Issue Player. He's also related to me.

[gc25774]

Alright, I've been running this long term session for quite some time and the last session was alot of fun for everyone except my brother. He runs a Level 6 Erinyes Fighter and in this previous session, the Random Number God ruined his day. Halfway through out the game, He started to listen to music so that he wouldn't fall "asleep". He says that he does not get to interact as much and blames me for it. What are ways to allow him to do more in this campaign.

Campaign info
Monster type
Currently level 15.

Three people.
**** ton of Npc's who are "developed". (Leadership whhhhhhhhhhhhhy)

[atemu1234]

Alright, I've been running this long term session for quite some time and the last session was alot of fun for everyone except my brother. He runs a Level 6 Erinyes Fighter and in this previous session, the Random Number God ruined his day. Halfway through out the game, He started to listen to music so that he wouldn't fall "asleep". He says that he does not get to interact as much and blames me for it. What are ways to allow him to do more in this campaign.

Campaign info
Monster type
Currently level 15.

Three people.
**** ton of Npc's who are "developed". (Leadership whhhhhhhhhhhhhy)

With that many NPCs, he should be interacting more. Ban electronic devices is my first bit of advice. I too DM for a problem cousin, and I found that first confiscating distractions was a huge leap forward. Tell him if he wants to interact, say something to the goddamn NPCs. He can't just expect them to walk up to an Erinyes and say, "Hi, how's it going? Oh, the wife and kids are doing great..." and have them start showing him pictures of their children.

[137beth]

I feel like we need more context. How did the random number generation ruin his day? What does he think is preventing him from interacting?

[Troacctid]

Probably because he's playing a Fighter in a level 15 game. That's literally the reason Fighters are bad--the band of encounters where they can contribute is extremely narrow once you get past the very earliest levels.

[Invader]

Probably because he's playing a Fighter in a level 15 game. That's literally the reason Fighters are bad--the band of encounters where they can contribute is extremely narrow once you get past the very earliest levels.

This only true in optimized games, fighters can be perfectly fine at any level. Not to mention an Erinyes has enough abilities and skills to make up for the fighters lack of, not to say it's an optimal setup but from the little the OP told us it seems like more of a player problem than a build problem.

[KillianHawkeye]

I feel like we need more context. How did the random number generation ruin his day? What does he think is preventing him from interacting?

I agree, I think we need more information. What kinds of interaction does the player feel he's missing out on?

[Tohsaka Rin]

Role playing is like riding on a bus.

If you sit in the back, and act cool, nobody is going to talk to you.

You've gotta get in the middle and interact.

[137beth]

Role playing is like riding on a bus.

If you sit in the back, and act cool, nobody is going to talk to you.

You've gotta get in the middle and interact.

Nice explanation.

[Thrice Dead Cat]

Role playing is like riding on a bus.

If you sit in the back, and act cool, nobody is going to talk to you.

You've gotta get in the middle and interact.

That is a wonderful quote. I'll need to remember that for future use.


Back to the player him or herself, I think part of the problem is playing something with that much ECL out the gate. I'm sadly on mobile, but I imagine Eryines is about one-half to two-thirds the total of the available 15 levels. If most of those devil levels are LA, that's even worse. At least outsider RHD are good on what they do give.

[Crake]

That is a wonderful quote. I'll need to remember that for future use.


Back to the player him or herself, I think part of the problem is playing something with that much ECL out the gate. I'm sadly on mobile, but I imagine Eryines is about one-half to two-thirds the total of the available 15 levels. If most of those devil levels are LA, that's even worse. At least outsider RHD are good on what they do give.

Considering that the erinyes has 9 HD, and the guy is a level 6 fighter in a level 15 game, it sounds like they scrapped the LA completely.

But yeah, I agree with the bus analogy. Roleplay is player driven for the most part, if he wants to interact with the work, HE needs to take the initiative

[Marlowe]

There's unfortunately a LOT of players that just expect NPCs to fawn over them and give them nice stuff for doing exactly nothing, just because they're PCs. So this is maybe the problem. But yes, we do need more info.

[torrasque666]

Role playing is like riding on a bus.

If you sit in the back, and act cool, nobody is going to talk to you.

You've gotta get in the middle and interact.

Adding this to my sig.

[Astralia123]

An Enrinyes Fighter with no LA...Sounds like a competitive one in low-optimized campaign.

It is not that his character is defected in anyway, though.
Be him a redeemed devil or not, such a character is potentially resourceful in terms of role-playing, and can be easily attached to a lot of interesting story hooks. Such a character with explanar background can easily "fall behind" in a mundane campaign, cause it would be up to the character to fill in the rationalizing part, and the DM may be just too exhausted to have villagers panic at the sight of every monstrous character.

If I understand it rightly, he lost interest when he got angry with his luck or anything, so it was not anyone else's fault when he complains about lack of interactions. But you may be responsible to get him back again in the game, in order to keep him attached and not to "get asleep".
Sometimes people just would not tell you why exactly they feel unpleasant or are unaware of the true reason, and you should figure it out by yourself.

It seems that your brother is the type of problematic player who cannot accept defeat. Even when they seem fine, this type of players are potentially problematic cause they can easily get angry and start complaining or arguing. The way to get them move is to make them feel powerful and competitive compared with other players.
One quick fix is to make his character more powerful. Anyway he is the fighter, and it is really difficult for a fighter to get to be overpowering.

[gc25774]

An Enrinyes Fighter with no LA...Sounds like a competitive one in low-optimized campaign.

It is not that his character is defected in anyway, though.
Be him a redeemed devil or not, such a character is potentially resourceful in terms of role-playing, and can be easily attached to a lot of interesting story hooks. Such a character with explanar background can easily "fall behind" in a mundane campaign, cause it would be up to the character to fill in the rationalizing part, and the DM may be just too exhausted to have villagers panic at the sight of every monstrous character.

If I understand it rightly, he lost interest when he got angry with his luck or anything, so it was not anyone else's fault when he complains about lack of interactions. But you may be responsible to get him back again in the game, in order to keep him attached and not to "get asleep".
Sometimes people just would not tell you why exactly they feel unpleasant or are unaware of the true reason, and you should figure it out by yourself.

It seems that your brother is the type of problematic player who cannot accept defeat. Even when they seem fine, this type of players are potentially problematic cause they can easily get angry and start complaining or arguing. The way to get them move is to make them feel powerful and competitive compared with other players.
One quick fix is to make his character more powerful. Anyway he is the fighter, and it is really difficult for a fighter to get to be overpowering.

Damn son, You nailed it. Thanks for the help, this really means alot to me.
Sorry for the lack of info, I had to DM yesterday.

[Astralia123]

Damn son, You nailed it. Thanks for the help, this really means alot to me.
Sorry for the lack of info, I had to DM yesterday.

Glad to be helpful.

Another quick fix is story hooks for every character. It might be cool to be monstrous characters, but not that cool if no one sees you any different from a human or a halfling. Some players are more sensible to such things.