Help!!! Player Problems

[+5 Keyboard!]

I need to ask: Why is it that you are not allowing these things? Is it because the stuff is broken? Or is it simply because you don't have the sources?

If you don't have the sources, simply tell your players straight up, "These are the books we are using in this campaign. If you want to use a source outside of these books you need to OK it with me first because it may not be compatible with the game I run. If it is compatible with my campaign then be prepared to buy one copy of the book for yourself and one copy for me because I am not going out to buy it just so you can use the stuff in it. Or be prepared to scan it and send it to me as a .pdf."

I went with this rule and you'd be surprised how much players are willing to spend or scan stuff for you in order to use some source that has like one or two things in it they want to use.

As a general rule, I only allow my players to build their characters using the 3 core books (two, actually, since I don't use monster classes or feats out of the Monster Manual), but I allow them to use stuff from the other WotC books I use over the course of the campaign.

 

[darkseraphim]

If they won't provide sources and backup, take their character sheets. Hand out the sheets for play. Take them back at the end of the session. After the session, review them for any entries that don't make sense and ask about them. They'll shape up pretty quick.

 

[Oryan77]

I had a player once who constantly "reminded" me about all different types of special materials, rituals, magic items, exotic equipment, & anything else that could be treasure for his PC. As a DM, I can't stand it when a player tries to influence me on what I should give PC's.

Your situation is sort of similar (player wanting you to give him something you know nothing about). I stopped the player from doing this by telling him that if he finds cool things like materials or equipment in a book, he can tell me about things in general so I might read up on it later and possibly use it in the game. But any specific items he tells me about, I warned him that I will never throw that item in the campaign. I told him that I don't want players thinking that they can dictate what magic items their PC's will get by trying to influence my decision on what I include as treasure.

I never had to deal with him telling me about items that I didn't know anything about, "This Baatorian Green Steel sword would be awesome for my PC!". And instead, if he told me, "This new book has some pretty cool materials that weapons can be made out of", I would read up on it if I got a chance and make notes of any materials I might like to include as treasure.

So my point is, all you have to do is be nice but say, "Sorry man, I asked you to let me know about the material before selecting it as starting equipment. I can't let you have this since I didn't get a chance to think it over first. If you can't let me know about this stuff beforehand, not only will you not get to have it now, but I will also never include it as treasure in the campaign later on."

 

[bento]

And don't forget to tell the problem player that along with his request for non-core stuff, he must provide you with your own copy of the book.

This is so you can refer to the source when questions arise.

I'm sure that after spending twice on books he might reconsider his requests.

 

[Keeper of Secrets]

It seems very disrespectful to me to have given a ruling and them pretty much ignore your request. Jeez. Did they not hear you?

 

[Peni Griffin]

Is it everybody, or is it one person?

If everybody, resign as DM. Seriously. Tell them that you obviously aren't the DM they want since they keep trying to do things their way instead of your way, and promise to abide by the rules set by whichever one of them steps up to bat. Either you get to play, or they back off. Win-win. Save the DM work you've done for a later time when you can put together a more compatible group.

You should also consider whether, if everyone is doing this, some fault accrues to you. Have you been as clear as you thought you were? Did anything you say have the potential to cause confusion? Do you have e-mails sitting unanswered in your inbox that asked questions about the campaign? Have you been capricious at all? If so, don't be afraid to clear the air. Ask each person what he understood the rules to have been. If everyone has a different idea, or they all got hold of the wrong end of one particular stick, there's a communication problem and the onus of fixing that is on you.

If only one person is the problem - you'll have to gauge his personality. Some people just have to challenge authority and it won't matter what rule you set, they'll challenge it. Settling the dominance hierarchy is literally more important to them than anybody's good time, including their own. You can slap such a person down, hard, in a dominance battle, or you can convince him that following the rules is his own idea. Anything else, you lose him, and that's not a bad thing even if you like the guy. You don't have to be able to play with somebody to be friends with them.

Other people just need a little more attention, or have to fiddle with rules in order to have fun, or have some other playstyle or personality quirk that's manifesting in this way. In that case - it's time to develop some people skills. Figure out what's causing the behavior and you'll find a way to change the situation to elicit better behavior. Sometimes the solution is counterintuitive. Some people will push and push and push until you suddenly throw a tantrum (you would be ASTONISHED how many people won't believe that I'm serious about my requirements until I throw a hissy fit - I'm talking building contractors, shop personnel, fellow workers, all kinds of folks!), when they suddenly realize they're bugging you and turn sweet as pie. I hate that throwing a tantrum is at the right time and of the requisit intensity is a life skill for me, but it's that or not get stuff done.

 

[Raven Crowking]

Is it everybody, or is it one person?

If everybody, resign as DM. Seriously. Tell them that you obviously aren't the DM they want since they keep trying to do things their way instead of your way, and promise to abide by the rules set by whichever one of them steps up to bat.

I like this. I like this very, very much.

 

[Bloosquig]

But... but I wanted to make a half bulette half dragon half celestial (with the "yes I can have three halves" feat from 100 bull@#$! feats book) who cross classes as a ninja future cyborg for your core d&d game.

You pretty much have to put your foot down or at least follow the suggestion to get a copy of the book for yourself every time they want you to look it over. Free stuff is fun.

 

[Storm Raven]

I need help dealing with players who always want to include exotic material from sources that I do not necessarily have access to. I have told them anything not in the core rules needs to be approved by me in advance. Then they show up with on their charactersheet that I have never seen. Expecting that I will just say OK so we can play. Any ideas or suggestions welcome.

When I am DMing, my rules are simple - if I don't own a copy of the source from which something is drawn, it won't be used in my campaign. If I do own it, I will decide, after reviewing the material, if it is suitable for inclusion. Any options (feats, classes, races, magic items, etc.) that show up on a character sheet that don't meet these guidelines are treated as nullities until they do. If I end up outright rejecting an option, the player might be allowed to pick a suitable replacement.

 

[Gorin Stonecleaver]

This game was set in Lhankmar(sp) a low magic game. Most of the abuse came from the arms and equipment guide. the chain pieces of armor added to light armor each granting a +1 to ac effectively giving leather an ac 8 and remaining light armor. (Broken IMO) plus I don't have the arms and equip guide so I have to assume hes actually using them as stated in the book.

On the other side I dont have the time to dedicate to each encounter allowing the NPC's bad guys the access to the same stuff. So it was difficult to make the game fun ofr all concerned I either run EL +3 to APL and kill 3 players(the ones who do as I ask) to make it challenging for their cheese or I have an encounter that doesnt excite anyone because it only lasts one round.

I think I must stick to my guns and not allow the stuff suddenly appearing on a character sheet.

I do give them time to get stuff approved, week before campaign begins and we only meet weekly so even between seeions I have email and Phone # avail to players.

I think I get walked on because I let them walk on me as a previous poster pointed out.

Time to don my EVIL DM mask.

Thanks for the input.

I need to ask: Why is it that you are not allowing these things? Is it because the stuff is broken? Or is it simply because you don't have the sources?

If you don't have the sources, simply tell your players straight up, "These are the books we are using in this campaign. If you want to use a source outside of these books you need to OK it with me first because it may not be compatible with the game I run. If it is compatible with my campaign then be prepared to buy one copy of the book for yourself and one copy for me because I am not going out to buy it just so you can use the stuff in it. Or be prepared to scan it and send it to me as a .pdf."

I went with this rule and you'd be surprised how much players are willing to spend or scan stuff for you in order to use some source that has like one or two things in it they want to use.

As a general rule, I only allow my players to build their characters using the 3 core books (two, actually, since I don't use monster classes or feats out of the Monster Manual), but I allow them to use stuff from the other WotC books I use over the course of the campaign.