What to do with dirt-phobic PCs?

[BlackMoria]

Hmmph. After 30+ years of DMing, I have a low tolerance now for the 'sensitive' types. I've tried on many occasions to 'engage' the players in the adventure and it is sometimes like pulling teeth.

Players who want motivation spoon fed to their characters constantly gets real old, real fast for me.

Nowadays, when a character(s) bawk about something (like refusing to enter a sewer), I ask what that character is going to do and then I hammer 'em with the consequences.

Consequences can be "in story" ie. the wererats are overrunning the city now or your friends are now infected by wererats. The BBEG advances his plan since nothing was done to stop him. That sort of thing. These consequences directly or indirectly affects the characters.

"Out of story" consequences affect the player - like this example...

"Well, the rest of the party enters the sewer. You chose to not go with them and instead return to the tavern. I intend to focus on the primary adventure in the sewer for now so unless you are changing your mind about going with them, consider that you return to the tavern, nothing interesting happens to you that evening, you get drunk (or not) and when morning comes, if the rest of the party haven't returned by that point, I will pick back up with your character and see what you want to do at that point."

When faced with the prospect of sitting the rest of the evening watching the other players play while they just sit and do nothing, the 'sensitive' types usually will get some motivation to plunge into the adventure with the others. And if they don't - well, that is their call.

I consider such behavior completely self indulgent and attention seeking and unless dealt with, it will suck the life out of what is supposed to be a good time.

That may not be the case here and it may be just real life projections into the character they play - sort of a "well, I personally wouldn't ever crawl through sewer waste, so I don't see my character doing it". Which is okay only so far, but it still disrupts the adventure and has to be dealt with.

 

[nyrfherdr]

While I sometimes get frustrated with both player and character choices, I think the advice that makes the most sense is to let things play out.

In game consequences work the best.

I had a character that hated to get dirty too. I think it made the adventure a little more interesting. I didn't say no, I went along, but complained a lot and blamed one of the other characters for forcing us into such a disgusting situation. Once we were out of the mess, my character made a point of getting clean and trying to force the one other character to pay for it. He didn't but it made for some fun gaming.

I never thought to say no. I looked for a reason to say yes (as someone pointed out earlier). Then roleplayed accordingly.

Making the situation more challenging, interesting, fun, whatever word you want to use is cool. Stopping the game is not cool.

Game ON!

 

[frankthedm]

Just remind them that Prestidigitation, which every Wizard has, can clean objects perfectly.

Yep! The longest lived PC in my game was a fighter abjurer who used the spell almost every session.

 

[blargney the second]

Then when all of a sudden their character is motivated to get dirty (maybe a PC threatened with death) it would play out something like this:

DM: You take 4 points of damage
OC: I'm bleeding out
PODC: I rush over to help them with my healing skill

That's exactly what happened, minus the part about rushing over to help the unconscious party member.

 

[blargney the second]

I think I'll talk with the players about meeting me halfway. I don't mind that they don't like dirt - their PCs can complain about it all they want, as long as it doesn't prevent them from participating in adventures.

 

[Michael Silverbane]

This situation is something that I've been on the other side of... Playing a neat-freak charatcer who needed to go into a sewer to do some rescuing, or whatever... Though, I wasn't playing as dedicated a neat freak as those two characters, apparently. The situation played out something like this.

DM: As you chase after the kidnappers, you see them cross the courtyard and then disappear into the ground near a large fountain. Continuing the chase, you come upon a large, rectangular hole in the cobblestones. Several steel rung, rusted and slick with the damp lead down to where a shallow stream can just be seen glistening in the darkness below...

ME (WIZARD): I stop short, looking down into the sewer with uncertainty, "I'm not going down there, no way."

DM: A girl's scream can be heard echoing out of the dark, wet tunnel.

FIGHTER: I push him (pointing at me) in the hole, "Yes you are."

ME: "Aaah!" Splat. "You guys are totally paying to have my robes cleaned!"

ROGUE: I check for... never mind, "suck it up, finger waggler, and make us a light."

And... That was pretty much the end of that, except for the complaining. They heard no end to the complaining.

Later
silver

 

[Phlebas]

First time my group went into the sewers

Noble half elf F/R - "I'm not going in there, its disgusting"

1/2 dragon Fighter - 'I give her a shove forward - "Oops sorry"

F/R - "Ugh, Yuck" etc etc etc ad infinitum

I hate to penalise players for actually role-playing, so there does need to be some face-saving way out ("You see a pair of leather waders for sale" - "theres a potion of prestidigitation as a reward..." - "If you use create water a few times it'll clear away the worse of the ....solids")

the cleric ended up buying a complete second set of clothes and armour for sewer trips as he was fed up with trying to keep them clean. I never pushed him on where he kept them between sewer trips....

but the best solution (mentioned above) is to have the sewer inhabitants become more and more powerful until the PC's realise that the only way to stop them is to go into the sewers, or leave town (which means new characters please....)

DM's need to be careful though - stressing the yuck factor and mentioning disease a lot will have PC's thinking they've missed something and shouldn't be down in the sewers. Mentioning the "yuck" occasionally but not stressing disease would make the PC's realise its RP'ing not threatening

 

[Andor]

Or you could just make it a running gag.

The PCs patron insists on meeting them in a bar with an Otyugh bartender.

A local monkey decides it hates the PC and constantly flings poo at them.

Remind them that walking through the streets of a city before cars in not a poo-free experience.

A lack of respect incurs the wrath of the pidgeon gods...

 

[Phlebas]

A lack of respect incurs the wrath of the pidgeon gods...

LOL