D&D 5E GMs of EN World: What player behavior annoys you the most?

[Caliban]

Eh, I don't mind cell phone use at the table during combat, as long as the player is still able to keep track of what is happening.
Mainly because some people take a long time on their turns, and if you are at a 6 or 7 player table it can be several minutes between turns.

I do it myself, and most people I play with do it. It's just a fact of life.

When I play in a smaller group (3 or 4 players) then I'm much less likely to check my phone, because I don't have as much downtime between turns.

 

[iserith]

• Aversion to Note-taking. This includes just writing down a freaking NPC's name! How hard can it be to write down "Jarskaar - gate soldier (easily bribed)". I swear, if we miss one session, the next session it's like we started an entire new campaign...and game sometimes! Admittedly we play fairly fast n' loose, so it's not a big deal...except when I get to play and someone else DM's. Then I take notes, and two sessions later say "Oh, is Jarskaar on duty tonight? I look around for him", and the DM says "Who?" (but I guess this is a "pet peeve against DM's"...whole other thread...). Still annoying though.

Guarantee you the players will remember him if you name that gate guard Arse-Scar and he's missing his left buttock because it was melted off by an ankheg.

Nobody's going to remember "Jarskaar." He's an extra. A nobody with a forgettable name.

 

[Bradley Hindman]

Nobody's going to remember "Jarskaar." He's an extra. A nobody with a forgettable name.

I have found that "fantasy" names have no resonance with my group of players. Therefore, I almost always use real world names for NPCs. People seem better able to remember, Ned and Lars the gate guards than Nedlum and Jarskaar.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

I find the opposition to taking notes bizarre. How did you ever make it through school if you never took notes?

I wasn't pretending to be a magical elf while I was in school. It takes some amount of focus, and stopping to take notes would pull me out of that (unless taking notes would be an in-character behavior).

Generally speaking, taking notes on everyone I meet seems pretty unrealistic. In real life, when I meet someone new, I never stop to write down their name. If they become memorable, through extended interaction, then I'll probably remember them; if not, then I'll muddle through, and it's rarely a big deal.

 

[Imaculata]

I have found that "fantasy" names have no resonance with my group of players. Therefore, I almost always use real world names for NPCs. People seem better able to remember, Ned and Lars the gate guards than Nedlum and Jarskaar.

That's why I often make the names of characters either alliterations, or make sure they have some lyrical quality to them. If the name just rolls off the tongue, it is much easier to remember. And many characters also get a nick name, so you can always remember one of their names.

I try saying the names to myself a few times, and check whether I can remember them. For example, I had an oriental lady that was the head of a thieves guild, called Ling Goda. And even though it is a foreign name to me, it's pretty simple, and not hard to pronounce. It also just sounds kind of cool.

And that perhaps is most important of all. Names that sound cool, are by their very nature easier to remember. A perfect example of that is an evil wizard (and master of illusions) called Aram Seen the Unseen, who appears in my campaign. It's just really fun to say, and that makes it memorable.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

Note taking should not be a problem at the gaming table.

If one player hates to take notes there is probably one or two in the group that enjoys it and it is all good.

On the other hand if none of your players want to take notes and you are running a campaign that requires taking notes or an excellent memory then the problem lies with the DM running a game that is not in line with the players.

 

[jgsugden]

I can manage most behaviors at the table, but the two things I can't tolerate:

1.) Players that are mean/disrespectful to other players, and
2.) Players that cancel late or are a no-show.

Cell phones? Oddball characters? Not following hooks? These can all be managed with at the table responses reactively. If people are not there or are damaging to other players, there is no responsive measure that fixes that problem - the damage is done.

 

[Wiseblood]

Cell phone use isn't a problem.... for all my players but for one in particular they check out as soon as their turn ends. Wich means, a significant amount of time is rehashing what happened when it wasnt their turn.

Not taking notes is a pet peeve I guess unless you can actually remember something.

Since this is a thread about pet peeves I don't have to justify them...so there.

 

[Lanefan]

2) Players who insist on telling other players how to play their characters. I don't mind a player making a suggestion or giving a warning to another player (e.g. "Maybe wait on the Fireball until the rest of us are out of the blast radius." or "Let's take out their caster first, because those AoE spells are really screwing us over."), but outright telling another player what they should be doing bothers me. In particular, the phrase "no, no, what you should do is _____" really gets my Irish up.

We used to have this problem until we hit on a rather draconian but quite effective solution: if someone else suggested something (particularly if that person's character had no way of knowing the situation) whatever action was suggested immediately became a banned action even if it was obviously the right thing to do. This only works if the player(s) receiving the suggestions buy into the idea, and answer any suggestions with "Now you've suggested that, I'm not allowed to do it - because you suggested it!". It was good for a few arguments at the time, but the problem quite quickly went away.

4) Players who consistently forget their stuff. Yes, I can loan you a pencil, paper, and some dice for the session; none of those are a big deal, but they can get annoying if it's done with any real frequency. But, you need to show up with your character sheet at the very least. I put in a fair amount of effort reading the adventures beforehand, modifying them to fit with my setting, bookmarking pages, etc., and I bring everything I need to run the session. It's not my job to bring your character sheet too. If you want, I'm willing to keep a copy of your character in with my stuff, but it's on you to make that copy and to make sure my copy is up to date with your main character sheet. If you forget to put your new treasure on it, or advance it when you level up, that's too bad. Fix it on your own time.

Character sheets stay with the DM between sessions. Problem solved; as is the corollary problem of not being able to play when someone doesn't show up at all - you have all the sheets, the game can go on.

Lanefan

 

[Istbor]

I was going to try to list my biggest peeve, but (apparently) I have a few of them.

1) Players who aren't going to show up to the session, for whatever reason (whether the reason is good or not), and who don't have the courtesy to notify the group about it until we call them 15-30 minutes after the game was supposed to have started.

Oh man! How did I forget about this one? Yes, a thousand times yes. I will say it bothers me from the player perspective too when the DM doesn't make it clear what is going on. Especially if that person is difficult to get a hold of on any given day.

When I DM I make it clear to my group (usually the same one, so they already know this well) that from me, no news is good news. If I don't say anything to you about our next session, it is safe to say I am ready to go. I understand some want that communication and reassurance and will check in if needed. Living in that 'unknown' bubble can be really frustrating though.