Help reign in a player who refuses to play his role

Wow, that is epic win, the kobold slavegirl.

Erm... what? I think he just likes to play nutty characters. Since you and your group have endured him a long time, I guess you want to continue to do so.

In this case, I recommend dealing with him as if his character was absent, i.e. be a bit lighter on them with the strong melee monsters.

Cheers, LT.

Gort said:

Are you DMing? I'd have thought your players would be the ones to pressure him in this way. I certainly wouldn't want someone in my party who's going out of his way to get me killed.

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NO, I am just a player in this game. That's why I got the idea for a company charter that we could use to attach strings to his share of the treasure.

Here is the company charter for perusal:

Feywild, Fire, & Death Company Charter

We, the undersigned, in the spirit of adventure and fellowship through battle, do hereby affirm the creation of the company Feywild, Fire, and Death, and enter into covenant with our fellows members. The purpose of this company shall be to hire out our wands & swords to defend the weak, aid the just, and bring light to the dark places of this world.

In accordance with these aims of this endeavor, the Company doth hereby adopt the following by-laws for membership:

I. All members of the Company are to be accorded equal treatment regardless of race, occupation, prior rank, or condition of servitude.
II. Just and equal compensation shall be awarded to all members who prove their worth and hath earned reward. One accused of dereliction must be so judged by a majority of his fellows. One so judged shall forfeit all monies and treasures from said mission to the other companions.
III. Enchanted arms, armor, & implements, etc. shall be awarded to the member who hath the greatest use for it, as decided by a majority decision. Accepting such reward forfeits monetary compensation up to the item’s value. If the majority can reach no consensus, let those who want said item cast lots for it.
IV. No item shall be destroyed, or sold to market without first being offered for sale to another member of the company for a fair cost of half its value, or in trade for another item.
V. The Company shall not accept any contract without the approval of a majority of the fellows. Those who wish no part in a contracted mission may elect to take no part in any responsibility nor any reward.
VI. Any member of the Company may propose a mission of conscience to the fellowship, so long as it does not violate a contract. Said mission must be approved by the majority of fellows, and may also be terminated by a majority. All treasures gained in said mission shall be shared as per normal.
VII. Once the Company hath been contracted by an employer, it shall fulfill its obligation before it accepts a new contract. A member who accepted a contract and falters in this obligation shall earn no reward from it, & shall pay damages to the Company in compensation.
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.
IX. A fellow who falls in the line of duty shall be accorded the following consideration: Immediate aid to injuries if possible, a proper burial & treasure distributed to the member’s kin if not. If Fate allows, the company shall put forth the coin for a ritual of resurrection.
X. These by-laws are subject to change pending the approval of the majority of the Company’s Fellows.
__________________

Then it is time for him to go. He would be invited to my hose to play Toon, Paranoia, or Tales from the Floating Vagabond, however. (Maybe HoL... I dunno)

I don't know, maybe I'm being hasty. Has anyone tried to tell him that he is infringing on the group's fun? Does your DM allow this sort of thing to go unchecked?

I am usually the DM for our groups, and if any one player disrupted things for the group, I would take him aside and let him know. I don't like "goofy" roleplaying in my serious games. However, there is room for goofy, if everyone in the group agrees. Maybe you should ask your DM to run you a Xanth type game or something.

Make him remake his character as a rogue with a paladin multiclass. It sounds like in his mind he is being a good role-player, playing up the Raven Queen thing.

And perhaps hes right that a pure paladin defender may not accomodate what he has in mind. However a dagger using rogue that multiclasses into a paladin (or cleric) just may.

He can stay in the back and throw daggers, and still be a religious zealot of the Raven Queen.

plutocracy said:

Make him remake his character as a rogue with a paladin multiclass. It sounds like in his mind he is being a good role-player, playing up the Raven Queen thing.

And perhaps hes right that a pure paladin defender may not accomodate what he has in mind. However a dagger using rogue that multiclasses into a paladin (or cleric) just may.

He can stay in the back and throw daggers, and still be a religious zealot of the Raven Queen.

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Believe me, we ALL tried to convince him of this... He won't buy it. I think he is anti 4E and says that he wants to "prove that the system is broken" by making a character concept (a dagger throwing paladin who cowers behind the wizard) that doesn't work with the system. He says, "I'm making a character, not playing a video-game".

however, the idea of learning eyebite at 11th level has intrigued him and I think he may go Warlock multi-class. But I am worried about surviing until then!

epochrpg said:

I think he is anti 4E and says that he wants to "prove that the system is broken"...

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That was my very first thought on reading your original post, and it looks like the same thing occurred to icarusfallz and Jack99.

The same thing, of course, would have happened in 3E if he'd tried to put together a multiclassed wizard/sorcerer/bard/fighter, for example... you can always find a way to make a character non-viable. 4E probably, actually, makes it harder than in 3E.

-Hyp.

Seems to me he just likes making things difficult for everyone else.

The Raven Queen is patient above all else. If it was truly the Paladin's teammate's time to die, there wouldn't be someone with the power to heal them 5 feet away. She wouldn't have granted him the powers of a Paladin if he wasn't meant to use them, to the best of his ability. That includes his prowess on the front lines of combat.

Sounds to me like your DM is being lax by letting him get away with this. While there's no codified set of rules for a Paladin being stripped of power, he's definitely abusing his status as a Paladin, which always carries divine intervention as a side-effect. Either ask your DM to handle the problem in-game, or have all the dissatisfied players band together to remove the player from the group if he doesn't shape up.

Disrupting a game by playing stupidly isn't "good roleplaying". It's being a jerk.

epochrpg said:

Believe me, we ALL tried to convince him of this... He won't buy it. I think he is anti 4E and says that he wants to "prove that the system is broken" by making a character concept (a dagger throwing paladin who cowers behind the wizard) that doesn't work with the system. He says, "I'm making a character, not playing a video-game".

however, the idea of learning eyebite at 11th level has intrigued him and I think he may go Warlock multi-class. But I am worried about surviing until then!

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Tell him he is not playing his character. His character gains abilities that he has trained in. If he doesn't use the abilities, why did the character get them in the first place? You could go a little heavy-handed and have the Raven Queen appear to him in his sleep and outright tell him that she didn't give him his Lay of Hands features to never use them - there are actually people whose time to die is yet to come, and she has plans for them. (Something like: "You see this Fighter friend of yours... He nearly died in the battle against the Kobolds. But he survived, and now is stronger then ever, and even more capable of bringing death. I want him to stay alive until he has served his purpose...")

And if he's actually saying he wants to "prove that the system is broken" tell him this is not an experimental play-test simulation scenario, this is a role-playing game and people want to play an enjoyable game, not have it intentionally disrupted by him.

Since he seems to generally like disrupting the game, I would highly recommend talking a serious word with him and tell him how you feel about it. If he doesn't care whether he hurts your or your fellow players enjoyment of the game, you should seriously consider throwing him out. That might be a hard choice, but I am convinced you will be better off.

Mustrum_Ridcully said:

And if he's actually saying he wants to "prove that the system is broken" tell him this is not an experimental play-test simulation scenario, this is a role-playing game and people want to play an enjoyable game, not have it intentionally disrupted by him.

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If his character is a valid concept character, cool beens, but this guy does sound like he's being a bit of a jerk.

Of course, you all should have seen it coming and not relied on him to fulfill a party role and instead, made sure it was taken care of, letting him be the useless fifth wheel he wants to be.

'I wanna be useless!' is usually a good sign for someone else to step up and take his role over.