What to do when your D&D players don't care

Comments · 890

• SK

  @skeletonpatch · 2 years ago

  In the game I’m currently playing, I gave my character the noble background and told the DM that the family’s rank was up to him and I’d flesh out her backstory and family history accordingly.<br><br>We get to Session Zero and I quickly notice that my character’s family name is now on the DM’s world map as one of the major kingdoms on the continent.<br><br>I was abruptly put in charge of a rather noteworthy chunk of the world building, probably because I’d told him ahead of time that I have a tendency to write too much for my characters and he decided to capitalize on that.<br><br>Needless to say, I am very invested in this current game.

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• KE

  @kelleroleary9367 · 2 years ago

  The real point of DMing is to increase my capacity to procrastinate planning.

  1.4K

• MA

  @Mark-ki7ic · 2 years ago

  Session Zero is important to find the right types of players for different types of games.

  963

• VA

  @vayianos · 2 years ago

  The dinner and drinks comparison was actually surprisingly helpful for me to visualize the concept in my head lmao

  633

• KA

  @kayleyanna3164 · 2 years ago

  this was my experience in my first game. No one was invested, and I was criticized for &quot;not making the game more fun&quot;. The problem was no one knew what they wanted, they just knew I wasn&apos;t giving it to them. It felt like I was putting on a show, not playing a game. I went through 2 dnd groups before finally gelling with my third. Even when first playing with my current group, I had to learn that there is a difference between investing and hardcore roleplaying. I finally feel like I&apos;m with a group that really appreciates what I do for them, and it makes a world of difference.

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• VA

  @valkyriebait136 · 2 years ago

  &quot;To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of their dice.&quot;

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• TG

  @tgwolfe · 2 years ago

  I couldn&apos;t answer this question myself for a while, but eventually I found out that I really enjoy watching the player characters grow and experience new things. A player completing their personal quest, or finding that long-lost relative is just... <b>chefs kiss</b>

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• FA

  @fallenphoenix13 · 2 years ago

  Between this video and Matt Colville talking about how short adventures are the way to go over long campaigns... Man I wish I&apos;d seen these before I built out my last game. <br>Thank you for this, Ginny! You make my games better.

  229

• WH

  @WhiteOwl1061 · 2 years ago

  One of the best campaigns I ever played in was a world where the DM created a port town and added some basic features. But then we players got to add our homes, bases of operation, and local features important to our characters. &nbsp;During the entire campaign we never ventured more than 100 miles from &quot;our town&quot;. It was kind of an expanded &quot;Keep on the Borderlands&quot; type campaign. But we were invested in it. We owned businesses. We had to deal with pirates, bandits, corrupted grave sites and tombs, and eventually an invading orc army.

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• CR

  @CrimsonGuard1992 · 1 year ago

  A big obstacle that I&apos;ve experienced over the years is a lack of trust players can have towards their DMs. <br><br>DMs often serve as the scapegoat for when things go wrong, but aren&apos;t credited when things go right. <br><br>I&apos;ve had players, in spite of reassurances, think that the DM was always out to get them.

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• MA

  @MariusBane · 2 years ago

  The hardest part I&apos;ve run into is the &apos;kindness gap&apos; where a player will sometimes prefer to not have fun and burn out than &apos;be mean&apos; - and people often have a difficult time discerning the deference between rude and honest.<br><br>I had a player tell me &apos;having fun&apos; for 5 games, then heard 3rd party they were bored, addressed it with them (which initially was uncomfortable for them) then fixed it next session - but they had 4 &apos;bad&apos; games because of that communication gap.

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• BR

  @brenobaiardi · 2 years ago

  Not all your friends are dnd friends. Best pointy hat quote ever

  17