Corrections and another table rule

Yes, it appears that I am not only a lazy DM, I am also somewhat ignorant. David told me that, first of all, his character is called Adoaver and nothing else. I also forgot his very good table rule! Without further ado, here's:

5. My turn; my decisions

When playing board games like Descent, where there are several players in one team vs. one ”overlord” (a setup similar to a tabletop RPG) there is a tendency toward one or a few players playing out all the player turns. These turns can take forever, as the dominant player(s) discuss and lobby their thoughts around in order to make as few mistakes as possible. This leads to a: that the quiet, often inexperienced, players never progress and b: that it can feel like playing against an AI. Making mistakes is perfectly fine and makes for far more memorable sessions than the effective, win-against-all-odds attitude.

Players like to talk about their own stats, feats and actions, and how powerful they are. They like to talk about other players characters even more, in terms of comparison. There's nothing wrong with that, but I don't want that discussion in the middle of a session. Instruct or advice your fellow adventurers outside the game, preferably in one of the several pauses that comes up sooner or later.

As experienced roleplayers, we should already be aware of all of this, but tendencies toward the ”power” or ”min/max” playstyle may creep in when the party is in a tight spot. That's why we decided to let every player make his or her own decisions, without other interference than in-game character talk. This makes for far faster combat rounds and, I think, happier and better players.

Find all of our table rule suggestions here!