Things that annoy you as DM?

[Allanon]

'Here Not There' characters - you know the type. Player states character is at location or position 'X'. Then if something happens at location 'Y', that character is mysterious there, having warped time and location to arrive exactly to upstage the other character currently there.

And the player can never fess up to where he is.

Usually goes something like this....

DM: So where are you?

Player 1: My character stands outside the door of the room, in the corridor.

Player 2: I advance into the room, checking for traps and threats. I will approach the chest and check it for over carefully.

DM: *rolls dice* (To player 2) You make it to the chest and check it out - it appears clean of any hazards.

Player 1: I will try to open the chest.

DM: *To player 1* You said you were outside the room in the corridor.

Player 1: I followed him (player 2's character) into the room.

DM: **annoyed** Fine....you are by the chest and opening it. While that is going on, player 3 (who is in the corridor), make a spot and listen check.

Player 1: I rolled a spot of 18. What do I see?

DM **annoyed** You said you were opening the chest. That is your action. You are in the room and you can't see the rear of the party outside the room.

Player 1: I didn't open the chest and I moved over to the door so I can see what is going on.

DM **really annoyed** Arrggghhh

I hear ya! We kicked him out, after he became a rules lawyer too. Boy was he annoying

 

[robberbaron]

I consider these two to be optimal players - the sort I try to recruit and encourage.

Certainly 4 out of 6 from our group (me included).
Isn't a problem unless you have a small table, but then they just have to actually become laptops.
Actually, as a GM, my lappie has been a Gygax-send. Everything readily available AND the players still can't see my notes.

Players creating their own plots is fun. I get to mess with their heads and its THEIR fault!

Annoyances:

Players who rant at other players for their "incompetence" when their character is in another room/building and when a BBEG turns up after hearing them screaming say "..but I wouldn't really have said that!" Sheesh!

Players who fiddle around with their figures, moving them about when it isn't their turn, etc., or who don't move their figures and moan that they are not where they wanted to be.

Players who play the same "character" irrespective of system, alignment, class, etc.

Rant over.

 

[Calico_Jack73]

Thats not a powergamer IMO. The CHARACTER has good diplomacy, the PLAYER does not. If the player was playing a nuclear scientest, would you expect him to accually come up with a formula for something or make a roll? I'm not that good with fast talk or diplomacy, but some of my characters are. I should not be expected to come up with what I'm saying when my character has the skills the player does not.

I think what is being said is that the player should at least give a basic idea of what he is saying. Instead of saying "I am giving a rousing speech!" he should instead say "I am giving a rousing speech, reminding the town's defenders of their commitment to the safety of their wives and children". Something that simple is much preferred and it doesn't even take that much more time.

 

[Calico_Jack73]

[*]Shooting everything with your crossbow before you know what it is.

Blast Spores are a great cure for that!

 

[Olaf the Stout]

'Here Not There' characters - you know the type. Player states character is at location or position 'X'. Then if something happens at location 'Y', that character is mysterious there, having warped time and location to arrive exactly to upstage the other character currently there.

And the player can never fess up to where he is.

Usually goes something like this....

DM: So where are you?

Player 1: My character stands outside the door of the room, in the corridor.

Player 2: I advance into the room, checking for traps and threats. I will approach the chest and check it for over carefully.

DM: *rolls dice* (To player 2) You make it to the chest and check it out - it appears clean of any hazards.

Player 1: I will try to open the chest.

DM: *To player 1* You said you were outside the room in the corridor.

Player 1: I followed him (player 2's character) into the room.

DM: **annoyed** Fine....you are by the chest and opening it. While that is going on, player 3 (who is in the corridor), make a spot and listen check.

Player 1: I rolled a spot of 18. What do I see?

DM **annoyed** You said you were opening the chest. That is your action. You are in the room and you can't see the rear of the party outside the room.

Player 1: I didn't open the chest and I moved over to the door so I can see what is going on.

DM **really annoyed** Arrggghhh

There's also the cousin of this type of player "I'm not anywhere"

Whenever you ask who had the third watch overnight it's not him.

When you ask who is marching at the front/middle/rear, he's not.

If you ask who was near the centre of the room where the 10D6 fireball just went off, he's nowhere near there.

Etc., etc.

It's a wonder if the party knows that his character even exists because he never seems to be anywhere at all.

 

[Cor Azer]

I don't know if I came up with this, or if I read it somewhere on these boards, but here's what I do.

We game from 6 to 11, period. If at 6 a player is missing, I hand the character sheet to one of the present players, and he plays his character and the missing character. While he does this (until the late player arrives and takes his sheet), I give the late character only 75% of his XP, and I give the guy stuck with playing two characters 125% of his own XP. It rewards having to go through the hassle.

In fact, this has actually encouraged players to play late or missing characters "Oh me ! Pick me ! Give me his sheet !".

If I know a player won't be at a game, I can usually find a way to write them out, or I just run them as an NPC in the background. I don't like having players run simultaneous characters (having had bad experiences with it in the past). I agree with the 75% experience for no-shows (for whatever reason).

 

[Mystery Man]

Players who take flavor text as some loophole in the rules.

Players who during combat think they're innafective, give up and don't do anything.

 

[Gnarlo]

My greatest annoyance is having a stable, well-balanced group of players that is fun to be around and never gives me any grist for posts like these

 

[S'mon]

You spend ages putting your monster/villain/whatever together and the characters walk in and trounch him straight of the bat!

Any others?

You spend 5 minutes putting your monster/villain together and he slaughters the PCs...

 

[jasper]

players who whine if they take damage.
players who haven't adjusted to to changes in 3E. What how come haste does not require a system shock. Why can't hobbits have dark vision.
Guest character of week player.
Crazy Nuttisy alignment gee I rolled a 1. I smack the gold dragon, kill the baby etc.
Rotating DMs. 7 players 6 game masters no waiting no finishing the game.
3 characters being run by one player.
free xp wantabes . Yes I skipped the last 6 months of gaming due to evercrack can't my character be bump 7 levels?
Parents who cant control their non playing children.