Help! GM with new(ish) players struggling.


Advice


I'm GM'ing a Rise of the Runelords campaign for two of my friends.
One is a moderately experienced tabletop players, the other has little to no experience. Both are very competitive PC gamers.
These two players are good friends and form the core of my Pathfinder group. We have had a few mutual friends give it a try, but they never last.
These two have now failed their third attempt at Rise of the Runelords and have never progressed very far. 1st party got bored and disbanded, 2nd party same, 3rd and last attempt was just the two of them, running 2 PCs each.
The problem is these two get frustrated easily, have trouble picking up on story clues, and anger quickly when the dice do not fall in their favor.
The campaign ended, not from a TPK, but a boss fight ragequit and refusal to continue fighting with their given resources and characters.
I love Pathfinder, and I don't mind GM'ing instead of being a PC, but this is growing very tiresome. These two want to keep trying, and are pushing me to write my own campaign, but I'm not sure if this is doomed to fail.
Do I disband the group completely, and if not, what do I do?


ask one of them to GM for awhile so you can have a turn to play.


2 people marked this as a favorite.

Continual frustration and ragequitting are not things to enjoy with your friends.

Play a simple game like Crypt of the Everflame. It's a beginner module designed to get players working with clues and helping one another.

If they're not into it, then do other things. Gaming shouldn't be work. A lifetime of gaming has taught me that it's all about the company you keep, not the game you're playing.


Involve them in world creation. Have each submit a general idea for a starting town's backstory (landmarks, important features, inhabitants/organizations), the region it's in (resources/hazards), and (if relevant) what country/setting it's a part of. Use their ideas to generate quests. They're probably missing cues because they don't really buy into the world, and you making a world isn't going to change that. Have them do it instead (plus this saves you effort).

Liberty's Edge

Personally, I'd be pretty hesitant to create my own campaign for players who decided to "rage quit" RotL, which, though I've never played, is lauded by those I know who have played it as a great adventure. Personally I'd stick with smaller modules, Crypt of the Everflame is a good suggestion. There are a number of other lower level modules that you could move onto as these characters level up.

Only after they've made it through a few modules would I even consider creating my own personal campaign. It can be a lot of work to create a cohesive and interesting story with challenging and enjoyable encounters. It can take weeks of effort to write even short campaigns, and knowing that my only 2 players have a history of quitting a campaigns...


First problem is that they are probably trying to play like they do in PC games, and aren't getting the instant satisfaction and don't have the same level of control over the characters and situations they do on the PC.

The second problem is the group is small and they maybe need the distraction of other players to play off of so as to not feel so put upon that they get bored having to follow the clues or get pissed when the dice turn on them.

Here's some ideas:

Talk to them about finding more players so there's more personal interaction and to balance the stress load.

Have the other experienced player run another game and alternate sessions to reduce boredom.

Make sure you're playing the anniversary edition on RotRL because they put in more and better clues and other improvements that help the game play out more smoothly.

Have an NPC like Shalelu come to the rescue if they are stumped or the battle suddenly takes an unfortunate turn due to a few bad die rolls.

Remind them that the low levels are a little tougher, but they will become more powerful and the story builds as they go on.

And maybe run a GM NPC for the party that can feed them clues and lead them to the NPC's they need to talk to.


Pathfinder Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Have you considered running something lighter, like PFS scenarios? Those can be completed in around 5 hours and are short so there are no problems with remembering what happened last week.

I wouldn't do world building for people that are getting frustrated. If you are doing it for yourself, that is alright. If you are doing it in order to have something to run, I wouldn't suggest it.

If you want to keep with the AP and see them missing clues, having someone keep a log helps a lot. If they have game notes, they are much more likely to remember something that happened three sessions ago, especially if it was months ago in real life. Start the game off with a summary of what happened last time.

I recommend a player keep the log, not the GM.


Call off running the AP. There are an untild number of modules out there, just long enough to see your characters advance just a level or two. Few will have the great story and or the Paizo AP's, but you should give it a try.

As far as the problems arising from the various personalities in the group, perhaps you could find a gaming meet-up for a couple sessions or find out where PFS is going on. It might be a nice change for you to experience chemistry with others players for a while. Every group I have ever been in for an extended period of time has had little squabbles and clashes, but I couldn't remain at a table like what you describe. Not in the long run at least.

Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder First Edition / Advice / Help! GM with new(ish) players struggling. All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.