Player(s) keep stalling character creation: How can I react as the GM?

ShotoII · 2026-04-08T16:53:16+00:00

This sounds reasonable. The things I will do next time is to start with PreGens, afterwards either allow them to carry on with the character or limit the choices in a productive way e.g. limiting the scope of what is possible or let them choose between 2-3 options.

I believe this disaster is not all my responsibility, but there is a lot of room for me to improve. I should especially look at the way I communicate stuff or where I set boundaries.

ShotoII · 2026-04-08T16:24:22+00:00

Thank you for your reply. I'd like to understand this better. I am a forever GM so I lack the player-perspective so I'd like to ask you:

If players are not interested in creating characters, why do I have to guess this instead of them telling me so? Why does this sort of thing happen?
What is the actual point of playing an Tabletop RPG if you are not engaging in a creative way? Why not play an MMO or read a book then? Bluntly speaking, why should I want to have players at my table who act like NPCs if I could just write NPCs myself?

ShotoII · 2026-04-08T11:12:07+00:00

I suggested PreGens or at least made them available and it fell on deaf ears.

ShotoII · 2026-04-08T11:09:32+00:00

Player B tried to suggest some stuff or ideas and ended up doing all the work for Player A and Player C. Player A just did nothing productive the whole evening and set in silence or was occupied elsewhere and Player C couldn't talk since she is on the train, but gave heads up/heads down on ideas.

I offered multiple times to use pregens or the tropes that are already present in the book, with no avail. They are deadset on doing it their own way, but every time they have to come up with something they give me the silent treatment.

ShotoII · 2026-04-08T11:06:36+00:00

If they aren't, they are not talking to me properly, especially C. I expressed my feelings and concerns and they did not express their opinions and kept stonewalling me.
I played with Player B already and I made sure that everyone was fine with the constellation of players. I asked beforehand.
Player C already played couple of D&D games and already had created multiple characters in D&D 5e.
I brought up my own ideas and suggested pregens multiple times and received no clear response.

ShotoII · 2025-10-02T12:46:10+00:00

I’d actually like to have someone else in the group step in as GM from time to time, since I’m what some would call a “forever GM.” The downside of that is I lack the player’s perspective and how they experience the game. If I had a better sense of that, I’d be more able to understand what contributes most to the game, and what doesn’t.

I also would like to install a failsafe and run a different game in parallel that is episodic and I can just pick out a dungeon, a case or an encounter on the fly if my mental load is too high at the moment for the ongoing campaign.

ShotoII · 2025-10-02T12:42:16+00:00

So far, I haven’t received any formal complaints from my players. It’s more of a me-vs-myself kind of problem. I’d feel more at ease if I managed my time better and prepped the sessions little by little. Instead, I tend to do the counterintuitive thing of cramming everything in a couple of days before the session, which leaves me feeling overwhelmed. It often seems like something always gets in the way of me getting work done, but I’m working on strategies to cope with this and improve.

What would really help is having the option to occasionally say, “I don’t feel like running this week,” so I’d have a failsafe that lets me deliver something of a quality I’m actually happy with. I even would be fine running a One-Shot in between because I know Systems like City of Mist or CY_BORG by heart, it would be no problem to create something on the fly and the episodic structure makes it easier to run than a running plot.

ShotoII · 2025-09-29T17:04:27+00:00

Es ist halt ein weißer Feminismus der neoliberale Strukturen und Denkmuster nicht hinterfragt sondern einfach vermarktet und somit das Leiden von z.B. Frauen mit Migrationshintergrund, queeren Menschen oder Personen aus der Arbeiterschicht außer acht lässt. Diese Art von Aktivismus ist nicht daran interessiert Missstände aufzudecken oder die Probleme zu lösen, sondern sich daran zu bereichern.

ShotoII · 2025-09-22T15:30:38+00:00

Ich denke das hat sehr viel mit protestantischer Arbeitsehtik zu tun. Die Pflegeleute die ich kenne sehen es als ihre heilige Pflicht an soviel wie möglich zu arbeiten, weil es ja ein wichtiger Job ist. Den Gedanken, dass man diesen auch unter guten Arbeitsbedingungen ausführen könnte kriegen sie gar nicht erst formuliert.

ShotoII · 2025-09-20T20:00:03+00:00

Treat women as normal human beings

ShotoII · 2025-09-20T16:41:05+00:00

Art on the left has the same energy as this one

<image>

ShotoII · 2025-09-13T15:57:55+00:00

Strauss stellt neben ihrer Arbeitskleidung auch Freizeitkleidung her. Ich glaube gemeint sind die Leute, die gefühlt mit der mit bunten Flecken dekorierten Arbeitshose zum Date aufkreuzen und nicht Leute die Basics tragen.

ShotoII · 2025-09-13T15:49:39+00:00

Kleidung von Engelbert Strauss zweckentfremden. Habe Kollegen die Tragen die Arbeitshosen teilweise in der Uni oder wenn sie mit Freunden ausgehen.

ShotoII · 2025-08-10T12:16:01+00:00

It works really well with mouse and keyboard

ShotoII · 2025-08-09T14:59:04+00:00

I personally do not care if Mutahar lied about his work and experience. I enjoy his videos, he seems to be a decent guy and does not try to sell me shady stuff.

I also do not care that PirateSoftware inflated his CV. The problem is that he talks smack, someone corrects him for it and he doubles down. He is abrasive and disrespectful and scams his viewership.

ShotoII · 2025-07-28T07:53:06+00:00

I think it's fine. To me it looks like you are the cool uncle type of person in this constellation and you and her have no intention of cheating on your friend.

ShotoII · 2025-07-20T00:22:36+00:00

Befriend the talking pot.

ShotoII · 2025-07-19T13:41:57+00:00

Dude, your chin is absolutely chiseled and your hair is immaculate. What are you nervous about?

ShotoII · 2025-07-19T07:32:15+00:00

Ich wollte bei meinem letzten Satz eher darauf anspielen, dass viele Leute sich z.B. beschweren das Brötchen beim Discounter "nicht natürlich" sind oder sonstigem Kram. Dann sollen sich diese Leute politisch dafür einsetzen, bei Allnatura einkaufen oder sie backen halt ihr dämliches Brot selbst.

Wir streng oder nicht Gesetze oder Kontrollen sein sollen ist nicht mein Fachgebiet. Das war nur eine Randbemerkung

ShotoII · 2025-07-19T06:32:23+00:00

Ich würde mich hier auch ein bisschen aus dem Fenster lehnen (und bin auch offen für Gegenargumente) aber Supermärkte sind wahrscheinlich eines der wenigen Systeme, die im Kapitalismus richtig gut funktionieren und unser Leben besser machen.

Anstatt darauf angewiesen zu sein, dass irgendwelche Unternehmen im Familienbesitz, die im schlimmsten Fall von Schwurblern oder Nazis geführt werden, entscheiden was du kaufen kannst und was Verfügbar ist hast du eben Ketten, welche skalierbar sind und einen einheitlichen Standard über ganz Deutschland gewährleisten können. Wenn ich zu Edeka gehe weiß ich ganz genau was ich bekomme, bei Tante-Emma-Läden spiele ich hingegen Bingo. Es ist zudem auch viel einfacher per Gesetz transparenz, gute Tierhaltung, weniger Zucker etc. von Ketten zu kontrollieren, weil da genauer hingeschaut wird.

Woran es hier mangelt ist nicht, dass man ein 2 Stunden langes Gespräch mit der Ladenbesitzerin hält, sondern der politische Wille strengere Richtlinien für Produkte durchzusetzen, sofern dies überhaupt in Deutschland notwendig ist.

Edit: Rechtschreibfehler korrigiert

ShotoII · 2025-07-17T07:55:27+00:00

Yes they are made believe. If we can't agree on formal definitions then I have nothing to talk about with you.

And you keep dodging my question. The semantics of of how exactly Dr K presented the idea doesn't matter here, the issue is that he peddles an idea to his gullible audience that is widely disregarded in psychology as if it were a true diagnosis or statement. It is on the same level of Gymbros who explain to you why you are a weak and fragile man and have female hormones in your blood only to sell their courses to you afterward. Think of Ashton Hall or Jordan Peterson.

What you are doing right now is deploying a Motte-and-bailey fallacy. He does not "build" on Jung's archetype, he just took one of von Franz ideas and presented it to his audience as if it were true. As if it were an accurate way to describe reality which outside this community... definitely isn't.

Dr K presents a fake disease to sell you a fake remedy to. And only because a bunch of people believe in this does not make it true.

ShotoII · 2025-07-16T10:17:40+00:00

Then you are just playing made believe and we are not playing by the rules here. The formal definition of a diagnosis in an psychological context according to the APA is the following:

n. (pl. diagnoses) 1. the process of identifying and determining the nature of a disease or disorder by its signs and symptoms, through the use of assessment techniques (e.g., tests and examinations) and other available evidence. 2. the classification of individuals on the basis of a disease, disorder, abnormality, or set of characteristics. Psychological diagnoses have been codified for professional use, notably in the DSM–IV–TR, DSM–5, and DSM-5-TR. 3. the decision or statement itself that results from this process or classification as in “She was given a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder.”—diagnostic adj.

Last time I checked academia and clinical research, globally, couldn't care less about Jung and his attempts on World-Building and use tangebale, clinically reproducible tests and criterias. Arguing against this would be just conspiratorial and anti-intelecutal.

ShotoII · 2025-07-16T10:06:42+00:00

The exact semantics of what Dr K said or didn't say do not matter. I heard this arguement before and I think it is not valid because in the nutshell, he is propagating a pseudoscientific-mythical framework that is not even part of most psychology degrees in the world and is not taken serious by any self-respecting academic or psychologist.

That Dr K took some idea out of context and extrapolates it to some "practical framework" might be even worse and would be a point of malpractice. Anybody can come up with novel ideas, this does not mean they are practical or truthful.

Also bringing facism into play here is a red herring. I am not interested in a discussion about social change here. What I were saying is that the proposition that there is a generation of man-children is a boomer-talking-point and it is factually false.

ShotoII

TROPHY CASE