work together to make this game fun for everybody), I believe you'll get good results
Having an NPC around isn't necessarily a problem but a DM doing this needs to take care to make sure the emphasis is still on the party. The npc should not be the 'main character' and should not be solving puzzles for the party. If they just want someone around for the sake of RP that's fine, but they should be a 'side kick' not the hero if that makes sense. Actually there is a mechanic for sidekicks I think but this seems to be more an issue with how the character is played and less their combat ablities.
It sounds like Uncle B has already written a story in his head, and he's using the campaign to act out that story. On one hand, it's good that he has ideas for plot and structure. But the downside is that that method of writing tends to deny the actual players their agency in the game. This is a common situation for beginner DMs, because writing a campaign takes a lot of time and effort (hopefully), and so the DM will obviously have a certain feeling of ownership of the material. But D&D is not a writing seminar. It's a role-playing game. It's often difficult for inexperienced (especially young) DMs to spend all that time and effort creating something, and then to simply hand it over to the players, with little to no knowledge or control over what they will do with it.
Writing a campaign is akin to those monks who painstakingly create massive mandalas of multicolored sand, one grain at a time. It's an arduous task that results in the creation of something beautiful. But RUNNING a campaign equates to the part where those same monks blow all that sand away. They understand that the art is not destroyed. The art was in the craft of creation. The art was in the momentary pleasure of viewing a thing of beauty. The art was in acknowledging and accepting the impermanence of beauty. And that's something that's difficult for less experienced, or younger, or less mature players and DMs to understand.
I would suggest approaching Uncle B outside of the game and ask if he would like some advice on DM-ing in general, without specifying this particular campaign. Any negative feedback can cause some people to withdraw and to be reluctant to try again. Anyone who has played this game for a long time has written a campaign or three or twelve. And some of them are really great. But some of them are ... not. Nobody gets it right the first time. So maybe you'll quietly endure this temporary campaign, giving whatever advice uncle B will accept along the way. And maybe it won't be the most fun campaign you've ever played. But it'll be a learning experience for Uncle B, and hopefully the next campaign he writes and runs will be better.
We all start somewhere. We all have room for improvement. Meet him half way. Maybe in twenty years you'll both be laughing about this.
Just look up some DM tips and hazards videos on YouTube, almost every one of them mentions the failure of DMPCs. Share those, than if he doesn't get the point, ask him if you can take over those characters as sidekicks and have the players roleplay them. The game exists for him to roleplay with you, not bore you while he entertains himself by roleplaying to himself.
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So ive been forever DMing my two best friends Biscuit, and Uncle B for about 3 years now. Uncle B told me and Biscuit that he wrote a campaign! Well, that certainly sounds fun. So, we made characters, i made a hexblood sorcerer named Discord Nightshade, and Biscuit was a tabaxi sorcerer named Ryu.
The basic plot of the campaign was that our characters were convicted of crimes (Discord impersonated nobles, and Ryu killed a bunch of kids) and were sent to a penal colony island to explore dungeons for the king to shorten our sentences, that's cool!
Now, the problems I have are with the npcs.... Uncle B introduced us to two npcs, a guy named Wicker and an orc named Garuth. He kinda just dropped them into the party and now they have a lot of spotlight. We'll be trying to solve a dungeon puzzle and the npcs will talk and talk, sometimes having arguments with eachother! I've tried to ditch them but they keep following us around, and their backstories are treated with utmost importance.
I dont hold it against Uncle B or anything because its his first time, but can anyone tell me how to nicely tell him his npcs are stealing the show too much?
my name is not Bryce
Actor
Certified Dark Sun enjoyer
usually on forum games and not contributing to conversations ¯\_ (ツ)_/
For every user who writes 5 paragraph essays as each of their posts: Remember to touch grass occasionally
Oof wow thats a interesting problem, hmmm I would just say hey Unlce B the npcs are getting a lot of attention and it's not fun with all of them getting the attention could we maybe give them not so much attention?
I would say something like that, but I'm the kind of girl who doesn't really sugar coat things.
Happy adventures
-Countrypanda
How old is Uncle B?
If he's young, then I'd leave it be. Just enjoy the game.
If he's older and mature enough, just mention it. Say you enjoy the campaign and the NPCs, and you're excited to explore your character, but it sometimes feels as though time is a little too short and with the NPCs exploring their arcs, it's hard to fit your own characters in.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
I agree if he's just a kid then don't mention it but if he's like old and mature definitely bring it up
he's a teenager, I'm calling him Uncle B here bc thats what his name is on my phone contacts, because he recently became an uncle
my name is not Bryce
Actor
Certified Dark Sun enjoyer
usually on forum games and not contributing to conversations ¯\_ (ツ)_/
For every user who writes 5 paragraph essays as each of their posts: Remember to touch grass occasionally
If they are an adult (not in a condescending way. Just a are they literally an adult) then if just say hey, can I give you some feedback on the game?
I really like this and this part. But the NPCs are getting a lot of the spotlight and it’s making it a little hard to feel like the heroes. Could we put a little less focus on them. Because I am looking forward to X and I want to give it my full attention and feel like my choices matter.
Ok, yeah definitely bring it up that's not cool
Its not a one mans show everyone should get attention not just one person
Personally, I would come at it gently. I'd ask if I could talk with him about something that's bothering me, then I'd say "I'm feeling X about this, and I'm wondering how you feel about it." I'd ask questions and try to understand where he's coming from and what his objectives are. Once I understand his position, I'd ask if he'd be willing to listen to my advice. Basically, try to genuinely understand where he's coming from and see if he's open to receiving input. Perhaps explain that you think the players would have more fun if the NPCs were less prominent. I'd be careful to phrase things in a non-critical way. Criticism and judgment can make people defensive. If you take a collaborative approach (let's work together to make this game fun for everybody), I believe you'll get good results
Yeah, I'd try and bring it up gently.
Having an NPC around isn't necessarily a problem but a DM doing this needs to take care to make sure the emphasis is still on the party. The npc should not be the 'main character' and should not be solving puzzles for the party. If they just want someone around for the sake of RP that's fine, but they should be a 'side kick' not the hero if that makes sense. Actually there is a mechanic for sidekicks I think but this seems to be more an issue with how the character is played and less their combat ablities.
All things Lich - DM tips, tricks, and other creative shenanigans
Send them this, it's queued to the relevant part, if it does't work you want the section "the NPC scene":
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
It sounds like Uncle B has already written a story in his head, and he's using the campaign to act out that story. On one hand, it's good that he has ideas for plot and structure. But the downside is that that method of writing tends to deny the actual players their agency in the game. This is a common situation for beginner DMs, because writing a campaign takes a lot of time and effort (hopefully), and so the DM will obviously have a certain feeling of ownership of the material. But D&D is not a writing seminar. It's a role-playing game. It's often difficult for inexperienced (especially young) DMs to spend all that time and effort creating something, and then to simply hand it over to the players, with little to no knowledge or control over what they will do with it.
Writing a campaign is akin to those monks who painstakingly create massive mandalas of multicolored sand, one grain at a time. It's an arduous task that results in the creation of something beautiful. But RUNNING a campaign equates to the part where those same monks blow all that sand away. They understand that the art is not destroyed. The art was in the craft of creation. The art was in the momentary pleasure of viewing a thing of beauty. The art was in acknowledging and accepting the impermanence of beauty. And that's something that's difficult for less experienced, or younger, or less mature players and DMs to understand.
I would suggest approaching Uncle B outside of the game and ask if he would like some advice on DM-ing in general, without specifying this particular campaign. Any negative feedback can cause some people to withdraw and to be reluctant to try again. Anyone who has played this game for a long time has written a campaign or three or twelve. And some of them are really great. But some of them are ... not. Nobody gets it right the first time. So maybe you'll quietly endure this temporary campaign, giving whatever advice uncle B will accept along the way. And maybe it won't be the most fun campaign you've ever played. But it'll be a learning experience for Uncle B, and hopefully the next campaign he writes and runs will be better.
We all start somewhere. We all have room for improvement. Meet him half way. Maybe in twenty years you'll both be laughing about this.
Anzio Faro. Protector Aasimar light cleric. Lvl 18.
Viktor Gavriil. White dragonborn grave cleric. Lvl 20.
Ikram Sahir ibn-Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad. Brass dragonborn draconic sorcerer Lvl 9. Fire elemental devil.
Wrangler of cats.
Just look up some DM tips and hazards videos on YouTube, almost every one of them mentions the failure of DMPCs. Share those, than if he doesn't get the point, ask him if you can take over those characters as sidekicks and have the players roleplay them. The game exists for him to roleplay with you, not bore you while he entertains himself by roleplaying to himself.