One player trying to one-up everybody else?

[blackshirt5]

OK, I don't want to go into too many details, but we genned charcters for RobNJ's Arcana Unearthed game last night and everything went well except for one thing: One of our players, I'll just call him LakeRon, insists on trying to one up everybody else.

We've got two magisters: He's smarter than the magisters. We've got an unfettered faen who's got a very high AC: after hearing that, Ron's got his character's AC up almost as high. And I'm playing a dual wielding wolf totem warrior...

That's the one that really aggravates me; when he found out that I was playing a dual wielder and that Ambidexterity is a Talent(you can't take it except at level 1) he turned around and changed his feat selections around to take Ambidexterity as his Talent feat when he knew I was building my character around that concept, giggling like a jackass while doing so; although the unfettered one gets me too, as the unfettered player is a newbie and kinda shy and Ron has to try and show him up in what he does best.

What should we do about this? He does it in just about every game he plays(he minmaxes like hell and tries to play some weird powergamey thing like a halfdragon or a werewolf or something in like every game), but I don't wanna just say boot him as he's a dear friend of ours and a really nice guy outside of when he does this. What should we do?

 

[hong]

If he's as nice as guy as you say he is, he won't mind you asking him to tone down his minmaxing. Just make sure you ask him nicely, instead of yelling at him.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Tell him that he should cut it out. Be nice about it, but be firm. Remember that every character has to be put past the DM....

 

[diaglo]

give him enough rope and let him hang himself.

i'm sure he will be a good and true lemming and fall for any trap you lay for him.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

*Looks at Hong's avatar*

Hong, you're a pussy!

 

[RobNJ]

Other examples: In playing an Exalted game, we've got 4 solars and one lunar (of course, he's got to be the "special" lunar), he's ostensibly creating a sorcerer. I've got a dawn caste exalt, and have already dumped a lot of magic in being really hard to kill (lots of health levels). He procedes to max out his health levels so he can "beat" me. He doesn't even take any sorceries or ranks in Occult until we yell at him and ask him what kind of sorcerer is he?

In the AU game, until we hectored him, his akashic did not have rank one in a single Knowledge skill.

 

[Djeta Thernadier]

If he's as nice as guy as you say he is, he won't mind you asking him to tone down his minmaxing. Just make sure you ask him nicely, instead of yelling at him.

Hong! You stole my kitten! Er...cloned my kitten!

And I second what you say here. Ask him politely to tone it down. If he refuses say he is not fitting in with the balance of the group and politely ask him to leave.

Just curious, how is he getting so much anyway? I've not played Arcana Unearthed so I'm not sure. It just strikes me as odd that he'd be able to get as many or more skills than everyone else.

 

[blackshirt5]

Other examples: In playing an Exalted game, we've got 4 solars and one lunar (of course, he's got to be the "special" lunar), he's ostensibly creating a sorcerer. I've got a dawn caste exalt, and have already dumped a lot of magic in being really hard to kill (lots of health levels). He procedes to max out his health levels so he can "beat" me. He doesn't even take any sorceries or ranks in Occult until we yell at him and ask him what kind of sorcerer is he?

In the AU game, until we hectored him, his akashic did not have rank one in a single Knowledge skill.

And doesn't he now only have minimal ranks in Knowledge skills, Rob? You've got the character sheets, so you'd know better than me.

But to be fair about him being a Lunar, I asked him specifically if he wanted to play one, as I knew that he had been wanting to play one for a while and our last game fell apart before we could really get into it.

 

[Alejandro]

So, he's playing an akashic who's trying to outthink the magisters, dodge better than the unfettered, and outfight the wolf totem warrior, but didn't put any points into Knowledge skills until you made fun of him?

With his d6 hit dice and heavy armor, he's practically doomed to die to anyone with reach or missile weapons. Remember: you don't need to run fast -- you only need to run faster than him.

 

[RobNJ]

And doesn't he now only have minimal ranks in Knowledge skills, Rob? You've got the character sheets, so you'd know better than me.

Very, very minimal. Yes. I think he has 1 rank in Knowledge (History).

But to be fair about him being a Lunar, I asked him specifically if he wanted to play one, as I knew that he had been wanting to play one for a while and our last game fell apart before we could really get into it.

He's a lunar in a group of Solars. In the Star Wars campaign, he's a grey side Jedi in a group of light side Jedi.

He is ever the bad-ass, ever the outcast, ever the guy who is better and different and harder than everyone else. He always has to be be the special one, the one that doesn't fit the campaign concept, or whatever.