Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Rodrigo Istalindir" data-source="post: 3369134" data-attributes="member: 2810">This, combined with the way he seems to be running his wife's character, is the crux of the matter, I think.&nbsp; I've seen players like this, and they cause no end of grief.&nbsp; IME, they need to be the center of attention at all times, and other players exercising independence interferes with that.&nbsp; They see RPGs as single player, me-against-the-DM competitions, and the other players are just NPCs to them.The powergaming is just a means to that end -- if they build the uber character, then they are always the one that swings the tide of battle, kills the BBEG, etc., and thus are the 'hero' of the story.&nbsp; If he's not an especially good role-player (&quot;he can barely roleplay his PC asking a bartender for a drink&quot;) then he's going to resent that part of the game where someone else has the spotlight.Frankly, I think in this case there's nothing you can do.&nbsp; He's going to have his wife on his side, so any attempt to 'correct' the behavior is going to be viewed as an attack, and she'll come to his defense.&nbsp; You run the real risk of splitting the group.&nbsp;&nbsp; I think I would start small and start taking steps to minimize his efforts to control the other characters/players.&nbsp; Stop him if he starts telling other people what to do in combat (you'll likely run into arguments about talking being a free action, though).&nbsp; Really put your foot down about influencing character development, and make it clear that unless the player specifically asks for his help, let them run their own character the way they see fit.If you can break those habits, the power-gaming wont cease, but it won't have as disruptive affect on the others, and might get him to start looking at RPGs as a collaborative endeavor instead of a head-to-head confrontation.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Rodrigo Istalindir, post: 3369134, member: 2810"] This, combined with the way he seems to be running his wife's character, is the crux of the matter, I think. I've seen players like this, and they cause no end of grief. IME, they need to be the center of attention at all times, and other players exercising independence interferes with that. They see RPGs as single player, me-against-the-DM competitions, and the other players are just NPCs to them. The powergaming is just a means to that end -- if they build the uber character, then they are always the one that swings the tide of battle, kills the BBEG, etc., and thus are the 'hero' of the story. If he's not an especially good role-player ("he can barely roleplay his PC asking a bartender for a drink") then he's going to resent that part of the game where someone else has the spotlight. Frankly, I think in this case there's nothing you can do. He's going to have his wife on his side, so any attempt to 'correct' the behavior is going to be viewed as an attack, and she'll come to his defense. You run the real risk of splitting the group. I think I would start small and start taking steps to minimize his efforts to control the other characters/players. Stop him if he starts telling other people what to do in combat (you'll likely run into arguments about talking being a free action, though). Really put your foot down about influencing character development, and make it clear that unless the player specifically asks for his help, let them run their own character the way they see fit. If you can break those habits, the power-gaming wont cease, but it won't have as disruptive affect on the others, and might get him to start looking at RPGs as a collaborative endeavor instead of a head-to-head confrontation. [/QUOTE]

Verification