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Adamaro
2010-03-17, 04:16 AM
I am a DM and one of the caracters did not supply his CS before first session, in despite the fact we agreed all participants would supply DM with their CSs, so I can familiarize myself with what characters they are playing.
This really bothers me. I mean not providing a character name is one thing, but to have an entire CS missing untill right before the session, really pisses me off.

What do you think I should do in such a case?

Farlion
2010-03-17, 04:28 AM
Tell everyone, they'll have to wait for 15 to 30min because Player X did not provide you with the CS beforehand. Postpone the start of the game and go through his character right there.

Hope he gets the message.

Say everything in a neutral voice, the nudge is clear, but this way you don't make a huge fuss about it.

Cheers,
Farlion

Devils_Advocate
2010-03-17, 05:04 AM
Perhaps it would be better to ask the rest of the group whether they want to wait for you to go over his sheet, or whether they'd rather play without his character for this session.

But yeah. If it really bothers you for a player not to meet an agreed-upon requirement, which is understandable, then don't let someone be a player until that requirement is met.

JeenLeen
2010-03-17, 08:00 AM
My DM had a rule that we lose xp if we don't turn in a new character sheet by a certain deadline (usually a few days before introducing the character).

I would think it might be unfair to add a punishment like that retroactively, though. You should think about how badly the player might take it. However, a surprise penalty like that might be reasonable. If you suspect deaths and new CS will be used, perhaps making it a rule for the future.

If it is a plot-intensive game, I wouldn't exclude that player from an entire session since it could be hard to integrate him into the ongoing story afterwards.

Choco
2010-03-17, 08:13 AM
Perhaps it would be better to ask the rest of the group whether they want to wait for you to go over his sheet, or whether they'd rather play without his character for this session.

But yeah. If it really bothers you for a player not to meet an agreed-upon requirement, which is understandable, then don't let someone be a player until that requirement is met.

+1

"What, you want to play? Well, you can't very well do that without a character sheet can you!"

Roderick_BR
2010-03-17, 10:52 AM
What Devil said. Ask if everyone is willing to wait, ask the guy to sketch it real quick. Then it'll be up to them if he can try to make his CS at the stop and if he can do it. It not, well, he had his chance, he shouldn't make everyone suffer for it.

DabblerWizard
2010-03-18, 07:49 AM
If I made a requirement, I'd expect players to fulfill it.

The following factors would weigh in on my reaction to a player that didn't meet the requirement: (1) how important the requirement was, (2) how much time went by after the deadline before the obligation was completed, (3) how much time I gave the player to do the work, (4) the player's excuse, (5) how reliable the player is in general, and (6) how difficult the task is for the player.

A few more points concerning this topic:

Sometimes life gets in the way, even for the most generally reliable players.

Playing a game shouldn't feel like completing a homework assignment, and thus, creating serious punishments for what should be an entirely voluntary experience, seems foolish.

Expressing your discontent with a player's behavior, since their lack of completion is annoying and puts the DM ill at ease, is perfectly fine.

A new player would have a harder time with filling out a character sheet compared with a more experienced player.

I trust my players to not create mechanical garbage / munchkinry, and would only seriously intervene on their character sheet if it became clear that they were causing trouble.

Kurald Galain
2010-03-18, 07:54 AM
Tell everyone, they'll have to wait for 15 to 30min because Player X did not provide you with the CS beforehand. Postpone the start of the game and go through his character right there.

Hope he gets the message.

I recommend agains this. Passive-aggressive behavior rarely helps in resolving a dispute. Instead, just state outright what you mean to say.

Tiki Snakes
2010-03-18, 08:41 AM
My personal advice is to not allow such a small issue to become Serious Business. There's no point getting bent out of shape about it.

It's just a Game. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MST3KMantra)

Choco
2010-03-18, 08:57 AM
While it is true that this is "just a game", it is also a social game, where the fun of each individual in the group depends on the other members. A player showing up to a game without a character sheet, despite being given ample time, is actually worse than a vital player standing up a raid group in an MMO (yes, an MMO is "just a game", but now you got all these other people wasting sometimes more than an hour of their time waiting for you because you could not be bothered to even tell them you are not showing up).

The point is, if it is a single player game or even a lot of competitive multiplayer games it is OK to slack cause it is just a game. But when you are playing a cooperative game like D&D you have to realize that your carelessness negatively affects the fun of the entire group. If everyone at the table has all their crap together and is ready to play, and you show up with nothing and expect them to just let it slide as they waste 30-45 minutes waiting on you, you got another thing coming.