Hot answers tagged problem-players
119
I'm a consultant IRL, and run into this kind with every client I have - So, I have a standard practice in life: whenever I encounter a situation where someone has made an important declaration that I think might be in error, I say something like:
"I think I'm confused." - I always assume that I might be wrong (even when I'm pretty sure I'm not.) I would ...
93
Reward him.
Your player is playing his character smart, not hard. He's being clever and resourceful. He's considering what his character would do in character. I wish I had players like the one playing your Bard.
He stops to think about what he can do, instead of just mindlessly deciding you expect him to attack and attacking. You can do so much more with ...
50
Sometimes, clever and creative players are a pain, because you planned for something very different. Yet, it is the clever and creative play that makes the game so rewarding. Instead of getting the player to adapt to your plans, I suggest you adapt your plans to the player.
Make going to the authorities interesting
If the authorities are always helpful, or ...
42
Maybe he's a Watcher
In the Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition book "Dungeon Master's Guide" there exists some very useful advice for running the game that is applicable to nearly every RPG out there. One section of advice addresses different player personalities, including the idea of "the Watcher."
A watcher is a casual player who comes to the game ...
39
It mostly comes down to communication. Both for practical matters (to allow for planning around your absence), and for social ones (letting the other people in the group know you aren't a flake).
Tell the GM ahead of time that you will likely be unreliable, and why. Details aren't necessary, but a cursory explanation is polite.
When a specific instance of ...
33
Does he know there's a problem? There are plenty of mechanical ways to limit his character, but bear in mind that you may wind up moving the frustration from yourselves over to him. And if he's at all smart, he's going to recognize what's going on.
My generic answer for problem behavior is "talk to the guy," which is harder but often more effective.
I ...
32
As with any motivational approaches, there's the carrot and the stick. You have to be careful to not simply be permissive of the late behavior, or else you won't incentivize the people who are showing up on time to do so.
Start at a known time and allow a buffer. On our group we have a "doors open" time and a "game" time, to allow for people to show up ...
30
Kick him out. No, really, kick him out. Just because he says he wants to play doesn't mean he wants to play the same game you all want to.
You are being too kind to him. He is doing to three people exactly what you are trying to avoid doing to one person. He is:
Preventing your group from enjoying the game.
Being selfish and wrecking a game when he ...
29
It's currently fashionable to play role-playing games as if the goal is to accumulate stats and loot. This is an awful, awful, awful way to look at it.
You framed the question of taking away the sword as "punishing the player by taking away his loot for doing something obviously stupid".
You should instead frame it as "rewarding the player for ...
29
Deputize Him
If the character is breaking the game context by going to the authorities, make him into the authority. Have the duke/mayor/whatever declare the party to be an "elite troubleshooting squad," give them fancy badges and the authority to do things. Now they can recruit people into militias and buy better swords out of the petty cash, but they ...
29
Talk to the player about why they are playing this character this way
Does the player have a larger purpose? What's the point? Is there a story they are trying to tell. Try to understand what's going on in her head about why she's approaching this character in this way.
She knows a lot about Victorian Europe, perhaps this is a typical archtype for this ...
27
If talking through the problem with him - usually the go-to answer for this type of question - doesn't work, then you have to move on to the next step: impose consequences for his behavior.
The best way to do this is to kick him out politely. Sit him down privately and say that games are meant to be fun for everyone, but he is clearly not having fun. ...
25
If the player is doing really dumb things, then he should face the consequences of his actions. If he wants to push himself to make a point, then great! That's certainly a valid roleplay choice that he can make. However, if doing that leaves him in a bad position, then he should pay the cost of making that point. Certainly don't be vindictive about it, ...
25
These are all interpersonal problems rather than gaming ones. Here's how I'd handle each of them.
Same Character I'd tolerate it. Not a big fan of this kind of behavior, but it happens. I think it's a roleplaying maturity thing.
One thing I used last game might help you. I like the list of 100 questions about your character, but didn't want to ...
22
When I run into this situation it is usually from a lack of context. The player doesn't feel his character has any reason to be in the situation they are in. The issue is more subtle than not liking the adventure's premise. The issue is that the player as his character doesn't feel any connection to the premise.
The way to overcome this is to give the ...
22
Surely you mean punishing the character not the player?
The character should have a whole lot of horrible things happen to them. Wake up in a gimp suit? Be kept as "blood on tape"? Raped(1)? At least wake up naked covered in marker pen with inappropriate (and bad) drawing on his face. Certainly, the character should have been robbed of all they had on ...
22
Erik Schmidt's answer is probably the better one to go with (as it'll help you find the root cause), but I'll contribute a bit based on what I see from your description.
From your description, you have a player who enjoys:
Building and optimizing new characters.
Participating in combat.
And who doesn't enjoy:
Long-winded intrigue.
And yet, this ...
21
To me it sounds like your player is a mix of being impulsive and a newbie to roleplaying. The newbie elements (needing stuff explicitly explained and such) should work themselves out with time. The impulsiveness usually needs a little bit of work.
Here's what I did once to rebuff the impulsive players in my campaign:
Set up a wonderful campaign arc that ...
19
Is this really a problem?
Mary Sues in fictions, especially fan fiction, are annoying partially because the world warps to suit them, in an RPG that will not happen (or at least not in the same way) becuase the other players and the GM provide elements that are out of the hands the person running "Mary Sue". Mary Sues also tend to be too perfect in ways ...
18
I think you're always OK to say "Hey, shouldn't it be X instead?" No one gets offended at this unless the person is coming off like a know-it all (e.g. "Well I rolled this instead because per the book that's what it is nyah"). Maybe it's a mistake, maybe it's a specific thing to that encounter, maybe it's a house rule, maybe you're wrong, whatever. If you ...
18
Talk to your players, and you don't need to trick your players into playing a game they don't like.
My advice is to actually sit down and talk to your players about running a sci-fi style game and for your entire group to actually sit down and pick out a game that suits everyone's needs.
"My problem is my players" is the wrong atitude to have in this ...
17
Give them an immediate judgement call, then look up the actual rule after the session and use that from then on.
When the player asks a rules question, quickly decide for yourself what you think the answer ought to be. Make it clear to the player that this is not a final ruling, it's just what you're going to use for that session in the interest of keeping ...
16
Lots of answers to the question but I'd make the suggestion... Slowly. Keep in mind that the goal of a game master is to help everyone have fun. To these players fun may be a World of Warcraft-style dungeon crawl with boss fights. Instead of fighting that directly, run with it; only add a few twists and turns along the way. Allow them to come to the ...
16
It sounds like a discussion away from the game table is in order, preferably between just you and him. Some day when there is no gaming going on, ask him what he dislikes about the campaign. Then ask him what can be done to make the game better for him. It's important that he not feel ganged up on or picked on, and that you get his honest opinion.
If he has ...
16
New players are usually excited about the freedom in roleplaying games.
Players who are used to playing video games (which, for obvious reasons, are usually more streamlined and allow less freedom than tabletop roleplaying games) get quite excited about the fact that they can just tell you what they want to do, "and it happens". There are no real boundaries ...
15
There seem to be a problem of expectations here. You both seem to be at odds with what the game is about. Fix that, the rest will attend to itself. The good news is that a short conversation would fix it: ask why the player is playing. What are they looking for in the game? Adventure? Mystery? Combat? ... Once you have this, it should be much easier ...
15
Absolutely talk to her out-of-character before doing anything in-character
There may be in-character things you do want to do with this character to make her more interesting, but you need to talk to the player first, to explain your position, offer her the chance to counterargue the point, and let her know that you’re not just ganging up on her, the ...
14
That style of play can be fun, so maybe that's what they enjoy. There may just be an incompatibility in what you want out of the game, and that's worth discussing with them.
If they are open to what you want, maybe try presenting situations where they have to make difficult choices for which there is no clear, objective answer.
14
Since I didn't see another answer I could comment with this on, pre-game (de)briefing could be an advantage to the players that doesn't rock the boat too much.
I have had this problem a lot because I was/am part of a gaming community at a college, which is subject to rampant schedule changes running the gamut from early for to completely missing a game. ...
13
Sometimes, all that's needed to get shy, anxious players to open up is time. If they're more secure in their place in the group and in how their contributions will be received, they'll relax.
One big factor can be the group itself. If you've got a group where one or two people consistently dominate discussion and action, and a couple of others tend to hang ...
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