Player help needed

[Jaçinto]

This is gonna sound bad but I have a hard time paying attention during adventure paths, if not almost falling asleep.

We have played all the APs so far and are on Iron Gods right now. About 2 or 3 APs ago is when I started conking out at the table to just flipping through a book or something. Yes, I know this is bad player behaviour and I don't want to do it, but I need help.

See, the problem is that the APs have so much padding and long dungeon crawls, and entire six hour sessions where all we do is fight two enemies before going home, that I am bored out of my skull. I can only mentally handle "Oh, a fork in the road in this hallway. If I open the door it is another hallway or another random enemy" so many times before my brain shuts down. I do try to interact and role-play with the others, but that just ends up delaying doing other things in the adventure when dungeon crawling. It is like a somewhat old term in video games which was something like "Spend an hour designing your character's face, then put on a helmet and go in a hole in the ground for a few hours."

I want to be able to deal with the bland constant fights that take up entire sessions, and the long dungeon crawls of just (Go in room. is there an enemy? if yes, fight, kill, and then search. If no, search.) Seriously, how do I do this without passing out from boredom? I am not trying to sound rude but I have no other way to put it.

I don't know why, but when we are in a city and interacting with NPCs, solving mysteries, making contacts, etc... I am wide awake. When I am essentially in "Get in the hole and kill things." I can't stand it. Especially in Iron Gods where you can't do anything than fight because almost every enemy is a mindless robot, so my options on dealing with the encounter is limited. I can fight it, or run away and therefore choose not to play.

I love role-playing games like D&D (including pathfinder but I started with AD&D), Shadowrun, Dark Heresy, Paranoia, and so on, but when it becomes monotonous, I hit my fight or flight instinct. On that I mean keep playing and hope it gets better or quit.

See, generally in the first three books of the adventures, especially the first book, I never get bored. Not just because it is new but because it seems that is where the best writing is. Once it hits book 4 or 5, it tends to become "Get in the hole and don't come out until you defeat the bad or find the maguffin." I also notice that if I get creative and use spells to make short cuts to avoid or end encounters early, we end up under level and under geared, so I have to slog through or get punished with low exp for being clever. The stories are great in the APs and all, but the mechanical execution is just...bleh.

TLDR: Getting bored and falling asleep at the table from long boring slogs through dungeons and fights that feel like padding. Want to keep my attention focused and stay interested. Please advise on how to do this.

[lgt]

It could be possible that this group is using a campaign style that is not for you.

I have a player that is just like you. At first I thought that he was being rude but then I quickly realized that he was merely interested in certain parts of my campaign. Namely getting into fights and causing trouble in the town I built.

So I switched up my style!

The first half of the session allows players to do what ever they want. Shop, pick fights, role play. Whatever! Each player would get about 10 minutes to do LITERALLY whatever they wanted. The player that I am talking bout loved this new style because he could surf the net while the other players were taking care of their errands, engage in his interests when it was his turn, and then help out the group for the second half of the session.

It seems to me that you do not need help but just need to join a campaign that is better suited towards your needs. I can tell that you are putting effort into improving your self (which is great!). But sometimes, you may find yourself in a campaign that doesn't work for you. And that is fine!

You do you fam!

[Jaçinto]

Awesome, and I think you are right. There is only really one group here and these are my friends (Small town) and I am trying really hard. Believe me, when I get an idea in my head I am right back into it. I think part of the issue is that I chose one of the suggested classes in the player guide for iron gods (Blight druid) and everything is immune to everything that I do. Also the part about if I make a short cut, we miss out on xp and are now under level.

I love a good fight. I just get bored when a fight takes up almost three hours of session time.

People actually got mad at me for adding personality quirks to my character, like casting create water on people that are dull or annoying (ended up having a fun splash fight with another player and we were both laughing), or while in bird form I would start cawing and screeching and stuff. The other players made me take wild speech then but it was fun. they kinda now just want me to sit down and be quiet because if X NPC does not like us, we lose.

[Neils Bohr]

You may want to speak to the GM, they're is a passage in the core rule book about awarding comparable XP for creative solutions, for this very reason. It seems a tragedy to penalize creative thinking and interesting encounters.

[Valamuur]

This seems like something that you need to bring up with your GM, preferably in private. Sit down and talk about this and see if there isn't something you guys can do. For instance, it sounds like one of the problems is that your class, coupled with the long fights, is hindering you from having fun. A new class, as your blight druid has to return home and tend the farm and stop all this adventurer nonsense, could let you find a way to make the combat portion more enjoyable. I mean, now that you know some of things you are going up against, maybe you'd find that bullrushing enemies into bad things would be a lot more fun than having a class that keeps running into immunity issues.

It might also help make the fights take less time when you are more able to effectively help in them.

You might also find that you can help your GM in some way. For instance, you can help keep track of information, help with maps, or anything that your GM might need. I don't know if your GM needs any sort of help, but it can help give you something to do during combat.

I can't think of any better solution than to talk it over and see if there is a way to make the game more enjoyable for you.

[Jaçinto]

How did a dead Danish physicist get in here? Are you a lich or were you hanging out with Schrodinger's cat?