Forked Thread: Viking Hat vs Social Relationship

[Wormwood]

Does anyone actually think that the game master has the right, or for that matter the ability, to treat players this way?

Dear gods no.

When I run a game, I'm essentially just another player. I have no authority outside of adjudicating rule disputes (and I can be overruled in any event).

And to answer your broader question: I'd rather not play than play with people I don't respect.

 

[MrApothecary]

I wouldn't care if someone has a gigantic book filled with every fact about the Forgotten Realms ever, I'd still not play with a bigot. I would miss his book, though.

 

[cincinnati reds]

I wouldn't care if someone has a gigantic book filled with every fact about the Forgotten Realms ever, I'd still not play with a bigot.

This.

Don't tolerate bigotry or suffer it in silence. What's that line about how the only thing necessary for evil to prosper and spread is for good people to do nothing about it?

Tell your friends you're not going to play with this guy anymore because of his actions, and they can follow suit or not as they choose, but seriously, if a game is important enough to someone that they'll put up with racism to play in it, then they've got their priorities seriously screwed up.

Honestly, it bewilders me that anyone could do otherwise. We dishonor the memories of those who fought, bled, and died to advance the cause of civil rights in this country when we silently tolerate the bigot, the racist, the sexist.

That's a bit more important than a game.

 

[Cadfan]

Hmm. On one hand, the DM has no right to mistreat his players. The DM is just a guy hanging out with his friends, and his DM hat doesn't give him magical powers outside of running the game. On the other, given the choice between mistreating a female player who's doing nothing obnoxious (other than ruining guy-time by not laughing at jokes about rape or whatever...), and "mistreating" a male player who resents girl-cooties ruining his game, I know who I'm going to treat poorly. If I can't handle it amicably, then as far as I'm concerned the guy has forced the issue on me. Someone is going to get treated in a way they don't like, and its going to be the one creating the problem.

I don't know that my response speaks to Gailbraithe's specific situation. He needs to balance his desire to keep gaming with his group and his desire not to endure his obnoxious player's behavior, and I can't tell him how to do that. I just know what my response would be to a player who makes racist and sexist comments while cheating.

 

[Desdichado]

The original post might have been better written without the thinly veiled political commentary.

 

[Mark Hope]

I don't think the poster you quoted was serious, either.

No, of course he wasn't being serious. If he was being serious, he'd have advised humping the offending player's hams as well. The Viking Hat is meaningless without ham-humping. I speak from personal experience.