The Eternal GM - Player Buy-In

I thought anyone reading the blog might be interested in reading an article on a topic other than game design from me. If not, feel free to ignore. However, I've decided to start a series called "the Eternal GM." Why the title? Because, save for a very few exceptions, I've been strictly a GM for the better part of 20 years. I'll be adding posts to this series as the fancy strikes me in an attempt to provide insight to newer GMs and possibly provoke some discussions. In addition to an article for each topic, I will also briefly mention a RPG that I feel does a good job of addressing the problem. And now, our first topic:

Player Buy-In

Every GM has faced it from time to time; looking across the table to see at least one of the players staring with a blank look in their eyes, clearly not thinking about the game. You then realize: the same look is on the majority of the players' faces. They aren't interested in what's going on in-game. The question is, how to get everyone back into the game?

Preventative Measures

I've seen this often enough that it's something I try to prevent before the game itself even starts. How? By making sure the players are invested in their characters during character creation and adventures have personal tie-ins that they'll care about. Here are the ways I generally do this:

Make sure the PCs have back stories - I find that character creation shouldn't just be doing a bunch of math and writing the results down on a character sheet. Where the character came from is just as important to the game as what she can do now. In order to accomplish this, I take a couple of approaches during character creation to help the players flesh their PCs out, depending on the game/situation.

• Questionnaire - I take a page from the brainchild of +Epidiah Ravachol and +nat barmore, Dread, and hand out sheets of questions to players. Each set of questions is different but generic. Generally I only go with five or six questions, just enough to get the players thinking about their characters. This results in more buy-in by itself (the more work put into a character, the more invested the player will be) as well as providing fodder for me to work character's stories into an adventure.
• Group Character Creation - I'm a fan of this anyway, because it makes things easier in regards to balancing if necessary. However, as I have become drawn more and more into the world of narrative RPGs, I find it also serves a second purpose. I can ask questions to players about how their character came by a particular skill, or how two similar skills might mean a couple of the PCs know each other. This gives a similar result to the questionnaire method while also allowing the players to intertwine their characters' backgrounds (as well as give player the opportunity to make suggestions/give input on the backgrounds of the other PCs).

Using one of those two methods, most players in my games (even the laziest when it comes to story-type elements) end up with at least a somewhat-fleshed-out background. I then use the characters backgrounds as story elements, making sure that in each adventure, at least one PC background comes into play.

Know Your Players - If you're running a diplomacy game for a group of munchkins, of course they'll end up bored. You're either in the wrong group, or you don't know your players. Don't create the game you want to run, create the game everyone will enjoy playing. Obviously, with a new group this is a bit more difficult to ascertain, but there's quick way to solve this: ask. When you are preparing to run a game for your players, ask them what kinds of games they like to play. If they love combat and simulation, make sure that's stressed; if they enjoy outwitting their opponents, make sure it comes up. 

Fixing the Problem

The above advice does nothing to help the situation in progress. The players are mid-session and bored. Right. So, here's what I do:

Take a Break - Grab snacks. Catch up. Take 5-10 minutes and step away from the game. Ask the players what their favorite moments from the campaign have been so far, or what's been rubbing them the wrong way about the session. Maybe people are just having a collective off-night, maybe it's somethings specific. Then, call them back to the table and drop them in media res. Cut the adventure to the middle of whatever the next scene was going to be. 

If they were preparing to attack a camp of enemies, start back up in combat as the enemies take their first swing (maybe say one opponent was dropped "off-screen" and shouted to rouse the other). If they are preparing to enter negotiations, drop them in the middle of a screaming rant from the person they're trying to negotiate with and have them talk their way back. Essentially, start the game back up with an assumed minor failure or something similar. Nothing gets players into the game like adversity.

Now from time to time, I try other options that work with varying success, but I find that what I discussed above has the highest success rate for me. 

What RPG Makes Player Buy-In the Easiest?

Fate Core. Yeah, this might seem like the obvious answer from me, as my current projects have been revolving around hacking this system, but it's true. Evil Hat's Fate Core is a game that is built around player buy-in. Aspects are the most important parts of a PC's backgrounds, with a mechanical effect as well as story. Anytime there happens to be a lull during a session or a player's eyes start to glaze over, just compel on of their aspects and you've pulled them right back into the game. 

So there you have it, my thoughts on player buy-in and how to solve problems that come up with it. If this is of use to you in your GM endeavors, or even if it was just a semi-enjoyable read, I've done my job. And hey, if you have your own thoughts on player buy-in, or your own suggestions for games that address the topic well, please comment!