PCs who protect their own skins. Help!!

[kengar]

If the bard player is a newbie, you might want to offer her the chance to pick your brain on tactics, etc. out of session. That way, you aren't giving away specifics to an adventure, just good advice.

Suggest she read some of the advice in "Song & Silence" about ways to run her character. Also, WOTC's website recently started a series of articles on playing a bard and ways to employ their skills better. Granted, it's not a Monte-Bard, but some of the information should still apply.

As far as the other characters are concerned, what are their alignments? Any Lawful Goods in the mix? You might start affecting their XP awards for being "out of character" when they leave a party member hanging like that. Give the bard more XP awards for "heroic" acts like the aforementioned "running to help" and sufferings AoO's as a result.

You can also talk to the other players between sessions and ask them to help you get the new player up to speed by giving her advice when she asks for it. Eventually, the lack of teamwork will bite them on the kiester. I wrote a blurb about party cooperation that's in pdf form here about that for my group.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

The fighter and the wizard tend to take damage badly. If the fighter gets hit, then he immediately challenges me and asks how he could possibly be hit with a 27 AC.

He challanges you every time you hit him in combat and he is a GOOD player? Send a Bebilith after him to rip that nice armor off some time. Once his AC is back in the teens then he won't have reason to be so miffed every time you actually connect.

 

[Belen]

The dragon was hovering above all of them. She never charged forward. She just used a full attack on the dragon and could not move away. Instead of staying at her side, they used their actions to run away, leaving her alone under the dragon.

They said that they wanted to avoid another breath weapon attack, but most people could be sure that the dragon could not use it immediately after the first attack. They meta already, but it seems that they "selectively" meta'd in this case.

 

[Pielorinho]

Neither the Bard nor the Monk have that trouble. They take the damage, write it down and keep playing. Sometimes, I think those two keep me sane!

I know this is borderline blasphemy, but you could also do what I do with the roleplaying-expert, tactics-challenged player IMC: I explicitly cut her breaks that I don't cut the other players.

This is for a simple reason: I cut everyone as much slack as they want me to cut. Some players, especially those that groove on the tactics part of the game, don't want any slack. Other players, especially those that groove on developing a complex, involved character with multiple plotlines, don't want to risk losing all their work due to bad dice rolls or hasty decisions.

Whatever a player wants is fine with me, and it's easy to treat different players how they want to be treated.

As a DM, you may not want to offer rules-advice in the middle of combat, but you can provide hints through how you describe things. Is she standing facing the dragon alone, and she decides to fire at it with her crossbow from within its reach?

Tell her, before you resolve the action, that she's suddenly aware that her companions are nowhere nearby, and the dragon is swooping down toward her, and she can feel its almost overpowering presence, and each claw is long as a dagger, and the muscles corded on its feet are each bulging larger than her torso, and she suspects that if she stands her ground now, it may be the last decision she ever makes. Then ask her again what she wants to do.

With the proper scene description, many players can be made to see the light. It's not railroading players, it's simply describing things so that they can accurately predict the consequences of their actions. And it's especially useful to do for players that are unfamiliar with the rules or with tactics.

Daniel

 

[LuYangShih]

Well, I'd say looking out for number one isn't neccessarily a bad thing. In fact, it's more "realistic" than most adventuring parties, willing to sacrfice their lives for each other at the drop of a hat. I would say you are simply seeing practical or pragmatic characters in action. Doc is right, the players should be helping the newbie out and learn the system, but I can't really say I would fault any of the actions the characters have taken thus far.

 

[LuYangShih]

The dragon was hovering above all of them. She never charged forward. She just used a full attack on the dragon and could not move away. Instead of staying at her side, they used their actions to run away, leaving her alone under the dragon.

They said that they wanted to avoid another breath weapon attack, but most people could be sure that the dragon could not use it immediately after the first attack. They meta already, but it seems that they "selectively" meta'd in this case.

Why stay and have everyone in the party nailed by the breath attack? I personally would've had my character circle around to the side or back, but I wouldn't have just stood there. If it was possible to kill the Dragon before it got the breath weapon off, I could see staying, but that's really a toss up.

 

[Belen]

The dragon used its breath before the others could move. It breathed and then they took off. She went first and they left her alone under a hovering dragon.

 

[Sagan Darkside]

They guys are good people and they really know their stuff, but the "teamwork" that has occurred under other parties that I have GMed in the past seems nonexistent.

It sounds like your players are jerks.

Next time they run away- have the monsters instincts to go after the weak fleeing creatue kick in.

Ok- a less snide answer: My group had the same problem in the beginning. In 2nd edition, especially at the higher levels, team work was not necessary. That is not as true in 3rd edition- many of the classes require team work to take down competent threats.

Since it seems you have other problems- perhaps you should consider starting over at 1st level. It will give you a chance to keep control of the power level of the campeign and for the party to be more reliant on each other.

SD

 

[Belen]

Heck, uncounsciously, they do rely on her. Not 2 seconds after being given a healing potion. She had to cast cushion fall under the monk and the fighter who had decided to jump on the back of the dragon. The dragon flew high into the air and rolled over.

She saved both their lives!

 

[Sagan Darkside]

She saved both their lives!

Heh, then I will just stick with the first line in my comment.

SD