D&D 5E GMs of EN World: What player behavior annoys you the most?

[Valetudo]

Sure, it's that way now...but not so much in medieval times or even into the early Renaissance. Most common people didn't have access to written materials, nor to teachers...and the Church of the day wasn't exactly eager to spread literacy to the masses.

Nobody expects the spanish inquesition.

 

[Valetudo]

Just remembered another pet peeve of mine which is actually one the game is entirely based around.

I get incredibly annoyed by players that use the game mat to line up their AOE spells like laser guided munitions to hit as many enemies as possible while just barely skirting around fellow players. First it is unrealistic in that a wizard is not seeing the battle from the right angle to do this and second it often results in a player spending an entire minute perfectly placing his fireball or icestorm.

This is infact a game, so if that bothers you try using TOTM.

 

[Seramus]

On the issue of player memory.

I love my friends very much. They are great people in real life. So it pains me to discover, after many years of roleplaying with them, that they are not very good at it! They constantly forgot things, including their own attributes and proficiencies. When I would make them cheat cards with all their stuff, they would forget to look at them between turns.

The solution was somewhat saddening. I got new players.

I'm still friends with my friends, and we still go out for beers and whatnot. But it turns out that there are lots of players out there who take notes, remember the plot even after being off for a few weeks, and stay engaged without any external assistance. All my problems were solved. I miss roleplaying with my friends, but we still get together and roleplay once a year with beer and pretzels. And I made friends with my new players, so now we can go out and share a beer now and then also.

 

[Eryndur]

Fear of failure.

I get it, but it really drives me nuts. It usually leads to overplanning, which leads to plot stagnation and/or annoyance when the plan inevitably capsizes. It becomes all about risk/reward management. Over all, I’ve found it leads to PCs choosing the least interesting path in any given situation, as they ever so carefully inch their way forward.

I tell them every session: Be bold! Take risks! Live dangerously! You’re adventurers, not the hoi-polloi!

No one remembers that you got the Dragon Scepter and escaped the deadly traps. They remember that you blew it and now you have to wear an eyepatch.

Put in another way, “'Tis better to have loved and lost / Than never to have loved at all.”

I should qualify this by saying I’m not a killer DM, and I am always on the PCs’ side, many times overtly. I just want them to BE INTERESTING. I’m the DM, but I’m also playing this game with you. I expect to be entertained just as much as you do.

By the way, the game Blades in the Dark by John Harper is designed to directly address this phenomenon, and it’s wonderful. Highly recommended.

 

[Ovinomancer]

I guess that would be a problem if you wanted your character to read Latin.

Sorry, but are you actually pushing the idea that literacy is so easy that it was widespread prior to the printing press?

 

[Oofta]

Sorry, but are you actually pushing the idea that literacy is so easy that it was widespread prior to the printing press?

I think it depends on the world. Many settings (Greyhawk for example had newspapers IIRC) seem to assume that there are printing presses and widespread literacy.

The printing press was introduced in the 15th century, around the same time plate armor became popular for example. If your setting is more Roman-era based then it wouldn't make sense.

 

[Nevvur]

The focus of this discussion seems to have honed in on the note taking thing. I want to highlight session recaps as a long-form version of note taking, but I will say I find note taking in game to be an unnecessary distraction.

Anyway, 95% of my 5e gaming time has been on the DM side, and I've made it a point to write a session recap my players can access between games. On top of this, I begin every session with a verbal recap, and single out a different player every week to lay it out. There's one player who consistently does a great job, but the others tend to be a little spare in their descriptions, and I often assist in reminding them of relevant details. Sometimes I tease them about it ("You skipped the part where Fernand almost drowned...") but it's never mean-spirited.

One thing I've noticed from the not-so-great-recappers is how they do an adequate job of relating events their own PCs engaged with, and forgetful about events they were not. This isn't surprising, of course, but I think it's relevant to the matter at hand. What may seem note-worthy to one player may not be so note-worthy to another. This is a big part of the reason why I do the written recaps, because as the DM I have a more complete perspective on which details matter to the story. I've been surprised more than once when a player remembers some throwaway NPC's name I didn't even bother including in the recap.

Earlier this month I returned to the player side of the table for the first time in over a year. The DM is one of the players from a previous game I ran, and he began doing written recaps much as I did long before I joined his group. However, he's now vested in 3 separate games and has a busy professional life, so I volunteered to do it for him/us... and I find myself struggling with the problem I described above, being tuned into my own character's experiences but a little shaky on others. "Was it the ranger or the druid who approached the strange woodland altar and provoked the woads into attacking us?"

All this is to say that, on top of being a distraction to do in-session, note taking by players isn't necessarily even reliable. Moreover, when it comes to recaps the DM has a more complete perspective and greater investment in the details, and owing to this, a greater ability to mitigate any dysfunction caused by forgetful players. As I apply this point to myself, it translates into an obligation to provide a written record to my players. YMMV

 

[iserith]

All this is to say that, on top of being a distraction to do in-session, note taking by players isn't necessarily even reliable. Moreover, when it comes to recaps the DM has a more complete perspective and greater investment in the details, and owing to this, a greater ability to mitigate any dysfunction caused by forgetful players. As I apply this point to myself, it translates into an obligation to provide a written record to my players. YMMV

Setting unreasonable expectations and sulking about it when those expectations are not met is a lot easier though.

Plus it puts the blame on someone else which is deeply, deeply satisfying.

 

[Shasarak]

Sorry, but are you actually pushing the idea that literacy is so easy that it was widespread prior to the printing press?

Lanefan told me that writing material is not available for people to learn to write with and now you tell me that there is so much writing material available that someone can run a printing press.

I am sure one of you is right.

 

[guachi]

Setting unreasonable expectations and sulking about it when those expectations are not met is a lot easier though.

Plus it puts the blame on someone else which is deeply, deeply satisfying.

If you believe taking notes is an "unreasonable expectation" I assume you don't expect players to:
have a character sheet
write upon their character sheet their:
abilities
ability modifiers
skills
skill modifiers
HP
AC
movement speed
name
XP
class
alignment
spells known
spells prepared
weapons
armor
magic items
other items
class abilities
what their class abilities do
proficiency bonus
level
initiative modifier

I mean, all of those things are "notes". If you track your HP during combat, you're taking notes. Do you expect your players to do any of the above? If so, why are you setting the unreasonable expectations for your players? If I played in your game and never tracked my HP, would you care?

A four hour session 14,400 seconds in it. You can take a useful note in 10 of those seconds. That's a mere 0.07% of the session.