Here comes "Chaotic Wacky" ......again.

[dpkress2]

What do you guys do about players who INSIST on playing wacky, insane, chaotic, uncooperative, Leeroy Jenkins characters, EVERY....SINGLE....FREAKIN...TIME?!?!

I've killed this player more times in my career as a DM than all of the other players combined. But yet again...here comes another wacky unpredictable character.

Don't get me wrong. I don't actually mind. He's a pretty funny guy. Except that he frequently puts himself in situations where death is literally the only option. Sometimes I feel a little bad because when he inevitable dies I feel like I am punishing him for playing the character he wants to play. (Over and over and over)

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Eltab]

What do you guys do about players who INSIST on playing wacky, insane, chaotic, uncooperative, Leeroy Jenkins characters, EVERY....SINGLE....FREAKIN...TIME?!?!

Do his antics bother the rest of the group? They might be very annoyed (me) -or- they might see him as the comic relief!
If they are fine with it and him, you can go ahead and slay his characters without inflicting guilt on yourself. (Ask him to name his characters 'Kenny South Park'.)
However if he is bothering the other players, you may have to begin the "go talk to him" process … and be willing to accept that maybe the end of this one could be "We aren't inviting Fred any more."

 

[Nagol]

If you and the group don't mind, keep running like you have been. If he voices concern about being hoist on his own petard frequently, talk about campaign tone and suggest playing well with others might lead to a more productive life.

If you, the group, or the individual player do mind then suggest a different game might suit him better and wish him well.

 

[iserith]

Feast your eyes upon what I get to deal with every single Planescape session. A murderous dwarf clown bard who thinks the gods are frauds and doesn't like being judged.



Art by my player, Grae Hunter.

 

[delericho]

If the player is having fun, and you're having fun, and the rest of the group is having fun... there's no problem. Carry on as you are.

If any one of those groups is not having fun, you need to have a talk with the player in question about him moderating his behaviour. And if he doesn't then eventually you'll have to bite the bullet and uninvite him.

 

[CTurbo]

I had a player like that and it was disruptive. From his evil pacifist War Cleric with an 8 Dex but frequently used a Longbow, to his weird Monk character that liked to do his own thing most of the time instead of participating with the group, to his "redneck" Lizardfolk Ranger that was an inconsistent mess and certainly nothing Ranger-like.

Yeah he had to go.

 

[The Grassy Gnoll]

I played for a while in a group where one player had a Drow Ranger dual wielder who, according to his back story, was both secretly the true heir to all of the Elves AND related (illegitimately) to some guy with a funny name and a bunch of apostrophes. Can’t recall it now for the life of me.

 

[Oofta]

Like others, it all depends on if everyone is having fun. You may even want to do an anonymous poll or ask people offline what they think because this kind of character can be quite destructive.

I had a player who liked to play chaotic stupid/insane as well. I just kept killing off the character when they did something stupid. After playing the same character for less than an hour and having it die yet again he got the hint and created a different PC.

I always let everyone know during a session 0 that the world is a dangerous place and that while I try to avoid killing off characters left and right (campaign lethality is largely set as a group decision) PCs do not have plot armor.

 

[Dispater]

Id like to say something controversial: Challenge him. Ask him directly or put him in a situation where he had to act as the responsible leader. Run a one-off where he had to play a lawful good palladin. Or play a ‘chosen one’ where his death would mean the end of the campaign. If he’s ok with that, I think he would gain something from the experience too, and it might open him to play more varieties of characters. The easy route is of course to say ‘whatever, just have fun’, but if fun gets repetitive, its time to explore.