Dungeon Master Bans Cellphones, Debuts One Man Show
“I think he’ll do a great job, and I’m looking forward to passively listening to what my character would do in various situations."
Local dungeon master, Kas Stuartson, announced that effective immediately, all games he runs will have a “no cellphone” policy. This includes any one-shots or short adventures, but analysts are saying the bigger impact will be on his bi-weekly campaign he has been running for 2 months. In addition, Stuartson has announced that the game will be taking a more narrative and story driven direction, with less emphasis on game elements.
“I think the phone policy is necessary with the new direction we’re going. The game isn’t going to be as interactive with the players as it was before,” says Stuartson. “It’ll be more of a one man show, with the focus on the NPCs, and having cell phones might hinder their ability to pay attention. It’s very easy to just pull out a cellphone if you’re bored.” Stuartson admits that the changes might take some getting used to, but that it will ultimately improve the experience. “Yeah, the players may miss having the freedom to make decisions and be creative, but I think it’s worth it for the better story. And I’ll be able to work better as a collaborative storyteller if I just do it myself.”
The reactions amongst Stuartson’s players are mixed, but most seem to be against the changes. “I was ok when he started forcing us to roleplay every encounter in character, even if it did take an hour to buy a new sword because the blacksmith insisted on telling me his tragic tale,” says regular player, Bethany Wise. “But this seems like too much.” Seth Adkins, one of the newer players to join the group agrees with Wise. “The game before was already on rails. In fact, he liked my first character’s backstory so much, he made him an NPC so he could play him. I can’t imagine Kas having even more control.” Adkins also raised practical concerns to The Dungeon Tribune. “Because I can’t use my phone, I’ll have to go buy a physical copy of the player’s handbook...or maybe I won’t. Maybe he’ll just decide what outcome he likes best and use it.”
Other players have a more optimistic view of the announcement. “I think he’ll do a great job, and I’m looking forward to passively listening to what my character would do in various situations,” says Parker Stokley. “And as for the story, he’s more than capable of handling it himself. He’s got a whole 6 months of experience under his belt and the five hundred pages of lore he made us read was great!” No one in the group is more enthusiastic about the new format than Les Ingles. “Playing the game and making decision was so frustrating. But now Kas will take care of all that. I get to sit back and listen to those great voices he does every chance he gets.”
The change has been one that only recently occurred to Stuartson. “One of my players was so impressed with how I control every part of the game, he said I should just go write a book instead. But this is so much better because people have to listen to it!”