I hate problem players

[Oofta]

I have to echo the other comments here. If he's not having fun, why is he playing? If he's being an a$$ why can't you kick him out?

It's always tough to put down ultimatums, but sometimes you have to. More than once I've had to tell a player that their behavior was not acceptable and that if they wanted to continue playing they had to change. Be specific, stay on topic and explain why they're being disruptive and how they could change.

I also have a blanket house rule as part of my campaign intro - don't be a jerk, and don't play a character that's a jerk.

 

[DeathMutant]

This is why I play and run organized play games, like Adventurers League (AL): to find compatible players for my "real" (home) games *before* we start.

 

[Sunseeker]

Meat Shield
at least that's what the other players said

Well they must have found that redeeming enough to not simply make their own character to replace him.

Maybe he really felt put out because he didn't really want to be the party meat shield, but the rest of the group left him no options. I don't know the guy, but I've certainly been in situations where you feel responsible to continue to aid the group, but at the same time you completely hate the way in which you're needed. It's why I never roll healers.

 

[Giant2005]

Maybe I am just a coward, but I think it is much easier to simply leave the game yourself than to try to have the problem player kicked.

 

[BoldItalic]

He is role-playing, but his character is a disruptive "Australian". Let his OOC behaviour stand for his IC behaviour and let the fictional world react to it in whatever way seems fun.

For example, everywhere he goes, there are NPC scholars taking notes and exchanging comments on his crazy behaviour. The college of sages might take an extremely close interest in studying him and will pay a high price for his skull, to put in a museum. Self-employed assassins pop up occasionally, attracted by the skull bounty. The other players can join in too. The cleric tries to "cure" him of his "madness". The rogue takes bets with the dwarf on what crazy thing he will do next. And so on.

Basically, the more he tries to wreck the game, the funnier it gets.

 

[Halivar]

Eh, for all we know, the player could be actively enjoying the game as he has reshaped it. As a DM, you must not yield it. NPC's react to his unserious antics in a serious manner. He is barred from places, or kicked out. He is arrested for outbursts in the royal court.

In games I have played in with such PC's, notes from other players are quietly and surreptitiously passed to the DM. That night, a player is asked to make a stealth roll, an auto-crit is calculated silently, and the problem player is informed his character does not wake up. No, the character does not know what happened. Here's a new character sheet.

 

[iserith]

I run a fair amount of pickup groups in one-shot games or short campaigns via Roll20. Not as much as I did between 2012 and 2014 when I ran scores of them, but still a fair amount. I don't have these problems and I don't even know most of the people signing up to play. The question is Why?

I figure it's Session Zero - a page-setting discussion for discussing expectations for the game. While I don't do a formal Session Zero for one-shots, I do make it clear what my expectations are for the game and encourage players to state their own. I then make an effort to collaboratively tie every character to the other characters and to the adventure scenario itself. Come playtime, everyone is bought into how I plan to run the game and have sufficient context for their characters to get along and trust one another and to have a vested interest in the adventure being presented. I then frame them into a challenging action scene and it's full steam ahead until we're done with no issues at all.

So unless there's something about what I'm doing during play that is vastly different than other DMs, I'd recommend doing a Session Zero at the start of your next campaign. If players don't buy into what you're hoping to accomplish (and how you hope to accomplish it) and there is no compromise solution to be had, then it's probably best not to game with those players.

Good luck!

 

[Saeviomagy]

You've run off a grievous list of places where he was a 'bad' player, but you only have two concrete examples, and both of those are trivial to the point where it sounds like you just don't like how he plays.

Most of my party fail to remember NPC names (heck, I'm the DM, and I need to refer to notes to remember them), and they all speak with Australian accents. I guess by your measure every player I have is a 'problem player'.

 

[Tyranthraxus]

Hey.. all this badmouthing Australia is downright racist.

Esp since I was not involved already!

Is your 5e game set in Australia? How could he have an Australian accent for a character if there is no Australia in the setting? Having Australia in your setting however would be cool.. Drop Bears, Killer Jellyfish, Kangaroos, Wild Camels, Snakes, Scorpions, Dire Bunyips, Dire Tasmanian Devils

ooh possibilities.

Anyway, if the guy is dead weight cut him off and let him sink. Just make a decision either way.

 

[Unwise]

I had a similar instance, when we got together to talk about what to do next, I just said that I do not enjoy GMing for player X (while he was there) and won't do it again. So if anybody else wants to GM it is their turn. Of course I said this knowing that nobody else wanted to GM, but I would have been happy if they did. So we just stopped playing for a bit, then reformed the group without him later.