DM's Suport Group: Most Cliche Player Behaviors Ever

[Ydars]

My pet peeve is the Ninja psionic half-golem warforged type character who has a tissue thin background to justify blatant powergaming.

Don't get me wrong; I like powergaming to the max myself, but it has to end in a credible character.

Not a freaking fantasy version of 'Seven of Nine'.

 

[ProtoClone]

Characters who ignore their stats.

 

[GameDoc]

Someone mentioned "lawful stupid" characters, particularly paladins.

On another site, I recently saw a lengthy debate where the OP had banned paladins in any of his games (prior to 4e) and hated for anyone to play a lawful good character of any class. His rationale was that there is only one way to play lawful good, as opposed the other other alignments allowing lattitude for interpretation.

My feeling was he was being overly strict with his version of lawful good. He never did make it clear if that was his personal opinion of the alignment (i.e., when a LG character in his campaign acted contrary to his definigion, the character was deemed out of alignment) or whether it was due to every player he'd ever had who chose the LG alignment playing a Dudley Dooright type character (in which case it was poor roleplaying on the part of his associates, IMO).

All that to say that another peeve of mine is people who can't get past the idea that lawful good is a ball and chain that only allows for a small range of character types that cannot get along with memebers of other alignments, are always preachy, controlling, or over-bearing or alternatively meek and naive in their goodness. Those are both possible characters that can fall under LG, but there are many others.

More generally (and I think several posts here have empahisized this), I think a big problem is people using alignment as a straightjacket and making their character entirely one-dimensional.

 

[Nebten]

I didn't see it, but it definatly comes up. It's a a giant neon sign that says "first time" player. It is not something that irks me, but just gets me to chuckle, ask if its the first time playing then grin when then confirm my thought.

It is taking ears and or teeth off the most resent encounter. Typically its goblins or it can be wolf pelts. Pretty much this lasts for a game or 2, then the novelity wears off. It is pretty much a give away its the player's first D&D game, so I don't give them that hard of a time about it. Also, it doesn't appear to be age related. While one would think it would be just teen-agers, I've seen players in their 20-30's do it too. I can't knock them for it because I saw Universal Solider 2 growing up and did the same thing when I first started gaming.

 

[giant.robot]

One of my biggest character pet peeves is the "slutty rogue" often played by the nerdiest guy in the room. The assumption being that the character can saunter up to any NPC and seduce or charm needed information/action out of them at all times (with no rolls involved). They expect their character to go all Charlie's Angels or Mission Impossible and flirt their way past guards. When it comes to interacting with other PCs they want to make the story/discussion center entirely around them. I think it's just an expression of a player wanting to short circuit the game rules with "role playing" where the "role playing" is annoying and contrived.

 

[TarionzCousin]

Spotlight Stealers: players who want more than their share of attention and work to get it. When it's their turn to shine, they are fine. When someone else is doing something, they are constantly commenting, suggesting, and even roleplaying--even if their character isn't there.

 

[Shades of Green]

Lampoons. Players who can't take things seriously, try to make a joke out of everything, usually justified as "role-playing" a Chaotic character. At first it's usually entertaining, but soon it becomes annoying, especially if most players want a serious campaign.

Don't get me wrong - I love occasional jokes and good humor, but lampooning at the expense of every one else's enjoyment is annoying.

 

[Zinovia]

Drow. It is possible to play one that isn't a Drizz't clone, or a dominatrix bikini babe, or an aloof sadistic biatch, but so often people don't look beyond the stereotypes. Then if you do have someone playing a female drow of the non-evil variety, other players are likely to tell her how she should be disdainful to men, and order them around, because that's what female drow do. Nevermind that if she enjoyed that kind of thing, she'd still be hanging with her sister priestesses in the Underdark, and not out trying to right wrongs as an adventurer.

Kender. Ugh. After reading Dragonlance my son told me that if he had kender in a campaign he was running, the other races would have rounded them all up and forced them to live in a walled kender reservation. With walls heavily guarded and magically warded to prevent escape, the kender could have fun stealing from themselves, and would only be allowed to leave under close supervision. There would be signs on shops and inns that read "No Kender Allowed". Forget modern anti-discrimination sensibilities. If there were truly an entire race of compulsive kleptomaniacs, no one would want them around.

The Lone Stranger, aka Mr. Dark and Mysterious, aka the "I'm antisocial and uncommunicative and expect these strangers to welcome me into their party even though their characters don't know me from Adam". We had one of these try to join mid-game in a Temple of Elemental Evil run. He would not talk to us because of some vow of silence. He didn't yet have telepathy, although he was working on it IIRC, and didnt so much as write a note when we demanded that he tell us who he was. So we fought and drove him off. Worst introduction of a new PC to the group ever.

Orphaned characters who are the lost heir to the throne, the Chosen One, the Dragon Reborn, or the destined wielder of the Ubersword Reforged. It is a great fantasy trope in a novel. In RPG play it tends to wind up either being dropped as a plot hook so you can focus on the rest of the adventure plot, or else makes that character the center of the story, with the rest of the party relegated to support staff. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.

 

[invokethehojo]

My most reviled character cliche is the "dark, mysterious loner who never talks to anyone". To my mind that's just the role-without-a-role role, and it's L.A.Z.Y.

Go away, mysterious dark boy; peddle your antisocialness elsewhere.

The Dark Loner, ah yes, I know him well. In highschool my group consisted mostly of players from the drama club. While all of them were a bit too dramatic, we had one player that was always the dark loner. So when I started a new campaign and I had everyone meet at a bar it went a little something like this...

Dark Loner, "I sit in the darkest corner"
DM, "the tavern is round and very well lit"
Dark Loner, "then i sit by myself away from everyone esle"
DM, "actually, it's set up like a public house, with lots of large booths where you take a seat wherever you can find it, and tonight it happens to be very busy so there are only middle seats available."
Dark Loner, "then I stand by the bar and order a pint of dwarven spirits"
DM, "the bartender says they are out, so it's either house merlot or a pint of ale"
Dark Loner, "then I get a room and go up there to be alone"
DM, "actually there is one large sleeping room upstairs, the same dimensions as this level, with a bunch of bunks and cots spread around, you just pay for the bed. But the bartender warns against going up there, two drunk halforcs are going at it pretty hard right now..."

I pretty much kept that kind of thing up for the entire session. I would like to tell you that the Dark Loner got the hint, but then a gain I would also like to tell you Lindsay Lohan is a cute, charming young woman, alas, those are but lies.

 

[invokethehojo]

I mean, I agree with you that would be highly annoying them basically bull-in-a-china-shopping through town and acting like outlaws, but you called the game? Why not roll with it? They'll ruin their own fun eventually. It's not very exciting to roleplay wasting away in a dungeon or being hanged (well, maybe if it was all heroic or something).

Did you at least tell them why you lost the mojo to run? As a player I'd be a little irked that you let us do what we want, then decided we didn't do it right.

I agree with the DM. If you want to behave like that play any RPG video game ever made. If all the DM has to look forward to is the players being contrary, cocky and generally ruining his story it doesn't sound like fun to me. DMing takes a lot of time outside of the game, if players can't respect that then it's your right to find other players to game with.