During one of the seminars I gave at GenCon this year, one of the attendees mentioned the response that the players in her group have to the sound of shaking dice. Namely that all side conversations would stop and everyone immediately queued in on what was about to happen, whether they knew what was going on or not. This led to a larger discussion on small group interactions and psychology in a tabletop roleplaying game group. There have been some requests that I discuss the topic again, from friends online who were not able to attended, so here is my attempt.
A disclaimer – I am not a psychologist. What follows is my own interpretation of behavior and group interaction based solely on my own experiences in gaming, the military, and professional work environments. (Post some comments if you disagree; I’d love to hear your own ideas.
This article is an adaptation of a lengthy post I made on G+ a few days ago. The Games on the Shelf is a better place to share and explore this topic.
