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.
