Wet Blankets

[Rover]

Greetings fellow Travellers

I would like some advice on how to handle a stituation and was wondering if any of you have had a similar situation.

There is a player in my gaming group who is real wet blanket. He complains about everthing and never seems satisfied. He can't seem to roleplay, but claims he doesn't want to rollplay(just roll dice).

The easy answer is to stop playing with him, but he realy isn't a bad guy and we don't want to take that step just yet.

Any advice would be appriciated.

 

[lightsenshi]

One of these days I'm actually going to write an article on this topic...

The simplest solution is to put the group (not just the character!) into a situation where dice rolling isn't necessary. For example, they get invited to an upper class party to (eventually) meet with a prospective client. Lots of roleplay.

 

[Rover]

Thanks for the info lightsensi, but maybe I wasn't clear. he doesn't want to roleplay his character and claims he doesn't just want to roll dice. I can't win either way.

 

[lightsenshi]

I figured as much. I've been in this situation, incidently. You're pretty much going to have to force him to role play.

 

[bryan gibson]

well, you have another alternative, though you may not find it palatable...i had a similar situation in my face to face group last year, the fellow refused to rp, he was a numbers/powergamer...beyond hack and slash, and bitched and moaned to the point the other players weren't having fun.

nice guyt or not....dump him.

it's very simple, but requires fortitude, as based on your statements he won't fly right and refuses to try...lose him while the damage is minimal. it will only get worse.In the meantime it can only detract from either yours or your players enjoyment of the game.

 

[far-trader]

There was an excellent article(s) on role-playing (how to, introduction to, etc.) years ago in (I think) Dragon magazine, if you have access to such. I suspect there may be a few online essays too.

The only suggestions I might have, if I understand the problem:

Let the player (with your help and guidance) create (not roll) a character that will give them a chance to role-play in a way that they are comfortable with. You might use a favorite actor and role as a template, one they know inside-out, and make sure the other players know this is the case and to go easy on any obvious quotes and direct connections the player uses.

Maybe its just stage fright, get everyone to help ease the player out of his/her shell with encouragement and by staying in role even when the other player slips. i.e. reply to "I rolled a 9 so I just made the jump." with "Here, let me help you up, that was cuttin it kinda close, eh."

Or maybe its just a temporary mood. I know I have days when I can't role-play my way out of bed in the morning

and other times when I think I deserve an award, though I'm sure the rest of the group has a different opinion

P.S. Having just read Bryan Gibson's reply I agree it may come to that if such is the case, but where I am its eaisier to teach a newbie than find a replacement. That said it is better to cut lose one bad player than lose one (or more) good players, rpg's aren't for everybody. Remember it is a "ROLE" playing game, if that's not what they want to play there are other games out there.

 

[Uncle Bob]

He doesn't want to rollplay.
He is not a complete idiot.
He doesn't roleplay, at least not well.

I'll take the first at face value.
As for not role-playing, I can see a couple of possibilities,
He could be playing a character he is not comfortable with,
or he is not comfortable with the assumptions of the game. He may not really understand the nature of a SF game, or he might have a problem with a "grittier" or more cinematic game than he is used to.
Or he is used to DND, and he is uncomfortable outside of those rules and world assumptions.

If worse comes to worst, set up a "if you say it, so does your player" rule. He will soon get so frustrated (either from keeping quiet or from rolling new characters) he will stop coming on his own.

 

[lord irial]

Have you asked him what he does want to do, or if he even percieves a problem? If he's not sure how to roleplay his character or simply having difficulty picturing the character's surroundings, maybe a few one-on-one sessions will help him out. (Lots of hand-outs and visual aids are a big help in this case, too.) If he has a problem wrapping his mind around the rules, a loan of a copy of said rules (if he doesn't have one himself) could be helpful, too.

If he's just there to be with the group of players and socialize, ask him to leave. If he wants the story to happen to him, rather than driving the story through his role-playing and in-character activity, start having movie nights and invite him over for them.

I used to have a player with a combination of these last two possibilities in my D&D game. She wanted the story to be told to her. More precisely, she wanted a fairy-tale where there were no moral ambiguities to sort out or hard decisions to be made; but mostly she just wanted to hang out with the other players. Eventually, I had to ask her not to come to the games, though she does come by to socialize once in a while.

 

[Rover]

Well I guess I'll have to have a heart to heart with him before the next session. This guy is an experienced roleplayer, well at least he's been palying D&D for over 10 years.

As I said he's a good guy, but he's always been a bit of a downer, more so this last session. While the other characters were having a good time, interacting as characters, making jokes and laughing. He would complain he didn't like that kind of roleplaying, but he couldn't elaborate on what kind he liked. He would just look at his character sheet and say something like, "I use my bribery skill and bribe the portmaster." Or, "I tell him (another character) to do XYZ," rather that just talk to the other PC.

Just venting my frustration.
Thanx

 

[sandman]

Originally posted by lord irial:

If he's just there to be with the group of players and socialize, ask him to leave. If he wants the story to happen to him, rather than driving the story through his role-playing and in-character activity, start having movie nights and invite him over for them.

I used to have a player with a combination of these last two possibilities in my D&D game. She wanted the story to be told to her. More precisely, she wanted a fairy-tale where there were no moral ambiguities to sort out or hard decisions to be made; but mostly she just wanted to hang out with the other players. Eventually, I had to ask her not to come to the games, though she does come by to socialize once in a while.

I totally agree with you.

If the group is made up of serious roleplayer who really want to have a good game, then he should leave.

If he's in for the "Coke & Pizza" factor and not to play/get involved in a story/use his imagination, ask him to leave while inviting him from time to time if he's a good friend of the group.

It's like watching Junkyard Wars just to see the babes. It's not that kind of show, so if you want that zap to something else.

 

[far-trader]

Originally posted by Rover:

<snip>
Just venting my frustration.
Thanx

As good a reason as any and in any case the discussion no doubt helped someone somewhere. Good luck with the game.

 

[Spinward Scout]

This is interesting. I'm in two D&D groups right now. One is a Roleplay group and the other is a Rollplay group. In the first corner, there's one guy in the game who has stopped play on a number of occasions to write speeches and monologues and such (this group is slowly diminishing, tho, due to the DM not coming up with ideas for the other players to do - the rest of us feel like henchmen sometimes) and the theme is very super-heroish but I think I've rolled my dice 5 times total in the last 2 or 3 sessions, and the other group is run by a guy who's a WWII history buff and loves army battles (lots and lots of rolling). Wargamer-type, I guess. And the game is designed to do this type of gaming.

If this guy you're gaming with is getting frustrated, maybe something specific to his character is required. If he's just not a good actor, that's the whole point of having skills - to have your character do something that you can't do in real life. If it was just acting, you wouldn't have a character sheet with skills. I know I'm not a good actor myself. Stage fright or not, if you don't have the ability to act, you still can't do it. But he's there and he's trying (if you'll excuse the double entendre). And isn't the whole point of the game to get together with friends and have fun anyway? Part of the story is just supposed to happen to him - it's up to him how he responds to it. If he's not having fun, ask him what specifically is bothering him. In the first game listed above, I'm running a character that the way things turned out, nobody liked (well, he was a thief). I also got very frustrated when every idea I came up with got shot down. Some of us have come to realize that basically, 2 out of 7 players are the real focus of the game. The rest of us just feel like we're along for the ride (which is why the second group got started).

Maybe the story isn't working out the way he wanted. Maybe it's the wrong kind of story. Hard Science Sci-Fi doesn't sit well with some people - it's more Star Treky. Add some Space Opera to your Traveller Universe. Make some archetypal villains that you can't mistake that they are evil. And make the villain do something to his character's family. And ask him to imagine how he would feel if it happened to his real-life family. Then see what he does. Put him in charge of something. Then have the rest of the group have to rely on what he does. Or base their experience for the adventure on something he does (that usually changes someone's attitude real quick - just ask anyone who's been through boot camp). Give him 5 seconds to make a decision about something important. Come up with a questionaire to have him give some input, but let him know that you might not be able to do all of the things he suggests. Some people get frustrated with the slowness of the artificiality of the game. Maybe the guy really is a closet actor and things aren't moving FAST enough for him. Something to remember, tho, there's no point in having all of those stats on the character sheet if you don't use them. And it is really all about having fun.

Hope this helps...

Later,

Scout

 

[Ellros]

I agree, a sit down chat between the GM and player is needed. You need to find out exactly what he wants as a player before anything further can really be done besides dumping him.
I do have to wonder though, is this his typical style? If he's been playing for 10 years, has he always played this way?

 

[Shadowdancer]

Based on Rover's last post, I think I have encountered this type of player in the past. Hell, I WAS this type of player in the past.

He doesn't really want to role-play, as in acting his character, but he doesn't necessarily want to just be a hack-and-slash, combat-only player either. He wants his dice rolls and his skills to determine what he does, and whether he is successful, rather than his role-playing.

For example, Rover mentioned the player's comment about using his bribery skill. He's either not comfortable enough to role-play the situation, or he's not confident enough to come up with the right parley for his character on his own. He's using the skills roles as a crutch. If he's been playing D&D for 10 years, that's probably the way he's played for 10 years.

I've had players like that in my games before. One thing you can do is just leave him alone, let him rely on his skill rolls and let the others role play. Or you can ask him questions about what he is doing, what is he saying, when he wants to use a skill. Then let him roll the skill to see if he was successful, maybe modify the results with a bonus or penalty based on his description of his actions.

You may have to just teach him how to role play. If he's been playing another way for 10 years, it's hard to break those old habits and routines. His style of play is the way I first learned to play. Because the group I was in didn't know better. Then after I went to some conventions, and played with some other groups, I saw what others were doing and how they were playing their characters. So that's how I started trying to play my character. It was difficult at first to change those old habits, to start saying "I do this" rather than "My character does this," or to carry out an in-character conversation with another player or an NPC.

Good luck, and I hope this helps.

 

[womble]

The big problem is his complaining. We have a player in our group who doesn't seem to want to engage with the NPC, or even, sometimes, with the PCs, but (naturally) resents it when skipped in the initiative order because of inattention or unwillingness to throw up a hand at "sixteen?". But just because someone is a "hanger on" isn't reason to exclude them so long as they don't detract from the session's play. You may be able to address the complaints, even if you can't straighaway get your player to get deeply into role. A one to one explanation of the group's accepted conventions might help.

The group has a wide range of roleplaying experience, and has sometimes devolved into the two most experienced players (of the three most experienced, so far we've always had one reffing) getting all the limelight because they know what to do and get on with it while the others faff. This in spite of heroic attempts at self-restraint on the parts of the experienced players.

 

[womble]

...characters were having a good time, interacting as characters, making jokes and laughing. He would complain he didn't like that kind of roleplaying...

If this persists, though, you have to say the group's going to keep playing like that, and it's fun and he needs to either try to like it, put up with it and stop moaning, or try another group.

 

[Spinward Scout]

"It's like watching Junkyard Wars just to see the babes."

Hey that's the only reason I watch Baywatch. Wait, that's a little different, isn't it...

"There is a player in my gaming group who is real wet blanket. He complains about everthing and never seems satisfied. He can't seem to roleplay, but claims he doesn't want to rollplay(just roll dice)."

I think this was mentioned, but make everything he says out-of-character in-character for a while. Our group did that for a bit - you had to put your hand on your forehead to speak out of character. It didn't last long, tho. The DM couldn't come up with enough ideas when people didn't do it. When this guy's complaining, have an Aslan overhear him and misunderstand what he said. Nice fight scene ahead. Hell, he might just incorporate it into his character.

""I tell him (another character) to do XYZ," rather that just talk to the other PC."

Does this guy get along with the group outside of gaming? This could just be a simple case of not having social confidence.

Me personally, I don't like the idea of having to ask someone to leave. Inviting someone to play, it's almost your responsibility to see that they have fun. Wish I had more ideas for you.

Later,

Scout

 

[hirch duckfinder]

in real life we all have to work with difficult , awkward people sometimes . traveller characters do too . i suggest taking his character as he presents himself , maybe a distant , detatched , unimaginative guy or a cantankerous attention seeker who doesn't give much away .
this can make him feel he cant help but be included .
try not to have expectations of how his character should behave , after all he is there to work out and play the character .

 

[Liam Devlin]

Hmmm, ye do have a dilemma. The "lead the horse to water, but cannae make him drink" thing. Before considering asking him to go elsewhere, have you:
a) Talked with him aside from the group? Tried to see where he's coming from (the walk a mile in the other man's shoes?)
b) If yer the GM, and yer time is precious short, asked another player to "take him under his/her wing"?
c)found his play style to be inherently a detraction from the enjoyment of the game to the other players?

If the answers to(a, b, & c) are all yes, and he is still "the wet blanket", put it to the group as an issue.
Vote him in or out. Move on. If the game isn't fun to run, or isn't fun to do (as a player),it isn't worth doing. YMMV.

 

[Rover]

I thank you all for the valuable advice. A few of you pointed out things I hadn't considered. I haven't had a chance to talk to the player in question. I'll try to call him again tonight, at worst I'll talk to him befor our gaming session on Friday.

Thanx again.