(Update) DM Decision: Player mistake- what would you do

[DonTadow]

I just saw a player do one of the dumbest things I've ever encountered in my years of DM'n. The party have reached the final floor of the dungeon. There's a big seven headed dragon toasting party members and breathing fire everywhere. As the rest of the party deals with the monstrosity or tries to find someplace to hide. One player ironically the rogue, travels down a hallway and finds a large pentagon drawn in crimson ink on the floor. It takes up the whole hallway. She detects terrible evil from it. A round of initiatives go by and I ask her what she's doing. Without heastitation she says she's jumping right in the middle of it. I ask her again? "YOu're what?". She says i'm going to jump right in the middle of it and see what happens.

The pentagon is a trap that opens up the floor into an endless pit. I asked her again if she was jumping on it and she said yeah. This happens with 2 hours of playing to go. I'm trying to think of what to do. I didn't think anyone was dumb enough to fall for a simple pit trap. Plus she's a rogue, and she didn't search anything. She didnt try to avoid it, and she purposely told me that was what she was doing. So now her character's dead. And I pretty much told her that much.

Now I have a problem. I hate rolling up characters with this player. She's a headache in the character creation process. She tries to sneak things in that I won't catch, which means I have to carefully examine her characters and figure out how they fit into the campaign. Part of me doesnt feel like going through it.

Then again, that was idiotic and i'm glad that the trap was designed to kill a player that makes such a decision. NOw, with it being never ending, sure she could have survived somehow, but I'd have to write some serious suspend belief stuff to make it make sense. (party has sense left the location and the location began to crumble).

What would you do? I am really dreading rolling up a character with her. This is one of many dumb decisions I've seen this character make (she's been the subject of previous rants).

Also, side question, What do you do with players whom continue to make character destroying stupid decisions?

 

[Eye Tyrant]

Sounds to me like the player meant to kill the PC. Maybe she got bored with the PC or has a concept she likes better. Either way I wouldn't appreciate it in my game, I mean if a player wants to play something new that's fine, but she could have clued you in that she is/was (assumedly) not happy with the PC. Then you guys could have worked it into the game. I don't like when players just decide at the spur of the moment to have their PCs commit suicide. It's weak...

 

[KenM]

How much RPG experence does this player have? Is She (the player) always doing dumb things?

 

[Crothian]

As long as everyone is having fun, I don't care. It's their character if they want to kill him off or be dumb that's fine. I've had players do this and basiucally it was like they got to play the guest NPC that week.

 

[devilbat]

I would tell the player that her rogue is gone/dead, that she is welcome to create a character on her own, subject to the character creation house rules, but it will not be introduced this session.

You have to keep the rogue dead, so the other players understand there are consequences to rash and thoughtless actions.

 

[bodhi]

Have the player create a new character, and move on. Then, several sessions down the line, bring the rogue back in as an NPC. With an appropriate template or three. Say, fiendish, or maybe some form of undead. Just because the hole was bottomless doesn't mean the rogue didn't go somewhere.

 

[DonTadow]

How much RPG experence does this player have? Is She (the player) always doing dumb things?

The player never fails up to bring up that she once "dm'd second edition", though me and several of the other players rarely ever see this experience at work.

She's always doing dumb things, but I've never seen her do something this blatently suicidal. It was a simple pit trap. The search was like 22. She could have even jumped across it. I kept thinking through the rest of the adventure... man that was dumb. It was such a cliche dungeons and dragons trap.

 

[Silveras]

If it is no fun playing with her, then stop playing with her.

Of course, that assumes there are no group-politics-type reasons to stop inviting her.


Or, you could apply some of the advice given in the DMG II, specifically about problem players who take their characters off alone and do things that get them killed. Believe it or not, the play style you describe is one of the ones laid out in the DMG II (and probably Robin's Laws of Good Gamamastering, as well) with some advice on how to cope.

The advice, basically, is this: You know you have such a player in your group. Write your adventures in such a way that this type of player has the chance to get this behavior "out of her system" before it impacts the session negatively.

I am not sure I like the advice, myself; I am not one to accommodate someone who puts everyone else's characters at risk because s/he likes to take chances on solo forays.

 

[DonTadow]

If it is no fun playing with her, then stop playing with her.

Of course, that assumes there are no group-politics-type reasons to stop inviting her.


Or, you could apply some of the advice given in the DMG II, specifically about problem players who take their characters off alone and do things that get them killed. Believe it or not, the play style you describe is one of the ones laid out in the DMG II (and probably Robin's Laws of Good Gamamastering, as well) with some advice on how to cope.

The advice, basically, is this: You know you have such a player in your group. Write your adventures in such a way that this type of player has the chance to get this behavior "out of her system" before it impacts the session negatively.

I am not sure I like the advice, myself; I am not one to accommodate someone who puts everyone else's characters at risk because s/he likes to take chances on solo forays.

Unfortneatly I've commented on the forums on this player before. (although this is the dumbest thing as her previous actions have never been this direly stupid). I assumed that hte previous encounter got all of her (antics) out of her system. She was driven insane by a symbol and she and the party had a good time role playing out her talking to herself.

Funny thing is, I don't think she meant to commit suicide. She left before I was able to tell her what happened to her character. I got an email after the adventure from her, asking me a question about one of her character's magical items. It was lengthy and made me think that she really assumed her character had survived such a hideious trap. And I agree, her character could very well have survived (she's just falling endlessly), but as far as the pc is concerned it seems over.

I just can't figure out what to do. I really don't want to initiate another character generation with her, and I"d love for her to be gone. But that means her husband disappears too and he's an excellent role player. But if she's going to keep making dumb decisions like this, I'm going to stop caring so much about attempting to integrate her characters backgrounds.

 

[swrushing]

What would you do? I am really dreading rolling up a character with her. This is one of many dumb decisions I've seen this character make (she's been the subject of previous rants).

Ok first off, have you considered, given she has so annoyed you that you have spawned more than one internet rant, that she is not a good fit for your game and that you should tell her she won't be making a "reload" character and coming back?

Thats likely the only way for you to solve the basic issue "she makes overly stupid mistakes that bother me soooo much that i am not enjoying it."

do you think there is a simple fix that will suddenly turn a switch IN HER and she wont make the wrong choices anymore?

Hint: to her, these aren't the "obviously wrong choices". Thats why she keeps making them.

It might not be that she is just stupid but maybe she is not approaching this from the same point of view you are. remember, she doesn't know what you do.

Possible POV (craven rogue): "The fight in the other room is hopeless. this pentagon thing might be a way out or maybe its like a protective circle and the dragon thingy won't be able to get me in here."

Possible POV (kendar-like rogue): "Another boring beat down the monster fight. hey, this pentagon thingy looks cool. Wonder what it does?"

Possible POV (savvy player rogue): "That fight is unwinnable and we cannot escape. the Gm has to have something here we can use. Wonder if this is it? The rest of the stuff doesn't look like "save our bacon if we try it" material."

Also, side question, What do you do with players whom continue to make character destroying stupid decisions?

Look at myself and see what I did to promote it.
Seriously though, this is what I do for EVERY SINGLE CASE.

if the player is choosing a course which seems to me to be unfathmably stupid, the first thing that slaps me is "hey, i gave her every bit of info she used to make that decision" not "what a stuuuupid person she must be."

usually i find I am off on understanding how her character thinks, and she is responding differently to my prods and pulls than i would expect (IE I am using the wrong prods and pulls) or that something BIG that I tried to communicate did not get across or sometimes an assumption i am making is incorrect.

if she is not an idiot in real life, but seems to be one in your game, then maybe its not her thats making the error alone but the person providing every single bit of info she uses in game to make "smart choices" shares some of the credit.

if she is an idiot in real life, and you let her in your game anyway, then you got no right to beef about her making stupid decisions in game too. if that was the case, you didn't invite her in for her brains, am i right?

as for solving the endless pit thing... ASSUMES YOU WANT TO... well, endless... with a water skin and a pouch of rations, she may have as much as a week. that opens many possibilities for encounters along the way with other "fallen", for other PCs to find solutions if they are so inclined, and so forth. the party seems moderate to high level, something ought to spring to mind, yours, if not hers. heck, i can see many interesting adventures spawning from spending time in an endless pit fall. do you know how much work it might take some Gms to get their PCs into an endless pit fall scenario?

i mean, just think, if it spawns an adventure which reuinites her with the group, imagine the endless supply of future net rants she can provide for your enjoyment.