Greedy player doesn't know when to quit

[delericho]

Because of the solo nature of play, we have agreed that the PC (and crew) will simply "follow the left/right wall" and encounter what may...

Okay...

In short, the player essentally has an "I WIN" button in his PC/NPC group of and will flat out refuse to continue the adventure unless he has assurances that ALL treasure has been found.

So, as a DM, what would you do in my situation?

Because the player is clearly not interested in dungeon exploration as such, and just wants to purge the level of all monsters and collect all the loot, I would recommend redrawing the maps for the remaining levels to make them entirely linear in nature - one room, followed by the next, then the next, then the next, and so on. There are no other trails, so once the PC gets to the end, and finds the stairs for the next level, he can be assured that he's found everything.

(Normally, I wouldn't recommend this, as it is basically railroading, but given the first quoted paragraph above, I don't think it actually matters in this case.)

In future, for a true megadungeon, you might take a leaf out of "Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk" and work without a map at all. Handle dungeon exploration as a series of Skill Challenges, with success leading the party to one of your prepared 'easy' challenges and failure leading to one of your prepared 'hard' challenges (where the XP budget for the hard challenge is increased by the same XP value the party would have got had they succeeded on the Skill Challenge. Either way, the loot should be the same).

With this model, you don't even need to have especially defined dungeon levels - as the PCs proceed deeper into the dungeon (and gain levels) they naturally encounter tougher opponents. Just narrate them going down, up or across regions as you see fit.

(I also don't recommend this model for 'normal' dungeon investigations. However, it does seem to fit with megadungeons, and especially a megadungeon such as Moria where the majority of the complex is fairly devoid of life, and so not of too much interest.)

 

[Aran Thule]

Reminds me a little of when i played Temple of Elemental Evil, my group systematically went from room to room clearing out enemies.
Unfortunately for us the DM played the foe smartly, after we had defeated half the dungeon the remaining groups realised that our party were a major threat and started working together.
I dont know how your dungeon works but if you just have the temple level and the boss left would it be safe to assume that they would be better coordinated then previous levels.
It sounds like the player is having an easy run due to being able to rest and prepare between fights, so there are several possible solutions that could make things more interesting and speed things up.
Have the boss send runners to each of the outer locations in the temple level.
They would either report back that an area has been taken, is fine or die in the mission.
From this the boss (or head of the temple) would know they are under thread and the probable location of the party.
Then the runners go out to gather forces, and send these groups out to find the enemy.
Upon contact with the party the runner would run and warn other groups/boss.
You could have waves of attackers which attack without giving the party time for a long rest, or have a huge battle that the party might have to retreat from.
Either way it raises the game and makes the end of the adventure a challenge and also allows you to effectively empty the dungeon so that they can to a loot sweep without encounters.

Just my thoughts but hope they help.

 

[Aberzanzorax]

So, why not explain...

The phat loot versus fat loot is great.

Usually, by levelling and getting the BEST loot at the end, means you can get to the next place.

Explain to him that he's penny pinching...like squeezing a lemon to get every single tiny last drop of juice out of it for lemonade, rather than just moving on to the next lemon. (He's actually putting in a lot more work for a lot less reward).

If he's level 6, have one of his guys (or all) get leadership...heck give it for free if you want some REAL worldbuilding.

Then, have the cohorts and followers go in and reap the "fat loot"...i.e. cart out all the heavy copper...they'll need it to build the temples, castles, portals, etc.

That way, you can:
1. worldbuild
2. characterbuild
3. move along with the campaign
4. he can get all the loot he so desires.

 

[billd91]

I guess I'm just frustrated that we're so close to finishing and he still wants to take the time to collect loot FIRST. I'd be tempted to just write all the loot down, say "you find all this" and just move aside, but I think that takes the thrill of the discovery away. I don't even feel liek ramping up the challenges because I'm dealing with 4 gestalt characters, each around level 15. It's a headache, and every fight takes about an hour to play out. Now put 25-30 fights in a maze, add in that we only play once every couple of weeks (if that), and that just means MONTHS of waiting for this dumb thing to be over.

Bleh.

So edit it. Cut out half or 2/3 of the planned encounters. That should pick up the pace a bit.

 

[Jhaelen]

Because of the solo nature of play, we have agreed that the PC (and crew) will simply "follow the left/right wall" and encounter what may. On numerous occasions the PC has discovered the entrance to "the next level" early, and chosen to go back and ensure that EVERY SINGLE ROOM has been covered lest he miss any loot.

My players learnt early on that this approach is risky. I'm not sure what rpg system/edition you're playing, but e.g. in 3e D&D the DM is advised that 5% of all encounters should effectively unbeatable (EL of EPL+5 or higher).
So while it may seem like (and often is) a good way to ensure you're not caught in an ambush with enemies blocking your escape routes, it can also be an easy way to stumple upon something better left alone.

Those rooms that aren't needed to solve the quest are an excellent way to place such encounters. Make sure to give the pcs a chance to flee if they decided they're outmatched.

From time to time it may even be a good idea to use encounters that are effectively unbeatable in combat that _are_ required to solve a quest. Unless the pcs can think of something clever to overcome it in some other way, they'll be stumped.

If pcs get too cocky it's time to show them that they're not the biggest fish in the pond.

 

[pawsplay]

Wandering monsters.

 

[Filcher]

Turn this annoyance into a boon. You now know what drives this player --- loot. Use this carrot to get what you want out of the game as a DM.

For instance, Loot-Mad PC is doing the maze collecting every last CP. He encounters an NPC treasure-hunting wizard hustling to get to the magical gate at the end of the maze in the next 5 hours, because "If it closes, the demi-plane winks from existence, and I'll never be able to acquire the fabled Tuxedo of Arnd, or any of the five jeweled keys to the Treasure Vault of Set!"

Now Loot Mad can stay and collect his 5,000 cp, or he can be a hero and go after something really cool.

 

[Filcher]

Wait a gosh durn minute ...

I have been running a solo pre-gen megacampaign and I'm roughly 2-3 sessions away from wrapping it up. My solo player is eager to finish as well... but he's even more eager to loot.

So what's from keeping the remaining monsters from all the levels (someone must have noticed the dungeon is getting cleared out) from banding together, setting a trap and destroying this PC?

The party is acting utterly predictable, is in enemy territory, and is taking their time. He's made the mistake of believing a dungeon is static.

You know what to do next: It begins with a T and ends with K.

Edit: My post was stated better by previous posters. But you don't have 30 more combats coming. You have 1 colossal XXXX-storm, coming down the pipe. Break out all your minis and have at him already.

 

[Janx]

looting takes time, looting requires carrying capacity which slows you down in some fashion, taking more time.

if you're not moving stuff around behind the scenes, since time is passing, you're not being realistic.

the enemy should be aware of him by now

The enemy should concentrate their forces to take him out or the enemy should evacuate.

The enemy should not stay in their rooms, waiting for him to come to him.

Move the enemy, you have justification.

And when the player complains that "things are the same as they were", tell him that he took too long to loot, so the enemy became aware of him, and adapted.

Otherwise, what you got is just like the variety of top-down CPRGs like xmen, baldur's gate, marvel ultimate alliance, champions of norath where you have all the time in the world to explore the level and kill everything. The enemy never moves to where you've already explored or alerts everybody else for one last stand.

 

[WalterKovacs]

Another possible way to mess with the player.

The BBEG sees what is going on at the lower levels, and knows he has tie. He gets some of his minions to clear out everything on the temple level and bring it to "his room". Some of the monsters may remain at their "posts" but they might combine some of the encounters into fewer, but "bigger" encounters.

So the PC can then go through the whole "next level" facing a few tough challenges, but not actually coming across any loot (outside of maybe some magic items that were 'used' by the baddies ... or a conveniently left behind cursed item) and finding out at the end that having gone straight ahead would have given him the same loot for less work.