Basic Fantasy RPG Forums

Can I make a left-field suggestion?

Maybe if they just like going round killing everything, you should give them that for a while, and see what develops.

Put in lots of mid-level crony bad guys for them to attack and keep the good NPCs out of the action. Set up magic items as a known prize if they kill enough bad guys. Make the bad guys numerous but a bit disorganized and wimpier than the PCs.

If they seem happy with that kind of game, then that is just the style they want to play, and there's really nothing more to say. Either give them what they want, or play with other people if you can.

If they are not happy and still keep complaining then they've lost sight of what the game is about. Some players get like this when the DM keeps saying no. The game stops being an RPG, and starts being a game of 'make the DM say yes all the time.'

If that's what they are doing at your table, then you need to get them to focus on their real agenda and try to help them with it. Ask what their characters ultimately want to do and give suggestions about how they could achieve it. Not, how many magic items do they want. But, what sort of scenario do they see their characters participating in? Ask them what they want to do, not how tough they want to be. Help them with some ideas, not with freebies.

If that doesn't work it could be game over. Good luck.

Thanks for the advice. One of my current players' biggest problems is their lack of use of tactics. No matter what they're fighting, they're likely to unnecessarily endanger themselves. However, they don't game a lot, so they don't get very much experience. I'm really not having too many problems with this group anymore, we don't play enough to have any. In previous campaigns I've had many more problems. I have tried to cater to the players' interest before, but when I do, the campaign becomes misery for me. They are basically violence obsessed.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'm trying to use it.

I have tried to cater to the players' interest before, but when I do, the campaign becomes misery for me. They are basically violence obsessed.

New group time.

You tried running a PbP before?

I'm participating in one right now, and I'd like to run one sometime in the future.

Just for fun, here's an idea for a campaign one of my players wanted to GM (my player came up with the idea):

Kill mania kill count was the campaign title. It was a campaign based entirely around an arena of endless fighting. Suffice it to say, I refused to play in said campaign. My player hasn't yet run that campaign, because no one will play in it.

Kill mania kill count was the campaign title. It was a campaign based entirely around an arena of endless fighting.

That sounds horrible.

All the best violence is mixed with pathos.

How old are these guys??

Sounds like my three boys. I've introduced them to three older players, who are still kids, but older. I'm mentoring one of the kids, who is a teenager, so that he can become a Game Master. The others are merely having fun. There is a girl about the age of my middle boy, and she is more mature, and more thoughful. So I have three players who are thinking deeply about what they are doing, and three "hack and slay" players (my boys). Every once in a while, one of the boys will throw something brilliant in there, but for the most part, they act like pre-teen boys.

When we're at home, I run them through dungeons and other adventures with a lot of encounters. When we're with the group, I have to dole out a little bit of everything so that the others inteterest is kept.

However, some players never come out of the hack and slash mentality. The boy I'm mentoring has an older brother who just graduated college. He plays fighters only because he knows his limitations. He likes to play the big, stupid brute, and he does it quite well. In our last New Years Eve game, I created a Half-Ogre Warhulk for him to play. He enjoyed himself smashing doors down and generally getting the party into trouble. The party fell through a trap door to the lower level (this was the Old Island Fortress from Morgansfort) and were attacked by a gray ooze. This guy was chasing a Kobold, and didn't stop until they started screaming his name. When he got back to the trap door, it closed. Being true to form, he simply wandered away after a round or two.

So you have some people who are good for the hack and slash. Others like the roleplay aspect of the game. As a GM, you must be aware of who those players are, and do a little work to cater to all of the players.

I kind of like the arena idea, but not for a whole campaign. Perhaps the players get captured by slavers, who make them fight in the local arena... until they can make their escape (or overthrow the local governor, or kill the slavers, or start a general uprising, or...).

The average age of my players is 29 or 30. That said, my players act much more mature away from the gaming table. They only fool around when they're gaming.
The player who came up with the arena idea is actually the youngest one at the table. I have to admit, I may have been a bit harsh talking about my players. In real life they're nice people that I get along okay with. It's just when we game that we have problems.

Well my group is now on something of a hiatus. We've had them before, but we usually start up again after a little while. I don't know about this time though. I (and my players) just don't have the time to spend several hours gaming face to face anymore.

I love reading Campaign Settings. It gets my imagination going. Trouble with me is that I immediately want to tweak that Campaign and make it my own. On the flip side I love to make up Campaign Settings but then I end up nit picking it to death. What has worked for me in the long ago past was to provide only what players needed. I only worked out the things that everyone would know. As the campaign progressed then the players would collectively know more and more about the world. In a way that is sort of the way the world would be like for anyone not living in the modern tech age. Back in the ancient world your average rural peasant only knew his own village and maybe one or two others if they weren't that far away. On the other hand if you have a campaign world with an Empire like say Rome and your players are the educated sons or daughters of a Patrician then you are really going to have to lay in a lot of background for them. Bleh.