Bullgrit
Adventurer
The guys in my group are good role players. They will role play their characters' personalities and motivation fully -- and I've seen this become a problem a few times.
I started a Marvel Super Heroes campaign where the PCs were newly rising supers invited to join a group overseen by an NPC -- picture something like Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. To start the first game session, I had each Player describe how they arrived at the mansion of the NPC. One came by bus, one came by borrowing his parent's car, etc.
One guy, whose PC was a teenage girl from California commented that there was no way his family could fly her all the way to the east coast. While I started the introductions as each PC arrived, this Player willingly sat at the table without having his character introduced.
The NPC leader began his lecture/sales pitch to the other PCs. I'd break occasionally to prompt the last Player to bring his character in. Eventually I stopped the game and stated directly, do you want to be a part of this game? The Player essentially threw up his hands in apparent exasperation, and had his girl show up. He seemed annoyed to have to do something out of character/background for his PC.
In a D&D game, (in which I was a Player, not the DM), a Player had his PC refuse to go on the adventure because an NPC was rude to him. From my point of view, it seemed that the DM intended the NPC to be annoying, but he didn't expect the annoyance to completely loose a PC from the game. I, playing my PC, tried to talk the other PC into rejoining the adventure, but he wouldn't budge. I looked at the DM and said, "I tried, but I'm not going to twist his arm to get him to play in the adventure." Eventually the DM managed to get the PC on the game.
In another D&D game, (in which I was a Player again), a cohort got cursed with insanity and fled the dungeon. Our whole party tried to wait out the insanity, thinking it was temporary, but after three hours gave up. We set to go back into the dungeon without the cohort. But the PC (leader of the cohort) decided to stay loyal to his cohort and not leave him outside alone. After some attempts to find a solution, we ended up going back into the dungeon without that PC.
In another D&D game, (in which I was the DM), the ranger's animal companion was killed in a fight. The Player had always played his character as very close to the companion, so the PC getting upset was in character. But the Player had the PC go on a rampage through the dungeon, into areas they hadn't explored, heedless of danger to the PC or the other PCs in the party. The other PCs, all badly wounded from the previous fight, had to magically and physically restrain the raging PC.
Until they managed to take the PC out, I had visions of a TPK. I was stressing out that the raging PC was going to die and take the whole party with.
I do love for Players to seriously role play their characters, but there is a limit. There is a line between playing a role to the benefit of the game and playing the role to the detriment of the game.
Have you seen Players cross this line? Have you crossed this line? Do you consider it a good thing or a bad thing to be willing to cross that line for the sake of "pure" role playing? Should a Player be willing to stop their true role playing for the sake of the game?
Bullgrit
Total Bullgrt
I started a Marvel Super Heroes campaign where the PCs were newly rising supers invited to join a group overseen by an NPC -- picture something like Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. To start the first game session, I had each Player describe how they arrived at the mansion of the NPC. One came by bus, one came by borrowing his parent's car, etc.
One guy, whose PC was a teenage girl from California commented that there was no way his family could fly her all the way to the east coast. While I started the introductions as each PC arrived, this Player willingly sat at the table without having his character introduced.
The NPC leader began his lecture/sales pitch to the other PCs. I'd break occasionally to prompt the last Player to bring his character in. Eventually I stopped the game and stated directly, do you want to be a part of this game? The Player essentially threw up his hands in apparent exasperation, and had his girl show up. He seemed annoyed to have to do something out of character/background for his PC.
In a D&D game, (in which I was a Player, not the DM), a Player had his PC refuse to go on the adventure because an NPC was rude to him. From my point of view, it seemed that the DM intended the NPC to be annoying, but he didn't expect the annoyance to completely loose a PC from the game. I, playing my PC, tried to talk the other PC into rejoining the adventure, but he wouldn't budge. I looked at the DM and said, "I tried, but I'm not going to twist his arm to get him to play in the adventure." Eventually the DM managed to get the PC on the game.
In another D&D game, (in which I was a Player again), a cohort got cursed with insanity and fled the dungeon. Our whole party tried to wait out the insanity, thinking it was temporary, but after three hours gave up. We set to go back into the dungeon without the cohort. But the PC (leader of the cohort) decided to stay loyal to his cohort and not leave him outside alone. After some attempts to find a solution, we ended up going back into the dungeon without that PC.
In another D&D game, (in which I was the DM), the ranger's animal companion was killed in a fight. The Player had always played his character as very close to the companion, so the PC getting upset was in character. But the Player had the PC go on a rampage through the dungeon, into areas they hadn't explored, heedless of danger to the PC or the other PCs in the party. The other PCs, all badly wounded from the previous fight, had to magically and physically restrain the raging PC.
Until they managed to take the PC out, I had visions of a TPK. I was stressing out that the raging PC was going to die and take the whole party with.
I do love for Players to seriously role play their characters, but there is a limit. There is a line between playing a role to the benefit of the game and playing the role to the detriment of the game.
Have you seen Players cross this line? Have you crossed this line? Do you consider it a good thing or a bad thing to be willing to cross that line for the sake of "pure" role playing? Should a Player be willing to stop their true role playing for the sake of the game?
Bullgrit
Total Bullgrt