Am I punishing these players too much/little?

[Arthur Tealeaf]

In my session yesterday, I was DMing a private encounter with a player. He was confronted by an NPC from days past and they decided to reassume an old task. I took the player to another room and played out the encounter while the others waited. The thing is, when the session was over, Player X started commenting on and discussing the plans of the player and the NPC. I asked him why he thought they would wanna do something like that, and he said he had heard it (note:he'd have to listen at the door or otherwise make an effort to hear our conversation in the other room). I got mad and said I'd punish him, and he suddenly started denying it, saying he just guessed their plan, and I revealed my self by getting mad at his guess. Later one of the other players told me Player X and another player had listened at the door. I was really mad so I took away 1000 Experience from each of them. They are both level 5 with 11-12000 XP before the penalty.

Have I been to harsh? Or too gentle...? What do you think?

 

[dagger]

Did they play thier characters alignment?

 

[Zad]

Did they play thier characters alignment?

Alignment is irrelevant. Their characters were not listening at the door - the players were. If the DM can't have a private conversation with a player it undermines the ability to run the game, and really just shows a genuine lack of respect for the DM, the player with him, and themselves.

Was the punishment adequate? I think it will probably send a message. The real question is does it seem effective? Do they seem penitent? Do they realize why what they did was wrong and are not likely to do it again? If so, then I'd say go with it.

You are in some ways using an in-game penalty for an out-of-game action. An alternative is sitting them down and saying "Look, if this is what you're going to do, then you're being disrespectful to me, and undermining my ability to run a game. Do you want to be in this game? Do you want to make it un-fun for me so I stop running it?"

But exp can really hit people where they live, so it's up to you to decide what will be the best motivator.

 

[Arthur Tealeaf]

You are in some ways using an in-game penalty for an out-of-game action. An alternative is sitting them down and saying "Look, if this is what you're going to do, then you're being disrespectful to me, and undermining my ability to run a game. Do you want to be in this game? Do you want to make it un-fun for me so I stop running it?"

But exp can really hit people where they live, so it's up to you to decide what will be the best motivator.

You know, that's a very good point. The problem is, I'm not really good at the sitdown thing. The XP penalty really hits them in the face though, so I might stick with it. But I'll still try to think of an alternative. Thanks.

 

[barsoomcore]

Agree with Zad on this one.

You're not training these people, you're playing a game with them. If you and they have different ideas as to what constitutes acceptable gameplay, either somebody has to be willing to change, or you're going to have to find new people to play with, or you're going to have to accept being frustrated a lot of the time.

But punishment? They aren't your kids. They aren't your pets. You don't have to train them, you shouldn't have to train them, and you're not likely to be very successful at training them. So my advice is: don't bother.

 

[Shallown]

I think I'm with Zad on this as well. It is a matter of respect. If they are going to be disrespectful then just let them know you don't care for that. It doesn't have to be a confrontational thing just tell them not argue or make threats. Just tell them if it continues then want they are doing is Disrespectful and cheating (in the sense it is like reading amodule then playing it without telling the Gm youhad read it before)

Just be honest and the rest will work out.

later

 

[dagger]

I was joking of course.... I forgot the smiley

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

My solution would be really simple: If they ever do it again, they're out of the game. Period. That's just unacceptable behavior, and I would make sure they knew it.

 

[barsoomcore]

Just to be clear -- when I say you're not training these folks, I'm not implying that their conduct is acceptable. That's for you to determine, and I think you're well within your rights to say that listening at the door is uncool.

I'm just saying that punishment is a poor method to get what you want.

 

[Arravis]

I agree 100% with Kid Charlemagne. You're not there to teach them... nor are you there to put up with BS.