When one player dominates?

[WarKitty]

Yeah it's another post by me. I'm home sick and bored out of my mind.

Anyways, I was wondering what methods you have to ensure that one or two players don't dominate RP encounters. It's something that's come up in games I play. I enjoy RP as much as the next person (which in our party is quite a lot), but I can't react as quickly as some of our other players. Which means by the time I know what I want to do the encounter has moved on. I have brought it up to our DM but neither of us are quite sure what to do that won't stifle other players. It's a pretty close group so I'm not too worried about hurt feelings, but I'd like a way to make encounters feel smooth and somewhat natural while still making sure everyone gets their chance.

[Prodan]

Have NPCs directly address the other characters.

[gallagher]

talk to the DM about having events involved in the campaign where everyone gets a chance to shine, or at least ones where the dominating personalities arent as useful.

for instance, if you are a fighter and one of the dominating guys is a wizard, there could be encounters where there are grapplers, silenced areas, counterspellers, and SR monsters

[WarKitty]

Have NPCs directly address the other characters.

Trying but unfortunately doesn't seem to make sense all the time, since either the NPC's are addressing the party as a whole or the PC's are talking among themselves.

talk to the DM about having events involved in the campaign where everyone gets a chance to shine, or at least ones where the dominating personalities arent as useful.

for instance, if you are a fighter and one of the dominating guys is a wizard, there could be encounters where there are grapplers, silenced areas, counterspellers, and SR monsters

Combat's not the issue here, out-of-combat is.

[Fouredged Sword]

My group has a raised finger rule. When you want the group to wait a sec so you can figgure out your player's responce, you just raise a finger to let people know you are trying to speak and need a sec. It works great.

[Nero24200]

How specificaally does one player dominate the RP encounters? Does he/she speak over the others? Do the others remain quiet too often? etc.

[Snake-Aes]

Divas have to be talked down.
Lumps have to be talked up.
NPCs should address to more than the pretty face. Once players get used to taking some initiative, it gets fun.

[WarKitty]

How specificaally does one player dominate the RP encounters? Does he/she speak over the others? Do the others remain quiet too often? etc.

Ok, well, I'm the one that's not getting a chance. Basically, it takes me a few seconds to actually figure out what I want to say, how to say it, etc. I'm like that in RL too. A couple of our other players are naturally very good, always know what they want to say, etc.

Basically, by the time I've figured out what I want to say, how my character would react, etc., the in-character action has moved past whatever event my character would be reacting to.

Some of the other players say I'm too quiet...but I just don't think I can speak up fast enough to keep pace.

[Lev]

Generally the classes are balanced in weakness and strength, casters being the exception most of the time, but if you draw out the campaign and put time constraints you'll quickly see why a spellcaster has a spell per day limit.

It's not as much about what characters are dominating as which ones are neglected as you could have 3 players equal and 1 neglected and still have a big problem.

Encourage players to work in interesting backstories and tell them the reward for that is more focus on their individual characters within the campaign context, that way they are the one's emotionally driving the next step vs too much focus around one character.

In terms of dungeon crawling balance it out and leave creative options, then make the more blunt and used options more difficult and make the unused options simpler and more effective.

If your rogue is dominating and your cleric is unused then throw in undead, if your wizard is dominating and your druid is unused then have them hunt around in the wilderness, use each player's ability to gather insight and information as a focuspoint into preserving their role rather than giving them options they are going to solve as they are going to solve.

If a player is working against you then split the party in two for a bit, if the party is already too divided then force teamwork building puzzles and give each character an element that only they would contextually decode.

[Snake-Aes]

The agreement idea posted here is a good one: You want to talk but aren't quite sure just yet of what to say. But you know you have something to say. Arrange with the group that if such a situation arises, you raise your hand and people wait.

[Lord Vukodlak]

One of the players in my group used to be the quite one in RP encounters. He vary rarely spoke up.

One day while the party was discussing how to lead the Paladin Jaro into our trap. We oddly enough had to kill a paladin to get a piece of an artifact to save the island. But Jaro was to much of a zealot to be reasoned with.

I took note that Jaro had never met the quite one's character or seen him in our presence. So he could quite easily lead him into our trap. So my cleric suggested that HE be the one to talk to Jaro.

And man did his eyes go wide as he realized he would be the central focus. He'd have to really roleplay. Now that happened at the climax of a campaign but I made sure that from then on even as a player I would directly address his character. Having someone in the group directly address you is like putting on a huge break it the RP train especially if its another player.

At anyrate those things helped him develop as a roleplayer.

What your DM can do is design an adventure using something from your character's history or background. Being tortured by your characters history can be painful but at least you get to be the central character.

The agreement idea posted here is a good one: You want to talk but aren't quite sure just yet of what to say. But you know you have something to say. Arrange with the group that if such a situation arises, you raise your hand and people wait.

Well said Snake

[Master_Rahl22]

Several people missed the point, this is about RP, not combat.

I will third (fourth? whatever) the suggestion of the raised hand. Also it's a great idea about talking to one of the people who always knows what to say and have them directly address your character once in a while.

[DabblerWizard]

I've had quiet players among my group of friends, when I've DMed.

Not all quiet players want to speak up all the time, but some people, like the OP, need a little extra time to put their thoughts together, or feel like it's okay for them to speak up.

To help these players along, I would specifically ask them for their input. "So, X, Y, and Z told me they're doing A, B, and C... what are you doing?"

This helps during down time, when they roleplay more mundane behaviors, or when they have to choose between multiple options.

However, in terms of speaking with NPCs, depending on the situation, the DM could roleplay the NPC wanting input from all of the characters, not just the talkative ones.

"You say that you're all on board with these plans... but what do you say elf, you've been quiet this whole time... do you agree to my terms?"

These are all suggestions for DMs, obviously.

As for players, if you sit down with your friends, and mention to them that you often feel you don't have enough time to give input, and really want to, they will hopefully help you along with this.

Your fellow players could simply pause, at a certain point, look at you, and wait for your input. This definitely puts you on the spot, but it's one way to include you.

The finger raising or hand raising suggestion above allows the quiet player to take the initiative, and choose for themselves when they want to speak. This seems like a good option as well, though some quiet players are quiet because they don't want to "intrude", and so, might not raise their hand at all.

[arrowhen]

Bring it up to the group, since it's something the whole group is going to have to help you with. The DM can certainly go a long way towards asking for your input before she continues, but the other players who are quicker at turning their thoughts into words are also going to have to help, too.

Just be honest. Tell everyone, "You know, I'd like to contribute more to our roleplaying scenes, but it takes me longer to formulate my words. Can you guys do me a favor and give me a few seconds to get my dialog together when I ask for it?"

It doesn't have to be anything formal, like passing around the "magic talking stick" or whatever. Usually just the simple acknowledgment that it takes you a little longer to get your act together is enough to get your friends to give you the time you need to prepare your contribution.

Some people just seem to always know what to say next. Many of those people have a hard time understanding that it might take others a little longer, so when you don't say anything right away they're probably just assuming you don't have anything to say. When you remind them otherwise, chances are they're going to try and help you out.

[Shatteredtower]

You could also suggests that there are times that other PCs could seek to include your input. Maybe they put forth their ideas first before deferring to your character's experience or expertise. Maybe they need to look more into consensus building on occasion. I'm not expressing it well, but the gist is that it can be mutually beneficial to encourage them to draw you out.

Another method that can be used is to later interject, "I could have told you that, if you'd asked," but that's a little passive aggressive. It might suit certain character's, but it's likely to get under the skin of others if used too often. Even once per two sessions could be pushing it, so look to other methods most of the time.