Annoying Player who seems to mean well... sorta

[I'm A Banana]

She seems to have some issues in accepting DM authority. Some ways to maybe curb some of the behavior:

-- Whenever you make a descision she is unhappy with, call for a vote, and do it right away. The appearance of power to change things may help her to not feel cheated, and while this does somewhat compromise your role as MIGHTY DM MASTER, most of the time the group will agree with you. Allow anyone who takes issue with your rulings to do likewise...with the stipulation that once voted on, it is set in stone, and if it is ever raised again, the character will suddenly be afflicted with explosive space diarrhea and have to sit out the next day or so of the session.

-- Use the "what you do, the enemies can also do" rule. Don't nessecarily disallow any of her tactics, but make sure that she knows that whatever she does to make it easier on her, the enemies can, too. No-save spells? Well, if she wants them to exist, I hope she likes rolling up new characters... Try not to hurt the entire party too much wth it, but don't be affraid to sucker-punch her.

-- Maybe she's not entirely happy with her character. She should be allowed to play her character however she wants, and NO ONE likes it when ego takes control of them. Let her act as she will. That's not to say that to maintain verisimilitude there shouldn't be consequences, but don't forbid action -- just warn her about what will happen before she does it.

 

[DonTadow]

She seems to have some issues in accepting DM authority. Some ways to maybe curb some of the behavior:


-- Use the "what you do, the enemies can also do" rule. Don't nessecarily disallow any of her tactics, but make sure that she knows that whatever she does to make it easier on her, the enemies can, too. No-save spells? Well, if she wants them to exist, I hope she likes rolling up new characters... Try not to hurt the entire party too much wth it, but don't be affraid to sucker-punch her.

I plan on doing that next session, in particular the reading minds indescretly to see how much she likes it.

As regards the roleplaying disadvantages, these are more difficult to implement. I suggest using a "three strikes and you're out" rule. Every time the player of a paladin greviously breaks his code of conduct because it's convenient, make a mark. Likewise for defying the edicts of this weapon. Once the character has two marks, warn the player that a fall is coming. Then, on the third strike, apply the penalty for breaking the restriction - a fall from grace, a loss of the item, or whatever.

I like this three strikes and you're out thing and I think I"ll start implementing that. That way she has ample warning the next time she tried something

If she violates the tenets of her alignment and her deity, take her powers away. Whenever she makes a judgment like the one you mention above, give her a vision from her deity, in which she is chastised. Have the deity assign some sort of atonement task. Heck, take away some or all of her spells until she completes the task. If she balks, give her another vision, and take away more powers. If she still balks, have her deity cast her out permanently. You can then go all sympathetic on her and "allow" her to roll up a new character.

There are a ton of things I havn't listed because I'd run out of time listing all the things she wants to get away with. But one of the things she did was , when she left the church because she did not agree with the way they practiced the religion, was steal a bunch of church relics and such from her room and about.

As punishment for this, the Vizier cast a spell on her that banishes her from the organized church until she repents. (Anthema from the Crime and PUnishment Book by Atlas Games) Now she has a huge snake scar on her cheek that can be seen by those people in that religion and she gets a bunch of negatives when dealing with humans. I was lenient becuase I did not want to punish the party by taking away their cleric in non-combat. The Vizier told her he still believes she has potential and will not strip her of her powers.

So in other words, she's already as close to being kicked out of the church as she can get.



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[Thaniel]

I plan on doing that next session, in particular the reading minds indescretly to see how much she likes it.


I like this three strikes and you're out thing and I think I"ll start implementing that. That way she has ample warning the next time she tried something



There are a ton of things I havn't listed because I'd run out of time listing all the things she wants to get away with. But one of the things she did was , when she left the church because she did not agree with the way they practiced the religion, was steal a bunch of church relics and such from her room and about.

As punishment for this, the Vizier cast a spell on her that banishes her from the organized church until she repents. (Anthema from the Crime and PUnishment Book by Atlas Games) Now she has a huge snake scar on her cheek that can be seen by those people in that religion and she gets a bunch of negatives when dealing with humans. I was lenient becuase I did not want to punish the party by taking away their cleric in non-combat. The Vizier told her he still believes she has potential and will not strip her of her powers.

So in other words, she's already as close to being kicked out of the church as she can get.

I guess my only comment about that is.. Who grants her the powers? The church or the god? The two are not necessarily interchangeable.

 

[DonTadow]

I guess my only comment about that is.. Who grants her the powers? The church or the god? The two are not necessarily interchangeable.

YOu're right and as far as the player's know it comes directly from the gods.

Actuality

it comes from the caretaker, whom was authorized by the gods to grant their divine aura to their followers. The problem was that the gods didn't set any rules as to how they should be worshiped.

Thats where the religion comes in. The caretaker grants divine powers to whomever the religion dictates is divinity. Think of the caretaker as "just a guy following orders, not really caring either way".

However, the new player now knows that regardless of what her previous doctrine taught her, the true way to worship her god is known by the spirit in the weapon she has.