Player schticks that grind your gears

[Iron Captain]

"The game is supposed to be fun!":

What this really means is that the game is only fun if your character has the stupidest name possible (Capt. Howard Bubble was a suggestion for a Paladin's name) and the chraracters get to do things that are the exact opposite of realistic or benficial to the story. ("Ok I kill the princess and rape the dragon!").

This is worst if there are 2 or more of them in your group because they constantly laugh at each others stupid jokes and backup each other up.

 

[Particle_Man]

Joe Genero!
This guy doesn't do anything to make his character special and his stat scores range from 9 to 12. Barely qualified for the fighter class, and is always the monster's plaything.
A.k.a. - The XP Sponge

Either the point buy is less than 25 points (in which case I blame the DM) or the unfortunate person rolled the stats and the DM is not letting him reroll the character (the rule say the character must have at least one 14+ score) (in which case I blame the DM). Or perhaps you are exaggerating? Or talking about a pre-3.0 game?

 

[lukelightning]

Vow. Of. Poverty.

 

[Tharian]

OT: Player memory versus Character memory

QFT

This drives me crazy when DMs do this. We play DnD every other week and we play Shadowrun the other week with the same DM now sometimes we forget things. I do take notes but there are times I forget to write something down or I just didn't catch the importence of something.

The DM has these rules if you forgot so did your character it drives me crazy if he was not such a good DM in other areas I would quit the games.

For example we had a parachment to deliver to a town official we had two sessions of traveling to the town and then we had a four week break of real time due to the DM's job. No one remembered who to deliver the parahment to. Thr Dm was like well I guess you guys are in trouble then. I argued that the person's name was on the envelope and in the end he relented and reminded us who we were supposed to deliver it to.

In another game a DM gave me certain information at the start of the game about my background it did not come into play for close to seven months and I had forgotten it. The DM didn't remind me about it either saying I should have remembered. My character would have remembered even if I didn't.

Note: I only chose this one as it was part of the OT thread that intrigues me.

The problem I have with this is that I fully support the DM's ability to decide that if the players have forgetten, so have their characters. This is makes much more sense in our group because the DM has taken to posting full write-ups about the sessions and has everything ready on a website that each member of the gaming group reads.

Therefore, I see no reason why this should not be implemented when the players already have everything they would need right their at their fingertips. Instead, I often see that they really don't care to remember and expect the DM to spell out everything for them, they routinely show up late (we had an instance where two of the group arrived over an hour late with no phone call and then complained because the room wasn't set up for the game when group policy is that every contributes to both set up and tear down of the gaming environment) and then do not to get involved until we are well under way with the game.

 

[Dragonbait]

Waaah waaah waaah

(Most of my least favorite player types have been listed, so I'll list this obscure one that came up on several occasions).

The Whiner (who complains just for the sake of complaining)

My character can't do anything! The fighter killed two guards, and did 30 damage on a critical. I have no point in this group if he can do that in one hit! No one is letting me do anything! All I did was charm the BBEG, took his equipment, allowed us to pass by the guards by putting them to sleep, calmed all the prisoners down and became their leader, and gained the most magical items from the mission. My character is pointless!

The Stubborn Whiner (all traits as above plus a stubborn streak)

Me: You seem to be happiest when you deal a lot of damage. I recommend being a warrior-type, or a spellcaster that focuses on combat spells. I don't recommend being a support-type character like a bard or cleric, or a character who's abilities shine outside of combat, or a character that does not focus on damage output. Every time, and I mean EVERY TIME you play these non-combat-focused characters you hate your character.
The player: You're right. I think I'll make an enchanter and I would like to use the specialists from Unearthed Arcana so I loose access to almost all attack spells but I can bonuses to my charm spells and social skills. Don't worry, I'll like my character.
Later, at the first game: I can't do anything! I can only do a maximum of 5 damage! My character is useless!
Me: Change characters.
The player: No, no, I like my character.
Later, at the second game: He made his save? My character sucks! I'm useless. I can only do 5 damage! My character is useless!

 

[sniffles]

The Spotlight Hog: this player wants to be involved in everything, no matter how inappropriate it may be for her character, or how much better suited another character may be for the task. She volunteers for every duty, and tries to get into the thick of every combat. A conversation can't take place without her involvement.

The Seat-warmer: deftly avoids every plot hook. No matter how well the hook is designed to attract this player's character, he will avoid it like it's coated with poison. He's just at the table to be at the table.

Real world? What's that?: this player has no concept of how things work in real life. For him it's all about the game rules. If there's nothing in the rules specifically stating that a silk shirt will get ripped to shreds in the wilderness, then his character should be able to wear silk shirts every day. The player has probably never touched a silk shirt in his life.

But it's what my character would do: Not the same as the Chaotic Disruptive type; this person is a good roleplayer, but thinks roleplaying his character faithfully is more important than being cooperative with the rest of the group.

The Multitasker: this player can't just sit and listen while the other players take their combat actions or roleplay. She has to be doing something else. Unfortunately she then doesn't notice when it's her turn again. (raises hand guiltily)

 

[Gentlegamer]

See, that, in my view, is poor DMing on your part. In fact, I've seen this attitude singlehandedly destroy a group.

For the players, this stuff happened a week ago or more, was at best quicly described to them, and is part of something they are doing as a hobby. They have jobs, relationships, other friends, and other hobbies. For the characters, on the other hand, those events may have happened a few hours ago as part of something they actually experienced, and this is information their lives may depend on.

How is it even possible for you to think they should be treated the same way? I seriously don't see how anyone who gave the matter a moment's thought could ever, in a million years, reach that conclusion. It's like saying two and two make five.

Forcing the players to take all the responsibility for this
1. Is utterly preposterous from the point of view of having a reasonable, internally consistent world
2. Is completely unsatisfying from the point of view of telling a good story
3. Is egregiously unfair from the point of view of running a reasonable game
4. Most importantly, is just not fun for anyone but the power-tripping GM (and, more often than not, is frustrating even for him)

In short, it's one of the few GM behaviours I am willing to say is, always and everywhere, completely unacceptable. It has, as far as I am honestly able to see, no upside whatsoever, no matter what kind of group you have - and gamers' tastes are diverse enough that it's very rare to be able to say that.

As players of an RP Game, one of the most useful skills is called "writing stuff down." In the past, this role was assigned to a Party Chronicler by the Party Leader, while the Party Mapper made sure they weren't lost and the Party Caller communicated to the DM.

In short, it is a game, and the participants are responsible for keeping track of important information.

 

[BlueBlackRed]

Either the point buy is less than 25 points (in which case I blame the DM) or the unfortunate person rolled the stats and the DM is not letting him reroll the character (the rule say the character must have at least one 14+ score) (in which case I blame the DM). Or perhaps you are exaggerating? Or talking about a pre-3.0 game?

2E game.

 

[sniffles]

Oh, I forgot one:

The Faceless PC -
GM or other players: "What does your character look like?"
Player of the Faceless PC: "He's an elf."
Players/GM: "And...?"
Player of Faceless: "He looks like the sun elves in the Player's Guide to Faerun."

Thank you, Mr. Description. :\

 

[Gentlegamer]

Half-Elf Man

Always tries to select half-elf as his character race to gain the racial advantages while still "looking" human (and in AD&D allow for more multi-class options). A subcategory of Min/Max Guy and Always Plays the Same Character In Every Campaign Dude.