How to deal with solitary party member?

Ironnipple · Jun 10, 2018

Hey guys, hopefully a quick question here.

So there's a guy in our group who tends to just do his own thing all the time, and doesnt really help out/work with the group a lot.

I've really noticed it lately, where his character in two separate campaigns, has just run off to do whatever he desires to do, and doesn't tell anyone his plan, or even that he's going. He just goes off.

So without doing some crazy "godlike interference", I can't force him to go join the party.

So how would some of you guys handle this?

It's a pain because, I have created a territory, and a bunch of possible encounters depending on where the group goes.

And so, he goes one way, without talking to anyone, and they all talk and chat and get a plan on what to do as a group. Then they end up going a different way. They get into an encounter, and the encounters are designed for an 8 person party, so now the group is at a negative 1 in their numbers.

But also, I give him clues like "you hear the sounds of battle behind you", and he still goes his own way.

So he technically should trigger some encounters, but then he would be entering an encounter designed for 8 people by himself.... Should I just let him do that and most likely die, and hope he gets the idea to stick with the team? Or what....

Again, he has done the same thing over at least 2 separate campaigns, so it's not just him being "in character".

Garthanos · Jun 10, 2018

In the fiction a smaller group gets less attention... It can be generalized to the one hero in a situation that would be a big issue if there were many enemies in the encounter the adversaries may split up and send off some to find his allies while keeping a fair number to take this easy one. In some sense this over arching reason was given in the Lord of the Rings for why the party of 9 would be able to sneak into Mordor.

Sometimes even those lesser encounters should leave him bleeding on the ground. Remaining part of the team is sort of an agreement for play purposes though and not really fully a story thing talk to the player out of game about it is my recommendation.

Ironnipple · Jun 10, 2018

Ok so, I'm not opposed to talking to him out of game, I just feel like I already knowhl his response - "it's what my character would do".

Because we had a mini campaign once where he had this plan and he tries to follow it, and when the plan didn't work out and a fight broke out, he kept trying to make the plan work and left the group to fight while he ran off and did nothing. When we talked about him not helping the group outside of the game, he stubbornly defended his position saying "you guys should have just stuck to the plan, I was doing the right thing..." Etc.

And for instance in this campaign where my question lies, he is going his own way, and has passed by what would have been an encounter, and is now coming up to another one, of which he is going to come across a significantly higher leveled chuul which would try to immobilize him and drag him down to the bottom of a lake. And by himself (unless he rolls absolutely incredibly) he is sure to end up drowning/dying in this lake to this monster.

So do I adjust my world because one guy doesn't want to be part of a group? Or do I say, well this is the world as it is, and you chose to run into a 8-person designed fight by yourself, now you have to deal with the consequences, and then when he creates a new character, I let him know that if he doesn't want to keep dying he needs to create a character who is a team fighter?

Sunseeker · Jun 10, 2018

These "Encounters designed for 8 people" should not be substantially more difficult for 7 people, unless this guy is like, the primary healer or primary defender, but I'm betting he isnt because those roles are highly party reliant and their players aren't usually the running-off type.

So, now here's my question: where are these "8-person encounters" when Buddy Boy there runs off? Because he'll get slaughtered in such an encounter. I'd kill him. Again, and again, and again, until he gets the point that as much as he doesn't like the group, this is a group game and he needs to stick with the party.

If he seems incapable of reaching that sort of realization, I'd boot him.

MwaO · Jun 10, 2018

Does he ever participate in combats or he always ignores them?

Easiest way is to simply say, "Ok, you go off and do that."
<roll a d20 and then consult the following chart>
1: Have him get into an overwhelming combat, offer to let him skill challenge to get himself out of it with maybe a loss of a few surges. He refuses, he gets beaten up and then likely loses a few surges on top of it.
2-20: "I'll resolve what happens after the game via email." and then structure combats so they can assume 7 PCs or 8 PCs.

If you don't allow him to disrupt the game for the other 7 players, he'll eventually stop doing that.

Garthanos · Jun 10, 2018

Ironnipple said:
So do I adjust my world because one guy doesn't want to be part of a group? Or do I say, well this is the world as it is, and you chose to run into a 8-person designed fight by yourself, now you have to deal with the consequences, and then when he creates a new character, I let him know that if he doesn't want to keep dying he needs to create a character who is a team fighter?

At a fundamental level you have that choice.

An alternative would be to have him enter a coma in a lair at the bottom of the lake and have a friendly sprite give his allies a heads up. He still massively loses the fight and if his "allies" care he the gets to see the need for his allies.

the Jester · Jun 10, 2018

"Hey dude, D&D is a group activity. Understand that there are six people at the table, including you, so you don't get more than 1/6 the play time. What this means is, if you run off on your own while we're in the middle of a four-hour session, you get ten minutes, then everyone else gets the rest of the hour. Then you get another ten minutes. Also, if you aren't with the party, why are you playing at this table? If you feel like your character wouldn't join the rest of them, make a new character."

Jacob Lewis · Jun 10, 2018

We're talking 4th Edition, right? Scaling encounters is a breeze! Just remove one or two standard monsters (or 4-6 minions). Don't let that be an issue.

As far as the player who wants to do things off screen, let him. Doesn't mean the camera is going to follow and give him his own personal adventure. Focus on the group. Let them fight the encounter you had to adjust for them. When the fight is over, ask the loner if his character is back yet. If not, just press on. Maybe he'll get the hint, maybe he won't. Seven other people are participating in the game with everyone else including you.

AbdulAlhazred · Jun 11, 2018

Yeah, I think if you're going to run a game with set adventures where there are set encounters and maps and whatnot, then you should stick to them. Don't let him take up more than 1/8th of the table time, and when he runs into one of these encounters off in his own world and either has to flee or gets ganked, then he'll roll up a new PC, right? Well, if he's spending all his time rolling up PCs then the others are playing, and he's just fiddling around...

If he brings down doom on the others (IE runs in with a whole encounter's worth of stuff chasing him while the rest of the party is in the middle of another fight) then they'll probably take care of the problem FOR you!

Some people are just not good at playing with others, either IRL or in a game, and this guy may be one of those types. Maybe he can find a role in the party that works for him (scout, leader, quartermaster, something).

KenNYC · Jun 11, 2018

I would just find ways to split the party, and maybe have him with one other person. Being alone with one other makes it hard to get lost in the crowd, and he might learn how to play well with others. Plus there is story possibilities splitting the party.