Do you keep players in your group who don't contribute?

[Li Shenron]

I have before. I try to get them more involved in the game but as long as no one minds that they just sit there and they seem to be having fun it doesn't bother me.

Same for us.

It happened only twice in many years. First with a player that at level 12th was still doing the same dagger or crossbow attack, never beyond 8 points of damage He had to be always reminded that as a rogue he could sneak attack, and he could do 2 attacks per round... nothing, after a while we gave up and he kept just going on with a single dagger or crossbow attack. Never used a skill or a special ability either. We never kicked him out anyway, and he played for a few months until the campaign ended. We thought that if he kept coming, probably he liked playing that way anyway...

Second player was worse, but thankfully he left by his own decision after a month. I think actually the majority of his turns, he simply "passed". I think this guys had issues.

 

[Darklone]

We had such a guy who played that way... except that he could roll a natural 20 on command (once he managed 5 in a row, then he missed the 20 barely and the next roll was again a 20).

He was happy to sit in the group, enjoy the game, grin and roll a 20 if someone needed his character.

 

[werk]

Give him time to get to know everyone and learn the group dynamics. He may change drastically. I know I'm shy in a new group.

That's what I do as a new player, I pretty much observe for a few sessions before I do much. That way if I don't like the group and bow out, they say "oh well, he didn't do anything anyway"

If he's still not engaged after a few sessions, start hitting him with plot hooks and see if he takes a nibble. That should tell you if it's workable or not.

 

[Raptor]

While its your group and you know what you want, I would never so readily write off a new player to either the game or the group before he/she gets comfortable and finds his niche. Players may be a dime a dozen but ones that are interested in the game and add something unique to the game are rare. You might be giving up on one of those rare individuals because he is a little shy, maybe a little overwhelmed at first.

 

[ghul]

I have a six-player group. About three of them are very vocal. Two of them are moderately vocal. The last guy hardly speaks all night. And yet, he keeps track of everything. He always knows what date Coldeven it is and how many days or hours have passed since such-and-such event occurred, what the name of the tavern keeper was from 5 sessions ago -- stuff like that. So although he is not a fraction as vocal as the others, and seems to be just sitting there brooding 99% of the time, he's there every week and he contributes in his own way. Besides, how many vocal players does a DM need?

 

[Chimera]

Been all over the board with this one.

On my own end, I tend to be very quiet and reserved for the first three sessions in a new group. In that time I'm trying to learn the group dynamics and how they play the game. I don't want to step on toes or come off as a jerk.

So I have no problems with new players acting the same way. By all means, take your time to figure out if the group is for you, how you might fit in and how much you can push the envelope once you do feel more comfortable with these people.


On the other hand...

In the past, if the guy was a friend, I'd tolerate quite a lot of non-contribution as long as he seemed to be having fun and wasn't disrupting the game. BUT, that being said, I've learned my lesson. The last game I ran, I had four players and about 1.5 active players. That got to be too much and I vowed not to continue to tolerate empty suits at the table. Especially the people (having one firm example in mind) who don't contribute to the plot, who refuse to participate in NPC interaction and who make minimal contributions to combat.

At that point you're a parasite.

If you only play to hang out with friends and you're not really interested in playing the game, then get the hell away from my gaming table and call me up to go out for a beer sometime. That will be much more fun for the both of us.

 

[Ian Demagi]

Non Contributing Players

Quiet does not mean non contributing. Another poster made a good point about the guy who kept track of everything. I have seen good players that were very non vocal such as a guy who helps set up battle maps, knows the rules without looking stuff up, acts like a game mechanic refreree's assistant. The guys is quiet, but he's very much engaged in the game.

Like someone else said some people are just introverted. I would give him some time to sort somethings out. It also might be that the personalities already in the group are very strong.
It might take a while to sort stuff out.


You also might ask him how did you like the game? Was it hard to get a comment or idea in?
If he was engaged he may tell you. It also might be a chance for him to tell you,this isn't for me rather than just not showing up leaving people wondering. We had a guy try our game group and then another. When we asked him what he thought he told us, he liked the other game better because it was loser run. We wished him well and he went on his way-he would have never been happy and would have evetually gone away. If he had stayed we would have missed out on a guy who has been in for 5 years and one of the groups pillar players because we would have been "full."
Ian

 

[rgard]

He's probably just shy and will open up later. The guy our group recruited was kind of like that. It took a couple of sessions for him to get going.

Of course, it's also possible the guy didn't like y'all, but was too polite to leave.

Brad

He's typing this very second in the thread about removing yourself from a gaming group!