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View Full Version : Help me improve my game. Identifying player types



kco_501
2011-01-08, 04:20 AM
Hello Playground!

I habe been a long time lurker and turn to the playground to ask your help in trying to improve my game.
I am the DM of a 4th edition group, and the campaign has been going on for about 2 years now. The group consists of 6 other people. The people have become my friends, and we play a pretty easy going action packed game based on Forgotten Realms (very loosely).

Now, to get to the problem. Two of the persons playing are newer to the group (Been with us one or two months, as opposed to the others). One of them I know from another gaming group so not a problem there.
The other person however does not talk much and I do not know the reason. One of my regulars is a Watcher player type and I do not have a problem with that, only I have no idea how to tell if the new player really is a Watcher or is just warming up to the group and/or not having a chance to contribute much due to the others.

We play a very fun oriented game with crazy plans, awesome actions very much hollywood styled and my players aren't shy about arguing and joking about the stupidity of their ideas, the idiocy of some foes and the world at large. This leads however to a pretty loud table with us often cracking up and taking 5 minutes to laugh at something only to resume arguing and joking afterwards. The sessions are a blast and I love this group and the sessions we have.

How can I give the newer player a chance to express himself without cramping the style of the group? I am aware that there might not even be a problem here, but I do try to make sure that all my players are having as much fun as possible and get a chance to pitch in.

The path where I talk to the player did not yield anything past the "everything is ok" but that's not saying too much as I have learned most people are deathly afraid to say when something is wrong even when prompted in friendly way to do so.

Any ideas are welcome!

Zonugal
2011-01-08, 04:56 AM
On possibility might be setting up an encounter (I highly recommend something social, not combat-based) in which the party becomes separated into smaller groups (so a group of six becomes three groups of two). Hopefully this will allow some air to breath while also opening up the chance for a more experience group member to have a one-on-one with the newer player.

kco_501
2011-01-08, 05:13 AM
Thank you for the idea, but I have tried something similar and have come to the conclusion this is an out-of-game issue can does not have an easy in-game solution. We are pretty lax about the rules of meta-gaming and out-of charachter input from other players (this is where a good portion of the fun comes from) and as such the others would not just be quiet and let the subgroup play their part out alone.

A small detail: The player I am trying to figure out is not completely silent, and also not a bad roleplayer, he just talks with at least an order of magnitude less than the others. This is one of the reasons I would like to get him to open up, I think he has great potential :).

Zonugal
2011-01-08, 05:28 AM
I just keep thinking of the Buomman race from Planar Handbook, what with their vow of silence...

There are a couple ways of tackling this issue.

Speaking to the player in question about what you both could do.

Speak to the other players about attempting to let the new players shine (I advise against this method though for a variety of reasons).

Have the other players be stricken with the loss of their voices for an encounter except for the new player.


Now these are all viable options but you also have to contemplate the possibility that this individual may just be a more reserved gamer.

Rasman
2011-01-08, 05:57 AM
I just keep thinking of the Buomman race from Planar Handbook, what with their vow of silence...

There are a couple ways of tackling this issue.

Speaking to the player in question about what you both could do.

Speak to the other players about attempting to let the new players shine (I advise against this method though for a variety of reasons).

Have the other players be stricken with the loss of their voices for an encounter except for the new player.


Now these are all viable options but you also have to contemplate the possibility that this individual may just be a more reserved gamer.

Option 3 here is actually an interesting solution/quirk considering how "odd" your sessions seem to get.

We kind of have a similar problem in our campaign due to the fact that one of our players is a loud mouth that sort of dictates the conversations in and out of game. The big joke in the group is that we need to have a wand of silence in order to get a word in edge wise. Things like this can be alienating for new players, especially if they aren't close friends with a majority of the group before joining the game. I had similar problems when I first got into playing Pathfinder and my first character became very Stoic because I didn't get to speak a lot in-game.

My suggestion is to bring the spotlight to the player and sort of direct the session in a way that doesn't let the other players take over the session.

Another way of going about it is to encourage RP and actions as individuals or in small groups. Our Pathfinder group has 9 people in it, counting the DM. Breaking it up into smaller groups makes things interesting considering one set of people will have knowledge of certain happenings, while the other group won't. This can cause some interesting inter-party politics and interactions. Spicing things up if you will.