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Maybe I'm deranged, but I actually like disinterested players. I like them because they are telling me I'm not doing my job as a GM. Of course there are times when players aren't paying attention no matter what and there will always be players that talk amongst themselves, lose interest and do something out of character, or worse of all stop playing out of boredom. The question is: what do you do about these types of players? Take away experience points or something equally evil? This article is going to give a few ways to deal with the unruly using less extreme methods.

Before we can discuss what to do with disinterested players we need to think of what creates them. More often than we'd like to admit it the cause is ourselves, the GM's, but that's actually good news because we can fix that. Most players start a session excited and interested, but as the game continues, excitement wanes and attention wanders. This leads to players talking about things outside the game, or trying to "liven" things up by doing things their characters wouldn't normally do. If you find your players attention turning away from the game, call a break, and during that break think about where your game is and what you can do to spice it up, and more importantly, bring all the players into participation. If you find your gaming session is focusing on one or two players and ignoring everyone else then you need to change that. Talk to the newer players during the break and see what they think, if you are hearing the game is ok, or they don't seem too excited about the game you aren't doing your job. Try to nudge your players into a situation where a new player saves the day, and you will have a player for life. New players need confidence building before they will participate more, so give it to them.

When you notice two players talking among themselves and ignoring the game it can be maddening, but there are a couple of things you can do to force them to pay attention without having to resort to taking something away from them. I prefer the timed response method. For instance: A group of characters are walking down a long tunnel, and two of them are chatting quietly to themselves and not paying attention. Suddenly the ground begins to shake and chunks of rock fall from the ceiling! Starting with the players that weren't paying attention ask them what they are doing while starting a stop watch. If the player gives you that blank look or says 'what's going on?', move on to the next player, and continue until everyone has answered. Mark down the time each player responds. Then compare response times and use that as the order in which the characters react. The players that aren't paying attention will be at the bottom of the list, and in situations like this that's never good. The best part about it is the look on the players faces while they watch other players run to safety while they stand there trying to figure out what's going on. It forces players to pay attention, but there are a few rules to follow. First never kill a player this way, hurt them yes, but don't kill them. We are trying to tell them to pay attention, not make them want to stop playing.

Second, when describing what's going on, do it in the same voice as you have been talking, if you talk excitedly it'll get everyone's attention. Third, don't use the same situation over and over again, because you will train your players to say run automatically. Of course you could always use it till the players say run automatically and then give them a situation where running is the worst thing you can do. The T-Rex only sees movement kinda thing.

Another method is to ask each player what they are doing only once. If they don't respond right away or respond with 'what's going on?' they are unable to perform any actions that turn. Do the same thing next turn and I guarantee everyone will know what they are doing and what's going on. If another player begins telling the ignoring player what's going on when you are asking each player what they are doing just look at that player and say, 'so for this turn you are explaining what's going on?' That will stop the explanation right there. It may seem cruel, but isn't it more cruel to ignore what is going on in a game you are supposed to be playing?

The final method is to surprise the players with the unexpected. Keep the players guessing at what is coming next and no one will zone out. Most playing groups get stuck in a rut, or more specifically, most GM's get stuck in a rut. If your gaming sessions become monotonous and your players are predicting things that haven't happened yet, learn from this and do the opposite of what they expect. If every dead end has a secret door to a treasure room, make the secret door the door to a prison cell for some hell spawned demon. If the players are always chasing after dragons that have kidnapped the princess then have the princess actually love the dragon and fight the players with her magic. If your players are always the heroic good guys, make them the bad guys.

Fudge dice rolls, ignore rules, and give a rules lawyer a heart attack, but do whatever it takes to make sure your players have a good time, especially new players. That's the number one, and maybe the only, job of a GM. Someone once asked me what the hardest part of being a GM was. I said it was trying to balance the fact that in the game I am everything and nothing. Yeah, I got the same blank look from them too. In the game we are everything because we control all aspects of our fantastical worlds, but we are nothing because we aren't the enemy (although we control them), and we aren't the heroes either. It's a hard balance to maintain, but when it is maintained you will know because that's when the best role playing happens, and it's when you don't have disinterested players.