D&D General Roleplaying Powerful Beings versus Smart-Aleck PCs

[Zardnaar]

I go with tough luck solution. Being gets offended at best kicks them out to banished, exile or executed.

 

[jayoungr]

The reason I'm not looking for mechanical solutions is that I can give the players can disadvantage on social checks or whatever, but it's still going to destroy the NPC.

 

[Krachek]

Assume that PC wont bend or bow in front of any being, especially if the DM expect it!
Heil old Asmode! will be throw without hesitation.

PC will look fearless to a powerful being and that may create some interest and value.
being may need the PC because they are different from the yes man that surround them usually. So know the character, it’s goal, motivation, agenda, needs. Why he bother to meet the PC? No character should be omniscient or omnipotent in DnD.

 

[Filthy Lucre]

1.) Make sure you've discussed the tone of the game with players - that makes a big difference in terms of expectations and how they understand the game over all.
2.) If you did #1 but one player continues to be disruptive, probably need to talk to them about it OOC.
3.) If you make a threat, you HAVE to carry it out. Nothing erodes authority/seriousness more than a threat being made, ignored, and then there are no consequences. They don't have to be dire, but they could be extremely complicating - maybe even campaign altering.

4.) If all else fails, your PCs just don't want to have a serious game and you have to decide if you're willing to DM a non-serious game.

In the next session, they're due to meet an archfey whom I want to come across as powerful and mysterious. I fully expect the players to be snarky to her, so I want to be prepared for that. Any suggestions on how to deal with this situation?

Demonstrate power via indifference. Rather than demonstrate their power by force, just have this powerful being dismiss them and disappear. Whatever help they could provide is no longer accessible to them and they need to deal with a situation without a powerful ally or useful information.

You cannot control what the PCs do, so you have to accept that maybe something you wanted to happen (a positive meeting with this being) won't occur because the PCs choose for it not to occur.

 

[Vaalingrade]

To be clear, I'm not asking for active "genuflection." I just want to know how to keep my NPCs from being destroyed. Is that so unreasonable?

I mean... maybe?

IF this is how the players enjoy playing their characters, slapping them for it or telling them to stop having fun is going to encourage acting out in other way or just deciding not to talk to powerful characters if they're going to have to stop having fun to do so.

 

[Mort]

The reason I'm not looking for mechanical solutions is that I can give the players can disadvantage on social checks or whatever, but it's still going to destroy the NPC.

.
Take the character's (not the players!) charisma when snarky comments are made. Some people have a true gift of delivering insults in such a way that people are laughing WITH them and it actually promotes the person's agenda. I have a business partner with this gift. He can say something to a client/potential client that I KNOW would get me punched in the face but with him the client is laughing and agreeing to whatever proposal my partner is offering.

One other thing to do here is to ask the player directly - what is your intent with that last comment, how do you intend/expect the NPC to respond? This will also clue the player in that maybe they're being overly rude/snarky.

 

[Umbran]

In the next session, they're due to meet an archfey whom I want to come across as powerful and mysterious. I fully expect the players to be snarky to her, so I want to be prepared for that. Any suggestions on how to deal with this situation?

(ETA: Since some have asked for more details on the archfey: the PCs are searching for the source of magic that's infusing the local countryside. They're going to find out that it's due to this archfey's lair being adjacent to an underground river. They're not expecting to meet her and aren't seeking anything from her. If things go well, she might have a quest for them and/or offer them the opportunity to make a pact with her, i.e. take a level of fey pact warlock.)

An archfey who wants to use the PCs as their pawns (on this quest) will have some small amount of patience for the human foibles, and will inform the party when they are at the edge of patience.

"I am not of your kind. Your petty ego posturing is of no interest to me, and if you continue such, you will cease to be of interest as well."

"Little mortal, do remember that you are in the demesne of an archfey, and you are near to breaking the laws of hospitality that protect you. You have an opportunity here. I advise you choose your words to make the best of it."

Depending how powerful you make your archfey, simply taking the voice of the offending PC, and putting it in a small laquered box, to be returned when the interaction is complete, may be appropriate. A truely annoyed archfey would have the box act as a loadstone for some time, as punishment for the impertinence. Remove Curse ineffective so long as the character is in the feywild, and has not apologized with appropriately florid language.

 

[jayoungr]

IF this is how the players enjoy playing their characters, slapping them for it or telling them to stop having fun is going to encourage acting out in other way or just deciding not to talk to powerful characters if they're going to have to stop having fun to do so.

I don't want to slap them or tell them to stop having fun. I just don't also want to have to resign myself to not ever having any dignified NPCs, if possible.

ETA: I get the feeling that I'm coming across as asking how to stop my players from being snarky, and I'm trying to do the opposite. I'm assuming they will be snarky.

 

[iserith]

My NPCs are there to be destroyed. I don't care about them as they're not real. My players are real and I care about whether or not they are having fun and, if they want to mistreat an NPC, more power to them.

Having said that, actions have consequences. Treat an NPC poorly and it's reasonable to narrate how they aren't inclined to help you. Having a structure as in the DMG for handling this gives the players something to consider when deciding on an approach, and a means for the DM to consistently adjudicate and improvise.

 

[Umbran]

I don't want to slap them or tell them to stop having fun. I just don't also want to have to resign myself to not ever having any dignified NPCs, if possible.

ETA: I get the feeling that I'm coming across as asking how to stop my players from being snarky, and I'm trying to do the opposite. I'm assuming they will be snarky.

Yep. Let them be snarky, for a bit. But part of being an adventurer is knowing when to get down to business, too.

An archfey who isn't threatend by them, and does not feel them important enough to smack down, can be a vehicle for that. They can figure out when to cut the malarky, or not get the benefits of being respectful on occasion. They lose an opportunity, not their lives.