For a game master, there are few sights more dismaying than a table full of distracted players. They forget the names of your prominent NPCs; they quote from The Office ad nauseam when it’s not their turn in combat; they surf the web on their iPhones while you’re trying to feed them the clue they need to figure out who’s been killing innocent villagers. While none of these are uncommon occurrences at anyone’s table, no matter how skilled a storyteller she may be, there are a few techniques that a GM can use to grab their attention and hold it.
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