Meta-gaming Player

[Conaill]

As a DM, you are also in a great position to encourage more roleplaying from him. Put him in situations where you try to draw social interaction out of him. When he does something well, make sure to reward him verbally - a simple "cool!", "man that was funny" or "great roleplaying!" can do wonders.

Positive reinforcement (and good rolemodels from your other players) can be an invaluable tool, when wielded expertly...

 

[Hussar]

Ok, that's the second time video gamey has been brought up. I started another thread so as not to thread crap in this one over here. I'm sorry, but I don't see his actions as video game related whatsoever. But, that's for the other thread.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Throw stuff at him that isn't standard.
Increase a gelatinous cube to gargantuan size. Give goblins some rogue levels. Something he won't expect.

And most important of all, encourage good role-playing by giving XP bonuses. When others level and he does not because he won't rp, then it may encourage him.

It's a long slow road.
Sometimes it's actually worth it.

He doesn't really meta-game from a combat perspective in that he's got the MM memorised and uses that knowledge to do things that his character wouldn't necessarily know (like knowing that trolls are immune to fire for example). What he does do though is treat combat like a tactical wargame, trying to optimise everything he does and also trying to tell other players what to do in order to get the best outcome.

In my opinion, each combat round is 6 seconds long. You shouldn't be able to sit around and discuss where everyone will move, what attack options everyone will take, etc., during combat. You can yell a few quick things across the battlefield but not have an in-depth discussion about the optimal point to centre your spell. Just pick a centre point and be done with it.

Olaf the Stout

 

[Hussar]

Ahh, now that's a separate issue.

My advice for that is a shot clock. Every player get's 40 seconds to complete their round of combat barring any problems or having to look up rules. That cuts down the "tactical chatter" to a very bare minimum. Completely stops square counting and whatnot. Was the best table rule I ever instituted.

 

[Nyaricus]

re: meta-gaming player

I got this gem off MysteryMan in one thread or another:

"And if a player disrupts your game by quoting canon in your face, you hit him on the head with your DMG"

adapt as necessary to your situation

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I would keep the size of the xp reward fairly small (somewhere is the range of 50 xp per level). You don't want your video gamer to see this as a punishment for his play style... And if he's missing out on a big chunk of xp that the other players are getting, that is exactly what he will see it as. Your video gamer is very VERY reward oriented, so if you want to change his behavior, you're going to have to reward the behavior that you want to see... But he's also very VERY punishment averse. If he sees what you're doing as a punishment (like I said, this is quite likely if you make your xp reward too big, especially if he's not getting it), its going to piss him right off.

Also, make sure that you use your words as much as possible. Be very open and upfront about using this xp bonus as a way to reward roleplaying, and that you want to encourage more roleplaying.

That said... You may not be able to change the habits of this player, but it never (well okay, sometimes, but very rarely) hurts to try to encourage someone to play more to your style...

Later
silver

Michael,

I find your argument a little contradictory. You say to keep the RP award small but you state that

Your video gamer is very VERY reward oriented, if you want to change his behavior, you're going to have to reward the behavior that you want to see

If I make the RP award larger won't that be a good indication of rewarding the behaiour that I want to see?

Olaf the Stout

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Ahh, now that's a separate issue.

My advice for that is a shot clock. Every player get's 40 seconds to complete their round of combat barring any problems or having to look up rules. That cuts down the "tactical chatter" to a very bare minimum. Completely stops square counting and whatnot. Was the best table rule I ever instituted.

I have a "Table Rules" document that I handed out before the campaign. In it I specifically addressed issues such as not meta-gaming the combat, not telling other players what to do with their characters (new players excluded) and not taking too long for your turn in combat amongst several other rules. Perhaps I need to grow a bigger pair and explicitly bring it up with the player at the next session.

As for the hand-waving shopping, I'm not sure what to do there. I really don't like the "I'll just convert my GP into whatever I need" mentality. I feel it really takes away a lot of the chances to develop a more immersive and "real" gaming experience. It is a personal choice though. Like I said previously, once I find out what everyone else in the group's opinion on it I may make a decision then.

How do I stop the "take everything I can because its worth money" mentality?

Olaf the Stout

 

[Nyaricus]

How do I stop the "take everything I can because its worth money" mentality?

Olaf the Stout

Make it cursed, he'll learn pretty fast that way

Or try to get him to sell elven thinblades in a dwarven mining town... noit gonna happen, man.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

My meta-gaming player just sent me an e-mail with his new level-upped character. He also mentioned that he had converted his excess gold in 500gp each silver pearls!

This annoys me a little. Does anyone else have an issue with their players simply telling you that they're converting their gold to gems or something similar? Am I being too much of a control freak?

Personally I would play out the situation with the money lender/exchanger (either in-game or via e-mail). The player would not necessarily get full value for the exchange (the money lender has to make a profit on the exchange too!) and they may not be able to get exactly what they want either. For example, certain precious stones/gems may simply not be available in the area (silver pearls probably would be though since Freeport is on an island) or they may cost more than they are worth due to demand for them (as spell components for example).

What does everyone else think?

Olaf the Stout

 

[Hussar]

That, I actually agree with you on Olaf. Converting cash into standard equipment and vice versa is one thing. After all, do we REALLY need to rp buying a dagger? Some do and some don't. However, non-standard items, particularly very expensive ones, should be at the very least vetted by the DM first.

Couple of questions. You mention the party is 3rd level (I think), so, how many pearls are we talking about here? At 500 gp a pop, he shouldn't have that much spare cash lying around.

But, yeah, if you have a standing table rule of no out of character talk during combat, I would stick to it. If the player continues to break table rules that he agreed to before play, then begin penalizing him. Or simply ask him if another group might suit him better.

I think it is certainly not unfair to draw the line at non-standard items and even any special material items. While pearls might be available in Freeport, certainly, he's at least got to make the effort to track down a gem dealer.