DM's Suport Group: Most Cliche Player Behaviors Ever

[wingsandsword]

There are also players who refuse to follow the DM's guidelines on what classes they want.

Such as if the DM wants to use only the PHB, no ECL characters, and no prestige classes, a character will make a class from a book like the Complete Adventurer Book and whine whine whine whine whine until one of two things happen. Either the DM relents or simply says "then don't play". If the latter happens, the player goes off whining about how the DM is a bad person.

About 12 years or so ago, I saw this cliche played to the maximum.

It was 1999, so the game system was AD&D 2e. I was running a quasi-historic game set in the 12th century (but with some magic and fantastic elements, but definitely low-magic by D&D standards).

He asked if he could play in the game, I honestly didn't care much for the player so I waffled and gave an "I'll think about it".

I mentioned how I used a point-buy system for ability scores, no Evil PC's (and Chaotic Neutral requiring special permission), only human PC's were allowed (again, historic game), and the only classes that were allowed in unrestricted were Fighters, Rangers, Paladins and Thieves. Arcane magic was extremely rare and relatively low powered, so he'd have to get a copy of my weakened Wizard spell list if he wanted to play one (and understand he'd have to hide his magic or be hunted as a heretic), and Divine magic was also downgraded (but not as badly as Wizards), so a Cleric could be played but they'd have a reduced spell list.

He shows up the next day at lunch with a Lawful Evil Elven Fighter/Mage/Thief (with the Spellfilcher kit from the Complete Book of Elves) with multiple psionic wild talents (Disintegrate and Dimension Door?!?), and 3 18's in his ability scores which he swears he rolled up legitimately.

I repeated to him: point-buy for ability scores, no evil characters, no elves, no psionics, nothing from the Complete Book of Elves, and most of the spells he chose as wizard spells were right out.

He then began to whine about how they were all "standard options" from official books and every DM therefore had to let them it, it was right there in the rules, and he rolled it all up himself (including the ~1% chance of psionics, and the >1% chance of rolling up those insane power combinations, and three 18's and no ability score below 16).

He didn't join my campaign, and he made it clear he thought I was a mean, bad horrible DM who wasn't fair to players, and shouldn't be allowed to DM anymore, and griped about me to everyone who would listen.

Apparently that was his "standard' D&D character he tried to join every game with, he asked everyone who was running a D&D game if he could play, then demanded that exact character, stats and all. Not a single DM I knew allowed it.

 

[Dice4Hire]

Bury him with his hammer. Preferably embedded in his skull.

 

[Dice4Hire]

Mine is very recent.

My 3.5 group is doing Red Hand of Doom (maybe spoilers) and one character got killed, so we need a new guy.

Well, the horde is getting near Brindol and is on the surface, so this guy makes a dwarf from Red Rock whose purpose in life is killing humanoids DEEP IN THE TUNNELS UNDERGROUND, as they killed his parents and cliche cliche cliche. Plot device #1 shot down cold.

The group is trying to get allies to help against the horde, so I ask if the new dwarf has any rank in the dwarves. So he could like influence the dwarves and get with the party. Of course not. He is respected, but has no interest in leadership. Ok, plot device #2 shot down.

I ask him where he is, as the party is on the surface trying to get dwarven allies. He is deep underground in a small guardroom waiting for the orcs and things to attack, even though I told him attacks have been nearly non-existent for months. He did all but state his characer would drop dead in sunlight.

But I get him aboveground (he did help too) but demanded the party help him in the runnels as a requirement for him helping them.

At about that point, I told the party that if they do not want the dwarf, that is fine with me and the dwarf's player can make a new character.

 

[Jeff Wilder]

The guy that will not budge from their stubborn "I'm playing my character" to even help the group.

Just as a roleplayer graduates from "I'm playing myself in platemail" to "I'm playing a character," roleplayers eventually graduate to "I'm playing a character ... but I'm also playing a game and often need to find a way to reconcile 'my character' with the fun of the other players."

The idea that there's creativity involved in figuring out exactly how it could be in character for a PC to do something that seems out of character (but beneficial to the fun of others) ... when a player finally groks that, you can practically read by the light-bulb. I very clearly remember when it happened for me (it was on a MUSH).

 

[avin]

I hate when players decapitate elves and put the head on their armor's spikes... (D&D)

I hate when they try to kill a npc that is surrending with no reason at all (no disavantages, no background related - D&D)

I hate when a player shoots a dog and decapitate a dead body then show the head to the wife.

Same player.

On the last case the woman shoot him dead.

There's no second chances in GURPS.

 

[twisted.fate]

I just thought of another:

The guy that will not budge from their stubborn "I'm playing my character" to even help the group.

I remember running a Marvel Supers game and this one guy refused to put down his weapon to enter a cave to help the rest of the party that was getting their ass kicked. The "weapon" was the source of the characters power but you are a hero for crying out loud.

GM: Your hammer falls to the ground before you enter the cave.
Player: I pick it up, looks like I can't get in.
Other players enter and get ambushed and start to lose.
GM: You want to go in and help?
Player: My character wouldn't go in without my weapon.
GM: But the party is getting spanked.
Player: My character wouldn't go in without my weapon. I am playing my character.
Other player: Thanks for being a real hero.
Player: My character wouldn't go in without my weapon. I am playing my character.

The party pulls out the miracle and defeats the BBEG. The sword that we are to recover is stuck inside a stone. Excalibur style. The only person with the blood line to remove the sword is weapon guy, who still refuses to go in the cave to get the sword. Fine we smash the rock and bring the sword to you, happy!?

I dunno, man. This seems kind of unfair to me. First of all, why does he need to drop his hammer to get into the cave at all? Is it a huge-size hammer and a really really small cave?

Second, if the hammer is the source of his power, why is the DM setting up a situation where he alone arbitrarily cannot use his powers? Unless everyone else was being penalized too?

It sounds to me that he wasn't so much acting like a jerk just to be a jerk, as he was acting like a jerk because he'd been placed in the illogical and frustrating situation of "You need to go in there, but you can't take your powers with you. Sorry. Lol."

 

[billd91]

I dunno, man. This seems kind of unfair to me. First of all, why does he need to drop his hammer to get into the cave at all? Is it a huge-size hammer and a really really small cave?

Second, if the hammer is the source of his power, why is the DM setting up a situation where he alone arbitrarily cannot use his powers? Unless everyone else was being penalized too?

It sounds to me that he wasn't so much acting like a jerk just to be a jerk, as he was acting like a jerk because he'd been placed in the illogical and frustrating situation of "You need to go in there, but you can't take your powers with you. Sorry. Lol."

Except being powerless (or gimped back) and still having to foil the bad guy's plans (or figure out how to get your powers while defeating the bad guy) is a reasonably common occurrence in superhero comics. I've seen in in X-men comics, Superman, Thor, the Fantastic Four, Daredevil, and the Legion of Superheroes, and that's off the top of my head.

In this case, the situation seems pretty contrived (perhaps to the point of inbelievability - and for a superhero game, that's saying something) but still - the hero shouldn't be balking from being a hero simply because his powers will be weakened.

 

[twisted.fate]

Except being powerless (or gimped back) and still having to foil the bad guy's plans (or figure out how to get your powers while defeating the bad guy) is a reasonably common occurrence in superhero comics. I've seen in in X-men comics, Superman, Thor, the Fantastic Four, Daredevil, and the Legion of Superheroes, and that's off the top of my head.

In this case, the situation seems pretty contrived (perhaps to the point of inbelievability - and for a superhero game, that's saying something) but still - the hero shouldn't be balking from being a hero simply because his powers will be weakened.

Sure, it's one thing to have the heroes be depowered somehow. Absolutely, that's part and parcel of the genre. But typically when that happens, it's the whole team, not just one member. On top of that, in actual comics, it's generally for an explicable story-based reason.

For example, Dr. Doom making a mystical device based on Shi'ar technology that de-powers the Fantastic Four by undoing the changes the cosmic radiation did to them. That's story-based (he is a mad scientist villain) and affects the whole team equally.

Or, Mr. Sinister creating a virus that rewrites the genetic code of mutants, removing the powers of those who are exposed to it. Again, it's story-based (his villain schtick is genetic modification) and potentially affects the whole X-Men team equally (since they're all mutants).

If the original poster had mentioned some kind of story-based reason that the hammer couldn't go in the cave, it would be less contrived and less frustrating (maybe the cave was enchanted by Evil Villain Magic so that weapons can't be brought inside) If he had mentioned that everyone else was also similarly de-powered, that would be reasonable (maybe they all had weapons they couldn't bring in, and he just didn't mention that?). But he didn't mention either of those two factors, so we have to assume that it's just arbitrary difficulty focused exclusively on one player, which is frustrating and fun-killing.

 

[billd91]

Sure, it's one thing to have the heroes be depowered somehow. Absolutely, that's part and parcel of the genre. But typically when that happens, it's the whole team, not just one member.

I wouldn't bet on that being so typical. In the FF, they'd done it together but I think more often one at a time. Same with several of the X-Men.

 

[Siuis]

The druid who says nothing when someone burns down an entire forest.

This brings up one of my one pet-peeves; the player who says something ("I fight evil" or "I protect nature") and doesn't think it through.
Druid goes through mountains and ignores the party usig pitons to crack thousand year old, perfect and regal rock faces. Druid ignores the party draining an oasis so they can have water while traveling through the desert, irrevocably damaging a complex web-ecosystem and the livelihood of all the tribes that require this watering hole to do their trading.
Druid goes through a forest, party members use dead branches from a tree that will eventually grow and heal if they did damage the tree? Druid goes off the chain. "you guys are damaging nature!!1!"

Nature = forest, but forest =/= nature. Orc = evil, evil =/= Orc. Thief = rogue, but rogue =/= thief.