Gotta love a good PC...

[atemu1234]

Most of my PCs are rather new at it, and I spent a lot of time either teaching them the game or helping them make their characters. Out of the group, a couple of them are old hats, as it were, and are good roleplayers. The problem remains, however, that one of them tends to not take the game seriously, and it's a bad influence on the new ones, who basically follow his leads. The last mission we did took three hours longer than expected because he quite simply refused to follow along with anything going on, and the rest did likewise. How can I fix this without removing him from the group?

[Ferronach]

You could find a way to creatively "remove" or kill his character as a warning.
Sadly that might make him rage-quit so placing him in a very difficult situation where he has to pay attention in order to survive could be more benficial.

If the party is accompanied by an NPC (who just happens to be much stronger/more powerful etc.) you could get the NPC to bonk him over the head and proceed to drag him along behind the party as they do what you want them to do.

But before doing any of this, I would just talk to the guy IRL privately and express your concerns. If he is the kind of guy that you want in your group he will smarten up. Occasionally he may slip and that is when the above should be employed as you have warned him. If he laughs at you or ingnores you etc. perhaps he is not the kind of person you want to have in your group...

[jedipotter]

How can I fix this without removing him from the group?

Easy.....ignore when he ''does not follow''. If you want/need the group to go to place A, and he takes them to place B.......just make place B, place A. See...

It does not matter is he does not follow the plot, he will always be on track.

[Captainspork]

Is he just being difficult on purpose, simply to undermine what you're trying to do? Or is his thinking (and thus problem solving) just different from yours?

If he's trying to ruin the game I'd just ask him to leave. If you're feeling generous, ask him to take things a little more serious and give him one last chance.

If he's approaching problems and trying to solve them as his character would (within reason), I don't know that is his fault.

[atemu1234]

Is he just being difficult on purpose, simply to undermine what you're trying to do? Or is his thinking (and thus problem solving) just different from yours?

If he's trying to ruin the game I'd just ask him to leave. If you're feeling generous, ask him to take things a little more serious and give him one last chance.

If he's approaching problems and trying to solve them as his character would (within reason), I don't know that is his fault.

I'm fairly certain he did it on purpose. He was complaining about an NPC who he interrupted repeatedly not liking him.

[Phelix-Mu]

First, a few disclaimers:

- Some of this seems like an out-of-character issue, which almost always have out-of-character solutions. Either talk with the trouble player, or talk with those he is influencing. A game is a careful balance between the freedom of having a character that can do whatever in-game, and being part of an irl group that got together to do something that has a semblance of plot (or at least most groups meet under that premise). Explain this to one or all of them, likely separately, and make it clear that you aren't singling them out for punishment, that you want each person playing to feel like they are contributing something to the fun that everyone is playing in hopes of.

- While it is not right to always play "majority wins," a little bit of anarchy around the table can cause quite a headache. Especially when it's contagious. A good way to stop this kind of downward spiral is to simply direct more rewarding attention to anyone that is actually engaging the plot. There might be something interesting for that guy that doesn't want to play ball to find in the mayor's office...or it might just be several hours spent searching through boring files. Meanwhile, everyone else gets some interesting role play or problem-solving, job offers, romantic involvement, and other non-combat stuff. Unfortunately, this can be a very delicate balance to strike, as it quickly starts to smack of railroading if the only interesting thing going on for anyone to do is to follow the plot kitty.

Alright, so, I think that a bit of out-of-character discussion should be had with the problem player. Is this part of his role play idea? Ask him directly what he hopes to accomplish by this bit of self-selected side-questing. If it seems like he really is just fooling around, I'd politely ask him to stop, suggesting some way in which [insert personal bit of subplot for his character] might come to pass if he just plays ball. Also remark that his default playstyle really wouldn't be a big deal, except everyone else is generally following his lead, making the already difficult job as DM even more like herding cats. If he feels like he is helping you make the game better with a little less wandering, then that might help him see a purpose behind a slightly more plot-focused approach to the game.

I usually find that drumming people out of the group is a good idea only after less overt attempts to solve the problem. D&D is a game, and it's hardly worth sacrificing real-world relationships (if one exists) by excluding someone over something that ultimately isn't unsolvable. On the other hand, if you are a bunch of strangers, then it might be best to help him search for a group where he will fit in better. The people here, I'm sure, can come up with a list of places to search for gaming groups by region, and many groups aim for a less serious/plot-centric tenor, if that's what this guy is looking for.

Still, likely worth the talk with him before threatening him with exclusion. The lovely thing about diplomacy, compromise, and problem-solving is that there is almost always an answer that can meet everyone's minimum threshold, a solution that isn't optimal for everyone, but keeps any one person from being singled out. Aim for some kind of middle ground between the freedom and the plot, and I bet you can come to a result that everyone will be pleased with.