I think everyone fudges a dice roll or a number once in a while.
The preplanned, formulaic cheating is an issue, if I can confirm that it's happening.
I'm still holding out some hope though. Pure mechanics players, "Roll players" as some call them, have little emotional investment in their characters, in my experience. Kill one manipulated monstrosity and they'll smile and break out another.
When our last campaign ended though, he had a hard time letting go of his character. He had plot points he really wanted resolved, things that had left his character's future looking pretty bleak. He kept asking or speculating on what happened to the characters after the campaign ended, unwilling to accept that nothing happens "after", that there is no "after" when the story teller stops talking.
Because of this I see a possible lever. We aren't playing until after Memorial day (late May, for those outside the U.S.). That gives me some time to draw him into the story. I started last night.
His character is an Aventi (from Stormwrack) Cleric/Fighter/Pious Templar of a monotheistic deity called Taiia (Deities and Demigods). She comes from a culture where women aren't allowed to advance, which is why sh's "from" there, instead of her currently being there. She often tries to disguise herself to pass as a man. (We've discussed the long term impossibility of the masquerade, without significant ranks in Disguise.)
Our world is pseudo-historical, so Taiia is completely inappropriate,by the way.
His character comes from the Canary island region off the African coast.
Historically, that region (Morocco) is tied to the Berbers. Religiously, they always had their own flavor of whatever religious base they dealt with. They had Egyptian influence in some regions, Jewish in others, Roman and Greek and even Sumerian. To the south was a different region that had a semi monothistic tradition involving Sun and Moon (sometimes seen as one deity and sometimes as two.)
The Berber culture was strictly patriarchal, as were many of the time.
From this historical base we can get a picture of a culture that treats women as property or second class citizens, and worships a jealous deity that is both day and night, sun and moon, creation and destruction.
The Aventi, on the other hand, have no problems with women advancing (being a D&D race/culture rather than an historical one.) According to Stormwrack they are devout followers of the sea god who created them when the island kingdom of Aventus sank. They are by and large Lawful, with everything steeped in ritual and tradition.
So how did an aquatic maid end up in a non-aquatic culture that denies the very existence of the Aventi's sea god, and strives to keep women "in their place"?
The conflict inherent in this dichotomy is fertile ground for an interest back story.
Once I have him engaged with that story, we'll explore how she came to be in Scotland, the lone Cleric to a deity that nobody else in the land has ever heard of. And, of course, her recent PRC choice (taken purely for the Mettle class feature) puts her in constant conflict with either the actual duties of the class, or with pretty much everyone in this land where nobody has ever heard of her jealous goddess.
By "Jealous", I mean, "She is the only real deity, all other faiths are either deluded or willfully mislead."
I can't force the player to change the chosen PRC and I'm not going to try. But with an engaging story line, one that highlights the conflict, I can force the player to see and work with the limits that choice forces on the character.
As for flat out ejecting the player: Not my choice. I DM part of the time, but an ejection takes a vote involving everyone at the table, just as an invitation to play does.
