Behind the Screen: Game Chatter and Plot Progression…

Over the past weekend, our D&D group got together to play.  Since several of our group members are parents and Busy People, it is usually a few weeks between each of our gaming sessions.  This usually causes a series of distractions that sometimes make our games hard to wrangle.  Here’s some tips to help overcome this problem in your own games:

• Give the kids something to do.  The parents in our group usually default to a DVD, video game, or books to keep the kiddies out of our hair while we play.  Or, if you’re cool like Phil, The Chatty DM you can just invite your kids to play D&D with you when they’re old enough.
• Let side conversations happen.  Not only are they fun, but when you game with friends there is a certain social element that must be exhausted before gaming can occur.
• If you do want to get somewhere with your game, simply just inform your players that something important is about to happen and they need to curtail their conversations and focus for the next few minutes.  It worked for us last session!
• Tweak your game so it is slightly more irreverent (and therefore interesting).  Make that roving band of thieves and bandits into rednecks.  They serve the same purpose, you get the ability to use names like Jethro, Jim-Bob, and Ray Roy, and the group pays a little more attention when a captured bandit spits tobacco in a player character’s eye.

It is perfectly normal to have the occasional session where the group is distracted and focused on getting back in touch with one another.  If you let things unfold, you’ll be rewarded with more focused sessions in the future and you’ll deepen the friendships and connections that make gaming such an attractive hobby.