Inattentive players help

[Ruslan]

Typical scenario as I'm DMing my party - they travel overland, I roll a random encounter, or perhaps have one planned - anyway, something happens, and I describe this:


"Coming from around the road bend, you see a half-dozen riders about two hundred feet away. They notice you and spur their horses in your direction."


Players immediately begin strategizing, coming up with plans each more devious than the other to handle these dastardly riders. During the strategy session, the following three questions will invariably be asked, possibly more than once per question:
"How many riders?"
"How far are they?"
"Do they see us?"

Also, at least twice per round, an impossible action will be attempted. Casting a spell with a 90' range at a target that was very clearly described as being 200' away is a perennial favorite. The opposite also happens, such as attempting to cast a Sending spell to talk to someone who was within shouting distance. This is both frustrating and amusing, but still more frustrating than amusing.

Long story short, my problem is that my players don't listen to me. Things that are (in my humble opinion) stated very clearly the first time, go ignored and need to be repeated again and again.

[Shining Wrath]

Consequences. "The number I told you". "You'll find out". "You lost the spell when you cast it out of range".

[kaoskonfety]

Consequences. "The number I told you". "You'll find out". "You lost the spell when you cast it out of range".

probably not this harsh/mean, the idea is to have fun - but yes.
- a reaction to re-assess the situation (any recent description repeats, possible only on repeat offences)
- your bonus action when what you were planning is "obviously" impossible for detail reasons as soon as its attempted (range, number of foes , current party layout etc.)
- lose you action when the issue is ridiculous and the player doesn't get why when you ask "really?" ( "I wrestle it to the ground" .... you are a halfling and its a 100' long dragon who is flying 200' in the air - clearly you are lost in a daydream - next players action), maybe give inspiration the first time if it gets a laugh to make it a bit of a comedy/warning

[LaserFace]

Do your players want to be there? If they're inattentive because they're bored and flipping through their phones, maybe that's something you guys should just talk about.

[Ninja_Prawn]

attempting to cast a Sending spell to talk to someone who was within shouting distance.

That is pretty funny. In this case, you should let them cast the spell, then have the recipient glare at them, wave their arms around and shout "I'm right here, you moron!"


Long story short, my problem is that my players don't listen to me. Things that are (in my humble opinion) stated very clearly the first time, go ignored and need to be repeated again and again.

Sometimes communication with a group can be messy. Some people have short memories, especially for details like numbers (especially my work colleagues, but that's another story). To some extent, you just have to accept this and live with it. If it gets ridiculous, have the players appoint a scribe to write down important information, then sit back while they all review it and strategise.

[AbyssStalker]

You could probably make them roll for each thing they didn't hear, possibly at disadvantage if they were extremely unaware.

[Chadamantium]

"By the time you begin to access the situation, the riders have already closed the gap, the dust kicked up by their mounts have caused you to lose count of their numbers, before you know it, you are surrounded, weapons forward, ready to strike if any sudden moves are made."

Honestly there is not much you can do in the situation without punishing your players. Maybe encourage them to keep notes of what is happening when you re talking. Or bring in a battlemap with everything laid out so they can see what is going on. they'll see 12 mounted enemies, 40 squares away, with an arrow pointing in the direction they are charging. As for "can they see me?" ask "can you see them?" "yes." "then yes".

Maybe a time limit for them to plan would place an urgency on getting all that information on the first go. After your description, add "At their pace they will reach you in 23 seconds, what's your plan?"

[Waazraath]

Really depends on why players don't listen... if people are checking their phones all the time, or are similar doing stuff for work an a tablet, I'd ask them not too... there are some players that just don't seem to be able to pick up relevant pieces of information, who aren't doing other stuff, but have to ask "huh, what?" a dozen times every session, without being apperantly being distracted by anything. Don't know what can be done about that. Also you can ask what you can do with your storytelling skills to make them to pay more attention.... don't know of course how you do it now, but sometimes stuff can help, varying in tone of voice, speed of talk, put some drama in what you're saying... the kind of (presentation / oral) skills a teacher uses in front of a 100 college students, a priest uses when talking to his flock, etc.

[D.U.P.A.]

This is why I do not like theatre of mind approach. It is very problematic when people start talk loudly to each other, I quickly lose focus, especially if offtopic is involved. If the important information is written or drawn somewhere, it is much easier to remember things and avoiding losing time repeating same things over again.

[Celcey]

Before doing anything to punish the players, talk to them about it. Bring it up with them before next session, and ask them to listen more carefully and pay attention when you say stuff like that. If they're making an effort but just have poor short term memory, that's one thing, but if they still aren't paying attention, then punish them.

It also may be helpful to use a battlemap. If you don't want to buy one, I've found that a chess board and pieces make a good substitute, although they don't make for huge battlefields.

[Vogonjeltz]

Players immediately begin strategizing, coming up with plans each more devious than the other to handle these dastardly riders. During the strategy session, the following three questions will invariably be asked, possibly more than once per question:
"How many riders?"
"How far are they?"
"Do they see us?"

Also, at least twice per round, an impossible action will be attempted. Casting a spell with a 90' range at a target that was very clearly described as being 200' away is a perennial favorite. The opposite also happens, such as attempting to cast a Sending spell to talk to someone who was within shouting distance. This is both frustrating and amusing, but still more frustrating than amusing.

Long story short, my problem is that my players don't listen to me. Things that are (in my humble opinion) stated very clearly the first time, go ignored and need to be repeated again and again.

Then you should repeat them.

The problem is not that your players aren't listening to you. Indeed, by your account they did hear you and then commenced a strategy session. The problem is that their recall of facts which would be plainly obvious to their characters (i.e. things most definitely visible) is not perfect.

You should not punish them, but instead you should answer their questions honestly and freely.

It might help you in this to provide a schematic of the situation when it has commenced (i.e. draw a picture or use miniatures) with pertinent details written in plain view. Then, instead of you having to repeat yourself because someone forgot that you casually mentioned the exact distance before they knew there was a probable fight going on, you can just have them read the fundamentals of the encounter.

It could be as short as:
creatures: 6 riders
distance: 200 feet
status: noticed you and approaching.

It takes all of 10 seconds to write that information down.

[some guy]

Then you should repeat them.

The problem is not that your players aren't listening to you. Indeed, by your account they did hear you and then commenced a strategy session. The problem is that their recall of facts which would be plainly obvious to their characters (i.e. things most definitely visible) is not perfect.

You should not punish them, but instead you should answer their questions honestly and freely.

It might help you in this to provide a schematic of the situation when it has commenced (i.e. draw a picture or use miniatures) with pertinent details written in plain view. Then, instead of you having to repeat yourself because someone forgot that you casually mentioned the exact distance before they knew there was a probable fight going on, you can just have them read the fundamentals of the encounter.

It could be as short as:
creatures: 6 riders
distance: 200 feet
status: noticed you and approaching.

It takes all of 10 seconds to write that information down.

Pretty much this.
D&d and almost all roleplaying games depend on information, give that information and repeat it when necessary. Use hard numbers, don't say half a dozen, say six. Your players are paying attention, asking questions is a form of paying attention and should not be discouraged, especially in imaginary life or death situations.

It can be irritating to repeat such things, but your players will make better plans with those details.

For the 'impossible actions" problem; are you sure it's an issue of not knowing the details of a spell instead of not remembering details of the situation?

[bardo]

Players immediately begin strategizing, coming up with plans each more devious than the other to handle these dastardly riders.

Look at the bright side: Your players strategize. It's a step up from I draw my sword, yell 'Death to dastardly rider scum!', and charge! - followed by collective mumbling about exactly how the charge mechanics work in 5th edition. There's no charge? Why did they take out charge? Haven't we been through this the last session?

Seriously though, it's normal to have to repeat yourself as a DM. There's noise, there are distractions, not everyone has the same capacity for paying attention over long periods of time, and game sessions take hours. Patience is a virtue.

When I feel I'm answering the same questions for the too-many-eth time I slow down, pause before giving my answer. Occasionally another player will jump in and give their answer. Crowd-sourcing =) I secretly award XP to players who make my DMing job easier.

Bardo.

[dropbear8mybaby]

I'm firmly of the belief that as a DM you have to be the alpha in the room. That doesn't necessarily mean being bossy, but it does mean being the boss. If they're not listening, if they're not giving you their attention, then command their attention and make them listen.

[ChelseaNH]

I've done some training, which introduced me to the idea that people process information differently. "Theater of the mind" is good for people who have an auditory inclination, but many people are more visually- or kinetically-oriented. If you tell them stuff, they understand you but the information doesn't "stick" very well.

Try presenting the information in multiple ways. Describe the situation and provide a quick sketch (maybe a sheet of paper, maybe a little whiteboard like people put on dorm doors for messages) -- two circles labelled "you" and "them" with an arrow labelled "200 ft" would be enough for a start.

They'll probably still ask some questions, but you can just point to the sketch if the answer is on it.

[Malifice]

Minis and a battlemap will solve a lot of your problems.

Also; consider occasionally have an in game 'debrief'. In WEG's Star Wars d6, the PC's would be debriefed (by rebel command) at the end of adventures for intel on the Empire (name's of important NPC Moffs in the adventure, number of stormtroopers on the base etc) and would be given xp based on the number of accurate responses they got.

As soon as there is XP for knowing **** 'in game' the gamists will be writing everything down. The narrativists will already be doing this so the xp is a bonus, and the simulationists will be happy as long as it's not done in a jarring 'unrealistic' manner.

[Sigreid]

Just practice saying "And now there's ogres".

[xroads]

Does your group have a white board available?

Our group has a white board on the wall that we use to post campaign information (ie. PC names, who the bad guy is, facts learned so far, etc.).

You might do something similiar but with immediate tactical information instead. That way, when someone asks a question, you could point to the board.

[Vogonjeltz]

Does your group have a white board available?

Our group has a white board on the wall that we use to post campaign information (ie. PC names, who the bad guy is, facts learned so far, etc.).

You might do something similiar but with immediate tactical information instead. That way, when someone asks a question, you could point to the board.

I really like this idea.

[-Jynx-]

Does your group have a white board available?

Our group has a white board on the wall that we use to post campaign information (ie. PC names, who the bad guy is, facts learned so far, etc.).

You might do something similiar but with immediate tactical information instead. That way, when someone asks a question, you could point to the board.

This!

We have a 3ft by 3ft white board that we use and each player gets to choose his/her piece (chess piece, lego piece etc.) and we use the whiteboard to draw out the layout of the battlefield. Players write their HP and AC in the corner so its available to the rest easily and its really helped keep people engaged in combat/whats going on.

I think for some its just having visuals makes all the difference, some people just can't stay focused/interested if it's all in their mind so having a board helps keep them at least looking at what's going on rather than drifting off into space.

[Beleriphon]

I think you're main issue is presentation. Don't start with the threat, start with how far away it is. If you start with "Moogly-booglies 200 feet away" then the players instantly focus on the threat at hand, rather than the details.

[Tallis]

For planned encounters you could have premade cards with the relevant information that you can hand to the players after your verbal description. If you don't want to do the extra work you could put one player in charge of keeping the details each session. The other players should keep him on his toes.
Also try to cut down on distractions in the environment. Is the TV on? Turn it off. Are they on their phones? Ask them to put them away. Make sure you are the center of their attention.

[JoeJ]

Do you use background music? For some players that can be distracting enough that it's hard to concentrate on what other people are saying.

[1of3]

Long story short, my problem is that my players don't listen to me. Things that are (in my humble opinion) stated very clearly the first time, go ignored and need to be repeated again and again.

You are beginning to understand why teachers earn good money for explaining very simple things.

You have ten fingers. Use them to show that there are six riders.

And when you talk about the distance put up your index fingers to show that it is a distance you're talking about. Do not say, they are 200' away. Say, the distance is 200'. Relevant information is easier to process, when it is at the beginning or end of the sentence.

And then you put on an ominous tone and you bring down your eye brows as if you were angry and then you say : They see you! Bins points for pointing fingers.

[EvanescentHero]

You are beginning to understand why teachers earn good money for explaining very simple things.

Where do you live? Teachers get paid horribly here in America.

[Tallis]

Another rick to focus their attention would be to dim the lights in the room. The less outside info coming in the better.

[KorvinStarmast]

I'm firmly of the belief that as a DM you have to be the alpha in the room. That doesn't necessarily mean being bossy, but it does mean being the boss. If they're not listening, if they're not giving you their attention, then command their attention and make them listen. When they aren't listening, get up, go to the kitchen, grab a beer and come back. If they didn't notice you are gone, game is done for the evening. Sip the beer and thank them for coming over.

Pick up TV remote and put on sports, movie, pr0n, whatever the group likes.

If they are eagerly awaiting your next input, game is still on.

[Socko525]

Here's a couple of things I've used in past games to snap players to attention:

Ask a player to make a X save or "What's your X score?, that's a modifier of X, right?"-Particularly if you know that they're not proficient at a specific skill/save, or that their score/modifier is really low in a given stat. This actually serves no purpose, except to scare them. After they roll/tell me the score/mod, I usually do something like "...huh...well this'll be interesting". This can easily grab everyone's attention. You have to mix this up by every now and then including something, or they'll start to figure out you're only bluffing.
"Hey what kind of armor/weapon/magic item do you have?"-Same as above. This works especially well if they have some coveted magic item or perhaps just found something really cool/powerful.


If you can't get their attention that way, my other go to is playing the monsters like they're not just monsters (when mechanics/lore dictates). What I mean is don't have the mosnsters just mindlessly attack, or give up on a player once it's downed. If there's a fear of death/consequences that may help.

Also I had one group of players that seemed to love to discuss their combat plans, during combat. Unless they specifically said they were talking in a certain language, I'd have my monsters just listen to the plans and act accordingly. It at the very least made them pay attention at the beginning of combat as to what languages they could all speak, and gamble on what languages the enemies might know.