I think as dungeon masters we've all had session or moments within these sessions, particularly near the end, when we can feel the energy or the attention of the room starting to falter , it getting close to 10:30/11, you've been playing for 4 hours and the infectious compulsion not to yawn is growing almost too much to handle.don't take it as a slight by the way , it's not it's just these people are tired , they know it takes you ages every week to write and prep for the session , but Gary was late for work today and so one of your players had to do all his work as well....god damn it Gary.
so if you have this issue with your players, here are a couple of examples of things that happen in my game and how I deal with them.
Firstly, I allow up to a 5-minute break every hour of play, provided that you don't stop the flow of the game at an important phase, such as memorable story moments or combat. This rule has evolved very naturally over time, it use to be that the whole group would take a break for twenty minutes at the half way point and then keep playing for the rest of the evening , but the problem I found with this is that much like when yours trying to run 5 miles or attempt a new hardcore workout, if you decide to take a 10-15 minute rest phase in the middle you'll sit down and get comfortable , youll find its almost impossable to start again , at least with me it is, by allowing just 5 minutes every hour , everyone can get a drink, a snack, have a smoke and just generally get re-settled and focus they now luberocated, fed, nictoined mind ready for the next part of the adventure, it also gives you as the DM alittle time extra to think about stuff .
Secondly, I've often found that in my game, I will have extended periods of time in which I am focusing on the interaction of 1-2 people around my table, often they will be talking to NPC's , each other or having an important backstory moment that they have been waiting for some time for and it shouldn't be interrupted. However, now this leaves 3/5 of the rest of my table without any attention from me, and while my players are pretty good, sometimes the phones come out or in one circumstance the laptop, and people begin to lose attention on the game and I believe once that energy is lost, then it's almost impossible to gain back. To counteract this, I will often ask the other players around the table what their characters are up to during or just at the beginning of this interaction , this I think gets those players imaginations going , asking themselves what they are going to try and get up to and focus their mind of there goal and it gives them an idea to focus their energy on .
Lastly and most importantly for me, I try to minimize the use and contact of electronic devices by my players to the lowest it can be. I don't mind if your spells are on an App on your phone I know that's where mine are, however, I will not allow the use of online or digital character sheets now. I have often found that just the temptation to go onto the internet and start surfing social media is too much for some people, and you will just find them checking thier facebook page and completely glazing over your story and the events of the evening, I had a problem player once that abused his connection to the internet via his phone to the extent that he would play the music he believed to be the best for the situation not be , this would sometimes mean instead of some genentlly atmospheric woodland music , we would have an 80's hair metal band ruining the immersion of the evening . They even once got out thier laptop and started doing work while we were meant to be playing. This I cannot forgive them for. I understand that a person in their line of work would have work to do and that you not may have a great amount of time to complete it , however if you have better things to do that night other than play D&D with your friends then please don't come , I mean that in both a good way and a bad way . Work obviously comes before play especially when it pays your bills, so you can afford to miss a game to get some work done, I respect that, and its fine , However when you do it , it shows a lack of respect to the game and the person running it that you couldn't take one night off to enjoy what someone has made for you and that players lack of energy and focus can then spread to all the other corners of the table and deflate the others in the room. If I could I would totally ban them from my table, however, I'm not that totalitarian ....not just yet. They could have them on vibrate.
Anyway, guys thank you so much for reading I hope this has helped even in a small way, and until next time guys.
Bye!
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