Participants in an RPG who, for whatever reason, contribute to difficulty running the game.
73
votes
16answers
4k views
How to deal with players who like to use the local authorities to solve their problems
Preface
I apologize beforehand if this question has been asked before, I was not able to find one, except this, which may be related: Dealing with players who try to run from everything?. Also I'd ...
67
votes
9answers
2k views
How does a player correct a GM mistake without being a rules lawyer or pushover?
You are playing in a game. The GM says that you need to roll a given roll. The rules clearly state something different. I realize one solution is to go along to get along, then tell the GM after ...
40
votes
7answers
783 views
As an unreliable player, how can I lessen the burden on my group?
I'm often unreliable, in the sense that something always seems to turn up at the last minute that draws me away from our current regular game. (It's happened before as well.)
Given that the reasons ...
38
votes
7answers
1k views
Problems Regarding a Mary-Sue type Player Character
In my game, one of the player's characters is a bit... too much. It's not easy to describe, but I think she's a somewhat more subtle example of the Mary Sue archetype: a character who is perfect, and ...
31
votes
17answers
1k views
How to Handle a Powergamer / Munchkin
What are some strategies that I can employ to handle a power gamer that constantly outshines the rest of the party? This is a friend of us all and we don't want to boot him, but combat simply isn't ...
26
votes
12answers
2k views
“Punishing” characters for stupid actions
I'm currently running a 6 person World of Darkness campaign, which is heavily social based. 5 of the players I am happy with, but one of them keeps doing stupid things, such as pushing himself to the ...
25
votes
17answers
863 views
How to handle a rule-lawyer player?
As a game master, what strategy/strategies seems to work well for handling players that have spent more time reading through the rule books than you have? While it's helpful at times to have the ...
25
votes
5answers
639 views
Dealing with people who turn up late for sessions
I run sessions every Monday evening at a pub in the centre of London, and most people come to play straight from work. Up until recently we were attempting to start at 7pm, but there were one or two ...
22
votes
6answers
454 views
How to deal with a player who takes things personally?
Been running a great campaign for a few months now with very in-depth story and characters and, generally, everything goes pretty well.
Unfortunately, I have a particular problem that, for a long ...
22
votes
4answers
669 views
Dealing with players who try to run from everything?
I DM for a group with a guy who always suggests leaving the dungeon, area, or wherever the party is. It seems like no matter what I try or do to the setting he just won't relax and play the game – he ...
21
votes
14answers
834 views
How to deal effectively with a player unable to lose?
How do you effectively handle a player that overreacts to any loss of his character (level drain, death) ?
21
votes
5answers
709 views
GM Help - Bump on a log player
I GM a World of Darkness group every other weekend, and I've come across what I like to call a "Bump-on-a-log" player. This player has been with my game since I started it up, and we're now ...
20
votes
10answers
498 views
How do you get your players to realise roleplaying isn't a videogame?
One curse I've had while playing and in particular while GMing, is that one group of players I have is stuck in the mindset that things are laid out, one after another, in linear fashion for them to ...
20
votes
6answers
556 views
Any advice on how to politely approach a friend on problems with her character(s)?
I've been playing with a good friend of mine for a couple of games now (Exalted and Pathfinder) with another friend as GM. In a few weeks, I'm going to be running a new game because the GM is getting ...
17
votes
5answers
829 views
What do I do with a dissonant player?
We have a gaming group that has been playing the game for about 4 years. One of the players is my old friend, with whom I started gaming about 15 years ago. There is also another player, who has also ...
16
votes
10answers
571 views
Strategies for dealing with turtle or roach players?
How should GMs deal with players who turtle or roach?
By turtle I am referring to players who obviously wanted to play because they joined the game, but when they're actually at the table they keep ...
14
votes
11answers
593 views
What is a sci-fi system that would feel familiar to reluctant Pathfinder players?
For the last few months I've been running a Pathfinder campaign, and recently I told my players that I needed a break and they agreed on switching games for a few months. I'm a fan of the works of ...
13
votes
7answers
239 views
What systems or special mechanics enforce equal stage-time between players most effectively?
What systems/mechanics have proven most effective at giving each player about equal spotlight-time and enforcing that equality between look-at-me players and 'turtles'?
There's a pretty shy player who ...
12
votes
7answers
547 views
Dealing with a problem player not playing to their character aspects
A player in my Dresden Files game joined the group with a kick-in-the-door, "shoot-first-ask-questions-later"-style cop. The character had some fairly "meh" & a couple of potentially OK aspects. ...
12
votes
4answers
371 views
As a player, how can I help the GM when the game goes out of control?
I've seen numerous games go down the pan when certain players derail the plot, either making it PC vs GM, or making the game more about they're ludicrous choices. It might seem overly harsh turn of ...
11
votes
6answers
538 views
Out-Of-Control Characters
As I review the suggestions the DMG (pg32) has I wonder what other suggestions that realistic.
I know that if a player is out of control (ie: killing masses for no reason) a DM would send Imperial ...
11
votes
3answers
272 views
Stopping rule questions from overrunning encounters
A common problem I observe is that the players start flooding the GM with questions regarding rules during an encounter (within and outside their respective turns). From the perspective of a GM, how ...
10
votes
8answers
790 views
How do I deal with these crazy PCs?
I got some of my friends to play a very small game of D&D, with my being DM to see if they will like to play more often. Our quest consisted of PvP, hiding, going to the tavern to get drunk, and ...
5
votes
1answer
238 views
How do I handle a PC - NPC?
In my online game, it's often hard for me to handle NPCs with the loads of characters we have so sometimes I ask or a player volunteers to play some of them. The issue is though, that one player ...
4
votes
6answers
2k views
Is one of the characters in my group overpowered?
I'm starting my first stint as a DM, in DnD 4E, and one of my players insisted on rolling dice for his stats. I was ok, provided, as I said, "that the character was balanced with the rest of the ...
3
votes
0answers
75 views
What to do with a player who undermines the DM? [duplicate]
This is not actually about me, but for a friend and the group we play with together.
My friend, who GM/DMs that particular campaign, is suffering a lot at the moment because of one particular player.
...
3
votes
0answers
144 views
Dealing with power gamers [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How to Handle a Powergamer / Munchkin
I'm pretty sure this was asked before but I couldn't find it
How do you deal with power gamers? That player who is clearly maxing ...
1
vote
1answer
147 views
Addings things to a story and how to deal with players who have issues with it [closed]
I am currently running a long, in-depth, story-focused campaign that has been going on for months and seems to be well-liked among my group. As you might imagine, creating a world that we play in for ...
0
votes
1answer
157 views
D&D 3.5 Paladin Strange Behavior [closed]
The Paladin in our part has been acting strangely...
Example: Our paladin has been sleeping outside the city gate, for the purpose of saving money, while we stay in the city inn. The rent is not ...
0
votes
0answers
92 views
Player-versus-player: going up against a pre-made team [closed]
Well, our enemy has like a perfect balance. The 'evil' side of the board has this crazy warrior with incredible attack speed, a tanky paladin who has almost unlimited healing power, a mage that ...
