[Rant] Oh. My. God. He said no!

[clark411]

I would sit him down for a few minutes- attempt to be as brief as you can, and get straight to the point by explaining what I believe he did wrong from my perspective. I'd go over how metagaming like he did only led to the deaths of half the party, and what kind of impact his kind of "no no one's dead, I'm altering this play-reality with my Mind!" sentiments destroy the gametable dynamic.

I would then offer him this choice:

"You can either accept my rulings as final and accord me with the respect I give you, or you can leave the group."

And for a flourishing close, I'd say "I won't give you that choice twice."


This might sound a little less than knee-jerk, and hardly confrontational / big boss like, but frankly that's not necessarily your job as DM. The players play of their own free will, coming and going as they please- the only power as big boss is that which they give you, and acting all puffy chested leader boss when he obviously isn't considering you in this context will lead to little good. Beyond that, giving people choices, even if they are ultimatums, is an almost infinitely better thing to do than simply say "Get out."

 

[Shoon]

"NO, NOT BLACK LEAF! NO, NO! I'M GOING TO DIE! Please don't make me quit the game! Please don't! Somebody save me! You can't do this!"

I swear, if I had a copper for every time I heard "Black Leaf", I'd be richer than Bill Gates by now

 

[mythusmage]

First, Bob goes. Let everybody know that when (if ever) Bob is ready to act like an adult, he can come back. Whether the others wish to associate with him outside the game is entirely up to them.

Second, establish your DMing philosophy from the get-go. Make sure they know what sort of game they're getting into. For mine read on...

"I am not fair. I am honest. Adventuring is a dangerous business, one that can kill you if you act foolishly. Play your character the best you can and you will have a better chance of surviving, and possibly prevailing. No matter how powerful an opponent is, there is always a way to beat him. If taking him on toe-to-toe is suicidal, find another way. Never limit your options. I award XP for besting the villain, so don't think you have to kill every bad guy you run across.

"Get to know the people you meet on your journeys. Make friends, enlist allies. Learn the laws and customs of the land, sometimes an arrest can work better than a climatic fight. Sometimes you can do more with negotiations than with a Fireball. Don't worry about excitement and good, rousing brawls, you'll find enough to keep you satisfied.

"I do take prisoners. My races, even the 'evil' ones do have a (sometimes rough) code of honor. I play my beasts etc. as they would behave in the real world, or would if they existed. So if you get yourself killed by that mother displacer beast, it's odds on that it's your fault.

"So play smart, be aware of your surroundings, and avoid situations you know are hopeless, and you should have a long and successful career.

"Above all remember, the DM is out to get you."

 

[Mark]

"Dice are a tool, Paradoxish, no better, no worse than any other tool, an ax, a shovel, or anything. Dice are as good or as bad as the DM using them, remember that."

(The EN World Collective Consciousness playing itself in "Game", screenplay by E. G. Guthrie, Jr.)

"Game. Game. Come back. 'Bye, Game."

(AKA Bob as Former Player in "Game", screenplay by E. G. Guthrie, Jr.)

 

[bloodymage]

Kick him out, but tell him he can come back...when he's spent a year in a HackMaster campaign! That'll fix his whiny butt!

 

[Fenes 2]

Another possibility is to tell Bob that either he accepts your ruling as a DM, or, if he wants to decide what happens, then he should become DM (If you have the heart for it, give him a taste of his own medicine as a player.)

As an aside, I always warn my players when they do something potentially fatal, so that they know when it is up to the dice and whether or not they die.

 

[FreeTheSlaves]

Player perspective
We are going nowhere fast, this sux, this fight is dragging so the DM looks like he will let us win. So just attack, win and we'll have progress.

DM perspective
They have fluffed their good chances and are now throwing themselves at the brick wall. I have humoured their antics but this is wearing thin, time to roll openly.

I would hesitate again to boot a player for the above, but I would boot a player i don't like, gently. I play/dm 30/70 and one time a dm railroaded us into a swamp and we got nowhere fast. Two hours later "oh, a vampire fortress, let's attack" = disaster. Another session of endless swamp so back we go = disaster*2. My point is that a lack of progression is a cage of sorts and the players may lash out in frustration as we did. It was better to die so our new characters could get out of a swamp we had been railroaded into.

I'm not saying you did anything like that swamp btw but read the players mood and even state things aloud. There is such a thing as good metagaming imo.

 

[Tsyr]

I'll not say "boot him"... I always give a player a strike or two saftey margin. Everyone can be having a really lousey day from time to time.

 

[Maggan]

What does the group think?

Take it up with the group. Explain your side, let him explain his side, then let the group decide.

And if they decide with him, let someone else DM, and make it clear that you can't do it, because they obvioulsy don't trust you as a DM.

Then let the next DM be Bill.

It might work.

Maggan

 

[Squirrel Nutkin]

Back in '88, I had a similar experience with my 1E gaming group after a near TPK (only 3 characters escaped from a party of about 8 or 9). The players had been playing with another DM for years, and this guy was notorious for not only fudging but only killing PCs that he didn't like -- no matter how bad the situation got, he would always let the characters make it out alive.

That's fine, but at the time I was running a very HackMaster-ish campaign and after a PC death or two within as many weeks I thought they'd finally gotten it. Unfortunately, they hadn't, and after sleepwalking through an entire adventure (despite knowing in character how much danger they were supposed to be in), they were massacred. Not because they were overmatched, but because they simply weren't trying.

To say I was read the riot act by these guys is an understatement. One wrote a very long and ugly letter and mailed it to my apartment. Another demanded I reverse time and let them play the adventure over again, claiming it was all my fault. Some just stopped returning my phone calls!

If I've got a point it's this: ever since then I've tried to work very closely with any players I've got to establish, up front and at the very beginning of the campaign, just what kind of game it is that we're playing. That way there can't be any misunderstandings. It's something you may have to do from now on as well...