D&D 5E (2014) GMs of EN World: What player behavior annoys you the most?

[Harzel]

I'll take this one step further. I had this kind of player at my table who would then go on to find ways to betray or sell out the party. Right down to wanting to make deals with the villains sometimes.

I've never had a player who was out to completely screw the party over, but I did have one who liked to scheme to tweak situations to violate the other players' expectations in surprising (but not lethal) ways, but without leaving any obvious clue that it was his doing. I found this quite entertaining as the DM, but there are some players who, if the true source of the shenanigans is discovered, feel really betrayed and miserable. So I think you have to be careful about allowing this.

 

[Raith5]

I dont mind some use of mobile phones at the table, but really militant use of alignment to annoy other characters really gets me - be it lawful stupid paladins, CN rogues, etc. I mean I want to get away from reality when I play, I dont want start a bad Philosophy 101 class each time I play.

 

[Greenstone.Walker]

My biggest peeve:

In combat, in Initiative time

GM: Conan, your turn, what are you doing?
Conan's player: Ummm, I don't know.



Followed by:

Player, I cast XYZ spell.
GM: Cool, the foe is 55 feet away, what's the spell's range?
Player: I don't know.
GM: Is that an Action or Bonus Action?
Player: I don't know.
GM: You're in a silenced area at the moment. Does that spell have V components?
Player: I don't know.



ARRGGHH!

 

[DM Howard]

Mine is undoubtedly when players can't find a reason for their characters to trust and get along with other characters and/or can't imagine why the character would want to pursue the adventure hook or participate in particular scenes.

It's an offshoot of the "It's what my character would do..." issue. Well, sweetheart, maybe you should start making characters that do get along and trust fellow PCs and do participate.

I combat this issue by helping the players establish ties between their characters and the adventure scenario so as to create the necessary context for said players to participate in good faith.

No joke! I swear, if I have to play with one more "neutral" Rogue or a lawful-stupid Paladin (who really just can't roleplay a character with any dimension) it will be too soon! That's why session zero is so important, set expectations, "Hey guys I'm going to be running an evil campaign where you are mercenaries in service to the church of bane, so no Neutral Druids, no self-serving Thieves, and no chaotic evil Barbarians!" or something as simple as "Hey guys, I'll be running a nautical campaign that spans the Sword Coast."

 

[DRF]

I'm a fairly new DM, and there are a few things which annoy me a little.

I convinced my group of friends to play. Six players and myself; they're all smart people. All of us at least have Master's degrees and one might start a PhD soon. Despite that, however, I'm literally the only one who has bothered to read the free PDF rulebook. There's also a frustrating sense of "the DM should know", especially from one player.

That same player has a tremendously difficult time understanding that 5e is not the same as Pathfinder. He keeps trying to teach the new players the rules, but he doesn't know the damn rules because he hasn't read them!

So annoying. They are also sort of defeatist when it comes to their character sheets. Yes, when you first look at one and you haven't played D&D before, then they can seem overwhelming. But at least try to understand them instead of waiting for me to explain everything. I mean, it isn't that complicated.

I've run two one-shorts which honestly went well, but I can't really stand any sexual stuff in D&D. I don't want to roleplay some barmaid a player wants to seduce. It's weird and does nothing for the narrative.

 

[Lanefan]

They are also sort of defeatist when it comes to their character sheets. Yes, when you first look at one and you haven't played D&D before, then they can seem overwhelming. But at least try to understand them instead of waiting for me to explain everything. I mean, it isn't that complicated.

One idea here might be to have them take the time during your roll-up session to write out their own character sheets instead of using a pre-done form. That way each person's sheet will end up in a format they'll be comfortable with. And yes, it'll take some extra time...so probably too much effort for a one-shot game but worth it for a longer campaign.

I've run two one-shorts which honestly went well, but I can't really stand any sexual stuff in D&D. I don't want to roleplay some barmaid a player wants to seduce. It's weird and does nothing for the narrative.

Does nothing for your narrative maybe; but who knows what it might do for any narrative that particular player has in mind. For example maybe after seducing her he hires her as a hench and brings her along adventuring...I've seen this happen before. And if nothing else, the party now has a contact in that town should they ever go back there...or maybe she has a jealous boyfriend who's just done his third tour of duty with the Famous Five adventuring company and is now a 10th level Fighter......

Lanefan

 

[Yama Dai O]

GM: Conan, your turn, what are you doing?
Conan's player: Ummm, I don't know.

The proper response is,
GM: Okay then. Next player!

The first GM I ever played with did this consistently, also in response to "what's going on", "what's my modifier/damage die again" or basic rules questions (except if the player was new to the game). So players learned to pay attention.

 

[dropbear8mybaby]

Every single thing my players do and say.

 

[Dausuul]

Players who create PCs they don't know how to play, and don't learn - especially when they don't even try to learn the limits of their abilities, and I have to be the nagging DM reminding them "You can't do that."

Example: The party cleric, having just gotten access to hallow, announced he was going to cast it every night on the party's campsite before they rested. So now I have to be the one to remember that hallow has a 1K material component and a 24-hour casting time, even though the cleric's player was the one who just had the book open with the spell in front of him.

Or when I ask people for the save DCs of spells or abilities that they use every goddamn session, and every goddamn time I have to remind them how to calculate it.

It's possible I'm a bit frustrated here...

 

[Gwaihir]

Mine are:

1) Cell Phones
2) Twisting Rules to try to create advantage for their character
3) Characters who play "Chaotic Selfish"
4) Chatting during room descriptions or DM verballizing

G