Trust in Players and Discipline

[Valhingen]

I'm just learning the ropes with FG (as DM) at the moment, having some mock-up battles and the like and one thing has me wondering.

Is there any way to stop people from rolling dice aside of "I trust my players and they behave"? I do of course though eventually with a large group there is bound to be some trolling if you cant stop a player from saying "target all enemies" and clicking damage roll 10 times.

The less severe part is that you got players understandably fiddle with their dice and spamming up chat...unless there is some moderation tool for it.

[Nickademus]

Fantasy Grounds does not help you with this.

Your players simply need to have discipline. (I know there is a good 5 minutes of entertainment once the players realize they can roll 20 dice at once; let them get this out of their system.)

I suggest a scaling approach. The point of them playing is to have fun. If they stop having fun, they will be more likely to behave.

Start by respectfully explaining that excess rolling during the game, or unauthorized rolls that affect the game, slow things down and spam chat. Then politely ask them to do such things prior to the game session or wait until the end (or during a break if you take 5 during the session).

If they persist, call a Time Out for 5 minutes when they continue to spam dice. They will get bored of doing nothing and the once that are behaving will pressure the one(s) that are not.

If it is a single person and it continues, Put him/her in Time Out for 10 minutes. Their character fades to the background and they are unable to play.

If it continues, you are better off booting the player and replacing him/her. If the whole group continues, best to think of more light-hearted games they can play or run silly adventures where the spam fits in.

Sorry about your situation though. :/

[Valhingen]

Nah, its not that bad a situation, I am just trying to cover my bases before things happen. I was merely hoping there is "some" sort of tool, like in moderated chat channels or something. That time out you mention is not meant as a function ingame, is it? (I only see kick and ring :))

[damned]

i dont mind if players want to roll dice. all new players do. if they start doing things like deliberately attacking out of turn etc they usually get whacked by a lightning bolt from the heavens. they dont usually do it twice.

[Nickademus]

No, not an in-game feature, though you can make their combat tracker entry invisible. Being suddenly removed from the flow of the game is rather jarring to a troublemaker. When they agree to behave you can make them visible again without having to reset their entry or initiative.

Honestly, I've never had this kind of trouble. Most people that take the time to download a VTT and schedule to be in a game are already committed to a base level of etiquette to keep the game moving.

[dulux-oz]

What you (Valhingen) are describing is Player-related, not VTT-related - at some time in our gaming career all GMs have to deal with troublesome Players, whether sitting round a physical table or a virtual one. There are plenty of good artiucles on RPG-related websites on how to deal with troublesome Players, and Nick's list in this thread is one of the best (ie most effect) ones I've ever user.

Basically, at the root-cause most troublesome Players are getting bored because their Character is not the centre of attention. Using a Time-Out really rams this home and the vast majority of them learn to be more respectful of their fellow Players and of the GM. Peer-pressure from the other Players also helps, as does a quite word from the GM (before the next game session, in private) that they are being disruptive can also work.

I've found that normally, most troublesome Players are new or near-new to Tabletop RPG and usually are coming from on-line RPG - they have what I call "Arcade-Game Mentality" when there is only them to enjoy the game. Pointing out to them that Tabletop RPG is more of a "team sport" usually does the trick - with or without combining it with the "sanctions" talked about already. :)

Ultimately, the "Nuclear Option" is to kick them out - there are ALWAYS more Players wanting to game than spots available, so this shouldn't be a problem (for the GM).

So I hope you get things settled-down.

Happy gaming

Cheers