2.07.2012

Season 2, Episode 7

The Penetration Episode!

How to get through to the players at your table who aren't really into the whole role-playing thing, and perhaps treat your DND table like a video game.  Lots of tips and tricks to engaging even the most douchey of players!



Show Notes:
  • The next edition of DND
  • If it isn’t fun, it’s probably the DM.
  • If you’re the DM, it’s probably your players.
  • To summarize, if you’re playing a game with five other people and not having fun, it’s almost certainly not the game system.
  • Chad signed up to be a DNDNext playtester, did you?
Tips to Try for Player Penetration:

  • Show them maps, pics, letters, etc. Visual Aids.  
    • Even if they don’t care about the story, everyone reacts to an awesome dragon pic.   
    • "Holy fuck that's a badass dragon."
  • Keep the story simple, but more importantly, keep the story clear.
  • Picture a day in the life. Not everything is warring factions and dragon attacks. What do people do when there’s nothing going on?
    • You don’t have to explain this to players unless they ask, but it helps to answer questions and get a clear view of your world.
  • Reward contribution and creativity heavily.
  • Center your story on the PCs individually, instead of on your own story.
  • Center your story on loot grabbing and important items.
    • Optimizers will love the bonuses that they’re working towards; roleplayers will love the journey.
    • "You gotta go reunite me with my hilt, bitch!  What's this hilt?  Fuckin pewter?"
  • Encourage skill feats as opposed to attack/damage feats.
  • If a player likes to optimize in combat, reward them for optimizing OUT of combat.
  • Challenge your combat monkeys
    • The more they get invested in combat, the more they’re going to get invested in other stuff.
    • They’ll want to boast!
  • Don’t dwell on lack of  role playing , remember DM's do not take things personally.  Get over it!
  • Be subtle when enticing role playing from munchkins.
  • Ask for specifics in a backstory, not just generalizations or wide-sweeping stories.  Gladly give them time to prep this answer if need be.
  • Let them world-build.  Optimizers have an great time making stuff.  Ask about places in their past, then put them in the game.  
    • Make sure players know they have permission and leeway to create in your world.
Gadgets of the Podcast:
  • Encounter: The ambush into the setting sun 
  • T-shirt Idea: the dice are trying to kill me
  • Character Concept: the revenge-bound aborigine, Suanzi
  • Player Tip: Re-skin your mechanics 
  • DM tip: take a break during sessions
Big Thanks:

For music, once again big thanks to the Diablo String Orchestra and The Kobolds! Also big thanks to super-fan Joshua Bentley, who provided some more great voice work for us.

Right-click and Save-As below, or us the RSS feed built into this page.
Mirror 1 (128kbps) (47.4mb)
Mirror 2 (128kbps) (47.4mb)

Check us out on iTunes and give us some reviews and/or ratings and/or hurtful criticism!

What do you think?

Welcome all our new listeners to the family of ExemplaryDM! Give us reviews in the comments below, hit us up on Twitter @ExemplaryDM, or shoot us an email at exemplary d m at gmail dot com