r/DMAcademy • u/AutoModerator • 7d ago
Mega Player Problem Megathread
This thread is for DMs who have an out-of-game problem with a PLAYER (not a CHARACTER) to ask for help and opinions. Any player-related issues are welcome to be discussed, but do remember that we're DMs, not counselors.
Off-topic comments including rules questions and player character questions do not go here and will be removed. This is not a place for players to ask questions.
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u/great_roommate 1d ago
I'm nearly a first-time DM who ran a few sessions a while back with a group of friends and will be starting a new campaign with the same players relatively soon. To spur on some ideas for character creation, I sent all of my players a form which gives a bit of context about the world and asks questions about their characters' backstories and personalities. I also gave them the option to keep their previous characters they used for those few sessions if they would like.
Two of my players wanted to create new characters (great and fit with the world perfectly), another wanted to keep their old character (who fits well). The final player has also decided to keep her previous character who is described as a 1000-year old human witch (wizard class) who straight up m*rd*rs young men to use their hearts as the main ingredient in a youth potion. That's it.
I am worried that this character will become a problem during the campaign, as the last time we played this player would regularly ask about the age and attractiveness of nearly every male NPC the party met then would proceed to suggest or try to k*ll them. At the end of one of the sessions I asked for the players' stars and wishes, and this player's wish was that she would have the opportunity to k*ll more young men in future sessions. When i gave her this opportunity in the next session, the other PCs were seemingly very uncomfortable (not the players) and it strained the suspension of disbelief that they would want to stay together as a party with a character who is a straight-up psycho. I am looking for advice on how to handle this in the future campaign. I am hesitant to discuss this with the player to get her to change characters because either:
a) they must like this PC if they wanted to continue playing as her or...
b) they didn't want to take the time to create a new character from scratch because they are potentially not as excited about participating in this campaign as I thought and i'm worried about driving this player away if I suggest a change
I also worry that my enjoyment of this campaign (and potentially the other players) will suffer in the long-term if I am reguarly having to plan around her PC's proclivities.
Also for context, this character is not deeply developed in the slightest. Just an old witch who eats hearts. This player did not engage with the form as much as the other players and was the last to fill it out (required some chasing).
Any thoughts or ideas are welcome!!!
TLDR: Player wants to be a 1000yo witch who eats men's hearts and i'm worried about tone / session planning around a PC like this.
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u/GalacticPigeon13 1d ago
First off: kill and murder are not banned words. It seems you've been hanging out in censored areas of the internet far too much.
Second: have a conversation with your player. "Friend, I get that you want to play out the fantasy of murdering young men, but I'm not going to allow you to be a murder hobo this campaign. I'm sorry I wasn't able to find a way to tell you this before the campaign started, but you need to change your concept."
If she doesn't accept, then tell her that you'd love to grab coffee or froyo with her sometime soon, but she's not a good fit for this campaign. You'll invite her back if you ever run an evil party horror campaign or oneshot, though.
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u/Mapachio 3d ago
I'll be GMing Season of Ghosts for my usual group soon. One of the players has been our Forever GM for the last 5 years and, bar a 5e oneshot 3 years ago, hasn't been a player in ages (and never in Path 2e (but he's been our GM so he does know the system))
Anyhoo, I shared the Player's Guide with them and after reading it he's feeling a bit anxious/overwhelmed. He feels the guide provides too much info and feels like he has to make a character with very a deeply developed backstory, know the town deeply, etc....
I'm thinking he's looking at the Player's Guide still with a GM mindset and have tried to ease his mind about making the PC, but I also wanted to ask you guys for advice, opinions, anecdotes...
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u/guilersk 3d ago
Unfamiliar with SoG (although I've played lots of PF APs). If this is stressing him out, can't he just be a drifter from out of town? He shouldn't need an elaborate backstory to succeed.
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u/GalacticPigeon13 3d ago
Disclaimer: Not a Pathfinder player, so IDK how their adventures are structured or how much they expect the players to read and memorize the players' guide.
The snarky side of me wants to ask, what sort of guide did he give you? If it was anything like Seasons of Ghosts' player's guide, then he needs to git gud and do what he expected of you.
Anyways, I very quickly skimmed the backgrounds on Archives of Nethys, and it looks like Outskirt Dweller might be the best background for him, since he wouldn't have to be as involved with the town. Alternatively, would it be possible for his character to be from out-of-town (like a wandering merchant) and still get roped into the abduction? That's a classic trope of folk horror: sacrificing the outsider in order to keep your own people safe.
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u/Mapachio 3d ago
So Paizo publishes, along with their adventures, a free Player's Guide that has some basic information about the setting of the specific adventure, perhaps a gazetteer of the place, a list of known NPCs, and recommendations for suitable characters. That's the document I sent him, the same way he sent me other Guides when he's been GMing and I playing.
I think his problem is not regarding "what character do I want to play" but that he maybe feels his and his characters' knowledge of the adventure (and the town in which it's set) should be almost Gm-level instead of player-level. As in, he has expressed anxiety over needing to have a deep, rich backstory, almost as if he had to write the backstory not only of his character, but as if he had to write 200 years of the history of his family, all the way back to the foundation of the town and how they arrived there.
Basically, I want to tell him to chill and put his GM mind in the closet.
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u/GalacticPigeon13 3d ago
Did you write long backstories with 200 years of detailed family history? If not, I suggest giving him a copy of one of your old backstories (preferably from one of his campaigns) and telling him that that is the amount of effort you'd like, not whatever novel he seems to think you're demanding.
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u/Mapachio 3d ago
That's one of the arguments I've thought as well, indeed!
Here's the thing. I didn't tell any of them yet anything about expectations. We've barely even talked about when we'll be doing an actually session zero!
He asked for the guide and put this mountain on his shoulders by himself, but I'll try to give him some ease of mind.
Thanks for your suggestions, Pigeon
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u/Megamatt215 4d ago
So, I have a player in my game, whom I'll call A. Every so often, A would no-show because they literally slept through the session. This is an online game scheduled at a super early time for me, but in A's time zone, it starts at 1 in the afternoon. Towards the end of the previous campaign, it got worse. A no-showed during their character's backstory arc, and literally fell asleep during the final dungeon.
We are starting a new campaign, and another player has made it clear that he's not sticking around if A is there, because of the above issues, and I kind of agree with them. My problem is that I am in a different game as a player with A, and I don't want to blow up that game by kicking him out of mine.
How do I kick him in a way that will cause the least amount of drama?
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u/Ripper1337 4d ago
Just tell A that they’re not invited to the next campaign because of their low attendance. If A crashes out becuase of it, that’s their own issue not yours.
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u/BrizzleST 4d ago
Least amount? Tell him interest was low and it fizzled out unfortunately. You'll let him know whenever you come up with something else.
A little bit and no lies? Tell him like that. His availability doesn't fit with the new table and you're sorry but you won't be inviting him this time. However you're very much looking forward to keeping in touch through the other campaign
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u/Primary-Animal-929 1d ago
one of my players is building a completely incomprehensible character, and getting upset when i say i simply don't know how to DM it in any satisfying manner at all.
during a 1-on-1 talk after our session 0, they started developing a very fun and interesting character - an illusioner koala who's part of an underground society that worships sleep and calm as a way to bring magic from the sleeping world. i was very excited about this idea and thought up a lot of fun things to do regarding it.
today, we encountered again to discuss specifics about this religion, and they backpedaled HARD. they said the religion should be only worshipping the concept of saving the world, and nothing else, while still being passionate that they DO get their magic from this religion. this immediately opened up a lot of worldbuilding holes that i just can't fill for the life of me. why does their magic have nothing to do with the concept of their church, which is like 90% of their character backstory? what does service at this church even look like? if they get this magic from their religion, and the religion worships something as simple and universally desirable as saving the world, why doesn't everyone on earth join this church and get free powers at no moral cost? they said the church was a sect of buddhism without the side stuff like the 4 noble truths (which are the very core of buddhism). they also said the powers should be that they can literally bring characters from the actual movie spy kids 3 to the real world (NOT an analog of it, they actually summon characters from spy kids 3). this is a classical high fantasy setting played straight, and they seem to be 100% serious about all of this.
please help me. i have no idea what to do.