It's interesting what a little caffeine and a visit to the chat rooms can inspire.
Yesterday we were discussing how over the top Devil May Cry is. The named desert eagles and the loner bad ass that is Dante. (I've never played the game before, but it sounded fun.) The words 'over the top' were mentioned at least half a dozen times.
I had a pretty fun Runelords session last night (just finished HMM), but I noticed something about the other table in our group (running Shackled City). There was a lot of out of character chatter. Like a peanut gallery, everything the DM said had some type of comment or chatter.
My group will do that on occasion. On my Sunday game (currently running Bloodsworn) we'll start Crimson Throne in a few weeks, and so I started thinking of ways to make the game more immersive. How do you control out of character chat?
I run MapTool games online and I've heard comments that they are very immersive for roleplaying. I think this is because you can very easily tell what's in character and what's out, and players have to make a conscious effort to speak out of character (I ask them to mark their text if it's out of character). How do we do this at the tabletop though?
Enter Over the Top. Inspired by the classic 1987 Sylvester Stallone flick, I'm going to try using small signs made of folded up index cards. On one side the player writes down the name of his character; on the other side, his name. If he wants to speak out of character he has to turn that card to his name and when he speaks in character he has to turn it to his character's name. He doesn't have to make a big production about it, but he does have to do it.
To add a bonus incentive, you could also keep track of every time he turns the card around (put a check next to his name on a list). Announce an 'immersion bonus pool' of xp (pick an appropriate amount) and every switch subtracts one (or two or three or whatever) percent of that pool.
You could also use baseball caps. :P
Does anyone else have any hints? James Jacobs has said a lot of xp from Crimson Throne will come from roleplaying.
Very clear signals "Now we're playing" / "Now we aren't" have helped with my past groups. For my last multi-player group I would start every session formally, with a GM summary of the previous session and some in-character comments on it. This helps cut the chatter.
If the group needs to socialize, set aside 10-15 minutes for socializing *before* the game starts, and then make the dividing line sharp. Often people chat because it's the only way to keep up their social connections with friends they see only during gaming, but if you want a focused game, you need to push this into non-game time.
Cutting external distractions helps too. No TV, no radio, no vidgames within line of sight/hearing. No magazines at the table. Turn off the cell phones if possible.
Calling a break every couple of hours can help keep focus higher while you're actually playing. Most people can only concentrate so long at a time before they start losing it. Call a break before that happens.
For some groups miniatures and other visual aids help; for others, they are just distracting toys to play with. You'll need to find this out for your own players. For me, pawns and dice work better than painted minis.
Finally, the GM has to set an example. Good note organization helps, because every minute you're rustling through notes is a minute where someone can get distracted and start talking football. If you are getting overwhelmed, farm some tasks out to your players. Read the scenarios in advance. (I didn't do that last night, and it really slowed the game down--"Wait, there's a *door* there, sorry!")
And try telling your players what you want--they may be able to come up with other useful ideas.
Mary