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DRD1812
2018-04-25, 09:23 AM
Have you ever had a lone wolf character (http://www.handbookofheroes.com/archives/comic/loner) at your table? How do you deal with it when a PC wants to brood alone in the corner?

Pelle
2018-04-25, 09:27 AM
Have you ever had a lone wolf character (http://www.handbookofheroes.com/archives/comic/loner) at your table? How do you deal with it when a PC wants to brood alone in the corner?

Just let them, and ignore it...

2D8HP
2018-04-25, 09:43 AM
Some of us (okay me :smallredface:) just can't think up back-stories that aren't Mad Max/Batman claptrap, and playing out those back-stories results in this.

Solution?

More pre-gens please!

Jay R
2018-04-25, 12:26 PM
A player who wants to play a loner who causes trouble for the party will arrange to do so.

The straightforward but sometimes difficult solution is for the player to not cause trouble.

I once ran a loner who had been an outcast orphan. He always volunteered for the solo jobs (well, he was the party thief). But over time, I made it clear that he'd never had people who trusted him or cared about him before, and he came (slowly) to treat the party like the only people he could trust.

He made a point, whenever he did something for one of the others, of saying, "Ten months ago, you saved my life when we faced that giant spider." The implication was that he thought of it more as paying a debt than as actual friendship, but it still meant that the party got along.

Florian
2018-04-25, 12:30 PM
Have you ever had a lone wolf character (http://www.handbookofheroes.com/archives/comic/loner) at your table? How do you deal with it when a PC wants to brood alone in the corner?

Say goodbye.

GentlemanVoodoo
2018-04-25, 01:10 PM
Have you ever had a lone wolf character (http://www.handbookofheroes.com/archives/comic/loner) at your table? How do you deal with it when a PC wants to brood alone in the corner?

Depends in what context of a lone wolf. If the player has the characyer as basically an introvert but still contributes to the game some points of brooding can be tolerated. If the player is good at rping such instances in my games tend make up some of the best scenes. If the player cannot and it causes a problem then group discussions are held and if no resolutions ate reached the player is asked to leave.

RazorChain
2018-04-25, 01:21 PM
One player of mine made a paranoid lone wolf character. Guess who got left behind by the rest of the party?

Time to roll a new character that can work with the rest of the group.


A lone wolf character only works if discussed beforehand and players cooperate so that character is going to work within the game. This can be the reclusive ranger that likes his privacy and is distrustful but learns to work with the group and trust them during the course of the campaign.

Anonymouswizard
2018-04-25, 02:01 PM
Lone Wolf characters should have a reason not to abandon the party.

The one time I played a semi-lone wolf he originally stayed with the party because it was the only way he'd be able to get into his desired career. Also because he was much more willing to go off on his own I intentionally tanked his combat skills (seriously, the rules got changed so he was able to hurt people when wielding knives) so that he wouldn't wander away from the party during missions. Eventually I decided he'd grown to like the party, at which point I bumped up his combat skills and used my latest paycheck on a better weapon.

Ironically the next character I played immediately latched onto about three quarters of the party and warmed up to the last member quickly enough that the GM ruled my intolerance disad wouldn't apply in this case, and eventually allowed me to buy it off (I swapped it instead, one of the party members had continuously acted like the kind of person my character would hate, so we worked out he'd decided one race was a bit dishonourable but trustworthy in their own way, but elves were all horrible).

lightningcat
2018-04-25, 02:45 PM
They just need some sort of reason to stay with the group. There are plenty of examples of a lone wolf character working as part of a group in other media. Use that for inspiration.
Jayne from Firefly, does not work well with others, actively dislikes several members of the group. Needs money and want to be able to travel.
Wolverine from the X-Men. The archtypical lone wolf character. Always acting as a big brother for one or more other (ususally female) characters, and trying to get in a romantic relationship with others. Sometimes owes a debt to Prof. X, or is using the team resources to go after his personal enemies (who are also the team's enemies).
Batman. The original lone wolf character in modern media. He has more people in his group then anyone wants to think about. The man is completely a team player, he just doesn't like to admit it.
Sherlock Holmes. As smart as he is, he needs someone to bounce his ideas off of, even if they don't always understand what he is talking about. Also he needs someone between him and the rest of humanity. Depending on the version, he also needs someone that can do violent things when needed.

Mastikator
2018-04-25, 03:40 PM
You know it's funny but not once since I and the people I play with became adults. Maybe it went out of fashion or something?

What to do with them? Give them what they ostensibly want, leave them alone.

ZamielVanWeber
2018-04-25, 04:27 PM
The FATE game I am currently in all three of our characters were lone wolves yet ended up working together nicely. It's up to the lone wolf's player to make it work.

Honest Tiefling
2018-04-25, 06:07 PM
Just let them, and ignore it...

Probably the mature option. The immature option is to loudly ask the party who the hell this creep is that keeps following them and then trying to apprehend what must clearly be a brigand following the party into the woods. Have at thee, scoundrel!

Darth Ultron
2018-04-25, 07:55 PM
All too often.

I would say in general I just ignore them. If there idea of fun is to come to a game and watch other people play, I'm fine with them sitting in the corner.

Though if they try and disrupt the group game, I will get rid of them quick. Though I don't put up with other game disruptions either.

Mechalich
2018-04-25, 08:57 PM
This has to do with balancing character and player contributions.

Some players are introverted or shy and dislike speaking up during games. They may contribute less to in-game conversations and contribute very little to social situations in game. That's fine as long as they handle their characters area of responsibility whenever it comes up. Serving as the muscle actually works well for such characters since the strong, silent type is perfectly effective when it comes time to smash faces (many comic book superteams have exactly this character, the Guardians of the Galaxy went so far as to reduce his dialogue options to three words). So when you have a player who doesn't want to talk steer them into a non-talky role.

The other, much more problematic, lone wolf type is a player who gives their character a personal storyline that is antithetical to whatever the party is supposed to be doing and wishes to hijack the storyline towards their own thing while either conducting solo adventurers or forcing the rest of the party to be their support group. This is not okay and needs to be managed out of game.

BarbieTheRPG
2018-04-26, 12:10 AM
You handle that before play begins by agreeing as a group that no one can play a loner.

Kiero
2018-04-26, 04:34 AM
You know it's funny but not once since I and the people I play with became adults. Maybe it went out of fashion or something?

What to do with them? Give them what they ostensibly want, leave them alone.

This. I haven't seen the connection-less and engagement-avoiding Loner since I was a teenager.

Guizonde
2018-04-26, 05:21 AM
i've had a few that had lone-wolf playstyles, but only one who was actively a loner.

my inquisitor is built to fight with no one at his back, since he fights mostly using acrobatic stunts that the rest of the team can't pull off. he does very shady things that get him into trouble, but whenever there's a mystery, he's a complete team player and exceptionnally sociable (that'll teach me to build a character wrongly....) basically, the inquisitor is a force multiplier, but in order to do so, he needs to be away from the group: pincer moves, recon, dishonorable acts that'd cause alignment changes, dealing with the underworld, advanced murder using potatoes... for the first few times, the group didn't even know he was doing it, which frankly put a strain on my roleplaying capabilities. he's hated by the team in character, but ooc he pulls more of his weight that some members of the team. his current character development is him learning to ease up his workload by trusting the group.

the real true blue lone wolf character is an undead built to survive, whose goal is to kill a god (iuz, before you ask). she has trust issues, and was optimized to be as independant as possible. the few times i've fielded her for one-shots or test runs, she was pretty vrelling discreet, only using the group to forward her own agenda of wiping out evil and possibly becoming alive again. this character i'll only field if everyone is on board with it, not least because a neutral good undead is just out there enough to cause problems.

hymer
2018-04-26, 06:19 AM
The immature option is to loudly ask the party who the hell this creep is that keeps following them and then trying to apprehend what must clearly be a brigand following the party into the woods. Have at thee, scoundrel!
Or just mock them relentlessly.

I'm with the adult solution of letting them be, and if required I'd back it up with some talking between sessions.

Cozzer
2018-04-26, 06:30 AM
Personally, I estabilish the reason why the characters will form a party before creating the actual characters, together with the players. This way, a lone wolf character isn't really a problem and can actually be quite fun.

Darth Ultron
2018-04-26, 06:42 AM
This. I haven't seen the connection-less and engagement-avoiding Loner since I was a teenager.

They are just as common as adults.

I see three main types:

1.The Loner. They just want to be alone, utterly alone. It is a wonder they even want to play a group social game....but they do.

2.Shy. They are fine one on one...maybe...but more then two people that they just shut down and sit in the corner.

3.The Jerk. They just think the Lone Wolf is super cool 4Evers! And their main way of having fun is to ruin the fun of others.

Ossian77
2018-04-26, 08:15 AM
Buddy there is a veritable plethora of loners out there in parties. Essentially anyone who wears black (sometimes blue). Voltron, Gatchaman, Saint Seiya, any sentai-coded series.

You wear black, you kick ass, you are better than the red wearing leader and really you ARE more skilled than the rest of the party combined,. but you got s**t to brood about and that is a busy schedule. It's all right.

HERE (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheLancer)

Does not need to be a drag. Think of Han Solo. Is there anyone cooler than him in the whole galaxy? Hardly. There is your scoundrel (rogue?) type.

Spike from Cowboy Bebop? Top-stuff. Make him a vigilante? Done.

Gatsu from Berserk? (SUPER loner, ther s your warrior)

Geralt of Rivia (the Witcher) for some TRULY introvert, sullen, brooding, grim badass who earns his living slaying monsters and avoiding parties (but, in the books, spending a significant amount of time in one)

Kenshiro / Rei from Hokuto no Ken ?

Vegeta from Dragon Ball? (super loner, there s your martial arts buff)

These people just don t work in parties, or tolerate it, or just plain hate it or feel they are debasing themselves when they accept to be in one. hey avoid parties out of the fear x the curse that haunts them (Gatsu)

Work out what makes them unique to the party and irreplaceable (no one really IS irrepleaceable, but this ain t the job market, it s your game, so make it work :)).

The party must have some need that that character uniquely fulfills and it 's major bad news if he quits.

Imagine a rag tag team of scoundrels and tomb raiders who need a bruiser for the dark alley encounters in town when they sell relics on the black market.

Imagine a bunch of really tough thugs who need someone with good manners and a knack for heraldry just desperately enough to be OM with his/her utter lack of martial skills and not so manly courtly finesse.

Imagine a bunch of people with diverse skills but ZERO magic in a land ruled by wizards as the highest caste, or without ANY clerical ability or church connections in a theocracy.

All extreme examples, just for the sake of argument, but you got the gist

M.

Delta
2018-04-26, 08:16 AM
They are just as common as adults.

I see three main types:

1.The Loner. They just want to be alone, utterly alone. It is a wonder they even want to play a group social game....but they do.

2.Shy. They are fine one on one...maybe...but more then two people that they just shut down and sit in the corner.

3.The Jerk. They just think the Lone Wolf is super cool 4Evers! And their main way of having fun is to ruin the fun of others.

I once had an amazing case of one player who was pretty much all three at the same time. Her character was usually the rogue-type who did her own thing most often seperate from the rest of the group, was very shy and often overwhelmed when getting into social situations (going so far as to play a Lunar Exalted in one game who spent like 90% of game time shapeshifted into a cat so social interaction with her was pretty much impossible) yet had a very strong urge to not only be the center of attention, but the center of the group, constantly insisting on playing the character with the highest social rank or otherwise the nominal leader of the group.

It could get... quite stressful and hardly ever worked out well.

DRD1812
2018-04-26, 09:54 AM
Buddy there is a veritable plethora of loners out there in parties. Essentially anyone who wears black (sometimes blue). Voltron, Gatchaman, Saint Seiya, any sentai-coded series.

You wear black, you kick ass, you are better than the red wearing leader and really you ARE more skilled than the rest of the party combined,. but you got s**t to brood about and that is a busy schedule. It's all right.


Sentai is an interesting point of comparison. Brooding, skilled, but still part of a Sentai team. That last part might be the most important. Simply asking, "Why are you a part of this team?" seems like a good starting place.

DRD1812
2018-04-26, 09:57 AM
a Lunar Exalted in one game who spent like 90% of game time shapeshifted into a cat so social interaction with her was pretty much impossible

Trying to RP in Clawspeak sucks. When you're in Malfeas and not gaining back any motes though, it just isn't worth the cost to shift. Those were some interesting sessions....

Delta
2018-04-26, 10:11 AM
Trying to RP in Clawspeak sucks. When you're in Malfeas and not gaining back any motes though, it just isn't worth the cost to shift. Those were some interesting sessions....

There was no reason beyond her just wanting to avoid social interaction. The session in question took place at a high society party in Gem where her character wasn't initially invited, but one of the other characters could've gotten her an invitation easily, she probably could've gotten herself on the list through a contact but she said "No, I'll just get in there as a cat", so far so good. She could've shifted back into human form easily since it was a big party and no one inside cared one bit about who was on the list and who wasn't, she knew that full well and other players even pointed it out to her, but she preferred to remain in cat form so she didn't have to do any roleplaying beyond purring and sitting on other characters laps.

It was fun at first but since the party was a huge deal and took up the whole session it became a bit weird to have a player be like that, refusing to engage in the scene in any meaningful way yet constantly yearning to be at the center of attention. Note that this was far, far from the worst session, this was just odd and something I just had never witnessed before. (the actual worst was the one time when she played a kind of "amazon priestess" character that made absolutely no sense in either the setting, the adventure or the group, and again ticked all three of the above mentioned boxes perfectly, yet since the GM was her bf, one of the players was her ex and another player was conflict-averse to a ridiculous level, everyone was bending over backwards to have everything revolve around her to a degree I had never witnessed before or since, I stopped playing with that group of people afterwards...)