Questions tagged [problem-players]
For questions about participants in an RPG who, for whatever reason, contribute to the difficulty of running the game.
396
questions
9
votes
5answers
340 views
How can I help my players to better immerse into my game world?
Obligatory: I am playing in a campaign I made myself using homebrewed rules based on a German pen-and-paper RPG called Das Schwarze Auge (DSA; The Dark Eye in English).
Introduction
I am a GM for a ...
10
votes
5answers
1k views
How to handle a player that cannot be convinced his actions are a problem for both GM and party
Background
You can skip to the end for a (very) short summary though...
We are a group of good friends, we've all known each other for 7+ years, since high school, and have been playing DnD since ...
13
votes
3answers
1k views
How to deal with a player who makes bad characters and kills them?
This is kind of a two part question, firstly about the bad character thing and secondly wrangling table drama. For context, I am currently DMing D&D 5e Curse of Strahd, with 5 players. Some of you ...
2
votes
2answers
166 views
As a player I want to help a new GM with 1 or 2 problem players. Turn the negativity into something fun [closed]
I'm looking for "out of the box" solutions and "how to debate this" techniques for a very "group and players" specific issue
Looking for experience backed advices, ideally.
I did search for similar ...
7
votes
2answers
261 views
As the DM, how can I help a player stay focused on a story-focused game?
I'm DMing for a group, but one potential player has trouble focusing for too long. She really enjoys the game, but she can't focus on the game due to possible ADD (she hasn't been diagnosed, so we're ...
80
votes
5answers
10k views
How can I stop myself from micromanaging other PCs' actions?
I’ve been having a problem in D&D. I love the game, perhaps too much.
I keep finding myself trying to control the other players' characters (telling them what they should do, or where to go), and ...
23
votes
13answers
10k views
How can I deal with someone that wants to kill something that isn't supposed to be killed?
To clarify: By something that isn't supposed to be killed I mean things that are out of mortal's power range.
As far as I can tell this isn't a system specific problem. I experienced the same thing ...
16
votes
5answers
836 views
How to handle not being able to attend as often as I'd like
I've been playing with a group for about a year. I have no complaints about my group, I'm the problem. I'm the only one who has kids, and unfortunately for me my wife is not exactly supportive ...
5
votes
2answers
475 views
How to get a un-creative player to get more into role playing
About six months ago myself and 2 of my friends started showing an interest in D&D. We would see funny memes about the "Murder Hobos" and imagined the funny stuff we could do. I took to it very ...
3
votes
3answers
346 views
How do I handle a player who wants to burn everything down?
In my most recent adventure, the party was attacking a wooden goblin fort when the dragonborn PC had the bright idea to use his fiery breath to burn it down. I thought that it was a clever idea and ...
36
votes
8answers
7k views
How can I deal with a player trying to insert real-world mythology into my homebrew setting?
I have just started GMing a homebrew campaign with a group of relatively inexperienced players. I have only played with one of them before (I have GMed for him as well as been a fellow player with him)...
56
votes
12answers
12k views
As the Dungeon Master, how do I handle a player that insists on a specific class when I already know that choice will cause issues?
I agreed to DM the Waterdeep: Dragon Heist adventure for a group of my friends. One of them wants to play a wizard. Based on past experience, I know that she will ignore the prepared spells and just ...
11
votes
1answer
498 views
How to handle a player who asks me never ending questions about roleplay things
Recently I started up a new game. I recruited players, got them to make characters, and was ready to have some fun with them.
One of the players keeps asking questions. They ask about every detail ...
74
votes
7answers
11k views
How can I get a player to accept that they should stop trying to pull stunts without thinking them through first?
How can I get a player to accept that they should stop trying to pull stunts without thinking them through first?
To explain the issue, one of the players in my game wants to assassinate a high-...
8
votes
2answers
541 views
As a Game Master, how should I handle a situation where a character can and does do everything?
I have made a number of characters that can do everything in a party across a wide variety of role-play systems, and seen several more as both a GM and as a player. I have also seen these characters ...
7
votes
2answers
440 views
How do I handle inappropriate behavior and interruptions in my campaign?
I am a fairly new Dungeon Master playing Waterdeep: Dragon Heist (D&D 5E). I play for 7 people currently (all friends). We have been running for around ten 2.5-hour sessions. For most of them, ...
39
votes
3answers
8k views
How to deal with a Murder Hobo Paladin?
Our party has a Lawful Neutral Oathbreaker Paladin that has been very much a murder hobo from the beginning. We have been able to keep him in check in most cases but in our recent session he went off ...
-2
votes
2answers
458 views
As GM, how do I deal with a player who makes a “do everything” build? [duplicate]
I have made a couple of builds that do everything, and seen several more as both a GM and as a player. These are builds that go beyond powerbuilding, and into the realm of taking over for the entire ...
6
votes
1answer
342 views
How do I deal with a player that doesn’t play, but says they want to? [closed]
Forewarnings, there are a lot of very long reasons behind answering the question, but in short, this is it:
In short, I want to kick this player, my other four players want him kicked, and the player ...
22
votes
6answers
985 views
How do I, as a player, encourage my fellow players to role play?
I am a player in a group of 5 +1 dm. Three of them are wonderful, as well as the DM. They role play, provide commentary, and are great sports when it comes to the game.
The last two are a bit more ...
4
votes
3answers
444 views
As a DM, how do you control a dysfunctional group wanting different things out of a game?
I recently saw a video talking about different kinds of players in DnD and I always understood that people play the game for different reasons. I myself am a roleplayer and enjoy the conversations and ...
41
votes
7answers
5k views
A player is constantly pestering me about rules, what do I do as a DM?
Okay I admit I'm new to D&D. I've been playing for 2 years now and only been playing 5e. I don't learn by reading the entire manual in one sitting, I have learnt everything from actually playing ...
70
votes
14answers
5k views
What should I do about a religious player who refuses to accept the existence of multiple gods in D&D? [closed]
I am working on a campaign which I am going to run for a group of friends, all of whom are new to D&D.
I was discussing available classes with one of the players, more specifically classes with ...
2
votes
2answers
209 views
Players make a single plan with no backup plan, then complain about DM unfairness when their plan fails [closed]
I have been running a campaign that recently has had two very roleplay/exploration heavy arcs (really 1 arc, and the consequences of that arc). The arc in question was a heist, where the players were ...
41
votes
14answers
11k views
My players want to grind XP but we're using milestone advancement
I've been running a D&D 5e campaign where the levelling up has been done at certain landmark points or milestones. Regardless of your opinion on that specific system, it's reached a point where ...
19
votes
2answers
1k views
How do I politely tell my players to shut up about their backstory? [closed]
Disclaimer: I know backstories are good and necessary but here's the issue -
Two players have a joint backstory, and one of them is REALLY into it, and it's starting to disrupt game time because he ...
4
votes
0answers
248 views
Improving myself and getting rid of my bad player habits [closed]
For a period of time (one or two years? Hard to tell) I became oddly ill. Incredibly sleepy, irritable, forgetful and it was all I could do to participate in the game. The GM thought I was becoming ...
20
votes
3answers
1k views
The other players in my D&D party keep ignoring me. How can I get the other players and DM to consider my input equally?
I wanna preface this whole thing by saying that some of my party get along well and interact with the story - not to mention that outside of the campaign, I get along great with the other players. ...
-1
votes
2answers
382 views
A player in my game is using homebrew to powergame; how can I stop this? [closed]
A friend of mine is in a game I'm DMing. I've allowed homebrew, so now he's using complicated and weird classes to get an edge.
How can I solve this without killing and or banning his character and ...
1
vote
3answers
561 views
Too much drama not enough D&D! Canceling the game [closed]
This is going to be a long one to explain and it's more about the players than the game but any input would be appreciated.
I am the newest player in my D&D group. I came into a group of great ...
1
vote
0answers
280 views
How do I deal with a problem player overstepping their boundaries in a 1-on-1 campaign? [closed]
I’m GMing a 1-on-1 campaign (it’s all homebrew, by the way). My player likes to weigh in on what’s happening, and sometimes oversteps her boundary into GMing territory. I let it slide a lot, since it ...
14
votes
4answers
915 views
How can I convey to my group that they have to discipline their murderhobo?
Introduction
I guess most GMs have had a group of murderhobos in their sessions before and there are quite a few nice answers dealing with how to react to them, these threads have nice answers, but I ...
26
votes
3answers
3k views
I'm having difficulty getting my players to do stuff in a sandbox campaign
I've been a GM for about three years now. I've been GMing for this group for almost two years next month. I have an issue with motivating my players to take action.
It's a sandbox campaign and they'...
2
votes
1answer
470 views
My thieves party constantly steal from each other, but when I do they attack me and berate me. (long post) [closed]
Yesterday something happened during a D&D 5e session that created a between me, a player, and the three other players. I'd like to have your perspective on the matter, and a way forward, because ...
8
votes
2answers
3k views
Players Circumventing the limitations of Wish [closed]
So I know that Wish is meant to be a really powerful spell, but some of my players from my group (I am the DM) seem to have spent some time into getting around the limitations of Wish. Now, I know ...
8
votes
1answer
299 views
How to leave a campaign you've been playing for a long time? [duplicate]
I've been playing a campaign for a while, a year or so (I know this isn't 'long' in terms of some campaigns but it's too long to just drop and say 'it's not my kinda playing style'). It's an online ...
2
votes
0answers
233 views
How can I get my players interested in my campaign again? [closed]
I am an experienced DM, having run a number of campaigns with the same group of players. We're all in middle school. I'm currently running a campaign that I made myself for D&D5e. Recently, my ...
9
votes
2answers
2k views
How do I handle a situation where one of my players wants another player gone? [closed]
I run a game with around 6 people. One of my players (A) wants another one of my players (B) not to play with us anymore.
A has come to me in the past two different times with complaints about B, ...
1
vote
0answers
103 views
Can a player make a persuasion roll on another player? [duplicate]
We ran into a recent issue in my group where one of the PCs attempted to persuade another. The character who was being persuaded mentioned something about how persuading another PC is not allowed. I, ...
16
votes
3answers
1k views
Player using charm spells on party players [closed]
I'm playing a barbarian with a small party. My character's backstory was completely ruined because the caster decided to use charm on me when wanted posters that looked slightly like my character ...
9
votes
1answer
505 views
How can I, as DM, deal with an attention-grabbing player, and a group who can't speak up?
I'm running a campaign of D&D 5e with a few friends of mine, all of us being first timers in the genre. We play online, since some of us live too spread-out to meet regularly.
We are about to hit ...
41
votes
6answers
7k views
How do I deal with a powergamer in a game full of beginners in a school club?
I am the DM for a group of players, 4 of which are very new to the game, and one of which is a very experienced player.
I have run into a problem now where the experienced player is effectively ...
2
votes
1answer
426 views
How can I revitalise a group after someone leaves in a loud way?
I went through some of the Tomb of Annihilation module a few months ago. Due to someone throwing a tantrum (certain things he was saying was true in certain ways, but the way he said it was terrible), ...
24
votes
6answers
6k views
How can I get players to stop ignoring or overlooking the plot hooks I'm giving them?
I have run a couple of campaigns with a few of my friends, and these people are genuinely interested in Dungeons & Dragons.
However, no matter what I do, they will not focus on the story, ...
3
votes
1answer
590 views
Should I allow one of my players to change characters mid-campaign? [closed]
I found myself in a predicament. One of my players told me that he wants to change his PC to play a different one mid-campaign. I would generally just say yes if there's a good reason, but that's the ...
60
votes
8answers
12k views
How can I handle a player who pre-plans arguments about my rulings on RAW?
When playing D&D, I have always taken the following approach:
I will do my best to adhere to Rules As Written (RAW)
If I don't know a rule off the top of my head I will look it up
If something I ...
22
votes
3answers
3k views
How to satisfy a player character's curiosity about another player character?
I am new to DMing. I am starting off with the Lost Mine of Phandelver adventure to get my feet wet.
One player in particular is playing a half-elf bard. They have watched a lot of Critical Role and ...
1
vote
1answer
209 views
Supporting role: Group efficiency vs Table “fun balancing” [closed]
I'm playing a cleric in a 4-player group along with a paladin, a warlock/bladesinger melee multiclass, and a rogue. The paladin is level 5 and the rest of us are level 4.
The table uses stat rolling ...
8
votes
3answers
848 views
A player has asked the DM to ignore the lore to enable his character concept. What are the pros and cons if the DM does so?
Context
I'm posting this on behalf of a friend. She wants more than just our group's opinion. I don't know the other guy at all, but I was given screenshots of their conversations in order to get ...
30
votes
6answers
6k views
How can I get my players to come to the game session after agreeing to a date?
I have been playing D&D-5e for a while with my friends and a lot of times, when they say they are completely sure they can come to a meet, they end up not coming. I would at least like to get them ...
