Pet peeves of D&D gaming

[Tinker Gnome]

Players who play D&D as a leisure activity and thus do not want to have to think or "Go on a long stupid quest"(One of mine)

Players who use Pseudoscience and say it is "realism"(My whole group)

Players who do not know the rules(Most of my group)

 

[Herpes Cineplex]

What bugs me:

* When the GM just sits there and says "So what do you do?", as though the entire game world has absolutely nothing interesting happening in it that should be called to our attention. Encouraging PCs to pursue their own goals and be proactive is fine, I'm just irritated when a GM doesn't bother to prepare anything or come up with any non-PC-directed plot, preferring to give the players the "Fine, your characters can just sit there until they decide what to do" routine instead. For god's sake, if you're going to run a game, run a game.

* The opposite of the above, where a GM's plot is sacrosanct, flawless, and untouchable; any initiative taken by the PCs is doomed to be inconsequential in the long run, because the predetermined plot can never be shifted one millimeter from its original course. PCs may react to the plot as it arrives, and that's all. Good games find the right balance between reactive and proactive plots.

* The "Deflect Arrows" syndrome; you know how it goes, you've got a monk and he's just learned how to deflect arrows. And from that point forward, no one ever shoots an arrow at the monk again. Ever. You see the same effect in varying degrees with sneak attack (suddenly, everything is immune to criticals!), Sanctuary (only enemies with good Will saves will try to attack!), resistances (no more Fireballs at the guy with a ring of fire resistance!), ethereal travel and teleport, and just about any other ability that's useful. In order to "keep things challenging," any cool ability a PC gets that can make some things much easier suddenly never gets to be used. Where's the fun in that?

Rather than list what annoys you about how other people game, why don't you think about what you do that might annoy your fellow gamers?

That's a good idea!

I'm overly "helpful" with other players, piping up with suggestions without being asked to. It's particularly bad when someone is playing a social character but seems to be fumbling an in-character conversation, and I'm trying really hard to stop doing it.

I'm mercilessly sarcastic (both in- and out-of-character) towards NPCs, making up offensive little nicknames for them and trying to bully them around with words. Sometimes this is just good fun for everyone involved, but I've turned a few really serious bad guys into objects of general ridicule by doing it, which usually is at odds with the tone that the GM is trying to set.

I can get stuck on a single plan that I think should work, and pay no attention (or worse) to a GM who tries to tell me otherwise. Obviously something I need to stop doing.

I will occasionally roll dice compulsively or shake them around in my hand.

If I'm not involved in a particular scene, I'll often do a MST3K-esque Greek chorus with other players who aren't involved in that scene, making little quips and asides about what the GM and the other players are saying. This is incredibly annoying, I know.

--
i hope i have some good qualities, too
ryan

 

[Dimwhit]

Spending two hours of the night role-playing the characters getting drunk in a bar and picking up on the barmaids.

 

[Creamsteak]

Rather than list what annoys you about how other people game, why don't you think about what you do that might annoy your fellow gamers?

Much better idea!

Alright, just pulling from some users stuffs:

When the GM just sits there and says "So what do you do?", as though the entire game world has absolutely nothing interesting happening in it that should be called to our attention.

I think I bothered one set of gamers by pulling the above. It's not a problem with my usual group, where everyone has a bazillion things they intend to do as a party of adventurers, and my job is to prepare content in relation to their ideas. I don't just say "So what do you do?" nor do I fail to prepare for a session, but I do prefer to have the player's provide the primary motivation and I provide the depth.

Incessant out-of-character puns.

Yeah, I've done that quite a few times. It's welcome with my group though.

~I've laughed at someone for being a terrible role-player.
~I've chuckled, groaned, or made snide comments when someone pulled a really bone-headed maneuver, whether in combat or while role-playing.
~I've gotten frustrated with players for not knowing the rules or campaign information or what their characters are capable of as well as I do.
~I've gotten frustrated with DMs for looking up a rule after I've told them how it works.
~I've sniped at guys because of the way they roll their dice (all over the table).
~As a DM, I've done bone-headed things that have screwed over the player group - usually, but not always, unintentionally.
~I've griped at players because they were late to the session, or showed up without dice, or pencils or a character sheet.

All of the above. I've even sniped at players for a lot of other things to. I'm a mean person.

In addition, I've bothered some players by bait and switching campaigns. "Let's run a Gestalt game and use point buy" turns into "Let's run a core only game using 3d6 straight" by the time the session comes around. I realize this really bothers people, and I wouldn't do it if the game was already going, but sometimes I have an idea a month or two before we even start the campaign, and my mood switches. Has happened multiple times.

Another bad quality of mine is playing favorites with the players I've known since I was 10 years old.

 

[Panthanas]

I'm surprised no one mentioned meta-gaming. It annoys me to no end when players use knowledge their characters wouldn't have a clue about.

 

[milotha]

GMs that are so enamoured with their own plot, that they forget to allow the players actually have an effect on it.

Uber powerful NPCs solving the adventures for the players.

GMs that openly mock the players for failing to understand thier inane plots or falling for their cleverly prescripted TPK.

Always getting every attack sprung on the PCs at about 10 ft of distance. What are we? Wandering around in a haze/mist all the time.

GMs that play favorites with a certain player.

All DCs being set at some absurd level. I'm sorry Bob, its a DC 25 to eat. You starved to death.

Players that are so nonconformist that they must do the opposite of the party at all times.

GMs that stress meticulous book keeping of every item that you carry. This isn't fun for anyone. I don't want to play an accountant.

Wasting hours looking for the vague plot hook.

Players that cheat at the table - fake the die rolls and change their stats and hps.

Spending hours looking up some stupid esoteric rule. Make a ruling and move on!

Power tripping GMs.

 

[kamosa]

What bugs me:

* When the GM just sits there and says "So what do you do?", as though the entire game world has absolutely nothing interesting happening in it that should be called to our attention. Encouraging PCs to pursue their own goals and be proactive is fine, I'm just irritated when a GM doesn't bother to prepare anything or come up with any non-PC-directed plot, preferring to give the players the "Fine, your characters can just sit there until they decide what to do" routine instead. For god's sake, if you're going to run a game, run a game.

* The opposite of the above, where a GM's plot is sacrosanct, flawless, and untouchable; any initiative taken by the PCs is doomed to be inconsequential in the long run, because the predetermined plot can never be shifted one millimeter from its original course. PCs may react to the plot as it arrives, and that's all. Good games find the right balance between reactive and proactive plots.

* The "Deflect Arrows" syndrome; you know how it goes, you've got a monk and he's just learned how to deflect arrows. And from that point forward, no one ever shoots an arrow at the monk again. Ever. You see the same effect in varying degrees with sneak attack (suddenly, everything is immune to criticals!), Sanctuary (only enemies with good Will saves will try to attack!), resistances (no more Fireballs at the guy with a ring of fire resistance!), ethereal travel and teleport, and just about any other ability that's useful. In order to "keep things challenging," any cool ability a PC gets that can make some things much easier suddenly never gets to be used. Where's the fun in that?

Have we gamed together before

Seriously, I was in a campaign that did all three of these at the same time. After a while when I got sick of seeing a certain tactic I would take the counter with my character and *boom* it was never seen the rest of the campaign. The plots were all prescripted, but the hooks were missing in action. We would spend hours failing to find the one thing that got us hooked on the adventure and then would be whisked along for the ride.

Uggh!

 

[DragonLancer]

Players who don't show up, don't explain why and don't apologise for it. (only had this once, thankfully).

Players who expect to be able to take whatever PrC they want to, regardless.

Character backgrounds that give them more than they should have.

Players who roll spot/search/listen/sense motive on everything.

Players who are more interested in doing their own thing than following the campaign/adventure.

Backstabbing other characters physically or verbally (IC, not OOC).

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

Twinking/Powergaming rather than just playing.

 

[Kilmore]

Heroically dash down hallway to rescue lady, heroically jump up over pit, heroically grab chandelier, heroically swing, DM rolls dice, chandelier breaks, fail Ref Save, go down the hole, fall on my butt, goblin peons beat me down.

 

[Walter_J]

Off the top of my head:
Players that start looking through the rule books AFTER I tell them how their PC's action will be resolved.
DM's who have a "story to tell". Adventure writers who have a "story to tell". Both cases not considering that the players might want to do something besides follow the script.
Being railroaded.
The extreme opposite of being railroaded.
Complaints about alignment.
Remarks regarding "hack n slashers", "role players", "roll players", etc... As if one is better or worse than another.
My PC constantly getting the slop beat out of him.
DM's who get ticked because you outsmarted a situation or NPC and blatantly "cheat" to out-trump you and/or get mad and take revenge on your PC.
People whose idea of fun is ruining the game for everyone else.

I'll stop there. Not because I'm going to work on my game, but because the same few people keep coming to mind and I'm starting to slip into a bad mood.