Players that just don't *get* the genre

[Wednesday Boy]

I noticed this when the group I was in switched from D&D to Legend of the Five Rings. Some of the players continued to have stereotypically D&D behavior such as looting bodies, not speaking respectfully to superiors, demanding rewards for deeds, etc. The worst part was that the GM was as unaware of the genre and let everything fly.

In their defense L5R's genre is a tough one to grasp your first time out--especially coming from D&D. I was guilty of not getting the genre in my first L5R campaign when a fellow player made a slight against my character. I didn't get the genre's concept of honor so I thought I had to defend my honor against the slight and ended up killing the other character. (Then getting killed for it myself.) It's definitely the most egregious roleplaying I've done and had I understood the genre better it would have been completely avoided.

 

[Relique du Madde]

I've seen a Player not understand how superheroes in the [Marvel] genre don't kill. They especially don't slaughter or execute bad guys. And then the Player complained about never gaining karma.

You do realize that killing in the Marvel is one of those weird hypocritical issues. Avengers and X-men don’t kill but it is alright if their members do occasionally kill behind the team's back, or as part of an unofficial "Wet-Works team," or if their name is "Wolverine". In the case of Punnisher and Deadpool their killing is only tolerated by the Supers community because they generally go after "badguys" and how they survive without being constantly thrown into the Negative Zone is a mystery.

This is why in a Marvel style game you really have to spell out how tolerated killing would be in the campaign and which style you are going for (ie! Avengers high heroics style where killing is NOT accepted).

 

[billd91]

You do realize that killing in the Marvel is one of those weird hypocritical issues. Avengers and X-men don’t kill but it is alright if their members do occasionally kill behind the team's back, or as part of an unofficial "Wet-Works team," or if their name is "Wolverine". In the case of Punnisher and Deadpool their killing is only tolerated by the Supers community because they generally go after "badguys" and how they survive without being constantly thrown into the Negative Zone is a mystery.

Specifically with the reference to the Marvel Super Heroes Role Playing Game, anybody playing the Punisher or Wolverine with their usual bloodthirstiness would have to settle for having a Karma score of 0. The game definitely penalized their typical MO in no uncertain terms.

Though it's really the readers who tolerate both the Punisher's and Wolverine's actions. The Punisher debuted as an antagonist in Spiderman, after all, and both Cyclops and Storm did what they could to keep Wolverine under control. The wild success both characters have had over the years are a reader response. Apparently, comic buyers like their anti-heroes.

 

[Plane Sailing]

My old gaming group used to be good at doing different genres 20-30 years ago, but their RP'ing muscled atrophied a little in recent years, and they seemed only able to play one 'hack and slash' genre for everything

 

[Ed_Laprade]

I've seen a Player not understand how superheroes in the [Marvel] genre don't kill. They especially don't slaughter or execute bad guys. And then the Player complained about never gaining karma.

To get off track a bit... I pretty much learned to read by reading comics, and my last job was in a comic/gaming/sf shop. So I definitely 'get' superheroes. I just think they're frikkin' stupid! "Oh look, the Joker has escaped from Arkum for the 2,873rd time and killed another dozen people. Here, lock him up again. Until next time."

As for the OP, I've been very fortunate in that almost all of the people I've played with over the years have been mature and well read. But I have seen one or two younger newbies who just didn't 'get' something. We managed to get them on track eventually though.

 

[Twowolves]

Our D&D group back in the day had most of it's members coming from a game of V&V I ran for a good long while. One of the D&Ders made a character to play in the reboot of that game, a musclebound brick named "Armstrong". (Fortunately, he had no ability to stretch.) We had the characters made and then the machismo got out of hand, with each guy bragging about how he could take any other character, so they insisted on "Danger Room" practice sessions. Mr "Armstrong" faced the flying, force field generating Goldstar in a mockup of a train yard. He got the idea to throw railroad spikes at Goldstar as an improvised ranged attack. "Awesome", I think, "he's getting into the genre conventions." My illusions were shattered, when upon getting their first "real" mission, mr Armstrong insisted on taking along a box of railroad spikes.....

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Our D&D group back in the day had most of it's members coming from a game of V&V I ran for a good long while. One of the D&Ders made a character to play in the reboot of that game, a musclebound brick named "Armstrong". (Fortunately, he had no ability to stretch.) We had the characters made and then the machismo got out of hand, with each guy bragging about how he could take any other character, so they insisted on "Danger Room" practice sessions. Mr "Armstrong" faced the flying, force field generating Goldstar in a mockup of a train yard. He got the idea to throw railroad spikes at Goldstar as an improvised ranged attack. "Awesome", I think, "he's getting into the genre conventions." My illusions were shattered, when upon getting their first "real" mission, mr Armstrong insisted on taking along a box of railroad spikes.....

Sounds like he was simply as dumb as a box of...um...

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

You do realize that killing in the Marvel is one of those weird hypocritical issues. Avengers and X-men don’t kill but it is alright if their members do occasionally kill behind the team's back, or as part of an unofficial "Wet-Works team," or if their name is "Wolverine". In the case of Punnisher and Deadpool their killing is only tolerated by the Supers community because they generally go after "badguys" and how they survive without being constantly thrown into the Negative Zone is a mystery.

This is why in a Marvel style game you really have to spell out how tolerated killing would be in the campaign and which style you are going for (ie! Avengers high heroics style where killing is NOT accepted).

Yeah- killing is much less tolerated in DC's universe, as I recall. There are popular killer characters, like Deathstroke, but they're rarer than their Marvei counterparts.

 

[pawsplay]

I once tried to run a supers game where the first attempt at creating PCs resulted in a Superman-knockoff... plus a former KGB assassin who could turn intangible and deliver a deadly energy touch, a mutant who looked like a Dantean fiend and constantly (permanently) radiated a 50' radius of darkness, and a guy who gained his "fabric powers" from a "freak textile plant accident." After some massaging, I allowed "fabric powers..."

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I once tried to run a supers game where the first attempt at creating PCs resulted in a Superman-knockoff... plus a former KGB assassin who could turn intangible and deliver a deadly energy touch, a mutant who looked like a Dantean fiend and constantly (permanently) radiated a 50' radius of darkness, and a guy who gained his "fabric powers" from a "freak textile plant accident." After some massaging, I allowed "fabric powers..."

Its good you were able to weave that into your campaign.