What would you change about your gaming group?

[DM with a vengence]

Get them all to read the GODDAMN PHB!. My PHB is falling apart at the seams, and their's are in mint condition. They all have one, but yet they never crack it open. I don't require them to memorize the whole thing, but you should at least know everything applicable to your characters.

Get them to play something different, one person always plays CNs, another elven archers, a third rogues.

Replace one person who can't roleplay or rollplay to save his life.

Get rid of distractions such as non-D&D books, and annoying people who shout across the table.

 

[barsoomcore]

More Slutty Goth Chicks.

I don't even know what to say, but I need to quote this just to show my overwhelming support for slutty goth chicks. There's no such thing as too many slutty goth chicks.

There are, unfortunately, no slutty goth chicks in my group. But they're pretty good anyway. I'm lucky. There's romances, lots of guilt and angst, noble heroics and last-ditch stands. Great fun.

But we definitely need more slutty goth chicks. God damn.

 

[Kestrel]

My game is full of good people but they don't like each other. Makes my life a pain in the a$$.

Personally, I want to ditch them for a group of slutty goth chicks. Yep, this game definitely needs more of those.

 

[Scupper]

1 - No one should gets a "turn" at GMing except me, dammit.
2 - No kids watching Elmo caper in the background.
3 - Read the F%#@ing Manual! Don't act like I'm picking on you when I tell you you're considered flat-footed when you run. Don't act surprised every single time an NPC moves away and you don't get an attack of opportunity because all he did was move.
4 - A certain person must stop cheating on die rolls. It gets old when everytime you roll the dice you pick them up very quickly, stare meaningfully at your character sheet, and say "26" while everybody else rolls their eyes. The statistical likelihood of rolling better than 15 EVERY THROW OF A 20-SIDED DIE is extremely small. No one believes you.
5 - Another person must stop trying to correct my interpretations of rules/situations/etc. without making sure he's right first.
6 - Don't be stupid. Don't expect to take a few shots at dozens of orcs carrying bows and not have them turn you into a pincushion.
7 - If you can't remember NPC names, at least try to remember PC names (or, failing that, your own).

 

[maddman75]

Hmm

- Read the *$&%! manual! Almost everyone in the group has a PHB, but almost none of them have read the things. Next game we start playing hard core with AoOs - no more "If you do that the troll gets a free attack." I'm just going to take my swing.

- Background. Something ANYTHING other than 'was born, grew up, became an adventurer.'

- Show up on time. I've been playing 15 years now, and I don't think I've ever had a game start on time.

 

[Ace]

I don't even know what to say, but I need to quote this just to show my overwhelming support for slutty goth chicks. There's no such thing as too many slutty goth chicks.

There are, unfortunately, no slutty goth chicks in my group. But they're pretty good anyway. I'm lucky. There's romances, lots of guilt and angst, noble heroics and last-ditch stands. Great fun.

But we definitely need more slutty goth chicks. God damn.

I have had Slutty Goth Chicks in groups and they aren't as much fun as you would think. What you want is Single Slutty Goth Chicks. Much better

 

[Terraism]

Oh boy.

You know, I think I'd start with a group. Right now, I'm no longer playing, as of about a month and a half ago. I gave up. My players - note that they're also my best friends, so... - are rather upset, but that's not my problem at this point. My problems are the following:

1. Reading The players don't. At least, not the instructions. I've heard calls here that your players' PH is in mint condition. None of mine even had one. I bought three of my players a copy (each) for Christmas. One of them even had the gall to return it, and then ask to borrow mine. [This one is NOT one of my best friends, by the way.]
2. Roleplaying I wish, more than just about anything, that I could impress roleplaying onto my players. I mean, if they at least roleplayed well, then I think we'd have somewhere to go. After all, if worst came to worst, we could even scrap the rules (and then slowly build them up while they learn them) and just have me adjudicate. However, that won't be happening, since they don't seem to see the point of the game beyond rolling dice.
3. Characterization This is an extension of the last. I'd like to see a background, perhaps. And an attempt to remember, at the very least, *your* character's name. I can - why can't you?
4. Hypocrisy This annoys me more than all the others combined. First off, prior to a game, the players (most of them, at least) are a joy. They're happy to spend hours working with me on their characters, and, yes, the do develop a background, often quite nice. However, they promptly forget all this the minute we sit down. I've even had one player write a ten-page character biography, and then ask me 'why am I here' when we sat down. (In the overall sense. As in "why should I adventure." GRRRR!) Anyway, second, and just as bad. After a game, I hear complaints. "Why didn't we roleplay?" "You didn't give me an opportunity to [insert something here]!" Nevermind that I tried. And they stared blankly.
5. Unchangeable I thought, when I was getting so upset, about offering to switch DMing spots for a while. This, I figured, might give them the chance to a) Utilize that out-of-game work they like to put in, and b) see what it's like on my side of the screen. Furthermore, I thought that maybe, as a player, I could "lead by example." One of the players I asked got mad and wanted to know if I was implying he was a bad player. The other said that it would be too much work.
   [/list=1]I'm out of coherent things to say, because now that I've written this, I've gotten my blood boiling again. GRRRR.

 

[Rel]

Wow. I'm not here to gloat, but I wanted to express my thanks to those who have posted about their gaming group woes in this thread. It has given me a new appreciation for the group I've got. They're not perfect, but they are a lot better than some of the horror stories I've read here.

To those of you who have these problems, let me just say that when the day comes where you have finally assembled a really great gaming group, it will be worth all the hardships you've been through.

Thanks again.

 

[beldar1215]

I would have to say that the biggest pain my group has right now is that people don't show up on a regular basis. I'm not GMing right now, but it bugs me as a player. I know poeple have other lives, but at least show up a few times a month, or don't start at all.

 

[wolff96]

Well, I feel much better about *MY* group, now, anyway!

Sorry to hear that so many people have bad players right now...

The only things that I wish about my group are:

1) The DM (that would be me) had a bit more skill at improvising.

2) We could change the Chaotic Greedy alignment of one PLAYER (not his PCs).