troublesome players

[Bard1cKnowledge]

So in the games I run, a constant player is a CN half orc barbarian. Now he gets creative and has played before, but I'm having trouble "justifying" a good portion of his actions

Namely, "I punch the hellknight and start a fight with both of them."
Intimidating a half long running an in to give him a better room and his others rooms literally covered in the recycled parts of an animals lunch

I have asked him to stop this multiple times, not sure what else to do here

[Maglubiyet]

So in the games I run, a constant player is a CN half orc barbarian. Now he gets creative and has played before, but I'm having trouble "justifying" a good portion of his actions

Namely, "I punch the hellknight and start a fight with both of them."
Intimidating a half long running an in to give him a better room and his others rooms literally covered in the recycled parts of an animals lunch

I have asked him to stop this multiple times, not sure what else to do here

I think that fourth sentence is supposed to read, "Intimidating a halfling running an inn to give him a better room and his other room's literally covered in the recycled parts of an animals lunch."

Does he ever face consequences for starting these fights? Have an NPC summon the town guard when things start to get out of hand next time -- someone always calls the cops. Fighting the guard will land him in serious trouble.

[Eisenheim]

if you've asked him to stop multiple times and he hasn't, then you have to consider whether you and the rest of your group want to continue gaming with someone who is intentionally, and this in pretty clearly intentional, disruptive. If the answer is no, don't invite him back.

[Bard1cKnowledge]

Sorry about the misspelling, I'm on my phone when I post these.

He has threatened to stop playing if I keep pausing to say what the heck on his actions.

Even if its just a solo I'm not comfortable with half of his action to non hostile npcs.

There were others in the group but they moved (not related to the barbarian and his antics) so its harder for them to come out and play.

So when we do get more people I'm going to pull him aside and say "hey, I know its your character, but we got people who are new to this, so please don't try to be antagonistic to the non hostiles."

[Studoku]

He has threatened to stop playing if I keep pausing to say what the heck on his actions.
So let him leave. You shouldn't change the way you run a game to satisfy one player who's intent on causing trouble anyway.

Is there a reason you're so desperate to keep this player?

[BWR]

I can understand wanting to keep people on and trying to make them better but if you have asked him repeatedly to stop and he keeps doing it, if he 'threatens' to leave, if he shows no interest in making the game fun for anyone else but himself, kick him out. It should be a case of "you can't quit 'cause you're fired".
People who actively make things less fun for everyone and obviously do not care about anyone else are people you don't need or want at your table. Or, indeed, most other aspects of life.

Edit: Read things a bit more carefully. Since this is a one-on-one it could be he's just letting loose and having fun before other people show up at which point he'll straighten up. You might consider letting him run wild with a murderhobo phase and just ignore whatever things you had planned. It might not be what you intended but if he's genuinely having fun with things the way they are, maybe it's ok to let it go, at least for a while. The threatening to leave bit is still worrisome, however, and if he does show any later disregard for other people, including your game, then you should cut him loose.

[Maglubiyet]

He has threatened to stop playing if I keep pausing to say what the heck on his actions.

Even if its just a solo I'm not comfortable with half of his action to non hostile npcs.

There were others in the group but they moved (not related to the barbarian and his antics) so its harder for them to come out and play.

So when we do get more people I'm going to pull him aside and say "hey, I know its your character, but we got people who are new to this, so please don't try to be antagonistic to the non hostiles."

Call the cops on him. Instead of addressing it OOC, how about throwing some in-game consequences his way? In most civilized places, you can't go around beating people up without the authorities showing up. Have him get arrested. Let him spend a few nights in jail awaiting a trial for "disturbing the peace" and "malicious assault with an attempt to cause grievous injury". Make him pay fines when his case is presented to the local magistrate. Meanwhile, the rest of the party is adventuring in town.

Eventually he may be banned in the city. WANTED posters of him are nailed to tavern doors. "Have you seen this barbarian?" Every time he shows his face bounty hunters show up to collect the reward for his capture or death.



Sorry about the misspelling, I'm on my phone when I post these.

(I figured -- I get the same thing when I post from my phone. "Half longs" when you're trying to type "halflings" !) :smallwink:

[Eisenheim]

I must disagree with Maglubiyet here. This is an OOC problem; don't play with toxic people. Generally, I would advise against playing with anyone you wouldn't happily hang out with if there was no game going on. No gaming is better than bad gaming is a maxim that crops up on the forum, and it's not wrong. If you can't put a group together where you are, you can certainly find something online.

[Maglubiyet]

I must disagree with Maglubiyet here. This is an OOC problem; don't play with toxic people. Generally, I would advise against playing with anyone you wouldn't happily hang out with if there was no game going on. No gaming is better than bad gaming is a maxim that crops up on the forum, and it's not wrong. If you can't put a group together where you are, you can certainly find something online.

You're right, I shouldn't have said "instead of OOC". I agree with the general idea of OOC discussions and a toxic player shouldn't be tolerated. Anyone who is intentionally ignoring everyone else's fun isn't someone you want to have around.

But this kind of thing might also be addressable in-game. If the guy has to roll up another character every time he gets rowdy, it might temper his anti-social activities. Make it clear that being a PC isn't a license to rampage. An equal and opposite reaction to such behavior could help keep people like this in line.

[rafet]

What's your relationship OOC? Close friend or random acquaintance? If it's a 1v1 I'm guessing the first. If that's the case and an OOC chat isn't resolving the issue, but you want to maintain the relationship then bring in very likely very difficult scenarios, it could actually add to the fun of the game depending on what the focus of the game is.

[Bard1cKnowledge]

He's a friend, we play together in 5e (the ones I'm running are pathfinder) and I've seen how he plays in a group, he creative and doesn't antagonize so I'm wondering why he does it solo when he knows that I just want to tell astory without 10+hellknights descending upon him

[rafet]

He's a friend, we play together in 5e (the ones I'm running are pathfinder) and I've seen how he plays in a group, he creative and doesn't antagonize so I'm wondering why he does it solo when he knows that I just want to tell astory without 10+hellknights descending upon him

It might be his way of making, "your story" to "both of yours story"

[Bard1cKnowledge]

I just hope he keeps in in when we play with people new to the game.

[Segev]

Sounds like you need to a) stop running solo for him, b) let him leave if he wants to, and c) if you're going to run for him (solo or otherwise) have the consequences of his actions occur. That last is important; it is unlikely but possible that he's seeing if his actions are actually meaningful in-game. Every time he gets away with something he shouldn't, he might be (even subconsciously) deciding that it doesn't matter what he does because his character will suffer only pre-plotted consequences.

[Jay R]

He has threatened to stop playing if I keep pausing to say what the heck on his actions.

Perfect. Thank him for his proposed solution, and accept it.

The only alternative is to accept that behavior in your game. This player has made it clear that neither he nor his character will ever be willing to fit in.

[Jornophelanthas]

It sounds like this player is not enjoying your 1v1 campaign and is trying to get out of it without actually having to cancel himself, maybe because he doesn't want to hurt your feelings.

Could it be that he is threatening to leave, and secretly hoping that you'll let him leave?

[Ghost49X]

You could ask him OOC what he wants with the game, does he want realist consequences to happen when he acts like an outlaw bandit? Or is he just looking for the perverse fun some people get when they kill harmless npcs in games? Getting the idea of what he wants to RP as a character and where he wants the story to go as a player can help you plan sessions that are enjoyable to both of you. I've met people whose idea of fun is to run around GTA and beat up random citizens/prostitutes while I've met people who do the exact same thing because they want a quick escalating fire fight with the cops.

Whatever he answers you can talk to him OOC how it's affecting your enjoyment of the game and maybe find a solution that you both agree would be worth pursuing. If he's the type to find pleasure in killing or abusing random people with that as his sole goal then you should probably stop playing with him (and maybe refer him to a therapist).

[goto124]

(and maybe refer him to a therapist).

There are perfectly sane people who like to kill and butcher random people in fictional games, computer or tabletop. I doubt it's that bad.