Help reign in a player who refuses to play his role

[Kzach]

Quite simply, if his actions are making the game less fun for everyone else, he's playing wrong.

So there is such a thing as wrongbadfun!

And here I thought it was just a meme.

 

[Kingbreaker]

Your characters cannot rely on him, so play as if he was not there. He'll do some additional minimal damage, treat his character like a faeces throwing monkey and if he goes down, don't save him, say it is his "Time to go to his Mistress".

How many other players in the group?

Seriously.

Expose him in fights.

Refuse to buff or assist him.

Give him the cold shoulder until he cries or goes away.

 

[cbbakke]

In our party we have had people who would not heal other parties due to different god alignments or different races. I dont really think his logic of it being their time to pass is all bad. I was question to him though "Why did you get granted a power that you cant use?" Since he can only heal others with it why did his god give it to him if he wasnt suppose to heal somebody with it.

I am assuming that he is a real life friend of everybody so you dont want to kick him but the party can easily deal with it by kicking his toon out of the group. He can make another guy who may be better, if not the party can kick him too. Eventually he will figure it out.

 

[toxicspirit]

Since he can only heal others with it why did his god give it to him if he wasnt suppose to heal somebody with it.

The Paladin can used Lay On Hands on himself. There is no restriction in this edition that the Power be used on others.

 

[Tervin]

I want to add something that I am not sure everyone would agree with:

There is such a thing as "good disruptive playing". Without any tension in the group, the interplay becomes boring. For that reason characters in the party need quirks and hangups. And some of that can in some campaigns move into what could be called disruptive.

Whenever I make a character for a campaign I try to figure out not only the role in the party my character should have, but also the meta-role I want to play. I do that because I want the experience to be as much fun as possible for everyone around the table. One metarole I once chose was "she who always focuses on the real truth, no matter the situation" I did that because it helped the group tension that the chronicle needed, and also illustrated an important theme.

In play that meant that my character destroyed a number of plans that the rest of the group set up, by exposing their lies to NPCs. On a meta level they knew I would probably do it, but as we enjoyed dealing with the complications afterwards, it was still played out like that time after time. Still on some level it was disruptive gaming. It fit that Werewolf chronicle, because it didn't disrupt what was important in our game - actually it kind of helped that.

I am bringing all of this up because I don't think that player is necessarily a jerk just because he is deliberately playing in ways that make things worse for the party. It can just be that he enjoys the extra problems, the tension, and the situations where the party needs to get out of those jams. Since I don't know the people involved, I am just guessing. Still, if I am correct then a compromise might actually be something that was fun for everybody in the long run.

I have never really felt that I have run into a "jerk" in my many years of gaming with more people than I want to count. I have run into a number of people whose gaming preferences were far from my own though. And a number of people who had personalities that didn't fit well with mine at the time. And some who hadn't really figured out how to act around other people at all... Not a single one of them I would say ever tried to sabotage the fun for everyone around them. Which is why I, perhaps naively, think that it is mostly about seeing different things as fun in the game.

 

[Dave Turner]

Talk to the DM and see if he or she is willing to kick the problem player out of the group. Otherwise, force the issue. Next time you play, have your character attack the problem player's character. Not a duel or anything so genteel. During a quiet, non-combat moment in the game, tell the DM that you want to stick your sword or magic missile through the problem character's head. Insist that you be allowed to fight the problem character to the death. If your character dies, your next character should walk onto the scene and pick a fight with the problem character. If the problem character dies, pick a fight with the replacement if it's also a problem character.

 

[Danceofmasks]

But PKing is more fun when yer victim is attempting to sleep.
If the party needs to rest prematurely due to running out of surges from poor gameplay, save up yer biggest daily ... and pow.
Helpless + CA + CtG with daily = fatality.

 

[AuraSeer]

Actually in every rpg I have ever played, he tends to make characters that cause problems for the group.

OK, why do you keep playing with him? If he ruins your good time, why is he still invited to game sessions? You're supposed to be having fun.

I've noticed that a lot of gamers treat RPG time as an obligation, rather than a social event. If they were doing anything else at all-- having a birthday party, going out to a club, seeing a movie, whatever-- they would only invite people they like, whom they think will be fun. Yet for a gaming session they will tolerate an irritating troublemaker, or even a downright abusive bully, just because that person wants to be in the game. I don't understand this at all.

Even in-game, why the heck would the other PCs put up with this guy? Why give a full share of their hard-earned treasure to some hoser who's useless in a fight? Any real adventurer would tell him to get bent.

 

[Goumindong]

NO, I am just a player in this game.

Well, then you have two options.

Option 1: Murder him in his sleep. Unload a Daily/Encounter CDG into him in the middle of the night. He is unlikely to survive. Especially because he wont be wearing armor, will be helpless, and you know how many hit points you need to do to kill him.

If your DM protests that its anti-social, tell him that the players character is anti-social and you are removing it from the game and protecting the rest of your party from the crazed paladin.

if the Paladins player protests, tell him that the Raven Queen decided it was his time.

Option number two may be more satisfactory

VIII. A Company member shall give his or her best effort in all tasks for the company, above all, defending the lives and property of fellow members. A member ill-suited to a task shall nevertheless aid those who are. One found by majority to be willfully harming, or allowing the Company or its members to come to harm, shall be expelled from the Company, forfeit all reward, & possibly be surrendered to authorities if applicable.

The players character is in material breach of his contract. Bring it up at a meeting and kick him out. Demand he forfeit all items and goods acquired as part of any work with the party due to said breach(since he would not be entitled to those being in breech of contract). If he doesn't, take it from him by force.

Option 3: Publicly ask him to leave the group.

 

[Psychic Robot]

This is the reason that I don't like "roles" in D&D. I knew that these kinds of threads would occur, and it makes me very, very sad.