What do you do if a player performs IC actions for OOC reasons?

[Talakeal]

What do you do if a player performs in character actions for out of character reasons?

For example, a player is mad at the GM so they attack a random NPC or kill themselves even though they are playing a LG hero. Or a player is mad at or jealous of another player, so they have their PC attack, steal from, or otherwise betray an ally who they have always been loyal to in the past with no IC reason coming between them? Or, a player is simply bored and either gives up or begins to act completely wacky and insane.

Do you allow the character to perform such actions?

[Namfuak]

If it's disruptive, talk to them about it. If it isn't, you should probably ask them to justify their actions IC. Granted, depending on the kind of game you are playing, an IC justification may be very loose. For example, I'm playing a game right now where the characters are marginally aware that they are actually fictional, so it would be acceptable for them to give IC reasons for actions that are genre savvy.

[lokoone]

yeah i let, but i also kick the player out of my table.

[Psyren]

What do you do if a player performs in character actions for out of character reasons?

For example, a player is mad at the GM so they attack a random NPC or kill themselves even though they are playing a LG hero.

It depends on the reasons. It sounds like your player is unhappy with his character for some reason (or he wouldn't have killed it) - find out why that is.

[Talakeal]

It depends on the reasons. It sounds like your player is unhappy with his character for some reason (or he wouldn't have killed it) - find out why that is.

It isn't a one time thing, it is just something that has happened now and again over the years. Usually when a player is acting in such a passive agressive mood they won't admit anything is wrong, but normally I can come to some sort of OOC resolution.

What I am wondering about is IC. Do you let the players do it? I normally allow players complete control of their characters, but it really strains the story when the good paladin murders his best friend out of the blue or when the hero confronts the dark lord by throwing a pie at him and then singing I'm a little teapot

[Manateee]

I don't want to throw a blanket statement out there: adventuring, and doing so in a party, are often IC actions performed for thinly-veiled OOC reasons.

But I agree with Namfuak - if it's disruptive, talk to the player and stop it. If it's not disruptive, don't sweat it. Same as anything, really.

[Psyren]

I don't see how a paladin murdering his best friend could be IC unless there's some compulsion going on. So that one at least would need to be handled outside the game.

[--Lime--]

Playing =/= Roleplaying

Just because their character can do it, doesn't mean they would. If the person messing up the game for everyone isn't showing interest in the aim - roleplay - then they should really ask themselves why they're at the table. If it's to cause trouble, ask yourself why you continue to include them.

Expecting characters to behave inside their alignment* or within the boundaries of common sense in a game scenario is perfectly reasonable. It isn't taking control of their characters; it's keeping the characters under the players' control. Not playing the character is not playing the game.


*Alignment. Cause or effect? I say both. A character starts as "Good", say, because that's been their history up until then. They should not act Evil "just because". If they believe that they're ridding the world of something bad but overstep the mark and start a genocide, feel free to make a note of it and adjust alignment if it continues. Same for having to think/react quickly in a chaotic manner for a lawful character, or a chaotic character having to suck it up and abide by an authority's system to get what they want. Not going mad/becoming anal for no real reason at all.

[Savannah]

If it's being actively disruptive, your best bet is to talk to the player as soon as you see any warning signs and figure out what's up before the character kills their friends or some other big gesture of discontent with the game. If you literally have no warning, I'd probably stop the game and talk to the player about why they want to do that.

(Remember that IC reasons may not be readily apparent -- I have a character who is living in a world where both her race and class end up run out of town with pitchforks if they're lucky and has a fair bit of past trauma on top of that, and she has gone on some pretty crazy mood swings because of it. I can, and do, justify it OOC to the other players and DM, since we always talk about any potential issues as they come up.)

[Alienist]

Consider finding a way of telling them that perhaps they should go home early that session. Then during the week send them an email saying hi how's it going, wanna chat about anything?

[Helldog]

IC try to stop it in a reasonable way, like for example the guard stops him from killing an innocent NPC or something. The player should have control over his character, even if he's behaving like an ass.
What you should do instead is telling him OOC to stop this nonsense or he's gonna have to get kicked from the game until he learns to behave accordingly.

[Mirakk]

"Immediate 10D6 Lightning Bolt, no save"

But seriously, I've been in a position like this where one person made a Samurai and was given the most prominent position in our story as our leader, but later decided that due to his "work schedule" he couldn't be around anymore. He asked if he could be delegated to a lesser role in the party and made a Barbarian instead.

After 2 sessions (He never missed a game, despite his "schedule changing", he wanted to make a bard instead. So scratching my head, I made what was his THIRD integration to the group (For those of you who don't DM, trying to add a character to the party mid-game can be an exercise in frustration, especially when people are treating it like a revolving door). Around this time, the party's ninja was asking if he could re-roll to a paladin, since the other guy was re-rolling all the time too. Considering how important that ninja was to the current story arc (It was from his back story), I said no.

After a few more sessions, The Bard was considering making a Sorcerer so I put my foot down and said there was no way in hell I was letting him re-roll again.. He started behaving like a jackass in character and trying to **** the party at every turn. Finally having enough, I had a parasite creature swoop down and impale him to death in the chest. While the party was dragging the body to a shrine, the parasite's young burst out of his anus and flew away. Needless to say, he didn't come back.

And that's how I roll.

[Slipperychicken]

Solve out-of-game problem with out-of-game conversation. Ask him why he's doing this, it could help (maybe he wants more combats, or a less serious game). Let him know that if he keeps disrupting the game, you won't run games for him anymore.