how to deal with change of campaign focus (combat vs. roleplay)

[AmbivalentRogue]

I am having difficulty in our current campaign.

When it started, there were 3 players, 1 regular DM (who also played an NPC) and was very much more roleplay-focused than any other campaign I have been a part of. It took awhile for us players to adapt to the RP-heavy style but all of the players enjoyed it, all of the characters bonded, all was well.

But then our friends from former campaigns wanted to play with us too - between this and (2) girlfriends joining, our group is now up to 6-8 players (DM started a PC too, 1 person has quit). Our DM said she wanted a break because she was running out of creative ideas (also DMing such a large group is taxing).

Our solution was to have rotating DMs - our main DM had given us a list of magical artifacts we had to procure in order to break the Big Bad at the end of the campaign, and so we divided it into each person (who wanted to DM) would be in charge of the portion of story happening in their character's home country and their mini-arc would be getting one of the artifacts. But the main/original DM would be the final arbiter of rules questions, and will DM the end of the campaign.

The problem we have run into is that the current campaign does not feel like the original campaign we started on, specifically there has been a huge switch of focus from roleplaying to combat oriented thinking. Part of this is that such a large group makes it difficult for everyone to have a chance to roleplay.

What I see as a larger reason for the change is specifically 2 of the players who joined our campaign (best friends/roommates who also ended up being the first rotating DMs) are much more into hard-core Dark Souls style combat, and are "power gamers" in the sense that they min-max everything. This has caused a drastic change in the style of play of the campaign since they joined/started DMing, since they almost immediately killed one of the PCs in a combat, the rest of the group has been scrambling to readjust their character choices, and several people have written their original characters out of the story just so they can make new characters from scratch.

The first "problem DM"s section is almost over, but the effects are resonant in the choices players are making with their new characters - everything is minmaxed for combat now. That compiled with the fact the our party has been receiving lower than average treasure (so newly made characters not only have "stronger" builds but stronger magic items) ends up making it feel like the original 3 players from the beginning (only 2 now - 1 has already abandoned his character to make a new one) are being 'punished' for sticking with their characters choices.

For example, since the beginning was much more roleplay focused, many of us took feats or abilities that tied into roleplay rather than combat, however, as the campaign focus has shifted, that makes our characters now SEEM underpowered compared to everyone else because we don't have as many opportunities for RP. Whenever I have tried to roleplay recently, it just feels as if it is getting in the way of the action. (For example, my good-aligned character doesn't want to make a deal with a devil like our DM is pushing us toward to get the artifact.)

I have plans for my section of the campaign to encourage more roleplay & less combat, but at this point am not really enjoying playing any more, and for the last 3 levels have been indecisive about how to build my character going forward (I've just been taking the skill points & hp, been sitting on the feats & rogue talents), especially since our party composition is so drastically changing. I have considered quitting the campaign, but I enjoyed the beginning of it, am looking forward to DMing for the first time, and want to see how the end plays out (if we get that far). Every other campaign I have been in has just kindof fallen apart eventually, due to either scheduling issues, DM laziness or the party getting split.

I don't want to cause problems for the rest of the party if I am the only one not having fun,
I don't want to cause the campaign to fail by starting a trend of quitting,
I don't want to continue to play a game that is not enjoyable.
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Any suggestions or advice moving forward? Does this sound familiar to something you have been though? How did your group handle it?

Also, how do you avoid meta-gaming when everyone is taking a turn DMing, because at some point we all have to discuss how to dovetail our sequences together within the main storyline?

[lylsyly]

Any time you have rotating DMs, you are going to have style differences.

Having said that, you really only have 3 options (IMO):

1. Adapt to the "style" of the moment
2. Poll all players, see what they prefer, then talk to the DM
3. Find another table

just my 2 coppers
YMMV

[AmbivalentRogue]

I get that different GMs have different styles, which makes sense, but we are leaving the current guest DM area and going into a new one, so it's not necessarily the GM I am worried about, it's more about our group dynamics.

Are you saying that if the next GM focuses more on roleplay than combat, that could bring the group back around to that style of thinking? Is there anything I, as a player, can do to encourage more roleplay choices in both other players and GM choices? Or is it entirely up to GM influence, in which case I just have to wait for my turn at the seat?

Thank you for your thoughts

[BowStreetRunner]

I've played a roleplay-oriented character in a combat heavy campaign. My idea was based on Ulysses/Odysseus from mythology - he was designed to talk or think/trick his way out of situations that would normally be resolved through combat. The DM just ignored my attempts - none of the Monsters/NPCs would respond to attempts to engage in dialogue and they never fell for any of my tricks. Bottom line here - if you want more roleplay and the DM isn't on-board there isn't much you can do. Reach out to the current DM to let them know your preference. They may need to strike a balance between different players' styles, but maybe they can find a compromise that everyone can be happy with.

I've also played in a group with rotating DMs. The group pretty much imploded. Be aware that it can take a lot of effort on the parts of everyone involved to make the transition a successful one. And if there are regular transitions any single DM-Player dynamic could be the one that pulls it all apart. These things rarely just happen to work out on their own. It takes work, although they can be very rewarding once you get past the initial awkward times.

[Crake]

Well, since it sounds more like the in character groups are splitting up to deal with different objectives, perhaps your character (and the other roleplay character) could split from the main group and instead do some side adventures with the original DM? I don't know what your schedules are like, but that's what I tend to do with my more RP focused characters. You can re-join the others in the final confrontation with some kind of RP reward for your efforts, such as a macguffin of some sorts, or a whole host of allies who have joined up for the cause?

[dervin]

if i where you i would go with crake's suggestion.i hope it works out