How to deal with a Player that only wants to play evil characters

[DarkCrisis]

I have a common group that I've been playing with for about 5 years.

The youngest, a now 16 year old, likes to play evil characters. Bordering on CE, to use a D&D term.

Murder is her go-to for acquiring anything her character wants. Typically, this is handled with "You can't just murder a man in plain view of everyone, you will be killed."

Out of all the games we've played (D&D being the most played), her favorite is Vampire the Masquerade, because she can be as evil as she wants and it's mostly fine. She also liked Paranoia because death is basically pointless and it can pay to be as chaotic as possible.

I want her engaged instead of tuning out. So aside from just playing VtM, what can I do? And no, I won't kick her out. She's (and her family) cool, just has her way of playing.... And I don't want to want to not come play either, though I think her parents would sort of make her.

Bottom line, I want everyone to have fun and look forward to our weekly RPG game....

I'm considering Cyberpunk or Shadowrun maybe. Something that can have not just heroes as characters. With a bit more RP that wont get her slain by the town guards.... I don't know....

 

[kigmatzomat]

Let her be evil. Then imprison her character and put it on trial. Hand her the character sheet for her public defender. See if she can work with the other PCs to save the evil character.

 

[MarkB]

Tell her it bothers you.

 

[DammitVictor]

First... as above, this is an Out of Character problem and it asks for an OOC solution. Talk to the player.

Second... ask your problem player to write up her next character-- "as evil as she wants"-- but ask her to provide you a list of people, or institutions, or principles that her character values above self-interest and cruelty. And then just give her a good mix of situations where her behavior endangers those things, and where the best way protect those things is by following her preferences.

 

[aco175]

She is 16 and wants to play out fantasies of no rules and being able to get away with kicking butt on people. Maybe she will grow up. Have the others help show her being the good guy is better.

 

[bloodtide]

I like to handle such things, in the game.

1.Protect the Game. The basic problem with any RPG default setting game world is that it's weak and the PCs are demi gods. A PC is an armed and armored powerful killer....and the shop keep is an old near helpless guy with like 50,000 gold in value of goods just sitting on tables and shelves. So why would not a demi god character just step on a bug character.

Of course this only works as the shop is set up like a modern Wal Mart. The goods are right out on display. The shop keeper just sits there with no defenses or protection.

So, there are tons of "non standard" mundane ways you can protect the game world. A lot like they are done in real life.

Think a bit more like "pawn shop". Nothing of any value is out in the open. The shop keeper sits behind some reinforced walls and iron bars. Plus armed guards. Oh...and not weapons, armor or such in side the shop.

In fact....really most towns/cities SHOULD require all folks walking around to be un armored, un armed and such.

The other far extreme is to have a super poor world.....so all NPC townsfolk have like three copper coins at most.

2.Power up the game. Like above, but crank the fantasy and magic up to 11. The character walks into a shop and finds an Iron Golem bodyguard. Or a Ghost Guard. Or animated weapons. Or the shop keeper is a arch mage, illithid or a dragon.

You can get to the real fun ones like: upon entering the shop the magic ward shrinks the PC down to just one inch. Then the PC is free to shop....but they will find it impossible to steal or kill the shop keeper.

3.Beyond all reason.

So, this is where you just Alter Game Reality on a whim to do whatever you want.

The PC attacks a 'weak' NPC and they have a force field that blocks the attack. Or they are immune to damage.

For some stories here.....

Rich liked to just random kill all NPCs and laugh. So he killed Jor the Innkeeper. When on an adventure...and came back to the inn...to find Jor there...like nothing happened. Rich was beyond mad that "Jor just some how came back". Rich had his character kill Jor again. He sleeps...wakes in the morning and finds Jor.....alive, again. He kills Jor again...and Jor just comes back again. After like the 22nd time....Rich gave up.

Along the same line is having Jors "twin brother" just "pop" in each time a Jor is killed.

Or even more fun....a Jor Clone. "Hello, I'm Jor eleven".


The Spoon: So once upon a time was a Problem Player Jack. His many goal for playing was to ruin the game for everyone else.

So, the game starts with the PCs having dinner at the kings castle. Jack ignores the role playing.....and tries to steal and pocket the silver spoon off the table in front of his character. And the spoon animates ,dodges and gets away. So for the next couple of minutes he tries to grab the spoon...but fails. And when he tries to steal anything else.....the spoon swoops in to stop or block him.

After dinner, as the other PCs are role playing talking to the king, Jack tries to loot the castle. Of course....the spoon stops him. And so then he focuses on trying to get the spoon. The good players tried their best to ignore Jacks crazyness...and tried to cover it up so the king would not see it. Though when the king did, they kept it all nonchalant. The other PCs get the quest, and everyone leaves....with Jack.....who go no loot...or the spoon.

And....then......well.....the spoon follows Jack. More often then not, the spoon shows up to hinder or even attack Jack. All the time. Famously....the spoon shows up a LOT to mess with Jack....and a bit indirectly the other PCs. Like the spoon hitting an alarm gong as the PCs are attempting to sneak across and area. A lot of the PCs plans are disrupted or even fail, because of That Dam Spoon. And Jack gets all the worst of it.

This story is still famous among my players.....

 

[Baron Opal II]

In these situations, I usually tell the player

1) If you don't work as a team, the monsters will eat you

2) All actions have their consequences. I'm not going to punish you, but steal from enough people, or the wrong people, and you'll be chased.

Now, if we're just having a stab-fest to blow off steam that's something else.

 

[aramis erak]

Think a bit more like "pawn shop". Nothing of any value is out in the open. The shop keeper sits behind some reinforced walls and iron bars. Plus armed guards. Oh...and not weapons, armor or such in side the shop.

IRL, I've never seen a pawn shop with bars between customers and owner. The things of high value are in glass display counters, and/or hanging on the walls behind the counters. Most of the time, the proprietor has a (poorly) concealed firearm. The last one I was in? Not even bars on the outer windows... but steel rolling shutters inside the windows, closed outside business hours.

In fantasy games, I also tend to not have pawn shops outside ones where they're canonical (WFRP), or the largest cities. Medieval economies are still largely barter; coins are used mostly in trade and cities; only in cities would loans be frequent enough to justify them.

Rob a shop in a smaller town? Everyone gets pissy, and someone will gank one from behind... The local guild thief may even cut one's purse and divvy it to one's victims... The local guild may just disappear one.

In a City? The watch comes for one. Resisting them is a death sentence. The bailiff notes, "Enjoy your time in the stocks and time in the work gang... Sewers don't clean themselves, y'know." Resist, or have killed in theft? If one makes it to trial, the judge will order one to any of a number of severe punishments. Mutilation and/or execution are not uncommon for murderous thieves. Breaking on the Wheel, being tossed out a tower, being flayed alive... Remember: Public Executions were public entertainment.

Heck, trial by combat was sometimes trial by unarmed fight with a major carnivore... More so in the Ancient world than the medieval, but it was still done in some places.

 

[payn]

I have a common group that I've been playing with for about 5 years.

The youngest, a now 16 year old, likes to play evil characters. Bordering on CE, to use a D&D term.

Murder is her go-to for acquiring anything her character wants. Typically, this is handled with "You can't just murder a man in plain view of everyone, you will be killed."

Out of all the games we've played (D&D being the most played), her favorite is Vampire the Masquerade, because she can be as evil as she wants and it's mostly fine. She also liked Paranoia because death is basically pointless and it can pay to be as chaotic as possible.

I want her engaged instead of tuning out. So aside from just playing VtM, what can I do? And no, I won't kick her out. She's (and her family) cool, just has her way of playing.... And I don't want to want to not come play either, though I think her parents would sort of make her.

Bottom line, I want everyone to have fun and look forward to our weekly RPG game....

I'm considering Cyberpunk or Shadowrun maybe. Something that can have not just heroes as characters. With a bit more RP that wont get her slain by the town guards.... I don't know....

Are you the only one with a problem with this?

 

[overgeeked]

If the game is meant to be heroic fantasy with heroic characters that should be covered by session zero. Once you get going, if it bugs you, you should talk to her and her parents. Not in a narcy way but friends talking to friends. Explain what you’re doing and why.

In game, start enforcing consequences. Don’t tell her she can’t do something evil because of the consequences, let her do it and show her the consequences. Murder someone in broad daylight in front of plenty of witnesses, guess the town guard are coming to collect you in the middle of the night.

If they fight the guards and lose, everyone makes new characters. And remind them no evil characters.

If they fight the guards and win, everyone’s now a fugitive and the local authorities will put bounties on the PCs’ heads. Run the campaign with wanted posters everywhere, NPCs selling them out, bounty hunters chasing them down like dogs.