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

[Henry]

Interestingly enough, there was a "Taking20" Youtube vlog just yesterday about this very topic, with the most egregious complaints from this thread making the same top 5 list from the video:

https://youtu.be/C4yXwO0_J7k

 

[Unwise]

On the top of my list of worst behaviours I would put either rules lawyering, or wanting to play a character that can do anything... "jackofalltradeism"?

As a very experienced player in a less experienced group I tend to make jack-of-all-trades precisely so that I don't take the lead in many situations. I play skill monkeys who are the second best at everything. I follow the Rogue sneaking, make the Insight checks to help the Warlock in diplomacy, fill in the gap in the shield wall and aid in researching about the ancient ruins. It is very fun to play as I am involved in everything, but go out out of the way to not take the lead in each field. I feel that the versatile builds are often people not wanting to step on anybody's toes in a already established party.

I would say that the builds I hate are ones where the PC is more "wake me when it is time to fight, I suck at everything else", or parties that all back off social interactions because they have a bard, or looking for clues because they have a mage trained in investigate. Either the player is bored as they disengage, or the player is frustrated since their PC sucks at too many things.

I'm yet to experience a versatile skill-monkey being a scene hog, but I can certainly see how that could be frustrating.

 

[Li Shenron]

I would say that the builds I hate are ones where the PC is more "wake me when it is time to fight, I suck at everything else"

That happens when the player sucks, not the character.

I've seen players incapable of doing anything but roll. They may stay idle until then, but the build doesn't matter. The vast majority of players are not like that, they contribute all the time with their ideas, leaving the resolution of tasks to the specialized PC does not threaten the fun. The Fighter's player suggesting where a trap might be or the Barbarian's player giving an idea on how to convince the king are normal situations, even if the responsibility to roll is then passed to another PC.

But if the whole game is reduced to roll-playing than yes, we have a problem. If the whole social interaction scene is handled by checks, only the Bard plays. I've otherwise never seen a game where everyone is forced to wait and watch because it's someone else's spotlight. And I DO often say NO to secondary characters rolling the dice in place of the specialist, but playing is a lot more than rolling.