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View Full Version : Problem Player(s)? DnD 3.5



GeminiVeil
2010-04-04, 09:30 PM
I've been reading on here a lot about a problem player, the kind that either doesn't understand the game, isn't mature enough, or tries to get the biggest, badest character at 1st lvl without having to give anything up for it. But I have had a slightly different situation, and while it is too late to do anything about it now, I was wondering, what could I have done at the time to have changed things, if anything?

Basically, the situation was that there was a total of 4 players in a game I was DMing. (DnD 3.5) 1 of those players (I'll call him Z) had DM'd another game for us, which had come to a close right before we started this campaign. During said campaign, another one of my players (P) was in that game as well, and had wracked up quite a high death count (somewhere near the 60 death mark). This spurned a lot of bad blood, since P thought that it was something personel from Z, which Z swore it was no such thing. That, and the end of the campaign had P's death written into the script.

As far as I know, the third player (S) has had no real trouble with P DMing. The fourth (A) on the other hand, as had multiple bad experiances with Z. I won't recount them all, suffice it to say, it left A not liking Z very much.

So, up to relevent info. Throughout the entire game I was DMing, everyone basically picked on Z like there was no tomorrow. No matter what he did, everyone found a problem with it. From not moving out of a doorway fast enough (someone's character was trying to get out and charged him, and he couldn't move fast enough) to when he finally up and quit the game, where he tried to sacrifice himself for everyone else so they wouldn't have to recieve punishment from something. (more detail can be provided upon request) They just found ways to have a problem with everything he did.

I will admit my own fault in that I didn't realize what was happening until he quit. He said to the group that it was over health problems, but I have a strong suspicion it was because of the picking. Or maybe the two just happened to coincide. I'm not sure.

Which leaves me with the question: What should I have done? I know that what I did do (nothing, unfortunately) was wrong, but I still am not sure what the correct, or even proper thing was to do. Any help would be greatly appreciated. (just in case, basically)

EDIT: Put the correct person as Z that was picked on, not P.

NiteCyper
2010-04-04, 09:52 PM
I know that what I did do (nothing, unfortunately) was wrong...
We're talking from a point of view that believes the meaning of life is the pursuit of happiness which can be pursued through playing DND, right?

The beauty of DND is how one is able to do nearly anything. In trying to please everyone, you please no one. The basis is the players, and if someone doesn't work as a friend, the matter's over, you don't force someone to change to make the friendship work, however, as the scarcity of 3.5e DND players grows, the more coherent you can make a group, the better. Point of the opening statement of this paragraph is that this is a matter to handle psychologically/socially, not through the medium of a game (i.e. to use divine intervention to hold off inter-conflict is temporary; it doesn't fix the underlying problem unless that's what you construct it to accomplish). This is real-life we're talking here.