I'll ask the easy one first. I just picked up these wonderful NPC card packs for our game tonight and was curious about the stats on some of them. For example, the Rebel SpecForce agitator has a soak value of 5, but in his equipment he has blast vest with a +2 soak value. Is that blast vest already added to the standing 5? Or do I add it after the fact to give him a total 7 soak?

My second question regards keeping players invested in the game. We all work together, so I know there's bound to be talk of, "Oh man, today at work this crazy thing happened!" Which is fine with me, but it often runs into fifteen twenty minutes where the game isn't getting played, and we hardly get together more than once every month or so as it is. People are having fun, so I don't necessarily want to bang the GM "gavel" and order people to pay attention. One player often gets bored when it's not his turn, and is rather on his phone, just wandering around the apartment, or constantly starts up sidebar conversations and distracts from the game. He's essentially min/maxing an assassin and seems mostly interested in combat and not much else.

I know the obvious answer is to become a better storyteller, I'm new but definitely getting better at it. Everyone else in the group is enjoying the custom campaign and seem genuinely excited to play, but I was hoping some of the veteran GMs here might have some advice on keeping those problem players invested in the game, or just tips on being a better story teller in general.

I'll ask the easy one first. I just picked up these wonderful NPC card packs for our game tonight and was curious about the stats on some of them. For example, the Rebel SpecForce agitator has a soak value of 5, but in his equipment he has blast vest with a +2 soak value. Is that blast vest already added to the standing 5? Or do I add it after the fact to give him a total 7 soak?

It's soak is 5. The soak is listed in case a PC wants to "borrow" the armor.

My second question regards keeping players invested in the game. We all work together, so I know there's bound to be talk of, "Oh man, today at work this crazy thing happened!" Which is fine with me, but it often runs into fifteen twenty minutes where the game isn't getting played, and we hardly get together more than once every month or so as it is. People are having fun, so I don't necessarily want to bang the GM "gavel" and order people to pay attention. One player often gets bored when it's not his turn, and is rather on his phone, just wandering around the apartment, or constantly starts up sidebar conversations and distracts from the game. He's essentially min/maxing an assassin and seems mostly interested in combat and not much else.

The gavel may be needed. Make sure to take regular breaks. When the players start to sidetrack, reign it in but promise them a break once the scene is through.

II know the obvious answer is to become a better storyteller, I'm new but definitely getting better at it. Everyone else in the group is enjoying the custom campaign and seem genuinely excited to play, but I was hoping some of the veteran GMs here might have some advice on keeping those problem players invested in the game, or just tips on being a better story teller in general.

Whenever I see a player bored or sidetracked, I usually look for something in the scene for them to address. I put that set piece right in their characters face. Some times it's as easy as "So Mark, what is Luke doing in this scene" then going from.

As for in-combat, try and get them involved with adjudicating advantage/threat/despair/triumph. Or give them a combat NPC to take control of.

This is what worked for us...

Break for food. Every session we take about a 30 to 45 minute break to eat and chat. We usually do this in the middle of our session. We usually break when the pizza arrives. Devour the pizza, smoke, use the bathroom, call the wife, check email, refill drinks, refill snacks, clean up a little, and talk about non-game related topics. After everyone does this, they say, "what are we waiting for!?" and then they force me to GM again.

As per storytelling, I highly suggest always ending on a cliffhanger. Say your Assassin PC sees his mark and prepares his vibroblade, only to hear something, or someone, sneaking up behind him. Then the GM says, 'Ok guys, time to break for some pizza.' Now, your players will want to get back to the game a lot quicker. The trick is not overdoing it, but you should always look for good cliffhangers.

I once tried to end a session on a major reveal at 6:00PM. My players revolted and made me GM till midnight.

I know the obvious answer is to become a better storyteller, I'm new but definitely getting better at it. Everyone else in the group is enjoying the custom campaign and seem genuinely excited to play, but I was hoping some of the veteran GMs here might have some advice on keeping those problem players invested in the game, or just tips on being a better story teller in general.

It's not all on you. Of course we all want to get better at this, but it also requires that the player have the courtesy to remain attentive. Depending on your relationship with the player, you might be able to nip it in the bud with a quick private talk: "you know, it's a lot of work to put this together, and when you don't pay attention it's disruptive, can you save your phoning for during the break?"

I constructed a steel and concrete shed for my friends and I to play in. It's impossible to get a signal. No wifi. Everyone pays attention or I don't hand out the water rations.

I wouldn't blame yourself infmed - there will always be a phone-handler at the table. Yes there are likely things you can do to engage the phone-handler, but in my experience there's always going to be someone who isn't as engaged as the others and that's okay. Maybe they stack dice or doodle. It might just be that they're more casual about the game and that's fine up until it hampers the Good Time you're all supposed to be having.

Some ways I've dealt with this:

1. First and foremost, talk to the person privately, they might have a good reason (work demands, sick family)

2. Set aside a portion of the session for chitchat, usually at the beginning and possibly the end too

3. Set a clear start for the game - my favorite way is to blare the intro music and read the crawl. That says, "the curtain is up, it's showtime!"

4. Have inactive players play some of your NPCs - it takes a teeny bit of prep but if you utilize a system like 3-line NPC then you can hand a sticky note to the player and let them run with it

It's worth considering that GMing and storytelling are two different skills, and while keeping the audience engaged is a storyteller's job, the GM has to weave multiple stories together, keep track of a spreadsheet's worth of stats, and wrangle people into a story as participants rather than observers. The responsibility for having fun is everyone's though.

In addition to talking to the player directly, I have personally instituted an extra +5xp rule for my table. If the group gets too distracted, goes off track with outside conversations, and I can't reel them back in (or I'm busy with another scene with other PC's), the whole group doesn't get the 5xp that session.

This way it makes the disruptive player(s) see that his actions disrupt and effect everyone. I usually put an hourglass up to mark 1 minute to wrap it up otherwise that xp is gone.

I haven't had to use it more than once, but it really does make the players realize that it's getting out of hand... Especially if you are creating a scene for other PC's while the others are talking.

In addition to talking to the player directly, I have personally instituted an extra +5xp rule for my table. If the group gets too distracted, goes off track with outside conversations, and I can't reel them back in (or I'm busy with another scene with other PC's), the whole group doesn't get the 5xp that session.

This way it makes the disruptive player(s) see that his actions disrupt and effect everyone. I usually put an hourglass up to mark 1 minute to wrap it up otherwise that xp is gone.

I haven't had to use it more than once, but it really does make the players realize that it's getting out of hand... Especially if you are creating a scene for other PC's while the others are talking.

This is kind of a good idea, though I generally already give out quite a bit of bonus xp. The thing for me is that I realize I am as guilty as anyone else in my group of getting off topic. "Oh! That reminds me of this time in another game that...." I suppose the rule would then empower players to remind me to get back on track as well.

Another option I thought about was a version of the "swear jar" that some families have in their homes. If you derail play for more than a few seconds, you owe a quarter. The money in the jar can be used to buy adventure modules, donate to a gaming themed charity like ExtraLife, or to support one of the gaming community services like OggDude's character generator.

What I ended up doing was set the meetup time and hour earlier than I plan to start. We meet at 5pm and I am ready to run at 6pm. This lets everyone have an hour to talk, eat, and get settled. It has worked wonders for my group. It is also a really good time to take GM questions help new characters spend experience or buy equipment. This also gives you a little buffer for people being late as well. If you have players that just will not focus you may need to talk to them individually or as a group.

What I ended up doing was set the meetup time and hour earlier than I plan to start. We meet at 5pm and I am ready to run at 6pm. This lets everyone have an hour to talk, eat, and get settled. It has worked wonders for my group. It is also a really good time to take GM questions help new characters spend experience or buy equipment. This also gives you a little buffer for people being late as well. If you have players that just will not focus you may need to talk to them individually or as a group.

We do something similar.

I tend to play on Sundays at noon. So by the time everyone shows up, I have lunch ready or close to ready. Everyone gets to spend their lunch time eating and shooting the breeze. Once lunch is done, we start the game.

I tend to play on Sundays at noon. So by the time everyone shows up, I have lunch ready or close to ready. Everyone gets to spend their lunch time eating and shooting the breeze. Once lunch is done, we start the game.

You cook for your group? Any openings at your table?

I tend to play on Sundays at noon. So by the time everyone shows up, I have lunch ready or close to ready. Everyone gets to spend their lunch time eating and shooting the breeze. Once lunch is done, we start the game.

You cook for your group? Any openings at your table?

I try and be a good host. Game days are about the only time my friends and I can hang out, so I go all out. We also tend to consume a fair amount of adult beverages as well, if you can handle that, you're good!

What I ended up doing was set the meetup time and hour earlier than I plan to start. We meet at 5pm and I am ready to run at 6pm. This lets everyone have an hour to talk, eat, and get settled. It has worked wonders for my group. It is also a really good time to take GM questions help new characters spend experience or buy equipment. This also gives you a little buffer for people being late as well. If you have players that just will not focus you may need to talk to them individually or as a group.

That's honestly a very good idea.

My Skype group winds up doing much the same, as we set a target time, but invariably most of us are online earlier, and even after the stated start time we wind up chit-chatting for a bit, especially as one player is just getting home from work and fixing supper around the typical start time. It's worked out pretty well for us.

I had to read this thread just because of the title...

You can't herd cats but you can move the food bowl... so figure out what proverbial food bowl the min max assassin will follow and put it in the game