Wet Blankets

[Maghwi]

He sounds like what I call a "Gearhead Gamer"
He knows the rules, he has good ideas, but he's incapable of roleplaying for whatever reason.

One of my favorite Refs had an elegant solution for this type of gamer. (It worked on me ) He started by telling us players that he didn't like it when our carefully thought out plan fell apart because of bad die rolls. It discouraged roleplaying when the players knew that no matter HOW well they covered their bases, no matter HOW much planning and roleplaying we put in, it could all fail because the dice gods got fickle. Before the next game, tell the players that they get bonuses to their die rolls based on the level of detail they provide in describing their actions. (something like +1 to +3, or drop the difficulty of the task by one step, or give them a free re-roll, or best of two rolls. Don't let it get too out of hand, but the goal is to reward good roleplaying.) He'll stop complaining about the time it takes to roleplay out a situation if he sees some kind of tangible benifit for doing it. As they get more experienced, throw tougher things at them, so they will soon NEED to roleplay to get those bonuses if they want to survive.

It's easier to bring a guy around to roleplaying by starting small. Getting him to describe HOW he's going to do something is the first step towards getting him to roleplay complex social interactions. This will help get him immersed in the story. The bonuses don't have to be that big, but if he's a Gearhead, he's going to want every advantage he can get. As he gets more adept at describing what he's going to do before he picks up the dice, he'll begin to start thinking that way about every situation. Hopefully, you'll eventualy have trouble getting him to shut up.

 

[GBoyett]

Originally posted by Maghwi:
One of my favorite Refs had an elegant solution for this type of gamer. (It worked on me ) He started by telling us players that he didn't like it when our carefully thought out plan fell apart because of bad die rolls. It discouraged roleplaying when the players knew that no matter HOW well they covered their bases, no matter HOW much planning and roleplaying we put in, it could all fail because the dice gods got fickle. Before the next game, tell the players that they get bonuses to their die rolls based on the level of detail they provide in describing their actions. (something like +1 to +3, or drop the difficulty of the task by one step, or give them a free re-roll, or best of two rolls. Don't let it get too out of hand, but the goal is to reward good roleplaying.) He'll stop complaining about the time it takes to roleplay out a situation if he sees some kind of tangible benifit for doing it. As they get more experienced, throw tougher things at them, so they will soon NEED to roleplay to get those bonuses if they want to survive.

That's the solution I always did. Have the PCs actions, conversation, and planning set some mods. Of course one mod was "entertainment value for the GM" (+1 with the rare +2).

<Anecdote>
Then I also had them role to see if they resist to act out anys thoughts going thru thier heads, like the urge to kill someone in a crowded bar. Did that once when I pulled an group inside joke. The players reaction was to visualized himself shooting the person, including changing clips as thier dead body slumps behind the bar. He did succeed the Will roll, but the railing on a bar now has his hand prints. (IIRC I fell out of my chair when he acted it out)
</Anecdote>

 

[gardclan]

I had a ref once that solved this problem by means of another "elegant" solution. (Although his solution meant tons more work for the Referee.)

Character generation was a simple thing... pick your race, pick your class, and tell the ref which skills and stats you wanted to be good in... what you thought was crucial and what you could do without.

Then HE generated all the charcters. Nobody got to see any numbers. Everybody got a typed description of their race, class, abilities, and skills, but no numbers to be found anywhere. In place of each stat and skill was a description: crappy, poor, not so good, OK, good, really good, excellent, superior, and "wow dude!". We had only a rough idea of where we stood as far as game mechanics were concerned.

The ref kept all the actual numbers... rolled all the dice, and told us the results. It was tons of work on his part... but it forced the munchkins to sit up and take notice. Those that wanted to adapt, stayed. Those that didn't, left.

Another idea is to adapt the "fate dice" idea from Spycraft. Award the characters a free d4 (to be used as a bonus roll to ANYTHING) for each incidence of superior roleplaying. Subtract fate dice for poor roleplaying. If you want to be really mean, tell the players that they have to trade in a fate die to activate a critical hit!

 

[Rover]

It worked.

We had a good gaming session and the "wet blanket" wasn't so bad to be around and he actually roleplayed.

Yes it was like pulling teeth, but I made a point to compliment him on it at the end of the evening.

I may have created a monster though. He had another PC assasinated, but it was totally in character.

 

[hirch duckfinder]

Originally posted by Rover:
It worked.

We had a good gaming session and the "wet blanket" wasn't so bad to be around and he actually roleplayed.

Yes it was like pulling teeth, but I made a point to compliment him on it at the end of the evening.

I may have created a monster though. He had another PC assasinated, but it was totally in character.

good news . for the benefit of the worlds refs could you tell us WHAT worked ? thanks .

 

[Rover]

What worked? Well...

I was direct but tactfull. I told him we play the game for entertainment, and part of the fun was to take on the role of a different character, someone other than ourselves. I told him he was playing the game with a bunch of roleplayers and simply asked him to meet us half way. To put some effort into playing the role and not the game. I also told him that his constant complaining was a downer to the other players.

He told me there was a lot of things going on in his life, problems with this, that, and the other thing. But he agreed to give it a try, and by the end of the night he had a really good time.

 

[Nightshade]

Sounds like he might be suffering from some type of depression or anxiety disorder.

 

[aravain]

...or another case of "I'll drag everyone down to my level of misery" thinking I've seen dozens of times. You handled it well by explaining what the exact problems were, what you expected to happen to solve the problems, and by offering to work with him to make the game enjoyable for all. I'm glad for your group and you that it worked. Our most recently banished player returned after a hiatus of 3+months ,but only after he had volunteered to help one of the group move and he he agreed to a written set of ground rules set by the current "gaming house" owner. His crimes?; besides ALWAYS begging food/drinks from all, he always complained about how he (and his characters) were being treated unfairly by everyone in and out of the real world. Which was real Bullsh*t! As many have stated, you game for fun, not to get depressed or angry. Our group will have to see how long the new "reformed" personality will last, but all the home owners have agreed to keep the original rules in force. Please keep us informed on not only his current attitude and character developement, but how the rest of the party deals with intra-party killing by fellow PCs. His reaction to his own character's demise by another PC may not be pleasant and should be planned for (or discussed) ASAP! Best of Luck!

...and why is that airlock readout cycling to red?!!