TOPIC: What to do with Downtime?

Nick S wrote:

Ro-gan wrote:

Lori Martin wrote: Luke thinks this is funny, but I assure you, it is not. We take complaints from our Vols seriously and if Luke (or anyone else) is harassing the Vols or staff, they’ll likely find themselves on a list nobody wants to be on.

Lori

Luke isn't doing this. Rybak The Dwarf Fighter is. I have no control over this guy. He's out of control!!

I guess I should have posted my original post in teal.

I fail to see how this is a joking subject dude.

Agreed. Ro-gan, I've found your previous comments about this distasteful enough, but it seems you've jumped to a whole new level of wrong. It ain't funny.

Lori Martin wrote: Luke thinks this is funny, but I assure you, it is not. We take complaints from our Vols seriously and if Luke (or anyone else) is harassing the Vols or staff, they’ll likely find themselves on a list nobody wants to be on.

Lori

+1

Thanks for your constructive feedback. Thinking back on it, none of my players actually complained about having a few extra minutes to talk with each other and relax before the next room.
This might just be something we can easily fix behind the scenes with no rules changes by just adding more notes in the room module about different ways to interact with different kinds of players for a few minutes, if they are interested in continuing to roleplay.
As a new GM and a new player for TrueDungeon, I don't know what other people are expecting as far as improvements or evolution of the game going into the 2020 season.
Personally, I am most excited for another chance to game with this awesome community. I could probably play e1 2 and 3 at another ten conventions, and still have new stories to tell about each run!

Role play is good. A nervous sage sharing their anxiety was quite appropriate.

Or a Maggie nagging the party all the way though to... Well, you know.

Be creative, Be in character, Avoid spoilers.

And remember that marshmallows are flammable...

Fiddy wrote:

Phillip Evans wrote: ... I’ve been in rooms where you have 11 min worth of stuff to fit in, and it can get brutal trying to stay on top of everything.

E3 Room 1 - even with the groups I was on that had all done the run before, I think we rarely got done much before the horn. That room felt brutal on time usage. I'd be curious what the NPC DM observed, as far as how much time was generally left when a team was done with the room?

That was me! (Sorry I didn't see this, I was in the holiday void).

For the most part, E3 R1 was a really well timed puzzle... At least for those who got the clue in the first half of the time. For those that couldn't figure out the key, many of them failed because of time.

For those who came in knowing what they were doing, it was an effort for them to do things cleanly and in a timely manner. I've been DM'ing at TD long enough now to recognize many of our frequent players, and since many of them were playing higher difficulties it meant I could really, really, really encourage them to work quickly with the dexterity piece.

Generally with parties that finish quickly, I will let them chat and discuss stuff as often they want to congratulate each other, and in some cases goof off. Otherwise I ask them to give me war cries, tell me stories, get their bards to play for me and then busy them with resetting puzzles and taking healing. OR they burn tokens to revive the monster to do the fight twice. (I'm looking at YOU Brotherhood).

My concern with hiding things and doing extra puzzles is that the experience won't be the same for all parties. I know if I'd paid hard earned money to play, and struggled with a puzzle and then finding out there was a "Secret" puzzle for people that finished early, I'd feel a bit annoyed.

I think the answer is to really encourage training and participation from great DMs. I understand that some folk are shy, but this is a role that is part entertainer, and that needs to be considered when accepting responsibility for the room.

Edit: On the hitting on the volunteers thing. I see this a lot, from the receiving end and watching folks interact with others. The problem lies in that being IN character makes it impossible to set boundaries without breaking character. I am happy to break character and tell a player to knock it off, but by doing that it ruins the moment and the "magic" for everyone in the room. That is a very difficult thing to manage in the moment when you are playing a character. Many people will let it slide because you're gone in a few minutes, but I can say with authority that the female NPC or male-in-female NPC probably does not find the interaction as entertaining as you do, and you are likely not the first, or the most original that day. So please try not to make that the sole interaction you have with them. There is SO much else to focus on and talk about during the adventure.

Lady Hawke wrote: Edit: On the hitting on the volunteers thing. I see this a lot, from the receiving end and watching folks interact with others. The problem lies in that being IN character makes it impossible to set boundaries without breaking character. I am happy to break character and tell a player to knock it off, but by doing that it ruins the moment and the "magic" for everyone in the room. That is a very difficult thing to manage in the moment when you are playing a character. Many people will let it slide because you're gone in a few minutes, but I can say with authority that the female NPC or male-in-female NPC probably does not find the interaction as entertaining as you do, and you are likely not the first, or the most original that day. So please try not to make that the sole interaction you have with them. There is SO much else to focus on and talk about during the adventure.

I think you can solve this sort of thing in character.

“Take care, brash adventurer. I’ve taken a vow to a jealous gawd (or gawdess). The last to make such bold advances was striken with a terrible curse.”

And if the player persists, the DM changes all their character’s numbers on the party card (including TCs) to zeroes.

That should get their attention.

Edit: The only thing you said I disagree with is the part where you said breaking character would ruin the magic for the rest of the party. The victim isn’t the bad guy. And maybe by putting a stop to the unacceptable behavior you’re actually improving the experience for a lot of people who aren’t comfortable with the jackhole’s behavior but aren’t sure how to deal with it.

Brad Mortensen wrote:

Lady Hawke wrote: Edit: On the hitting on the volunteers thing. I see this a lot, from the receiving end and watching folks interact with others. The problem lies in that being IN character makes it impossible to set boundaries without breaking character. I am happy to break character and tell a player to knock it off, but by doing that it ruins the moment and the "magic" for everyone in the room. That is a very difficult thing to manage in the moment when you are playing a character. Many people will let it slide because you're gone in a few minutes, but I can say with authority that the female NPC or male-in-female NPC probably does not find the interaction as entertaining as you do, and you are likely not the first, or the most original that day. So please try not to make that the sole interaction you have with them. There is SO much else to focus on and talk about during the adventure.

I think you can solve this sort of thing in character.

“Take care, brash adventurer. I’ve taken a vow to a jealous gawd (or gawdess). The last to make such bold advances was striken with a terrible curse.”

And if the player persists, the DM changes all their character’s numbers on the party card (including TCs) to zeroes.

That should get their attention.

Edit: The only thing you said I disagree with is the part where you said breaking character would ruin the magic for the rest of the party. The victim isn’t the bad guy. And maybe by putting a stop to the unacceptable behavior you’re actually improving the experience for a lot of people who aren’t comfortable with the jackhole’s behavior but aren’t sure how to deal with it.

The curse is an amazing suggestion.

For what it's worth, if someone from my group of personal friends was being a jackass, I would certainly tell them to knock it off, but I'm entirely sure what we would do if it was one of the PUGs on the run.

Brad Mortensen wrote:

Lady Hawke wrote: Edit: On the hitting on the volunteers thing. I see this a lot, from the receiving end and watching folks interact with others. The problem lies in that being IN character makes it impossible to set boundaries without breaking character. I am happy to break character and tell a player to knock it off, but by doing that it ruins the moment and the "magic" for everyone in the room. That is a very difficult thing to manage in the moment when you are playing a character. Many people will let it slide because you're gone in a few minutes, but I can say with authority that the female NPC or male-in-female NPC probably does not find the interaction as entertaining as you do, and you are likely not the first, or the most original that day. So please try not to make that the sole interaction you have with them. There is SO much else to focus on and talk about during the adventure.

I think you can solve this sort of thing in character.

“Take care, brash adventurer. I’ve taken a vow to a jealous gawd (or gawdess). The last to make such bold advances was striken with a terrible curse.”

And if the player persists, the DM changes all their character’s numbers on the party card (including TCs) to zeroes.

That should get their attention.

Edit: The only thing you said I disagree with is the part where you said breaking character would ruin the magic for the rest of the party. The victim isn’t the bad guy. And maybe by putting a stop to the unacceptable behavior you’re actually improving the experience for a lot of people who aren’t comfortable with the jackhole’s behavior but aren’t sure how to deal with it.

I like the curse idea and the dialogue suggested. I'm not sure that going right to zero stats is something I'd want a DM to do. That sounds more like an AC decision.

In any case, I think there are circumstances that warrant breaking character to "summon" an AC. Then again, I suppose you could RP some kind of summoning ritual.

Creating downtime filler is problematic.
Let’s say you create something super fun, now folks want to experience that as well. Even if my group is amazing we might be slaved to a slow or new DM.
There have been plenty of times my group was waiting on a slow dm to finish combat, how extra annoyed do you think players will be if they “miss out” on content.

I’m not trying to say our DMs are slow or this isn’t worth debate but consider the ramifications.

valetutto wrote: Creating downtime filler is problematic.
Let’s say you create something super fun, now folks want to experience that as well. Even if my group is amazing we might be slaved to a slow or new DM.
There have been plenty of times my group was waiting on a slow dm to finish combat, how extra annoyed do you think players will be if they “miss out” on content.

I’m not trying to say our DMs are slow or this isn’t worth debate but consider the ramifications.

You’re absolutely right. Back when there were two versions of each dungeon, people were upset if they couldn’t get puzzle and combat tix so they could see those two extra rooms. The difference then was that two tickets would guarantee you saw all the content for that track.

With fillers there would be no guarantee you could see everything, no matter how many tix you bought.

Between different players and DMs, every run will be a unique experience. I think in a movie or a video game, you could have the same experience for everyone, but for live performance like a stage play or True Dungeon, you will get a different performance and a different experience every time, even with a script.

As for sexual harassment, I would always call the AC, and if it was a similar situation to the one described, they would probably get kicked out or reprimanded by the AC on the spot.

It sounds to me like you’re describing what we already do. (Or at least what I already do as a DM). Using downtime to interact with the players, getting their direct feedback, socializing so they feel like part of the family instead of just a customer. That’s all just good customer service and should be something all DMs do to help themselves improve their skills and the organization’s relationship with the players.

As for building in Easter eggs or extra content, that’s already being done. The Christmas Clue which you mentioned is a great example... the player did not make up the interaction of the crystal tokens with the skulls. That was already an Easter egg built into the dungeon for this year.

I don’t feel we need to re-invent the wheel here.