Help with a player constantly changing characters

[SteveC]

At this point conflict would bubble to the surface & again I would come back to the question of "why did the dm not step in earlier?"

You ask a very good and important question, to which I can only say that my experiences in gaming have taught me that the GM only ultimately has the power that the players give him. To get all Heinlein on the subject, he can't enforce his will on the game, the worst thing he can really do is kill a character or end the campaigh. In the case of this particular game, I think that would be a shame!

--Steve

 

[FreeTheSlaves]

You ask a very good and important question, to which I can only say that my experiences in gaming have taught me that the GM only ultimately has the power that the players give him.

It doesn't look like he has been given enough power to actually run the game if people are going to leave. I wouldn't want to run a game if I can't ensure the comfort & enjoyment of all. I've been given too little power previously & it leaves you without the ability to make a small ruling that would have saved the campaign if it had been done earlier. By the time that everyone agreed to give me the power it was too little too late (but I profitted by poaching the pick of the litter & running).

A referee does need authority to adjudicate a game, too little is as bad as too much & I think your dm has too little.

 

[FreeTheSlaves]

In my role as "rules consultant" I'm kind of a bridge between the GM and the group, and the GM is also one of my very best friends, so I want to make this situation better for him and everyone concerned.

I think this may not be such a good idea for your dm, your intentions are true but this may be undermining his already weak authority. He relies on you for rulings, a player can chop & choose characters, this looks like he doesn't have much control over the campaign or the metagaming environment.

If this is really the case I'm not qualified to give advice because this is getting beyond my experience. It may be that Goblyns Hoard's advice of group self regulation is the way to go because that appears to be the source of decision making power.

 

[Lela]

I like the idea of having a discussion about this as a whole, but I don't think it will go particularly well that way...we have discussed it before, and it didn't go well. The player in question basicly just said "I'm going to be true to my character come heck or high water" and left it at that.

Yeah, that can be really annoying. Perhaps it wasn't presented to him in a non-threatening way. If he feels ganged up on or attacked (for any reason), he'll put up his defenses. It won't matter if you tell him the meaning of life, he won't hear you and will just say no.

Ask him, since he's making a new character this week (and every other week), to create one that wants to spend time with the group. Then be true to the character, come heck or high water. He could be there for any number of reasons (family obligation, hero worship, life debt, etc). Just as long as he's there.

That's the obligation of the player. Usual argument against this? "Well, it's not like the whole world wants to spend time with the party. If they did, we'd have more group members, right?" And your response is, "The world isn't looking to spend time with us. Right now, only one person is. You. The only question is why."

It's the players' job to get with the party and stay there. It's the DM's job to give them something to do. While sometimes these overlap (like any good friends, they help each other out) that doesn't absolve the other of their responsibility.

 

[Nightfall]

Steve,

If the undead thing doesn't work out for you, I'd suggest consider making him cursed permanently into an animal AND he can't create a new one until the old one is dead. Course said animal is a true immortal so it won't die of anything short of a specific thing.

Just an idear.

 

[SteveC]

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for helping out with this...we're playing tomorrow and I'll let you know what happens!

Oh, and if any of you are ever in Madison, there's always a spot open at my gaming table for ya!

--Steve

 

[kigmatzomat]

Does it look like things are going to get better?