Player schticks that grind your gears

[Gentlegamer]

Heh. Ok, ok, I surrender. I had no idea that this was a schtick. Dieties is just so darn hard to spell though.

Especially since it is spelled "deities."

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

I'll throw in on the requiring players to know info idea.

Definately a matter of balance. In the last campaign I ran I knew this was going to be an issue. We could only fit in one game a month

So, I put in some extra effort to ensure things could flow from one session to the next:
- Attempted to keep each session a contained 'episode' so there would be none of the 'oops, we already looked in this room' stuff
- Maintained a web page that has generic setting information and a blog of the adventure sessions.
- Sent out a reminder/coordination email a week before the game that verified time and location as well as a short blurb on what happened last session and a summary of the options facing the group.
- Started each session with a short 'In the last session...' blurb.


*lots* of extra work. Did it help? Nope.
One of my players viewed the webpage {them page hit counters are useful..}
Two of my players actually read the email.
Three of my players regularly showed up late, missing the intro blurb

...

Oi!

I understand not keeping track of relatively minor things from month to month.. but I think remembering *why* your character is adventuring to the Tomb of the Barbarian Kings is not too much to ask for. Failing that, at least they can remember what regoin the Tomb's are in!

Oh well. I am joining a new group this week as a player.. and I will do my best to avoid being any of the above mentioned player types ... except perhaps a 'relaxed rules lawyer'

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

My Character Wouldn't Agree To This

The entire group is ready to head off, except the one player who feels like it's against his character to go along with the plot and leaves. While I'm all for playing the character concept you want to play, teamwork and compramise are a big part of the game.

As a DM this is the one I hate the most!! I mean if agree to play in a game with other characters and that it is a game, then make a character that is agreeable to be with other characters in the group. So if everyone is playing slightly less than honest rogue-like characters then don't make a paladin.

Here, the problem isn't the person playing their PC consistently, it is with the DM allowing the player to play the "oddball" PC in the first place, when its quite probable there could be a conflict down the road.

Dieties

That is now my new nickname for celebrities with apparent eating disorders.

 

[urDrakas]

My choices:

Corporal Chatter: Stop talking! Stop stop stop stop stop! Game now! Unrelated anecdote later! It wouldn't be a big deal if it's one or two, but let this one go and it'll be 15 minutes before you're back to the second round of combat.

The current bane of my group. I have to request that two of the players not sit besides each other; else it becomes a MMORPG discussion night and not a game. The casual comments aren't bad, or before a game. But during the middle of a fight, or negotiation with an NPC, that is not the right time.

On another point, love this thread. I think I've played with and DMed for almost every type listed. And I am guilty of a couple myself.

 

[Hussar]

Here, the problem isn't the person playing their PC consistently, it is with the DM allowing the player to play the "oddball" PC in the first place, when its quite probable there could be a conflict down the road.



That is now my new nickname for celebrities with apparent eating disorders.

*sigh* Thanks folks, I am here all week.

LOL

To be fair to the oddball PC's DM though, if he starts to veto concepts because he feels they won't fit in, the player's might get a wee bit miffed from the start. It could very quickly lead to bad feelings depending on how its handled.

Really, if you nerf someone's concept you're saying, "Sorry dude, your imaginary friend is too much of a wingnut to play with my imaginary friends." It does have to be handled with care.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

By oddball, I didn't mean the PC with 8 "Half" templates, I just meant something like a Paladin in a party of rogues, or a CE PC in a party of all goodniks.

A DM who allows a player to play a PC that is seriously out of whack vis a vis the rest of the party can't then turn around and be pissed off that the one that doesn't fit...doesnt fit!

Personally, I've routinely run into DMs who disallow classes (especially Paladins, Monks, and anything Psionic) or races because they don't fit the campaign or the party makeup. If you go into the campaign knowing that, its not that big a deal.

 

[Boarfury]

Okay, here we go...

Mr. I-Just-Ate-7-lbs-of-Crack!!!!1

This person is completely insane. He may not actually be a drug user, but he sure acts like it. This is the kind of person that wants to play as the machine-gun/squirrel-armed monk who casts spells and tries to shoot out the moon. Rarely lasts more than a couple of game sessions. Warning: Is Contagious!

Mr. I-am-Japanese-No-you're-not-Yes-I-am!!!

This person loves everything that has ever or will ever come from the shores of the land of the rising sun. They will either always attampt to make a character based on his favorite anime/video game, or will make a generic samurai or ninja in a campaign that isn't remotely Asian (read. Eberron or the Pirates of the Caribbean game they begged me for). They will also name their non-Anime/Samurai characters Japanese names. I have nothing against Japanese culture in general, but there is such a thing as too much...

Note: In an attempt to assuage their cravings for all this stuff, I tried to run a game set in a Feudal Japanese setting. They wouldn't play.

Oh, and I have more...

 

[Ed_Laprade]

Hmm, that sounds like they don't want anyone to learn just how shallow their 'Knowledge: Japan/Japanese Culture' really is.