D&D Player Archetypes

[8BitNinja]

No, this is not for PCs, these are for the people controlling them.

Have you ever noticed that, although many different people play D&D, some follow the same patterns? Well this is the place to call them out!

The only rules are that it has to be for how the person himself acts, not an individual character

Some examples:

That one guy who always plays CE, he most likely brings the Book of Vile Darkness to every game too

The DM who always tries to make the paladin fall (personal least favorite)

The guy who tries to justify doing horrible acts of evil and stay in an all good/mostly good party by saying "but I'm Chaotic Neutral"

[Honest Tiefling]

The Succubus/Incubus. Please stop trying to seduce the entire party/gaming group. You're embarrassing yourself.

The Pyromanic, who just wants to see the world burn. Hopefully, you get the variety who DOESN'T bring lighters to the gaming table...

And the HULK SMASH. The answer to every problem is to hit it with something large. Mental stats are to be dumped, and the bard is to be smashed as well if they get into the way of MORE SMASHING. Sometimes, it gets old trying to explain why you can't just murder every merchant.

And then the Kleptomanic. The person who either thinks its funny to steal everything, or the person who wants to steal things from the party and then hides behind rules banning PvP. If the character sheet lists a crowbar, be wary.

And the person who plays out their fetish. I'm glad you've found what makes you happy, but I really rather not know this stuff about you. Do you think you could perhaps, I dunno, this might sound extreme, give your character a personality beyond this fetish? Did...Did you just describe your character as nubile? OKAY BYE NOW.

[Quertus]

The person who always runs the same character. They've found what works for them, and they stick with it. Lemme guess - another troll-blooded arctic dwaven barbarian? DMing a whole group of these guys would probably be the easiest thing ever.

The old school player. They tend to believe that, if you're rolling the dice, you've already lost. Usually identifiable by the items like 10' pole, 50' of rope, and bag of marbles that show up on every character sheet.

The collector. This guy is all about taking trophies. Whether it's the mane of the insane unicorn, or just a cog out of a trap they disarm, they often need an extra sheet (or more) for their inventory. Bonus points if they either find some way to use these items during the adventure, or have them integrated into their custom-built magic items.

The social gamer. They don't really care about the game, they're just here to hang out with their friends. They usually can't be bothered to learn the system, update their character sheet, or remember anything about the plot. 6 months in, they're still asking,"What do I roll again?"

The cheater. This guy likes to roll his dice behind a pile of books, or behind a screen. Usually has several dice sitting out, to be able to point to the one with the good roll - especially if not running the game. Usually has catch phases that act as tells.

The rules lawyer (basic). Maybe this guy knows the rules, maybe he doesn't, but he's going to try to convince you that the rules do - or might - work in some way that benefits him right now.

The rules lawyer (advanced). This guy might know the rules, he might not (he probably does). He argues, not for personal advantage, but for consistency. He is an advocate of the rules and mechanics.

The rules lawyer (supreme). This guy knows the rules. He could give himself or his party huge advantages, but he does not. You usually only realize how well he knows the rules when a lesser rules lawyer begins to derail the game. He is an advocate of story and gameplay over rules.

I could describe a lot more, but there's one I feel it is important to raise awareness about:

The ADOS (Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny). I've probably mislabeled him, and he's often misidentified as someone who doesn't care about the game. He'll have his phone out, playing a game or surfing the web. Or he be painting minis or reading a book while playing the game. But he is actually able to keep track of what is going on in the game while multitasking. Try and take those "distractions" away from him, and his performance will likely suffer.

[Aleolus]

I actually uploaded a video on Youtube about this a couple of months ago. Not a comprehensive list, but I do cover the most common ones (at least in my experience.

EDIT: Forgot to link the video: Here you go

[8BitNinja]

The few so far were great, here are some more from me

The Creepy Guy- you know that half naked elf chick in your party? when you look across the table, you can clearly see the elf is actually that guy who has a neck beard, Cheeto stained shirt, and breathes really heavy. The only time people are happy when the paladin keeps someone from having the happy times

The Immature One- if a plan is going to go wrong, a battle fails miserably, or someone does the to a trap not being disarmed, it's him. He has a strong "you can't tell me what to do" mentality and can also be a jerk. Does not comply to anything, and may or may not be chaotic neutral

ERPer- The Stage 2 evolution of the Succubus (stage 1 being creepy guy). Brings the BoEF to every game and tries to "get some" every session

[goto124]

The rules lawyer (basic). Maybe this guy knows the rules, maybe he doesn't, but he's going to try to convince you that the rules do - or might - work in some way that benefits him right now.

The rules lawyer (advanced). This guy might know the rules, he might not (he probably does). He argues, not for personal advantage, but for consistency. He is an advocate of the rules and mechanics.

The rules lawyer (supreme). This guy knows the rules. He could give himself or his party huge advantages, but he does not. You usually only realize how well he knows the rules when a lesser rules lawyer begins to derail the game. He is an advocate of story and gameplay over rules.

New class: Rules Lawyer! Now comes in 3 levels!

[Louro]

The old school player. They tend to believe that, if you're rolling the dice, you've already lost. Usually identifiable by the items like 10' pole, 50' of rope, and bag of marbles that show up on every character sheet.

Chalk! Don't ever forget the mighty chalk!!!

[b4ndito]

The person who always runs the same character. They've found what works for them, and they stick with it. Lemme guess - another troll-blooded arctic dwaven barbarian? DMing a whole group of these guys would probably be the easiest thing ever.

The collector. This guy is all about taking trophies. Whether it's the mane of the insane unicorn, or just a cog out of a trap they disarm, they often need an extra sheet (or more) for their inventory. Bonus points if they either find some way to use these items during the adventure, or have them integrated into their custom-built magic items.

The social gamer. They don't really care about the game, they're just here to hang out with their friends. They usually can't be bothered to learn the system, update their character sheet, or remember anything about the plot. 6 months in, they're still asking,"What do I roll again?"

I've got each of these in my campaign right now. In a word, maddening.

[JAL_1138]

Chalk! Don't ever forget the mighty chalk!!!

Bag of flour, too, in case of invisible enemies, or to check for wind direction and speed (or air currents to find secret doors), or to mark pressure plates and pit traps, or to check for tripwires. (Or to cook with, I suppose.)

Hammer and pitons, too. Got to have those. Not only do they help when climbing, you can tie a piton to some twine and throw it for trapfinding purposes as well.

And a small metal mirror, to check under doors and around corners.

And don't forget to bring bags or sacks, those are handy.

[Lorsa]

The rules lawyer (basic). Maybe this guy knows the rules, maybe he doesn't, but he's going to try to convince you that the rules do - or might - work in some way that benefits him right now.

The rules lawyer (advanced). This guy might know the rules, he might not (he probably does). He argues, not for personal advantage, but for consistency. He is an advocate of the rules and mechanics.

The rules lawyer (supreme). This guy knows the rules. He could give himself or his party huge advantages, but he does not. You usually only realize how well he knows the rules when a lesser rules lawyer begins to derail the game. He is an advocate of story and gameplay over rules.

I've been a GM for both the (basic) and (advanced) type of rules lawyer. Being a physicist, I usually learn rules and their intricacies pretty quickly, so I never found them to be derailing the game. Maybe I actually would qualify for the (supreme) rules lawyer archetype, as I do advocate story and gameplay over rules. I mean, any random schmuck can abuse the rules, I have hardly found any system that can't be broken in one way or another, and since it's easy it's hardly fun. Having quality gameplay on the other hand, is rather difficult.

[obryn]

You know, Robin Laws made an actually-helpful list which DMs can refer to, in order to tailor their game for their players.

[hifidelity2]

Bag of flour, too, in case of invisible enemies, or to check for wind direction and speed (or air currents to find secret doors), or to mark pressure plates and pit traps, or to check for tripwires. (Or to cook with, I suppose.)

Hammer and pitons, too. Got to have those. Not only do they help when climbing, you can tie a piton to some twine and throw it for trapfinding purposes as well.

And a small metal mirror, to check under doors and around corners.

And don't forget to bring bags or sacks, those are handy.

errr that might be me - and dont forget wax candles for the ears to block out spoken charms etc
Although I do try and not have it for starting (Level 1 etc) Characters as they need to learn that they need these things

[YossarianLives]

The Planner: no matter what obstacle is facing the party, this player can come up with a crazy solution that really shouldn't work. Whether it be recruiting the help of that obscure contact they made two months ago, outwitting the GM, or coming up with a creative new use for a spell.

The old school player. They tend to believe that, if you're rolling the dice, you've already lost. Usually identifiable by the items like 10' pole, 50' of rope, and bag of marbles that show up on every character sheet.

I wish I had one of these. My players don't even buy torches.

[Joe the Rat]

Quertus: Call him "The Multitasker."

The General: Likes to have a plan for everything, maximizing party efficiency while avoiding costs, taking every possible complication or twist into account. Spends at least a half-hour before every fight on the setup.

General Jenkins (aka the Countdown King): As above, except he tries to do all of his planning and careful calculations during his turn, after combat has started.

Epimethius (Mr. Rewind): States what he does, then immediately retracts the statement.

[JAL_1138]

errr that might be me - and dont forget wax candles for the ears to block out spoken charms etc
Although I do try and not have it for starting (Level 1 etc) Characters as they need to learn that they need these things

I tend to play skillmonkeys, so I sort of fit the archetype of the one who plays the same character type. I figure the skillmonkey would know some of that stuff, so I usually start with as much as I can afford. After a few levels I usually need a cart and a mule to carry it all around (or a bag of holding, preferably).

[Red Fel]

The reluctant minmaxer. In almost any media in which an RPG is played, one of them is the reluctant minmaxer. This is the person who instinctively, reflexively, figures out the most optimal way to completely break the game. However, unlike your more typical minmaxer, this player really doesn't want to do that. She wants to play and enjoy the game, for once. She wants everyone to be able to have fun, for a change. But inevitably, a situation will arise where everything looks completely hopeless, and everyone will turn to her and say, "Please, save us! Break the game! We know you know how!" And she'll sigh, and take out an enormous bag of d6s. She will then proceed to completely crack the campaign open, destroy the BBEG, save the party and the world, and reduce the GM to tears, in no more than three rolls.

The shounen hero. Shounen is a genre of anime and manga that's categorized as "action for boys." The basic premise is that your protagonist is an exceptionally gifted prodigy at X (where X is anything, like combat, tennis, chess, or baking, but usually combat) who fights rivals and befriends them. The shounen hero is a player whose characters always resemble the heroes of action shounen. His characters can frequently be described as "like DBZ/Naruto/Bleach, but X." Sometimes, he drops the "but X." His characters frequently call their attacks, often with needlessly long chants, commonly in a mix of Japanese and English (even in a setting where there is no such language as Japanese). Shouting is common. Suddenly finding the strength to overcome adversity is incredibly common, and likely to happen in almost every session. In a D&D game, expect him to play a Warblade and IRON HEART SURGE!!!!! the crap out of everything. He really needs to play Exalted, but you get the feeling that if you give him the book for it you'll never see it or him again.

[goto124]

He really needs to play Exalted, but you get the feeling that if you give him the book for it you'll never see it or him again.

Google search gives a free pdf. He has to find another group for Exalted anyway.

[wumpus]

The old school player. They tend to believe that, if you're rolling the dice, you've already lost. Usually identifiable by the items like 10' pole, 50' of rope, and bag of marbles that show up on every character sheet.

For those wondering: this is mostly due to way too many "roll this or die" popping up all over the dungeon. When your life expectancy is based on the number of times the DM rolls the dice, you absolutely *needed* to keep the dice in the bag.

Modern players observing Sun Tzu's dictum of the outcome of a fight being decided [before the dice are rolled] should take this to heart. You win the fight, *then* roll for initiative. Or preferably without fighting, but some DMs get cranky if you do that too much. But only roll the dice if it can't lead to your death.

[8BitNinja]

The DM's Nemesis: No explanation here, when the DM says, "the dragon readies his breath weapon" we all turn and look at him. This guy is probably really annoying and immature, and could possibly be stage 1 evolution of the Pokemon "The Immature One." The difference is that now, instead of just the players hating him, the DM does

The Class Encyclopedia: This one is a common one, but not really talked about, he's the one who knows everything about his favorite class by heart. You can usually tell who they are because they don't bring any books, nor do they look at any, but when the cleric has access to a new spell level, he already knows which ones he'll learn for the day and what they do.

The Referencing One: The DM who feels the need to put pop culture references in every campaign, Mr. Burlew may be one. The most notable variation is the Monty Python variation

[JAL_1138]

As an addendum to the Old School Player archetype: they may never have played a Gygax module, and may have never looked up a result on the to-hit tables or THAC0'd. The archetype can develop in a new-ish player who's played in a game with another Old School Player teaching them, or playing with an Old School DM who lets stuff like that actually work.

[8BitNinja]

The Hipster: Stage 2 evolution of the Pokémon known as the old school player. This is a newer player who insists on playing OD&D, rolling 3d6 straight down (not that there is anything wrong with it) and insists on calling the fighter the "fighting man" (seriously, who says fighting man?)

[Faily]

The General: Likes to have a plan for everything, maximizing party efficiency while avoiding costs, taking every possible complication or twist into account. Spends at least a half-hour before every fight on the setup.

General Jenkins (aka the Countdown King): As above, except he tries to do all of his planning and careful calculations during his turn, after combat has started.

Ugh, I have two players like Jenkins in one of my group. It's like they don't even pay attention to the battlemap, or who is hurt, or who did what, until its their turn.

The reluctant minmaxer. In almost any media in which an RPG is played, one of them is the reluctant minmaxer. This is the person who instinctively, reflexively, figures out the most optimal way to completely break the game. However, unlike your more typical minmaxer, this player really doesn't want to do that. She wants to play and enjoy the game, for once. She wants everyone to be able to have fun, for a change. But inevitably, a situation will arise where everything looks completely hopeless, and everyone will turn to her and say, "Please, save us! Break the game! We know you know how!" And she'll sigh, and take out an enormous bag of d6s. She will then proceed to completely crack the campaign open, destroy the BBEG, save the party and the world, and reduce the GM to tears, in no more than three rolls.

This one is familiar to me.

[JAL_1138]

The Hipster: Stage 2 evolution of the Pokémon known as the old school player. This is a newer player who insists on playing OD&D, rolling 3d6 straight down (not that there is anything wrong with it) and insists on calling the fighter the "fighting man" (seriously, who says fighting man?)

I don't think many OD&D players called the class the "Fighting-Man." I'd probably call this the "Trying-too-hard OSR newb" instead, I think.

I would think "The Hipster" would instead be the term for someone who avoids D&D, even OD&D, altogether for being "too mainstream." The sort of player who only plays games that never had a huge audience and do something off-kilter mechanically or setting-wise. Even Empire of the Petal Throne would be too mainstream for The Hipster, as is practically anything OSR, since OSR games have a fairly vibrant community around them and are often straight-up retroclones of hugely popular (in their time) games. If it's ever been published or is based closely on anything that was, it's not something they're interested in.

[Anonymouswizard]

The blunderer: cannot come up with a decent plan to save their life. However, if pointed in the right direction can brute force their way through.

The iterator: the level 2 version of the blunderer, normally found in packs. Has a set of steps for a handful of generic situations almost garrunteed to work, and with their bodies can even plan effectively.

[Honest Tiefling]

The Surprise Setting Creator: Telling the DM in advance of any purposed changes to the setting is too much work! You have oodles of great ideas, but the DM doesn't need to hear them in advance, they can surely adapt. You'll just bring them mid-session, especially when the DM is trying to describe something. Everyone loves surprises, so the DM will appreciate your creative ideas and hard work.

[Draconium]

The Ultimate Railroader: This type of DM loves the story he has set up, and attempts to pull it off perfectly, regardless of the cooperation (or lack thereof) of his players. Should really be writing fanfics or something rather than DMing.

The NPCer: A DM who has one or more NPCs that are "assisting" the party, despite the fact they are far higher leveled and much more powerful.

[illyahr]

The rules lawyer (supreme). This guy knows the rules. He could give himself or his party huge advantages, but he does not. You usually only realize how well he knows the rules when a lesser rules lawyer begins to derail the game. He is an advocate of story and gameplay over rules.

The reluctant minmaxer. In almost any media in which an RPG is played, one of them is the reluctant minmaxer. This is the person who instinctively, reflexively, figures out the most optimal way to completely break the game. However, unlike your more typical minmaxer, this player really doesn't want to do that. She wants to play and enjoy the game, for once. She wants everyone to be able to have fun, for a change. But inevitably, a situation will arise where everything looks completely hopeless, and everyone will turn to her and say, "Please, save us! Break the game! We know you know how!" And she'll sigh, and take out an enormous bag of d6s. She will then proceed to completely crack the campaign open, destroy the BBEG, save the party and the world, and reduce the GM to tears, in no more than three rolls.

These two are me. I usually have a party member or two to curb the rest of the party from relying on my system skills, though. I'm not allowed to play some high-powered builds, not because I'd abuse them, because the rest of the party would rely on me too much.

[Belac93]

I have an 'always plays the same character' in my group. As soon as 5e came out, he asked; "Are there goliaths?" I said no. He proceeded to make dragonborn paladins of different oaths until the EE players guide came out. Then he played goliath paladins for a long time. In one of our most recent campaigns, I finally managed to convince him to play a fighter, but he is still a goliath.

Oh, and most of his names are some variation of 'Valcone.'

But, what about good player archetypes?

[JAL_1138]

I have an 'always plays the same character' in my group. As soon as 5e came out, he asked; "Are there goliaths?" I said no. He proceeded to make dragonborn paladins of different oaths until the EE players guide came out. Then he played goliath paladins for a long time. In one of our most recent campaigns, I finally managed to convince him to play a fighter, but he is still a goliath.

Oh, and most of his names are some variation of 'Valcone.'

But, what about good player archetypes?

Not all of these are bad. The Old-School Player can bring a lot of problem-solving abilities, for instance. I've used this example on another thread, but I've got one in my group now (who is one of the "new" Old-School players who started in a modern edition) who once destroyed an encounter I had meant to be challenging with an axe, a dead pine tree, and a couple of flasks of oil, making for one of the more memorable sessions. He's also serving as the de-facto rogue, despite playing a Fighter (the only differences are that he's not sneaky at all, and often is very loud when finding traps unless the wizard can Silence him).

If you're playing a Wuxia or shonen-themed game, especially a high-level one, the Shonen player might be perfect for the game.

The Rules Lawyer (Supreme) (and often the Advanced as well, depending on whether you try to stick to the rules for consistency or whether you prefer to bend them on occasion) is often a big asset to the group, to serve as a living wiki and save time that would be spent looking something up, explain rules to newbies, and shut down rules-abusers.

The Class Encyclopedia likewise to the Rules Lawyer 2 and 3, but less so; helps out when referencing that particular class, and doesn't take much time looking at their sheet or poring through the book.

While the Blunderer and the Iterators aren't necessarily good, they aren't strictly bad either--they may not come up with good plans, but they aren't so bad that they can't get through something at all. They may even be able to brute-force a solution to something that has the clever player stymied.

The Hipster (by the "nothing mainstream" definition) can be good too, in some cases--they might introduce you to a new, interesting, fun game you'd have never heard of or thought to try otherwise. Although good luck getting them to actually play D&D...

And The Referencer is only bad if you don't like references or if they make lousy ones; good references can add humor and familiarity (which can then be turned on its head later, perhaps).

[8BitNinja]

The Complainer: Could be immature, could just suck. This guy always openly expresses his anger whenever botching a roll or having a plan fail. He gets really mad when his character dies. This guy here probably has the filthiest mouth, as he will probably continually shout profanities when something bad happens