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"It's what my guy would do!"
"My Guy" syndrome is when — often unwittingly — you disclaim decision-making power and responsibility by acting like "what my character would do" is inevitable and inviolable, even if it gets in the way of actually having fun in the game or being able to play the game at all.
JD Corley wrote up a ...
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If they habitually skip the prepared content: "That's all I've got. See you next time."
If you've prepared a certain amount of content and the players choose to skip it without a convincing in-character rationale and while mocking you as the DM, then tell them they arrived at their destination without incident... and just end the session, right then and ...
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There are a number of reasons why the character's book knowledge may not be useful at a given time. There are also a number of reasons why the character's knowledge wouldn't be as extensive as your player seems to think.
1) Book knowledge isn't practical experience.
You can read all the books in the world about riding a bicycle, and you'll still fall off ...
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What's wrong with what he's doing? As far as he can tell, this is a good strategy. He's exceptionally tough, and running through traps has worked for him in the past, so he believes it'll be fine in the future.
If you don't want this strategy to work, you'll need to try a different kind of trap.
A few options come to mind:
more damage
different damage
...
191
The folding boat explicitly says that it takes an action to speak the command word. If your player is using his action to cast catapult, he doesn't have an action left to properly incant the command word before the attack finishes.
The catapult spell says that it targets an item weighing "1 to 5" pounds, and it propels the target "in a straight line". This ...
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Clarify the situation
Whenever my players propose a plan that will in no way work, I first assume that I didn't describe things well enough.
Rogue: I sneak into the throne room, steal the document we need, and leave.
DM: (This guy must have a death wish. What am I missing?) The hallway leading up to the throne room is brightly lit by torches at regular ...
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Considering there is a casting time and a bunch of cues that he's doing this, how is the world reacting to his constant spellcasting? It seems that the real solution is there.
Do his fellow players stop to wait for his results? When entering a room, in the time it takes for him to cast Detect Magic and Detect Evil, the other players will most likely have ...
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Show Them Why
Before discussing it "off the table", you should first try to integrate this issue into the narrative. Based on some of your comments, it sounds like there's a bit of an adversarial tone between your PCs and you. This is a common attitude in newer groups, and one that is discouraged by having the DM tell an honest story. Have the narrative ...
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Your player is not taking ownership of their condition
A disclaimer before I start, first I'm not familiar with the AL's rules and recourse for DMs dealing with problem players. Secondly, I'm not a psychiatrist or doctor. That being said, I do LARP and have ADHD myself. The former means you end up being friends with a lot of people with weird personalities ...
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Tell him the truth, because that's what friends do
Sometimes, talking around or avoiding an issue increases trouble, rather than decreasing it. This looks to be a case of that happening.
You said this in a comment.
The main thing is, the DM is a good guy, but his girlfriend is adding
some complications to the group because he is understandably ...
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If the player wants their old character to reappear as an NPC, then they have to accept that that character is now an NPC. That means you are playing that character—and you get to play them according to your perception of the character.
This can be fraught with potential for argument and disagreement about what that character would do; most DMs clear the ...
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Don't apply a Limit Curse
I know this isn't the sort of answer you were looking for...but slapping restrictions on a player character because you don't like the way they are playing is not cool. The strength of a Warlock is that they get their spell slots back on a short rest. The weakness is that they only have a few. And the overriding weakness of ...
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Don't run the campaign
It is often important (but not always) for the party to have a preexisting, long term reason to stay a party. It is especially important in situations like this, with non-standard parties. Unless that reason is part of your pitch, it is incumbent upon the players to come up with that reason.
Your Options
Make it a One-Shot
So you ...
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I wasn't comfortable with some assumptions people are readily making in their comments, so I did some research and a few calculations. I also incorporated some suggestions made in the comments.
The crushing weight of the earth
He digs a hole big enough for himself (between 3-4 feet deep)
Lots of people claim he'd have trouble breathing, which is likely ...
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No, it's not fair to punish a player in this way. But it's not okay for this player to take an unfair share of control over the game, either.
You are the DM — you are in control. You are in the Big Chair, and the group put you there to be responsible for pacing and mediation. You have that job because players striving for the benefit of their PC is fun but ...
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This can be solved mechanically
Just to take a different tack: If he wants to recall how to steer a boat, ask him to make a roll against his Navigator's Tools Proficiency, and/or Vehicle Proficiency. If he doesn't have them, he can make a general Int check for very general knowledge. If his claim is that he should be able to roll any skill on any subject by ...
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It seems like there are 2 different problems in this scenario.
1. You have a problem player
If a player is doing anything to make you or any other person uncomfortable or not have fun, then they are a problem player. We have a large number of questions about problem players here at the RPG.stack. Here is one. If you search for problem players you'll find ...
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Since I started DMing D&D a long, long time ago, I found that the dynamics of a mixed group of male ande female players is a tad different from a one-sex only group of players. This is purely anecdotal, however, and fruit of my own experiences and by no means is representative of the general gamer population.
Note that, for the purposes of the ...
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Your first instinct-- gently talking to the player-- is a very good one. You can easily follow that up with a less gentle discussion laying out the basic idea that tabletop RPGs (unlike computer RPGs) are collaborative efforts where everyone needs to have fun. This includes not only the other players, but also you as the GM.
Your second instinct-- ...
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"Excuse me. Please be quiet. I haven't finished speaking, when I have you can talk as much as you want."
This isn't a game problem, its a manners problem.
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The class played doesn’t matter, and arguing about it only hurts your position
This situation really, really wouldn’t be any better if she was playing a sorcerer. If she ignores her prepared spells, why wouldn’t she also ignore her known spells?
You imagine that it will be easier for you to keep a sorcerer in line because it will be easier for you to keep ...
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You
I'll deal with your issues first: you are an angry 14 year old.
Don't sweat it; everybody was, is or will be. Maturity can in fact be summed up as learning not to punch the face of someone who richly deserves it.
You have to remember that you have no control over the way other people behave; you only have control over the way you behave. And ... you ...
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First and foremost, I am sorry you have to put up with Kevin.
Bullying should not be tolerated1. Ever2!
Sadly, your experience is far from unique. Kevin acts in the manner of a sexist bully and should be called out for such vile behaviour. That behaviour should not be tolerated at all. It violates Wheaton's law and good manners. You should not put up with ...
answered Jun 25 '18 at 13:59
Sardathrion - against SE abuse
38.7k8 gold badges108 silver badges170 bronze badges
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Short answer: stop playing with people who abuse you
What could I do if most people are just going to keep on stealing what
I earn and making the game not fun to play?
You are being picked on. Sometimes, when something bad happens to us, we go into denial. We don't want to believe that bad things are happening to us. We don't want to believe that ...
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Roll with it
Let's address this by taking things back to 5e fundamentals. Working from, "How To Play", from PHB page six.
1. The DM describes the environment
"You've taken over the pirate ship but your crew are all dead. What do you do?"
2. The players describe what they want to do.
"As an ancient elf I've read historical books about ...
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Yes, let his character get the fate he deserves
Storytime:
In one of the first games I ever ran at a convention, there was a player that was doing exactly what you described: charging ahead, thinking he was better than everyone, not playing as a team, etc.
The next time he charged ahead though, all the enemies were of course waiting to gang up on the ...
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Give him exactly what he wants.
I know, I know, but please, hear me out.
So, you've read all of the books you could possibly get your hands on and have acquired hundreds of years worth of knowledge? Excellent.
Using your example of the ship, a suggested DM response:
You have read (roll D100)...... 65 books on sailing. 23 of them directly contradict each ...
answered Oct 28 '16 at 23:02
Lino Frank Ciaralli
31.1k11 gold badges96 silver badges164 bronze badges
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The obvious solution would be to go to the authorities (the city guard?) with your evidence. They're certainly searching for the villain who burned down all those inns and killed all those people. Come back with twenty or thirty NPC archers and shoot him full of arrows.
If you try doing this, you're going to have two problems. The first problem is that ...
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The easiest way is to stop giving out XP at all. D&D very prominently features the so-called milestone rule in their Hoard of the Dragon Queen/Tyranny of Dragons adventures.
They later refined that into the "Story-Based Advancement" rule that can be found in the DMG page 261, "Level Advancement without XP". They also introduced something else also ...
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Invest less of your prep time in skippable events
Here's an example of a skippable event: "You see a weird thing. Want to go poke it?"
Here's an example of a non-skippable event: "Night is falling, and you hear wolves howling. The howling is coming from in front of you and behind you, and it's getting closer. The howling behind you sounds different -- ...
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