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

Caliban · Sep 29, 2017

DRF said:
Lol, posting history. Is this one of those types of forums where a high post count equals more respect and reverence?

Boy, reading comprehension isn't one of your skills is it? Since you have once again failed to put even the slightest effort into thinking this through, I'll lay it out for you. Because I'm a nice guy.

See, you made an unfounded accusation - namely "I bet you've never DM'd a session in your life". (A bet you have lost, by the the way). And I pointed out that if you hadn't been so lazy you might have checked Oofta's posting history and realized this was incorrect. Instead, you posted an obviously false accusation and made a fool of yourself.

And now you have compounded that mistake by jumping to another (wrong) conclusion without really thinking things through. Bravo.

Before you answer, check my posting history.

Eww, no thanks. So much bile and self importance concentrated in so few posts might actually be damaging.

iserith · Sep 29, 2017

MechaPilot said:
3) Players who show up too drunk or high to play. I'm not exactly a party girl, but I don't begrudge people their chemical recreation (as long as you're not hurting anyone else, do what makes you happy). However, if you're going to play at my table, you need to show up sober enough to actually play. And maybe brush your teeth and have a few mints to kill the booze smell (or change your clothes so you don't completely stink like skunky weed).

I'm okay with that as long as the player brings some for the DM.

MechaPilot · Sep 29, 2017

Bradley Hindman said:
Or pan to the window. Start and finish with "OK, you seduce the barmaid." Then move on.

That's basically what I do as well. I don't shy away from sexuality and romance in my games, but there's no real need for the overtly sexual aspects to be "on-camera" as it were. A simple "fade to black" on the scene is question is perfectly fine.

Draegn · Sep 29, 2017

Chewing gum.

Oofta · Sep 29, 2017

MechaPilot said:
That's basically what I do as well. I don't shy away from sexuality and romance in my games, but there's no real need for the overtly sexual aspects to be "on-camera" as it were. A simple "fade to black" on the scene is question is perfectly fine.

That's what she said ... oh wait, too soon for a cheap joke? :blush:

Yeah, I've had players that want to get in to, umm, graphic detail. Yechh. Save it for your fan-fic that I can ignore please.

guachi · Sep 29, 2017

I find the opposition to taking notes bizarre. How did you ever make it through school if you never took notes?

It's not even like you need to take a lot of them, either, during a game. Names of a few people, a location, some goals. And if the DM is smart, he'll name things with non-ridiculous names (unlike in most of the FR set adventures).

Though I guess we live in a time where I don't even see players drawing maps anymore (which are just notes in picture form).

I've seen some respond that they can't take notes because they are engaged with the game or DM. But if you can't remember things from session to session or even within a session, you really weren't paying that much attention, were you?

You'll spend more time in this thread objecting to having to take notes then you would actually taking notes. I've spent most of the last two years DMing and only got back into playing two weeks ago. It's soooooo easy (and the person who is DMing if doing it for the first time. She's surprised at how hard it is). There is so much free time I could write a novel full of notes every session.

cmad1977 · Sep 29, 2017

DRF said:
Lol, posting history. Is this one of those types of forums where a high post count equals more respect and reverence? Before you answer, check my posting history.

No. But if you paid attention( maybe took notes?) you would know better.
Pretty lazy posting man.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Caliban · Sep 29, 2017

guachi said:
I find the opposition to taking notes bizarre. How did you ever make it through school if you never took notes?

*shrug* I was on the honor roll in high school and I almost never took notes. I just have a good short term memory for things that interest me.

(That stopped working in college...)

It's not even like you need to take a lot of them, either, during a game. Names of a few people, a location, some goals. And if the DM is smart, he'll name things with non-ridiculous names (unlike in most of the FR set adventures).

Though I guess we live in a time where I don't even see players drawing maps anymore (which are just notes in picture form).

I've seen some respond that they can't take notes because they are engaged with the game or DM. But if you can't remember things from session to session or even within a session, you really weren't paying that much attention, were you?

You'll spend more time in this thread objecting to having to take notes then you would actually taking notes. I've spent most of the last two years DMing and only got back into playing two weeks ago. It's soooooo easy (and the person who is DMing if doing it for the first time. She's surprised at how hard it is). There is so much free time I could write a novel full of notes every session.

I'll admit that some note taking is probably a good idea. Nowadays I'm pretty good at remembering events and plot lines, not so good at remembering specific names and dates. I still generally won't do it though. I actually am that lazy.

Fortunately most of the DM's I play with don't make a big deal about it - as long as we both know who I'm referring to, saying that "We were sent by Lord So-and-so to rescue princess what's-her-face" gets the job done.

iserith · Sep 29, 2017

guachi said:
I find the opposition to taking notes bizarre. How did you ever make it through school if you never took notes?

It's not even like you need to take a lot of them, either, during a game. Names of a few people, a location, some goals. And if the DM is smart, he'll name things with non-ridiculous names (unlike in most of the FR set adventures).

Though I guess we live in a time where I don't even see players drawing maps anymore (which are just notes in picture form).

I've seen some respond that they can't take notes because they are engaged with the game or DM. But if you can't remember things from session to session or even within a session, you really weren't paying that much attention, were you?

You'll spend more time in this thread objecting to having to take notes then you would actually taking notes. I've spent most of the last two years DMing and only got back into playing two weeks ago. It's soooooo easy (and the person who is DMing if doing it for the first time. She's surprised at how hard it is). There is so much free time I could write a novel full of notes every session.

I don't oppose note-taking. I just don't think it's a reasonable expectation for a DM to have of the players. I'm a proponent of controlling what you can and not caring about the rest. I can't control whether my players take notes. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. I don't care about it - that's for them to do if and when they want to. I can control how memorable my locations, plots, and NPCs are, however. You don't need to take notes to remember the conniving NPC master inquisitive Dick Barrage and his simplistic plot for revenge. Contrast with some convoluted plot kicked off by Thiolrui Dhonamur that spans multiple sessions and is only revealed in bits and pieces and other subtleties. I'm not going to remember something like that, so I don't expect players to. And setting one's expectations is key to not being disappointed.

For the record, no, I didn't take notes in school either.

pming · Sep 29, 2017

Hiya!

I guess my only problem with a group is the fact that the players are there. I hate every one of the bastards/bitches!

Ok, no, but I'm sure other DM's have wanted to murderize every player at the table once or twice...c'mon...you know you did...

My "pet peeves" are:

Cell phones. Hate 'em. Never owned one, never will (likely) own one. Nothing but "Electronic Interrupting Machines", imnsho.
Aversion to Note-taking. This includes just writing down a freaking NPC's name! How hard can it be to write down "Jarskaar - gate soldier (easily bribed)". I swear, if we miss one session, the next session it's like we started an entire new campaign...and game sometimes! Admittedly we play fairly fast n' loose, so it's not a big deal...except when I get to play and someone else DM's. Then I take notes, and two sessions later say "Oh, is Jarskaar on duty tonight? I look around for him", and the DM says "Who?" (but I guess this is a "pet peeve against DM's"...whole other thread...). Still annoying though.
The "tricks'ey via unspoken actions" player. You know the type. They ask if they can play a noble, you say no, they create a background of being a pirate. Eight sessions into the game you find out that the full BG is actually "He was shanghai'ed in Darkwater Port by a band of pirates. He was a very young lad at the time and doesn't remember his parents (his parents are, in fact, King Fairhand and Queen Yollanda of the Kingdom of Fairland)". GRRRR!!!!
Sort of connected to the point above, this is the Player that tries to "weasel" around in-game, campaign (or rule) stuff by doing stuff that is *obvious* to the DM (me) and other players, but seems to be perfectly fine in-game during RP'ing. The player will seem to do something "in character", but the ONLY reason the PC is doing that is for a meta-game reason. This is sometimes known as trying to "cheat the system" or "cheese" it up.
Last biggie for me: The player who gets pissed off at me because they did any of the above and I call them on it. "No checking cell phones during game time or your PC goes unconscious" ...(see a player trying to hide his phone under the table)... "Bill, your PC goes unconscious...put your phone away...you can get to the next level of Kandy Krush after the game or during a break"... "What?! I wasn't playing a game...just checking my messages! Stop trying to control everything...it's my f'ing phone and it only takes a minute!...lighten up! [grumble grumble whine sulk]".

Those are the biggies for me. Mostly the revolve around respect for the game and the group as a whole. You're here to play a game that involves stories, characters, locations and engagement with everyone playing the game. Don't give your cell phone priority over the living human beings in the room with you. Put some effort into making the game good/fun for everyone...take notes, don't try and 'put one over on' the DM or other players (especially when it's obvious what you are trying to do). Just, well, engage with everyone there and try and make it fun for everyone, not just yourself.

^_^

Paul L. Ming

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

Caliban

Rules Monkey

iserith

Magic Wordsmith

MechaPilot

Explorer

Draegn

Explorer

Oofta

Legend

guachi

Hero

cmad1977