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Now, I don't mean to go off on a rant here...
- Thread starter Biohazard
- Start date
billd91
Not your screen monkey (he/him) 🇺🇦🇵🇸🏳️⚧️
Von Ether said:I don't understand their appeal, those types are a dime a dozen on the beach in Florida. Now a pair of Brazilian twins, now we are talking.
I dunno about twins in a hot tub, but Liz Phair in lingerie playing an X-box (anybody read Rolling Stone?) and I'm going nowhere near that AK-47!
I admit, I'm an advocate of gun control but I still kind of marvel at the engineering of some weapons out there, including the AK-47. It's hard not to have some respect for it as a good, particularly durable, and effective tool for what it does and for the design that went behind it. But for me, that's just trivia. Interesting to a point, but ultimately not very significant to my life.
Liz Phair in lingerie playing a console game? That's art.
ledded
Herder of monkies
I've seen at least a little of these archetypes come out in myself and others that I've played with on occasion, and really they only annoy me when taken to extremes.
1) They are too flat or one-sided to be of any use at all, or
2) Whatever they are doing messes up the game for others in some way.
I'm lucky that we have a good game group, but I have annoyed our main GM once or twice with 'reality' comments about specific areas, but even then I try to keep it to a short tangent and then let it go.
Several have had characters that are heavily influenced by a movie, book, or story character; most of the time people find a way to make them at least a little unique, or play them in such a way that everyone enjoys them.
Some of the other guys have shown aspects of some of the different archetypes, but rarely ever so much as to disturb the game or the other players.
But anyone who fits one of these archetypes to the extreme would not fit into our game well; we like to roleplay as well as kick butt, and you have to be able to do both to keep up at our table.
I have run into these guys in the past, and my personal pet peeves, however are:
1) the rules-lawyer *or* reality-buff who doesnt know the rules or anything about the reality of whatever topic has currently set them off. I can put up with a short diatribe about a specific issue with the rules or a specific instance where the game falls short of reality, but turning into a big poo-poo for the game is no fun.
2) the munchkin who doesnt know how to munchkin: This guy wants to be the best at what he does, but spreads his classes, skills, and feats around too many concepts to be good at any one thing. If you *want* to be a jack-of-all-trades, fine, but don't expect to be the best at all of them.
3) the Hoarder. This is the guy that fights for, wrangles, or steals from the party the best magic/tech/whatever cool items we always find and then finds a way to never actually use them. He is a pain in the butt for other players and for the GM, and normally fits into another of the categories described as well. Normally plays plenty of video games where you bust open every box to get stuff by yourself; he feels like he "wins" if he gets the best loot.
There is one type I want to mention, but they aren't bad guys; this guy is often a boon to a game in terms of fun, creativity, or downright unpredictability but can be hard to deal with for a GM if they get destructive or petty:
4) Chaos man. These guys will always sow chaos wherever they go, do whatever appeals to them at the moment without a thought for consequences, will portray a chaotic bent even when playing a character who would not, and runs off on non-related tangents that are unrelated to anything happenning in-game. We actually have one or two in our current group, and I love 'em because they always have interesting characters and do the funniest/most interesting things, even if it has nothing to do with the story at hand. However, they never let it negatively impact the game in any way; their tangents are always fun and interesting, and are often an integral component to our enjoyment of the game. They also dont *always* play that way, just many of their characters turn out that way. I can see this type getting completely out of hand if they are immature or combined with one of the above types, and I had one in a different game a long time ago who made me psychologically rationalize a motive for justifiable homocide.
My 2 cents.
1) They are too flat or one-sided to be of any use at all, or
2) Whatever they are doing messes up the game for others in some way.
I'm lucky that we have a good game group, but I have annoyed our main GM once or twice with 'reality' comments about specific areas, but even then I try to keep it to a short tangent and then let it go.
Several have had characters that are heavily influenced by a movie, book, or story character; most of the time people find a way to make them at least a little unique, or play them in such a way that everyone enjoys them.
Some of the other guys have shown aspects of some of the different archetypes, but rarely ever so much as to disturb the game or the other players.
But anyone who fits one of these archetypes to the extreme would not fit into our game well; we like to roleplay as well as kick butt, and you have to be able to do both to keep up at our table.
I have run into these guys in the past, and my personal pet peeves, however are:
1) the rules-lawyer *or* reality-buff who doesnt know the rules or anything about the reality of whatever topic has currently set them off. I can put up with a short diatribe about a specific issue with the rules or a specific instance where the game falls short of reality, but turning into a big poo-poo for the game is no fun.
2) the munchkin who doesnt know how to munchkin: This guy wants to be the best at what he does, but spreads his classes, skills, and feats around too many concepts to be good at any one thing. If you *want* to be a jack-of-all-trades, fine, but don't expect to be the best at all of them.
3) the Hoarder. This is the guy that fights for, wrangles, or steals from the party the best magic/tech/whatever cool items we always find and then finds a way to never actually use them. He is a pain in the butt for other players and for the GM, and normally fits into another of the categories described as well. Normally plays plenty of video games where you bust open every box to get stuff by yourself; he feels like he "wins" if he gets the best loot.
There is one type I want to mention, but they aren't bad guys; this guy is often a boon to a game in terms of fun, creativity, or downright unpredictability but can be hard to deal with for a GM if they get destructive or petty:
4) Chaos man. These guys will always sow chaos wherever they go, do whatever appeals to them at the moment without a thought for consequences, will portray a chaotic bent even when playing a character who would not, and runs off on non-related tangents that are unrelated to anything happenning in-game. We actually have one or two in our current group, and I love 'em because they always have interesting characters and do the funniest/most interesting things, even if it has nothing to do with the story at hand. However, they never let it negatively impact the game in any way; their tangents are always fun and interesting, and are often an integral component to our enjoyment of the game. They also dont *always* play that way, just many of their characters turn out that way. I can see this type getting completely out of hand if they are immature or combined with one of the above types, and I had one in a different game a long time ago who made me psychologically rationalize a motive for justifiable homocide.
My 2 cents.
Last edited:
d4
First Post
i totally know what you mean. we had a player like that in one of my old groups. we never really appreciated his antics until he took a few months' vacation...ledded said:
during that time, the rest of us (all very serious down-to-earth types) were able to handle every mission handed to us by our GM. everything went off without a hitch and we got everything done on time with minimal problems.
when Mr. Chaos finally came back, we all said, "Thank goodness you're back. it's been so *boring* without you around!"
Thought of another one:
The "Shtick" Stealer
This is the player who joins a campaign already in process, and rather than create a character that adds to the group, creates a character whose focus is the same as a character already in the group. This can happen, but the Shtick Stealer will find out that he's playing a duplicate of another character, and then refuse to alter his character. Worse, he gets a sick joy in trying to outdo the established character.
Shtick Stealer: Hi guys! My character is an archaeologist and an explorer with massive knowledge of ancient history and stuff
Other Player: Wow ... that sounds exactly like Steve's character ...
Shtick Stealer: Heh ... betcha mine's better.
Soundbyte
The "Shtick" Stealer
This is the player who joins a campaign already in process, and rather than create a character that adds to the group, creates a character whose focus is the same as a character already in the group. This can happen, but the Shtick Stealer will find out that he's playing a duplicate of another character, and then refuse to alter his character. Worse, he gets a sick joy in trying to outdo the established character.
Shtick Stealer: Hi guys! My character is an archaeologist and an explorer with massive knowledge of ancient history and stuff
Other Player: Wow ... that sounds exactly like Steve's character ...
Shtick Stealer: Heh ... betcha mine's better.
Soundbyte
ledded
Herder of monkies
Oh man, I've had this happen to me before, and it's quite annoying. Especially when the other guy even grabs your history, and backstory, and then cheeses it up for you.Soundbyte said:
It got to a point once where I almost decided that my Dwarf was going to dress in a pink Tu-Tu, die his hair and beard blonde and put ringlets and braid in it, and run about singing the Lumberjack song from Monty Python in combat, because "my old dwarven traditions say it is so"
"...dress up in wo-mens clo-thing, just like my dear ooooold pa-par!" <SMACK>
Atom Again
First Post
Henry said:I would have to choose the AK-47, also. (1) I'm married, and that avenue is taken care of, and (2) even if I were so inclined, I'd look like a middle-aged perv.
Dude, just cuz you're married doesn't mean you can't frolic in a hot tub with the Olsen twins.
JoeGKushner
First Post
I would just like to say thank you. This thread has been an entertaining read and takes me back to some of my own problem players. Ironically enough, I've had players go through different phases depending on what they were doing with their lives at the time, ranging from one guy going from John Woo's Hard Boiled to Ninja Scroll to Enter the Dragon. Ah truly entertaining stuff.
