Stagnant PCs and what to do.

I have this one player who doesn't really get the idea of character development.
All the other PCs have had some variety of growth in the two years we've been playing this campaign. The grouchy one fulfilled a quest and got less grouchy, the naive one got less naive, the wacky one got wackier, the woman pretending to be a man stopped doing it...but this one character remains the same as he always was.
This isn't helped by the fact he's a half-orc barbarian. His basic character is: find stuff to kill, kill it. Repeat. There is nothing beyond this. He still can't read despite other PCs and NPCs trying to teach him. There has been zero growth and development.
My idea is to force some development. I've already established the character is the result of experimentation by evil mages, making him stronger, but more importantly dumber. I've also already established the extensive alchemical and magical alterations to his body will kill him within five years, and I have a character searching for a cure. Here's my dillemma.
Is it appropriate for me to force the PC to change by giving him the cure? This will lower his strength permanently but increase his Intelligence by the same amount, making him much smarter but less able in combat. It will create a lot for the PC and the player to deal with and it has the potential to drastically alter the character. I'm concerned though that the player might think this is unfair and other players might follow suit. Is it OK for the DM to force situations onto players that dramatically alter their characters, without giving any say in the matter to the PC?

No, that is really kinda crappy to do.

Seriously.

Talk to the player, or just let them do what they want.

If you want to, use external events, but NEVER force the hand of a PC.

Highlight for secret comment;
Some one will compare this to rape on this thread, BTW.
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let him be. doesn't sound like he is ruining the game. At most I'd privately talk to the player out of game about it.

Indeed- I'd just talk to him and see if he wants the cure, if he doesn't - so be it. Doesn't seem anything like his inability to change is bad. He just likes to kill stuff and there ain't nothing wrong with that!

I'd say it sounds a bit unfair to spring it on him. Particularly, I don't think altering his stats is going to make him want to develop more. It's just going to mess his fighting skills up?

Perhaps ask him about it out of game and see if he's interested? Or see if there's another direction he'd like his character to head in?



Could you do something linked to his interests? By the sounds of it, killing things and then presumably stealing their stuff?

Some random ideas:

Perhaps there's a collection of stuff he could kill. Each one he kills gives him energy of some sort. Creepy powers or something... Highlander.

Could his slaughtering skills gain him some kind of fame? People that want to be just like him start seeking him out and trying to hang out with him? They're mostly nuts.

He gets haunted by the sarcastic ghost of one of his victims?

Give him a talking sword! Possibly one that doesn't like killing much?

Charwoman Gene said:

No, that is really kinda crappy to do.

Seriously.

Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly.

Let the player play the kind of character he wants to play. Clearly, character growth is not an important part of the game for him. Killing things is. He's having fun doing that, and I can't think of any reason why you should take that away from him.

Now, as a temporary thing it might work. A story arc that hinders him for a session or three. You might force the "cure" on him, temporarily forcing a -4 strength +4 int, then reveal that the "cure" was only partially effective. The one dose will prevent his death but without a second dose, he'll lose his int and regain his strength. Then give him another vial of the cure, and let him decide how he wants to proceed, either down the cure again and keep the int, or pour it on the floor and regain his strength.

Players are wierd sometimes.

Don't force anything, always make choices available.

Even if they NEVER bite on a plot hook.

I support LP's solution above - Nice Job LP!

Also, if he doesn't start biting on plot hooks, make some consequences affect the character and make it READILY EVIDENT that his inaction caused the foul turn of events. The theory is to penalize him for not being active in the game THROUGH the game. The beutiful thing is, you can often have this lead to things he can kill, which will further stoke his enjoyment and give his PC (and perhaps even the player) a PERSONAL reason for the slaughter.

I have a player exactly like this. Bottom line - it sucks - he makes life that much harder on the rest of the group especially the DM!

For some players, they only develop as a character if they are forced, and they like this to happen. Ask, and find out if he is like this. I have two players who are total opposites. One is proactive and finds plot hooks himself. The other won't bite a great hook dangled in front of his face, then he'll complain that he gets no story-time, because he just doesn't get it. I force things on him, and he has no control over any of it, but now he's happy. It completely baffles everyone else, but if they want to be railroaded...

In life, some people don't change. In literature, some people don't change. In D&D, some people don't change. My biggest problem with the LOTR movies is that unlike the book, it assumed that it wasn't a story unless every character "grew" on screen. I think there are many stories that can be great without that being the case.

STARP_President said:

Is it OK for the DM to force situations onto players that dramatically alter their characters, without giving any say in the matter to the PC?

Click to expand...

Not without a save.