Preparing for the Problem Player

[Totally Guy]

Over the Christmas period I'd offered to run a few more sessions than our usualy once a week schedule, we'll have our previous DM back from uni and I'd like to show him how I've improved.

Since he'll be back from uni, I've got a gut feeling that our other friend might also want to join in. Unfortunately he's a little bit disruptive, in our campaign before last he played a character called Murderous Marius who had a roleplay quirk to kill something every day. In our last campaign he was given a paladin to play which seemed to keep him in line but he still used the pompous jerk personality he always uses. He's not so bad really but I suspect he might throw some senseless curveballs.

I think I'll write in a character, like a king bitter ex-vizer, that allows him to be the pompous jerk he likes to play but at the same time gives him the same enemies as the party. I think that this is the correct solution storywise but is there any other precaution I can take? We're playing 4th edition and generally it's urban adventures with a good mix of politics, challenges and combat.

Any good stories of your own solutions to problem players?

[xPANCAKEx]

simple - when he says "i want to have this quirk" you say "no, thats too disruptive"

just keep vetoing it until he finds something more agreeable

[Artanis]

Talk to him about it. Tell him how you feel about being disruptive, and work something out, even if that something is the plan you outlined.

[LibraryOgre]

And here I would suggest an e-mail saying "You can't play unless you agree not to be a ****."

Sure, he's just having fun. But he's ruining the fun of everyone else, so asking him either play a character who is not a **** or not play is pretty reasonable.

[Stupendous_Man]

"You lose 50 XP"

[valadil]

Kill him with in game consequences. That's why you have town guards.

[TheStagesmith]

Very simple solution to this problem:

1. Wait for desired people to show up
2. Lock the door
3. Enjoy your gaming session
4. ?????
5. Profit!

In-game:

1. Warn player about strategic placement of several large adamantine rock piles
2. Wait for transgression of niceties
3. Release one of said rock piles
4. ?????
5. Profit!

[Dr. Killjoy]

I think one of the best things you could do is simply give realistic consequences for his actions. If his character kills innocent people, have the character arrested and put on trial. If he successfully fights his way out of it, make him a wanted man or put a bounty on him. Remember that, even though they're powerful, PCs are never the biggest fish on the sea; there should always reasonably be strong enough to smack him around if he falls into Stupid Evil.

[Heliomance]

I think one of the best things you could do is simply give realistic consequences for his actions. If his character kills innocent people, have the character arrested and put on trial. If he successfully fights his way out of it, make him a wanted man or put a bounty on him. Remember that, even though they're powerful, PCs are never the biggest fish on the sea; there should always reasonably be strong enough to smack him around if he falls into Stupid Evil.

Not necessarily, depends on the game. In one of the campaigns I'm in, we're pretty much the biggest fish for a couple of hundred miles. We're probably the highest level things in town, and there's no bigger town until the next country over.

[Tengu_temp]

Nec Hercules contra plures.

[Teeka]

After a few spectacularly disruptive incidents, out DM handed us all lists of what sort of behavior would result in bonus experience or in game rewards, and which actions would result in losing experience or in game punishment. After our two problem players found themselves working off 400 and 1,000 negative experience, they started getting better at being team players. It's all about consequences for both good and bad actions. Getting rewards for being a team player encourages teamwork, punishment for causing conflict discourages disruptive play. People start to get the idea pretty quickly into a session when they see the DM jotting down notes after they do something.

[Elm11]

Very simple solution to this problem:


4. ?????
5. Profit!

I think that these are the only steps you REALLY need .

Also, can i borrow that line? There are a few places where i could ue them

[Narmoth]

Playing a pompous jerk isn't really a problem if he's actions are met with proper reactions in-game:

Action:
Shademan taunts the stablemaster that is supposed to give them horses as they are hired to deliver a message for the duke
Reaction:
Shademan gets a donkey in stead of the horse

Action:
Shademan steals a boat from the local fishermen
Reaction:
The fishermans high priest refuses to aid him with healing and other spells until the boat is returned

And so on...
And we all have great fun

[RMS Oceanic]

The player's character discovers a complete medical history of his family, and discovers that 95% of his ancestors has died from a congenital heart defect, which he most likely has inherited, and it could "go off" at any moment. When it goes off is to the whims of fate...

[Kaiyanwang]

Kill him with in game consequences. That's why you have town guards.Parragon 30-Headed Great Wyrm

Better this.

[Kris Strife]

Remember rule 1 of adventuring: fire solves everything.

[Narmoth]

Generally, the town guards are low level to justify the need for good adventurers to step up and defend from the monsters. But when the adventurers aren't good, there's no reason why not to have a more powerful elite guard in the city, making the players behave at least simply to avoid the guard

[Tacoma]

Peer pressure. You don't need to do anything to his character. Just RP that people he irritates don't want to help anymore.

And they don't want to help the party because he's with them.

I think eventually the other players will get tired of yet another "nope, I haven't heard of no magic for sale in this town" as the innkeeper shrugs at Mr. Pompous.

Now if they start getting violent, you have a bunch of options. I imagine powerful people causing trouble aren't that common. But with the experience tables the way they are I can see the average soldier or town guard in a frontier being 4th or 5th level, while in a civilized city it could be 1st through 3rd. But a large country will have a few high level folks who are willing to act as SWAT teams to take down significant threats. Like a dude running around killing all the town guards in a city because he's a jerk. These people are the elite, and it's fully acceptable for them to be 18-20th level without stretching believability much. Plus they have the advantage of surprise, being completely buffed while the jerk is completely not. Stuff like that.

But let him feel like a big man. People play D&D to express things they cannot express in their daily lives. Greedy players tend to be ones with money worries. Hack and slashers tend to be people with low self-esteem who know they have little physical power in reality. Unfortunately this guy;s fun is ruining the fun for others, which just sucks.