I need help with out of control Quentin Tarantino-esque gangster characters!

[Tinner]

Are you letting his sick methods actally work for him?
If so, there's certainly no incentive to quit.

Try having him encounter someone who just isn't impressed with his shtick. Like in the movie Suicide Kings whn the young punks foolishly kidnap and torture Christopher Walkin.
He's not impressed with their torture, he's too valuable for them to kill, and they know he's coming after them for revenge.

Or, just shut off his sick power fantasy.
The minute he starts to torture someone, you just respond with "He has a heart attack and dies."
No graphic violence. End of scene. He's left disappointed he didn't get to torture anyone.
If he asks why he's not getting to torture anyone, you can then explain that it's creepy for you and the other players, and you aren't going to let it happen anymore.

It sounds like this guy is really getting a rush/catharsis out of this style of play.
If you remove that "release" odds are his behavior will change.

 

[moritheil]

If you don't want to address the issue directly ("Dude, you're creeping us out."), then make him DM. No more sadistic character, his NPCs and monsters provide the vent to this guy's disturbed mind, and player characters get to beat up on all the creepy bad guys. Everyone wins!

-z

I think that would just result in his capturing the PCs and describing horrible things he wants to do to them.

Definitely tell this guy to knock it off. Who does he think he's impressing? If he wants to play a thug, tell him he can roll up an evil fighter/rogue. This kind of childish play-acting is beyond metagaming.

 

[moritheil]

Or, just shut off his sick power fantasy.
The minute he starts to torture someone, you just respond with "He has a heart attack and dies."
No graphic violence. End of scene. He's left disappointed he didn't get to torture anyone.
If he asks why he's not getting to torture anyone, you can then explain that it's creepy for you and the other players, and you aren't going to let it happen anymore.

It sounds like this guy is really getting a rush/catharsis out of this style of play.
If you remove that "release" odds are his behavior will change.

I will vouch for this. I ran an In Nomine game with a guy playing a demon who wasn't content to let all the really disturbing stuff stay off-screen. After enough angels showed up to ruin his day (not usually arbitrary fabrication on my part), he just quit the campaign and went to play elsewhere, since it didn't suit his needs.

 

[BSF]

Tell him that his descriptions are not welcome at the table. There is a chance he actually likes the thrill of creeping everyone else out. If he doesn't stop, drop him from the game. It isn't the game you are running and the other players are happy with a good-aligned game.

If you want to pull the alignment change card, then you also might want to state up front what baseline you are using for alignment. Personally I use the alignment standard from the Book of Hallowed Might from Malhavoc. My players know that is the standard I am holding their actions up to. They also know that actions dictate alignment, not what is written on the paper. Periodically I will ask for a group consensus on what the real alignment of the character is based on what is being played. Basically I am looking to see if everyone else agrees with my observations.

Run your game as actions/consequences based if you can stomach it. The PC is torturing people? What do the other PCs think of this? Why don't they take action against the character? What about local authorities? When do they start questioning people to try to identify the sadist assaulting people? When is there a reward posted that brings in bounty hunters and makes the PCs think real hard about turning in the miscreant themselves? Be sure everything happens logically and that consequences are the result of actions. The player might consider it to be antagonistic toward him, but you just need to show how actions have consequences. You aren't out to 'get him', but good-aligned people who have responsibilities to uphold are out to get the character involved in these heinous acts.

 

[DarrenGMiller]

I would definitely deal with it out of game. Have a discussion and tell him what you don't like about his gaming. Inform him that he is taking the fun out of the game for the majority and the enjoyment of the majority will not be sacrificed for one person, no matter who they are. Nothing personal. Tell him what his in-game parameters are going to be. Try to be a specific as possible. Tell him that if he does not back off, you will be forced to remove him from the game. If he does well with his new constraints, be sure to let him know that you appreciate his cooperation. If he refuses to cooperate, ask him to leave.

I have had my share of player problems. This is the most effective way I have found. Since I started this policy, I have not had any problems. Any who I did have problems with left voluntarily because my group stood with me on the type of game I wanted to run. I showed the majority that I valued their participation and they showed me that they appreciated my support in preserving OUR game. The questionable players went elsewhere voluntarily. Problem solved.

DM

 

[kigmatzomat]

I'd take it out of game as well and back it up by saying that the setting isn't BaSIN City so if he doesn't reign it in, the game world will eventually catch up to him. Remind him that pretty much everybody in a Tarantino movie dies or is likely to die for good reason. It's only a short matter of time until someone puts his character out of your misery of he stays on this path.

If he's fine with the character taking a dirt nap just be sure he knows he won't be making Harv-v2.0 as his next character. If he's still fine with Harv biting the bullet, plan it out a little bit, possibly with other players, and let him die a proper psycho's death.

 

[Agback]

What you need is something that is simultaneously more brutally effective and cooler than a Quentin Tarantino gangster. This being the case, I have one name to whisper to you: "Clint Eastwood".

Let the problem PC suffer a run-in with Bill Munny (Eastwood's character from Unforgiven), the Preacher (Eastwood's character from Pale Rider), Gunnery Sergeant Tom Highway (Eastwood's character from Heartbreak Ridge), Lieutenant Speer (Eastwood's character from City Heat), Joe (Eastwood's charaacter from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly), or Dirty Harry Callahan--any one of them adapted to your campaign. This character will whip his arse and leave him feeling distinctly less than hip.

 

[Cartigan Mrryl]

Attach yourself to the rope with the carabiner and have the rest of the group hoist you up to your room-mate's window ... or, if it's a 1st floor room, just walk up to it. Open the window and carefully, quietly climb inside. Then, before your room-mate awakens, engage the strobelights and hit PLAY on the stereo. Jump onto his bed and scream as loudly as you can with the music, then fall to your knees, pinning his arms to the bed. Get in his face and scream:

"I AM THE RPG FAIRY!! Your play style is bogarting the fun for everyone else in the group. You will immediately cease and desist playing sick, depraved, psychotic killers. You will STOP watching Sin City. You will play characters whose personalities and actions aid and add to the fun of every other member of the play group. If you do not, I, the RPG FAIRY will return and totally kill you like Marv did to that Spiderman/Charlie Brown lookin' dude in Sin City. It will NOT be cool."

Then, real quick, grab your strobes and the stereo and JUMP OUT THE WINDOW. Everybody on the other end of the rope should then hoist you up out of sight so it looks like you're flying.

This should be sufficient to solve your issue.

--fje

Dude... that was AMAZING! How long did it take you to think that up?

Edited: Ahem... I forgot to leave my advice... Anyways, I advise you to either have a talk with him in real life, or talk to some of the other players, tell them that if they don't like him torturing people then they COULD do something in-game, how many movies, Graphic Novels, and comics do you see where someone tries to do something smei-evil and one of the other people (on that guys team) says, "No," and they get into an arguement/fight? If they DID get into a fight, could the rest of the group take him? If not, then I suggest that one guy's idea, for every malicious act he performs, make him a LITTLE stronger, then, talk one (or more) characters on his team into physically trying to stop him, mid-game. If he picks a fight, let the fight go out, Sadist and any guys who agree with him vs. The Good Guys, if the Sadist wins, a demon bursts from his chest (make it weaker than a strong monster, something a few CR weaker than what the group SHOULD be able to take a DM him crappily, have the rest of the group take It out. Voila, Sadist is dead (and hopefully he got the message that that kind of action isn't appreciated) and he'll hopefully either change, or one-down his torture methods.

Oh, I'd also throw in victims who make stuff up just to stop the torture, and I mean ALOT more than one. Think about it: someone is peeling off your flesh with a potato peeler, what'er you gonna do? If you actually DON'T know anything, you'll make it up either before or IMMEDIATELY after he starts, right?

Those're my ideas about how to get the character to act....

ADIOS!