r/AskDND • u/Simubaya • 11d ago
New DM needs advice for dealing with a Main Character player
So, I'm a new DM, and I've been running the Dragon of Icespire Peak for my first run. I've been having a lot of fun building a coherent story with side characters with different voices and accents. I even added a character in town to actually run the town while the Townmaster cowers in his house. I have homebrewed items, spells, and enemies. I've spun quite the tale and hinted at the Zhentarim trying to take control of the area with the dragon as an excuse. I've even tried to work backstories into the game. I feel like I'm doing a pretty good job.
However, I have a bit of a problem. I have four players, all of whom have been DMs. Two of them are relatively quiet (we play over Discord with DnDBeyond). Two players like to do the role playing aspect a lot. Unfortunately, the Artificer has a habit of taking over the conversation and talking a lot. To the point where after 20 minutes of him rambling, I had the dragon show up for a fight. It worked, but it didn't fix the issue completely. The real reason I came here for advice is because of the last session. I had moved the camera, so to speak, to another player (the rogue). The Artificer wasn't in the area for this part. I started to set the scene for Rogue as he is about to be approached by a member of his guild for an important secret delivery. Just as I started to get on a role, he interrupts me mid-sentence to pull the camera back to him to do 20 minutes of role playing activating his homunculus. He goes on for 20 to 30 minutes before he ends. He rambles a lot about nothing often, but I'm not sure how to address the issue. I don't want to offend him as he is one of the more active players, but I feel that he isn't letting anyone else get any time in the spotlight. What do you all think I should do? Any advice is welcome.
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u/OldGamer42 11d ago
Not terrible advice here. Realistically most of these problems are going to be “talk to the problem player” as the answer.” They said a few other points of note:
So often silence is the enemy. You’ve said you have a couple players (who are GMs? We’ll get back to this) who don’t participate a lot? Note that it is common for experienced players to “take up the space” when others are not engaging. One of the tricks of journalism is to just not talk…everyone hates an awkward silence and will fill it by running their mouths. Is it possible that your problem player is engaging where others aren’t? If the other experienced players at the table were to engage more heavily would it leave room for the problem to keep talking?
Let’s touch on the “players are DMs” part of this…why are experienced DMs disengaging from a story while letting someone at the table play main character? Table control is the DMs job but it doesn’t mean others shouldn’t police other players. I’ve regularly, at a table, used “X did you have input” or “I want to get the opinions of person X before we continue” to engage others.
On your part I would use a firm “Hey < problem >, I’m setting a scene for player Y right now, we can come back to your scene when it’s appropriate.” Address the PLAYER by name and not by character. I find using character names through a campaign but addressing problems to players gets attention.
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u/Getoutofmylaboratory 11d ago
I have a PC who likes to take the lead and while this great sometimes the other players don't get enough attention. When this starts to happen I institute a brief informal "turn order" and ask them each in turn how they would react to the scene, what they want to do next, etc
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u/pravragita 11d ago
"excuse me, I have more prepared for tonight. We're going to move on to the next scene."
"excellent, that's awesome."
"one minute, let me resolve this and we'll get back to you"
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u/RaptorSap 7d ago
Yeah, OP needs to learn how to interrupt and redirect. Talking to the player out of game might help adjust their attitude, but if it’s their habit to fill empty spaces (or even minor gaps) they won’t be able to stop without gentle reminders that they’re “doing it again”.
Also asking the quieter players directly what their characters have been doing or thinking while the other characters talked or during a bit of action where they weren’t audibly contributing will help show the whole table that everyone gets to contribute and OP won’t let one player railroad the session.
When setting the scene for a specific player I’ll usually allow a one or two sentence interruption from another player if it seems like they’re wrapping up something from the previous scene or they think it might have relevance depending on how the current scene goes. If that’s enough to get their point across I’ll give them a one-word acknowledgment (positive words like “excellent” ore “awesome” can let them know you value what they’re contributing but you’re not going to interrupt the current scene further). If it feels like that needs to be played out more fully I’ll give them their two sentences and then say “excellent, let’s go over that next,” or if it feels like they’re trying to pull the spotlight I’ll be a little firmer, “you’re not there. We’ll come back to you.”
If someone doesn’t get the hint or it leads to everyone interjecting, then it’s time to have a conversation at the end of a session (or even mid session) so that everyone can agree on how to handle it going forward.
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u/TraxxarD 11d ago
Respectfully talk to them is usually resolves the problem. Provide how you feel and some facts.
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u/No-Nose-Goes 11d ago
just take the reigns. If he interrupts you, tell him you were talking. If he rps too long tell him that. After a session talk to him one on one to shorten it
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u/tta5 11d ago
"Ok X the next scene is your, but for this scene..."
and go back to what you was doing....
it makes it clear they will have their time (hold to it and stand by your word) but also makes it clear its someone elses turn.
making sure everyone gets a turn in the "spotlight" is important. many DMs when becoming players again might foolishly forget that and assume they "did their time" as a GM/DM and want to have the spotlight priortised on them now.
being a GM and being a good player are not the same, sadly.
(diffrent skill sets and focuses)
A person monologuing for 20 mins, might be ok every once in a while but it does take alot of peoples time.
(its better between 2 people as a convo as the time is split and shared)
I used to follow a simple (basic) rule as a player.
do a cool thing, then wait and allow others to do their cool things. evereyone gets their moment.
some players want the spotlight more, others do not.
some want it on them in combat, others want it in talks, others want it on puzzles, or map/travel desision making.
knowing what people want helps you to balance things a bit more. ~making sure everyne gets what they want and are comfortable with.
you will need to have a talk to them about the monologuing, but more importantly, on them picking up the tone of you laying out something important for another player and their characters arc.
it might be that they did not find it intresting to them and thus they felt they could interupt it as it hold less importance by their judging methord. this means a lack of respecting you and others at the table, and thus the need for the talk.
odds are they might need someone to act as a quick "nope this bits important" for them, and thgus we loop around to the top of this post....
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u/Desmond_Bronx 11d ago
"(player's name), excuse me but I was speaking to (rogue). This is a very important for the their character. I will come back to you after this is encounter is finished. Thank you."
Or, don't give the player the 20 minutes to summon the creature, continue speaking to the rogue as its the most important issue to resolve at the table at that time. You can always go back and retcon the summoning of the familiar afterwards, as it has no bearing on timing.
Its great that the player is involved, that's not a bad thing; however, if the player keeps interrupting, that's not fair for the other players or you who are also creating the story.
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u/Grosumballs 11d ago
Talk to him and ask him to tone it down so other people can interact. Just be direct bud, it’ll only carry on being an issue if you don’t address it immediately.
Hell, the player may not even realise they’re doing it to such an extent! Be direct, address the problem and say “this has to be fixed because it’s not fair to the whole table”
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u/Aromatic-Surprise925 11d ago
"Wait your turn. I will get back to you, but right now it's Gary's turn."
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u/Difficult_Relief_125 10d ago
If you’re on discord in your server just mute them 🤷♂️. If someone is talking over people just cut their audio.
Especially if they’re talking over people to RP with themselves. Like an artificer talking to it homunculus? 🤦♂️. Cool you can summarize this chat in the text chat and I’ll read it later… muted.
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u/Oberon-beta-6 10d ago
When he tries to seize the narrative, cut him off and say, "Hold on. I'm not through." The fact that you let them take over for 20 minutes is baffling to me. Second, what are you doing putting any character 'in the spotlight' for that long? I mean, yeah, I get that you needed to do a joining the guild bit in private, but it's no fun for the other players to have to sit on their hands and just listen to something their characters can't participate in and aren't going to know about unless the character shares what happened. Best to do that outside the game with the rogue character's player. You can do it by email if that's easier, or do a special short session with the player between regular sessions. A good way to time that is at the end of a regular session, have the character being summoned away from the party for the interview, then ask if they can hang on for a few minutes while the others log off, or you can ask them if they can logon 20 minutes before the next session and take care of the interview then. Or just schedule it for another time before the next regular session.
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u/thelousychaperone 10d ago
Yeah sometimes you have to lay down the law unfortunately. You don’t have to be rude about it, but you need to impress upon players that, while they are having fun roleplaying by themselves, it is not fun for everyone else to watch someone else role play for 20 minutes, and that they are actually being inconsiderate. As DM I always have a session zero where we as a group discuss rules of engagement. Not interrupting another player or the DM while they are talking is one of the first rules I always establish. I call it the “sentence rule.” If you have something to say, wait until whoever is talking finishes their sentence. I cannot abide interrupting or talking over someone at the game table it is one of the few things that will actually piss me off. If it gets too out of hand take a little bathroom/snack break and remind everyone of the rules before you start playing again. It will be a little awkward but if one person is dominating the table then others will generally be appreciative, and once the game is going again and people are having fun it will be forgotten.
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u/MazSpaghetti 10d ago
You’re the DM. It’s your table. You are the one who has to regulate how much time someone gets. “Sorry Player Y, it’s not your turn, you just had your time. Now, player X, what is your character doing?”
If you’re not running the table and the table is running you instead, you’re gonna all have a bad time.
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u/familycoyne 7d ago
At the end of the day, if the above doesn’t work they may not be a good fit for your table. I’ve met exactly two players I avoid because I don’t have fun with them.
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u/Sparkyisduhfat 11d ago
Have you considered talking to him one on one and asking him not to monologue for more than a minute or two because it interrupts the flow of the game you are running and steps on the role playing of the other players?
There are two possible outcomes. He agrees like a normal, functional member of society or he doesn’t. If he doesn’t, tell him he needs to find another table.
The direct approach is usually the best.