When someone plays something you don't like

[Ktulu]

Oh. God. Yes.

Just a few examples:

• Played in a Planescape game where a guy's wizard was from "our world" and had 20 intelligence and 18 wisdom (despite being a "fry cook" in "our world). He played him as completely dumb and easy to manipulate (something that his stats didn't fit with). Ugh.
• In my current campaign, I listed the available races and a player showed up on gameday with a bugbear rogue (not on the list) for maximum strength/dex combination and a double-sword. (pretty much power-gamed)

Those are just two from our most recent campaigns. How did I react? Well, with the wizard I just tried to ignore the moments of moronic-ness and continued on. The character's irritating, but the guy really enjoyed it, so I can't fault him, there.

With the rogue-bugbear in my game, I bit my tongue and let him play it. Though I was irritated at him completely ignoring my rules, I sat back and decided that if it was too much of a distraction I could ask him to change or kill the character. We're now level 12 in my game and I couldn't love that miserable evil jerk much more. He's a greatly played character with a lot of layers. I'm glad I grinned and dealt with it; the game would lack without him.

So, while I prefer my dwarves to be gruffer and less scottish and my paladins to be dark and grim, I understand that not everyone likes the same stuff as I do. We're all unique, and so, too, should the characters be unique.

 

[Treebore]

When I am the DM? I target the PC as much as I can reasonably do so. Sooner or later it will get killed.

As a player, I find reasons not to back him up any sooner than I absolutely have to, and hopefully he will get killed soon enough. If the player doesn't like it, too bad. Shouldn't play something annoying. I tend not to help annoying people in real life either.

 

[Piratecat]

When it's a real problem I try to find an compromise. I try to keep an open mind, though. For instance, the one class in the PHB2 that didn't grab me was the shaman, and naturally I have a player who wants to play one! Sure, I'm okay with that. It's more fun for her to have fun with her character than it is for me to, so long as it doesn't unbalance the game. I'm likely to dramatically alter the fluff text in order to make an unusual concept fit.

Except for shifters. Those guys annoy me.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Have you been in that situation? And, what'd you do? How do you handle this situation?

Nope, hasn't happened, and how I would/do handle the 'situation' is by prevention. Cure for teh lose.

 

[Greg K]

I try to let them play what they want. Different people enjoy the game in different ways. I actually get more annoyed at players who have very strong (and typically very limiting) opinions on what and how people should play. I have only walked away from a few games because of very off-the-wall silly characters.

One can accept and appreciate that the game can be played many different ways and still not want to play certain settngs, styles, or with certain mechanics and or classes. Sometimes, certain people are just not meant to game with one another.

 

[Dragonbait]

One can accept and appreciate that the game can be played many different ways and still not want to play certain settngs, styles, or with certain mechanics and or classes. Sometimes, certain people are just not meant to game with one another.

What I didn't say in my haste to revise my post was that I am more annoyed at players who are very opinionated on what they think does and does not work in a setting and how they should be played and very vocal about it.

 

[Rechan]

Sometimes, certain people are just not meant to game with one another.

And some things, while okay apart, do not belong together in any lasting engagement.

Kender and Ravenloft, for instance.

 

[Asmor]

In a 3.5 game I'm playing in, there's a halfling bard. I've never cared much for halflings, and I actively dislike bards.

I refer to him as "the gnome." I've gotten everyone else in the party and the DM doing it, too.

Serves him right for playing a halfling bard.

 

[fanboy2000]

I've only banned one specific class in my game: the Candle Caster from, IIRC, Tome and Blood. Too New Agey [sp?] for me. No one complained. Probably because no one wanted to play one. (It's never a problem if the players agree with you.)

I do, however, ban an entire category of PrCs in 3.x: PrCs that require an evil alignment as a prerequisite. Of course, everyone I've ever DMed knows, upfront, that I don't allow evil alignments. So this wasn't a problem either.

I'm the DM, I have a monopoly on evil.

 

[fba827]

As a DM ...
I try and set up some parameters up front (i.e. "please no silly PCs, it might be funny once but will get old fast"), maybe even disallowing one race (at most) from the 'allowed pc sources'

Beyond that, if someone comes up with something that i don't like or annoy me (and several have!) I just do my best to accept it as long as it's not distracting others.

As a player ...
I just let it go unless the PC is also in the spotlight nonstop, then it is harder to 'ignore'
At that point, it depends on what is annoying me (the player, the race, the character personality, etc) ..