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I tend to get a bit distracted myself - as do my players. Back when I used a GM screen, I used to leave a post-it note stuck to it at all times with a quote from Monty Python and the Holy Grail:
"GET ON WITH IT!"
I've been lazy about it but one thing I've been meaning to do is find/make an MP3 of God yelling that and put it on my phone so I can play it as needed.
Usually not a problem at game session for me, but I can think of a lot of non-game scenarios where that quote is rolling through my mind. Often repeatedly.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I tend to get a bit distracted myself - as do my players. Back when I used a GM screen, I used to leave a post-it note stuck to it at all times with a quote from Monty Python and the Holy Grail:
"GET ON WITH IT!"
I've been lazy about it but one thing I've been meaning to do is find/make an MP3 of God yelling that and put it on my phone so I can play it as needed.
When my players get too chatty, I usually go into what I call Panic DM Mode: I start speaking louder, faster, and make it seem like everything is a matter of life or death urgency. Turns start moving faster, the plot gets thrown at them like a Michael Bay movie trailer, pickpocketing increases tenfold, charriots start breaking their wheels, orcs realise they really should call for reinforcements, tavern brawls break out, etc.
It's like if someone had entered a string of random cheat codes on Grand Theft Auto. The actual consequenses rarely are more than a few bruises, some angry NPCs or a bag of coins or two missing, but it sort of works like a bucket of cold water and snaps everyone back into the game.
Somehow it always works, even with different groups. Apparently, they all get hyperventilated and then run with it.
I just say, "hey guys, ok, here we go"
and then my players listen and we get back on track
but I guess I could build a sign or an mp3 or something, sure
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Sometimes when the players seem to be getting too distracted, I'll drop some left field-style crazy into whatever I'm describing. For instance, if the party is meeting with a goblin chief and no one seems to be paying attention to what I'm saying, I'll drop in something like, "Then the goblin chief ties a sponge to his head and screams, 'I'm a pelican,' while making fart noises with his armpit."
Attempts to institute an "If you say it, your characters says it," rule can meet with mixed results, but sometimes it's fun to have an NPC suddenly and angrily shout, "My mother was a saint!" while the players are discussing cylons or some other subject your typical town guard or half-orc might take for a foreign insult.