Troublesome Player

[cheshire]

[Bren]

[cheshire]

If he had six heavy blaster pistols and they each exploded with the force of a single blaster shot it would accumulate to a total of 30D, granted you're rolling 5D six times, and not a roll of 30D at once.
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Before we take any of this too seriously, just remember that in the middle episode a little rubber puppet moves a spaceship with his mind.

[Guardian_A]

[thedemonapostle]

[Fallon Kell]

[garhkal]

[Fallon Kell]

[Bigkrieg]

If he were in my group, I would tell him how disrespectful he is being toward me and the others. I would tell him that he makes the game not enjoyable for myself and the others. If the problem continued, I would make a decision with the other members on whether or not to keep inviting him to play. If he is a close friend of yours, then you will have to weigh the pros and cons of that friendship vs. playing and enjoying the game with two other friends.

If after you confront him, he continues to act that way, give him the boot. You can tell him that he is still your friend, but his behavior spending time with him not enjoyable.

[garhkal]

[MegaFehr]

First off, I'd like to thank everyone who pitched in and gave their advice. It really helped in the talk that I had with the player (who is 32 years old -- someone asked).

I started off by telling him that I really liked him and that I enjoyed having him as part of out current campaign.
I calmly told him all the things I needed him to think about and try to change. I kept it all on me, and didn't speak for the other players (who weren't present at the time).
He seemed to be listening and then said that he felt harassed by me, ever since I caught him cheating on his dice rolls. He feels like I'm looking over his shoulder all the time.
I told him that this was something I was willing to work on.
He also felt that I didn't listen to his arguments during gametime whenever he felt something wasn't right.
I told him flat out that during game time I'm NEVER gonna be comfortable stopping play to discuss rather or not something should be the way I decided, and that if he had a problem he should appoach me after the session.
I also tried to explain to him the difference between his knowledge and the characters knowledge and that he doesn't NEED to understand everything. Just because he doesn't understand why something is the way it is, doesn't mean it's wrong.

He sometimes seemed to take in what I was trying to explain to him but most of the time it seemed like he was just waiting for his turn to talk so he could "complain".

I did however see a slight improvement in his behavior during the following session, so I'm slightly more hopeful for the future.
(the "slightly"s in those sentences really need to be emphasized!

[Raven Redstar]

If his behavior begins to improve more than "slightly", you could also consider awarding him additional character point(s) for being a more positive influence at the table. As I find positive reinforcement works better than chastising your players.

I'm glad things seem to be improving for you. Things are beginning to make a little more sense for his behaviors... I have also had players who cheat on their dice rolls, most of the time it's because they want to steam roll any challenges you throw at them. I hope eventually he learns that you're not going to punish his character for rolling low occasionally. I got around it by specifically not watching them roll their dice when I noticed they were flubbing with the dice, then politely asked them to roll again while I was watching. Sometimes they griped, but after a little while they got used to waiting for me to be ready for their dice toss. I generally add up quicker than most people I play with so I've got the total before they do.
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[Guardian_A]

Redstar has it right. Positive reenforcement is always best if it is possible. Make sure to let your player know that you really appreciated the improvement. And let him know that the gaming session was a much more enjoyable experience.

At our table, we all roll dice where everyone can see them. They keep themselves honest. Besides, failure is part of any story. Luke lost his hand when he fought Darth Vader in Cloud City, but that wasnt the end, he got back up and helped the Rebellion defeat the Empire. Sometimes its simply more important to live-to-fight-another-day then it is to win.

Episode I: Good Guys Won
Episode II: Good Guys Won
Episode III: Bad Guys Won
Episode IV: Good Guys Won
Episode V: Bad Guys Won
Episode VI Good Guys Won

[Raven Redstar]

Exactly, Guardian hit it right on the nose. The story ends if the character dies, but death doesn't have to be the only failure. Sometimes them failing could equate to a lot of other lives being lost. Sometimes the social ramifications are just as hard hitting, if not more so than death. Death requires the player to roll up a new character, and they tend to get less attached to the character and storyline if they're having to constantly pump out new sheets.

For instance, my wife was running for me the other day, a rather long spanning D6 adventures game. My character is an ex-marine turned police officer who's been thrust into a position where he's having to combat the supernatural's biggest & baddest. He's a combat machine, good shot, decent defenses, pretty perceptive. I felt so terrible at the end of the last session even after stopping 6 dark wizards from completely ripping up this island resort south of Florida. Fighting off possession and rescuing 11 civilians. When some of the guests had returned to normal and found out their children, husbands, & wives had been ripped to shreds by these shadow creatures that had infested the island. It turns out that he'd managed to save 30 people out of close to 600 guests. Nothing quite so defeating as failure in success. It was an awesome game. She knows my character can be hard to hurt, but that friends, family, coworkers are easy targets. I wouldn't be much of a cop if I felt totally satisfied in rescuing 5% of the people targeted. It's the sort of attunement that comes with playing a character a long time. She makes quirky, likeable NPCs and then she tears them apart and lets me try like hell to save them. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't, but it's a good driving force.
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[Raven Redstar]

Yes, I realized I jumped from 11 to 30. I found additional civvies to rescue after I got the 11 off the island.
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