Pet peeves of D&D gaming

[wedgeski]

Players who argue every incident where the DM makes a judgement call that goes against the rules in the core books.

Amen to that. Others of mine:

• Incessantly pun-filled character names, even if the players honestly intend to back that character up with good roleplaying.
• Players who pounce on every judgement call you make as a DM.
• Joking at the table when you're trying to describe a scene or (even worse) hold a conversation with a PC.
• Players who pounce on every judgement call you make as a DM.
• OOC p**s-taking of a badly written or executed encounter rather than just getting on with the game (even the best adventures have bad or melodramatic encounters, and even competent DM's can screw a good encounter up; just get on with life).
• Players who pounce on every judgement call you make as a DM.

I'm sure there are others. Things I do to annoy my players probably include:

• Starting the session late
• Plot railroading (occasionally, I just want things to move on a bit; occasionally, I've done it very badly).
• Hiding dice rolls (this annoys one of my players no end, but I have no intention of stopping).
• Telling the party what loot they missed after the adventure is over.

 

[ironmani]

Lets see my pet peeves are:
*Comparing every thing that happens to the plot of some movie, usally a bad movie.
*Telling everyone that you have been playing for years and then try and cast lightning bolt at 3rd lvl.
*Taking 10 mintues to figure out if you hit something because you cant remember to add all your bonuses.
*Staring at the minitures trying to puzzle out you next move like its chess.
*Playing the only spell caster in the group and then cast invisibility and hide in the back saying "I pass" every round because you dont want to get hit.
*Trolls that can sneak up a PC till they are standing 3 inches away. In second edition.
*Going off on your own, because you can, being the tank of the group, and letting the party fight a roper.
*Taking everything that happens or is said to your character as a personal attack.
*Not even bothering to try and offer suggestions to the group to help solve problems.
*"Forgetting" to shower on a regular basis.
*Sulk in the corner if the party doesnt come to your rescue. Sorry we were busy fighting that Pit Fiend over here.
*DMs playing NPC in the avdenturing parties to "help" steer the adventure.
*Sniping at other players due to personally grievences.
*Having no clue what you are doing, and not even attempting to learn the rules, even after someone has given you a FREE PHB.

 

[Shemeska]

The player who plays a class, any class, just because of the abilities it gives, without any regard to the in game consequences: case in point the paladin of Tyr who had to be argued with out of game that he had to make some sort of honest attempt to tithe to his church. Similarly the player who wants to be a half-fiend/half-celestial/anarchic redeemed fallen celestial vampire.

The player who uses the argument, "Where does it say that? Show me where in the rules it says that!" Basically I despise munchkins, I despise even more those munchkins who get their arguments wrong, and I despise rules lawyers who can back them up in excrutiating detail even more.

More of a bemused roll of my eyes rather than a peeve, but: the female character who routinely plays gay male characters that are slutty.

Mercurial greatswords: they will break your NPCs and then your game.

New material in 3e that has a blatant disregard for the material that it was based upon and was seemingly rewritten for the simple whimsy or ignorance of the writer on the prior material. Illithid arcane casters, formians overrunning Mechanus, nerfed modrons, almost as badly nerfed Yugoloths, etc

 

[simmo]

- players getting bored with their characters and wanting to try out a newer and cooler character class/feat/PrC/etc combinations when a new supplement is released
- players complainging about the fact that their DM does / does not do <insert pet peeve> but not to the DM
- DM complaining about the fact that their players do / do not do <insert pet peev> but not to the player concerned
- DMs who make it almost impossible for a character to die
- DMs who use NPCs to threaten the PCs and force them down a particular path (NPC is almost unkillable)
- noisy crisps (chips in the US)

 

[diaglo]

players who have to be the center of attention, even when their characters aren't involved or even near the action the DM is describing. they have to blurt out tidbits/spoilers. and tell you how they would've done it. or later they go back to the same scene to talk to the NPC to "get the information"...again even tho, the other PC told them the relevant information.

DMs who have to have an NPC in the party. the NPC has hidden kewl powrz. and always there is a situation that requires them to step forward and show the party the way.

players who would rather have their character die than lose some kewl powr/item. even tho, the powr or item can be replaced.

 

[Psion]

Alright, I hate to join in the negativity fest (thankfully, I don't seem to have as many problems as some of you have), but there are a few things that irk me that I don't feel right addressing as DM because I figure that it's up to the players to choose the details and actions about their characters:

• Nobody playing a cleric
• Few people playing competant spellcasters. (The sum total of supernatural might in my current party is a psychic warrior and a sorcerer who has only taken half their levels in sorcerer. And the sorcerer has no combat related spells.)
• No players in my games even ask to play anything a little off the wall unless I make it a big part of the game. When they do ask for something unusual, it's waayyy off the wall and beyond the pale of what I would allow, like (actual example from current campaign) "Can I play a half-blink-dog?"
• Players not using their resources. I gave one player's sorcerer in the last campaign lots of wands and staves, and I only think he used one of them. The above mentioned sorcerer in the current campaign I gave magical firearms so she wouldn't be such a wet noodle in combat, but she tends to use the sling instead. When she does use the firearm, she only uses 1 charge at a time (which doesn't do any more damage than a sling.)
• Nerfing PCs. I hate having to take stuff away from PCs when they already have it. But sometimes, I let something slip or the player does chargen wrong in a way that makes the campaign a pain to run and I have to say "about that character..."
• Humorous names. Nothing seems to have more persistent potential to frequently distract the players from the game and spoil a dramatic mood.

 

[tetsujin28]

What do I hate? That the game's been around for 27 years, and people can still find something to complain about. Hasn't it all been done before?

 

[The_Gneech]

More of a bemused roll of my eyes rather than a peeve, but: the female character who routinely plays gay male characters that are slutty.

Actually, I'd like to have one of these in my group, it would make a refreshing change from all the male players who play slutty women.

Well, from the one male player who does that, anyway.

Every time.

-The Gneech

 

[Quasqueton]

Things I do that I should not:

As DM:

Talk too much about the campaign and the NPCs (especially the BBEG). I think my plots and NPCs are pretty interesting and cool, and once I get to talking, I tend to reveal much more than I should.

Commentate on the party's actions. I should let them do their thing and not comment on it.


As a Player:

Police the rules on other Players. I'm so used to being a DM, and policing the rules, that I tend to police other Players when I'm a Player myself. When I see the damage roll (6), and hear the total result (8), I say, "How do you get +2 damage with your bow?" Half the time, I'm right (the other Player miscalculated or misunderstood a rule), but the other half of the time I'm wrong (I didn't know about a bonus they had, or I forgot about an outside affect like the bard's inspire courage is in effect). As a DM, this policing is fine. But as a fellow Player, I'm sure it is annoying. (Though I really don't mind when another Player polices me.)

Quasqueton

 

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

Characters that do not live up to their alignment drive me CRAZY... we have one in our game right now that changed his alignment to Lawful Good for a prestige class... DM said "right now, you do not live up to it... it's really going to take some work... but, I'll let it slide-- you can take the class, but you HAVE to live up to the alignment."

But, does he? No. Not at all... and, as the paladin that tries really really hard to be lawful good, I get a little peeved both in and out of game.

And, as a player, I tend to complain a lot to the DM. I don't even realize that I'm doing it at the time... but, he'll make a decision on something and I'll yell and whine "OH COME ON!" ... that's GOTTA be annoying...
I'm working on it, though.