[RPG] How to encourage players to work better as a team

group-dynamicspathfinder-1eproblem-playerssystem-agnostic

Related: What kind of rules promote good team cohesion? Unlike that question, this one is about problem players, not problem
character personalities.

There is a group of good friends who I regularly play Pathfinder with who have trouble working as a team. I am a player in this game, not the GM. There is very little team cohesion in-game: everyone tends to want to do their own thing, all at the same time, and combat rarely has any cohesive strategy.

From my observations, our team has three major problems:

  1. Talking over the top of one another. I have never played a session where people weren't trying to make their voices heard above everyone else (there are 4 players) fairly regularly. I consider myself a good listener, but the rest of the team are not. We (myself included) often don't listen to the GM carefully enough either. We once tried a talking stick approach, but it didn't even last a whole session.

  2. Technology. Of the 5 people, 4 bring a variety of devices to the table (myself included). 2 of us have our character sheets on Excel and our GM uses a tablet in conjunction with a book. I am guilty of often looking at Facebook when it's not my turn in combat* and another player is constantly looking up rules to contradict the GM on. Even the GM is sometimes looking at something unrelated on their tablet. The obvious solution here is to get rid of the tech, but one of the aforementioned players will kick up a fuss if this is attempted as he is very adamant that he prefers a digital character sheet to a paper one. We also often need one to reference a rule on the wiki.

  3. Inexperienced GM. Our GM has played on-and-off for a few years, but he does not have a good grasp of the rules. Adequate, certainly, but significantly less than all 4 players. We're using an official adventure module for our current game, but I get the impression he only gives it a quick skim before each session rather than properly preparing. This is unlikely to change as he is less committed to the game than the players.

*Combat tends to be slow because not everyone is prepared for their turn, either because they weren't paying attention or are still just working on a strategy. Usually the former.

The only other noteworthy item is that I might be the odd one out. I'm actually not sure whether any player other than me is bothered by the lack of teamwork. The GM also is, but he resigned himself to it a long time ago rather than trying to be proactive.

What are some ways I could encourage the group to work better together as a team? I would appreciate any ideas or suggestions that address the above three points.

Best Answer

1. Talk to the group.

With issues involving group dynamics; people not listening, doing their own thing, disregarding others etc., this is usually best handled by discussing the issue with the group. You mentioned you tried the "talking stick" - which is a good idea; but you have to enforce it. Some ways to do this might be:

  • Get a physical object to hold. Something unique like a small(ish) ball - small enough so that it doesn't get in the way, but big enough so it's noticeable. Don't use an object like a pencil or ruler - these will likely be discarded/ignored in the case that more than one person may have one.

  • Remind the group to use the mechanic. Get one person (perhaps the GM, or you, being the one who notices this issue the most) to remind the group of the "talking stick". This is probably something you want to discuss with the group, because it will turn into nagging. But if the group welcomes the idea, it will help to ingrain the mechanic into the group.

2. Turn off the WiFi. (Or turn on airplane mode)

This can help two-fold. If someone absolutely needs to double check something, talk to the group, maybe even call a quick vote, then turn the internet on to check the rules. That way, people won't be distracted, everyone will be involved, and no one is contradicting anyone. This will also help with people getting distracted and not paying attention.

3. Employ a 2IC (Second-In-Command)/Assistant GM

The fact that other people in the room are contradicting others, shows that the players may have more skill than the GM (This is an assumption). If this is the case, employing a 2IC can help the GM understand and learn the system/rules better. In my experience, as a player there are times when new players are attempting to learn the rules, the more experienced players have one of two approaches:

  • Being blunt - When a new player does something (wrong), some players immediately snap at them and say "No! It's (x) not (y)! Write it down!" This is never helpful. It makes the new player feel inadequate, or frustrated because the more experienced players are not allowing for their lack of knowledge, which usually leads to players ignoring the advice.
  • Assisting - Allowing for a player's lack of knowledge is the better approach, as there is no conflict of interest. The player wants to learn, and the more experienced players can teach. If you assign one person to teach the new guy, you'll get less of a reaction from the whole group, because it's no longer everyone's responsibility. Additionally, the new player will be more accepting of the advice, and be more likely to listen in future. You may still get a comment or two, but only when the 2IC gets something wrong, in which case it'll only be a reminder.

All in all I believe the main issue is the fact that everyone is detached from the experience - distracted by the internet/devices what-have-you.

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