Clash of the....... Players?

[Shinanofran]

For the DMs out there. Have you ever had a circle of players who pick at every PC in your game, to the point where the players are dead scared of letting the other players see their character?

And if so, do they come to you constantly with little tidbits of errors that you didn't manage to find, and then expect you hunt the culprit down with fiery passion?

Well mine do. What sould I tell them?

 

[Skarp Hedin]

"Stop it."

Heh, I know that's not all -that- helpful advice, so I'll elaborate:
First off, my players don't do this and probably won't ever: they just don't understand the 3e rules well enough for that sort of stuff yet.. I don't think any of them have actually finished reading the player's handbook, and one guy just assumes his spells work the way they did in 2e, hahaha. He's fun sometimes. Anyhow...

This sort of sniping and nit-picking really can't be very much fun. It's not a friggin' competition, it's a cooperative game (unless you -want- to run a competition, but that's all different, like). Dock them XP for whining about the other guy's PC, or something.

That said, it's always good to go through the PC's sheets to make sure all is in order. I've found several errors, mostly in skill points (they didn't get the whole class/cross-class skills thing for a few weeks there), but some other errors as well, often stuff that wasn't in their favor.

And my post is all predicated on the idea that your players are just doing thing out of spite/malice/desire to mess up the other guy. If they honestly are trying to be helpful to you, then that's different.

 

[Rune]

Tell the offending players that you will be hanging onto their character sheets for a while.

Then change things, just a little.

 

[Crothian]

I'm not sure I follow. Your Players think that the other players aren't following all the rules when they make their characters?

 

[Shinanofran]

That good advice, but....

I have one player that has already made plans to kill another player

I have one player who calls himself "the rules lawyer" and is never wrong, who uses every little overlooked bit of info to powergame incredibly

and I also have one player who could not be more arrogant.

needless to say cooperation is not #1 on their list.

 

[Shinanofran]

well actually, the players are just tring to be "the best" there is, and they get jealous when a new power is born among them

 

[Crothian]

Make them start out as a commoner. Force them to role play any and all new feats, skills, and abilities they want their character to get.

 

[Rune]

I have one player that has already made plans to kill another player

That is a problem. Lay down the law, on this one. Tell them that carrying out such plans is grounds for expulsion from the group.

I have one player who calls himself "the rules lawyer" and is never wrong, who uses every little overlooked bit of info to powergame incredibly

Yeah, I know the type. All I can say is, you'll have to get to know the rules very well yourself. They're already pretty balanced, so if it comes from the core books (which you might consider limiting your game to), it should be okay (don't forget the errata!) , but you need to make sure that your self-styled "rules lawyer" isn't creating loopholes that don't exist in the text, or using loophole that might.

and I also have one player who could not be more arrogant.

Sorry, I can't change people. And neither can you. Explain to the player the problem that you and the other players are having with his/her attitude. Any change that takes place will have to be his/her decision. If his/her arrogance is too much of a problem, you'll probably have to ditch him/her.

 

[Kichwas]

Under this thread:

http://www.enworld.org/messageboards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11416

I proposed a system for replacement characters. Such a system should also work to stop player killing as each new PC comes in with less points... the killer is reducing the power of their own future PCs as well.

I simply do not tolerate player in fighting however. I will toss the offender out of my game and if it's a large portion of the group I will toss myself out of the game.

Inter party conflict on an social dynamic level is one thing. Done right it can enhance a game.

A good example is Wolverine and Cyclops of the old X-Men (haven't read the title in over 10 years, so I don't know if those two are even still in it...)


But the sillyness of going after each others characters and taking it out of the game and so on is just not acceptable.

 

[Varius]

Here is a little insight to what is going on in the party

http://www.enworld.org/messageboards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11373