Controlling players (save my game) [Archive] - Wizards Community

Controlling players (save my game) [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
FearTheKirk
01-14-07, 07:54 PM I have a player in my campaign that plays a Goliath barbarian and is totally controlling. We always have to do his plans and if we try to do one of our plans instead, he just threatens to kill us. This wouldn't be a problem, but since his Goliath has a level adjustment 1 he is better than the rest of us, we tried to complain to the DM but all he did was lower his strength by 2. All the races that don't have level adjustments but do have ability mods even out (Elf gets plus 2 dex, minus 2 con) but a Goliath gets 4 strength and 2 con minus 2 dex so even when he got rid of 2 strength he still has a gross bonus of 2. How should we deal with this character?
DarkNick
01-14-07, 08:16 PM Well, from an ingame perspective, as a character I would not travel with someone that threatens to kill me. Gather the other characters up and throw him out of the party "we are sick of you threatening us, you're out".

Alternatively just make it hard on the guy. Accept his plans and then don't follow them - pretend you misinterpreted him. Hang back in fights and let him take all the punishment. Pretend you are out of spells so don't heal him. The problem with this is nobody will end up happy.

Personaly I would stand up to him him. This is not really a character problem so much as a player problem. He is just a bully, you need to make a stand. If he wants to kill you let him try "If it will make you feel like the big man, go ahead, I won't even lift a finger". Better to stand up to him than be forever his *****. Also don't take it personally, act like you don't care. This will rob some of this guys power. If your character gets killed simply make up another one. Be warned though this guy will end up seeing you as his personal enemy and try to make things even more difficult for you.
At the end of the day I think you will find that this person will not change. Better to simply not play with toxic people than try to fix it. Be honest about it too. "I don't want to play because so and so is being an arse and it does not feel good playing with him"
TheChilliGod
01-14-07, 08:19 PM If you've tried dealing with the player first (If you haven't, I would really suggest talking with the player and asking why he's being such a control freak in a cooperative game), then nothing in all the world says you can't just kill the goliath off.

Assuming that the entire party is being repressed like this, I have my doubts that a goliath could kill each and every one of your PC's, especially with its level adjustment of 1, which means that the goliath should be having 1 less class level than the rest of the party, which misses it out on hit points, BAB, saves, class features, skills etc. Even if he didn't, if one party member is able to lay waste to all the other party members, you definitely have some issues needing working out OOG.

What you could do is either kill the goliath in his sleep (this works rather well if the goliath doesn't wear his armor to sleep), or just leave him. I would suggest the latter, assuming that the goliath can't follow you and completely slaughter you. When you leave the goliath, ask that the player make a new PC, because his last one was a total jackass.

Good luck, hope I helped.
Reversefigure4
01-14-07, 09:00 PM especially with its level adjustment of 1, which means that the goliath should be having 1 less class level than the rest of the party, which misses it out on hit points, BAB, saves, class features, skills etc.

I just wanted to repeat this again. With a LA+1, he shouldn't be better than you. In theory, he should be equal in power, because if you are Level 4 characters, he should be Level 3 - one lower. (Many users of LA would suggest he should actually end up being LESS powerful, not equally so).

Check you're using the Level Adjustment rules properly, that may be your problem. (Of course, if the character keeps control by threatening to kill you, your game probably has bigger problems than what's wrong with the LA on a Goliath).
tharivol266
01-14-07, 09:07 PM i would invest in a scyth (x4 crit mod), then have thed rogue take first watch and whomever can cast bulls strength offer to take second. move all of his weapons away from him and cdg. if he lives past the damage and the fort save he still has a rogue and a caster to deal with alone and un armed.
Thoragg
01-14-07, 11:23 PM if you guys are playing a non evil campaign to kill some one because he didn't follow your plan is and evil act thus making his character evil and out of his control. second lvl adjustments do level out the playing field quite a bit so he would be 1 level lower than every one else but i hate playing and having players use metta races

and why the hell is a barb coming up with your plansthe only good plan my barb ever had was running in water to fight a shadow dancer if this guys plans are to complex he should be making int checks to see if it would think of it
danielinthewolvesden
01-15-07, 12:14 AM The best thing is to sit down with the player and dicsuss it with him like adults.

Next best is to have your PC's (all in agoup) tell the Goliath "Well, thanks, it was fun, but we are leaving now, youre no longer part of this party. Have fun, be safe. If he insists on following you, tell the DM you are all going to town and taking mundane jobs until the goliath leaves and stops bothering you.

Killing his PC is the worst. The Player will just come back with another stronger PC and kill you all one by one. If you kill that, he'll try again and again.
philnicau
01-15-07, 01:12 AM Tell him in front of all the other players that his attitude and playing style is ruining the fun of the other players and he can either alter his style or leave, if he agrees to stay be prepared to stop the game and remind him any time he slips back even slightly into his old ways.
Yokomohoyo
01-15-07, 01:27 AM Got a mage? Hold person/charm person/hipnotic pattern are your friends if he tries to kill your party for not taking his route... Afterwards just leave him that way and have the party walk away... A control freak is never good after all DND is a game for a party its not final fantasy where one player controls the party after all.

BTW your mage could also summon monsters to help out with the guy... A few meat shields and a few party members can and will take out one all the time.
MongooseFamiliar
01-15-07, 10:17 AM If you want to deal with it in game, the rest of the players could decide that this guy is homicidal and a threat to them, as well as other people. They would be doing the world a favor by getting rid of this evil creature.

That said, lead him into a bog, quicksand, or to the fragile edge of a cliff and let gravity do your work for you. If you leave him in a bog, archaeologists can study his well-preserved corpse a few centuries in the future.
seldom_seen
01-15-07, 10:32 AM A lot of the above posts hit on the same theme, which is that this is a real life problem as well as a game one. This guy is a controlling and dominating type personality. During his roleplaying, he gets to act out all his aggression and fantasy. This is not going to be an easy fix. It will be very hard to get this person to downplay this type of personality. You might want to just say, "You know what, it's been fun, but your personality just doesn't match with the rest of the group. We took a vote, and we're asking you to leave." Then don't have him back. It may be a hard thing to do, but why should the whole group suffer because of one player?
Novabomb
01-15-07, 10:35 AM 2 things
1) This sounds more like an out of game problem, deal with this out of game (ie speak with the troublesome player) If this doesn't work ask the dm to exile him from the game. Direct him to this thread if necesary.

2) There should not be a problem with the goliath's LA. I am not sure if you are aware of this, but level adjustment means that the troublesome character is behind on lvl compared to the rest of the party. Your balancing concept is misguided. There is no reason why all races should have even stats. If your taking an LA race u better have stat boosts, or some truly bada$$ abilities
SneakyPetey
01-15-07, 11:21 AM A lot of the above posts hit on the same theme, which is that this is a real life problem as well as a game one. This guy is a controlling and dominating type personality. During his roleplaying, he gets to act out all his aggression and fantasy. This is not going to be an easy fix. It will be very hard to get this person to downplay this type of personality. You might want to just say, "You know what, it's been fun, but your personality just doesn't match with the rest of the group. We took a vote, and we're asking you to leave." Then don't have him back. It may be a hard thing to do, but why should the whole group suffer because of one player?

This is a very astute observation, however I think you should confront the problem and give this player a chance to change before tossing him from the group.

At one time, I was like this as both a player and DM but our gaming group stuck together and I've learned to "share the sandbox" so to speak.

Of course I wasn't as bad as this guy sounds, but I still think you should confront him out of the game and try to work it out. In game "solutions" have their place, but in this case I believe they will only make things worse.

I hope this helps! Have good gaming! :)
razorboy
01-15-07, 12:11 PM I'm just curious, what's the DM doing during all these threats? What's the Goliath's alignment? If it's not evil, the DM should be stepping in and forcing the player to adher to his alignment. If he and the rest of the party are evil on the other hand, then the rest of the party would've killed/tortured/abandoned/sold into slavery the Goliath a long time ago. Heck, even a non-evil party would've walked away from him as soon as the bullying start. So far, most posts emphasized talking to the player. Well, I would suggest talking to the DM first. And if the DM is not doing his job as an arbiter, then walk away from a game, because you got among the most dangerous mixes of DM/player possible - an unruly player and a weak-spined DM and a game like that is not worth your time. Good luck in your next game.
CryoSilver
01-15-07, 12:13 PM Hit him with a chair (http://www.geocities.com/absolutecryogenic/dnd/steve.pdf)
BW0222
01-15-07, 03:31 PM FearTheKirk,

>We always have to do his plans and if we try to do one of
>our plans instead, he just threatens to kill us.

Time to have an out-of-character discussion.

Let your DM and other players know that you don't enjoy player-vs-player conflict. Stealing, threats, assault, attacking each other... simply lead to unbelievable PC interaction, hard feelings between players, and the almost certainly the end of the campaign. Then ask the other players and DM for their thoughts on whether player-vs-player conflict is permitted. (If they say "Yes", find another group.)

Next, invoke the "real life party" rule. At anything the majority of the PCs vote a PC out of the party, that player is out of the gaming group -- until such time as the other PCs allow him back into the group.

Do you think any group of soliders would allow one of their squad to threaten to kill everyone? No. They'd leave him in camp, call the guards, etc.
Dei
01-15-07, 04:10 PM Five simple words:

Kill Him In His Sleep

or the abridged version:

Coup de Gras

Seriously, if he's threatening your lives and the rest of your party is not lawfully aligned introduce Mr Dagger to Mr Jugular and let him roll up a new character. If you know someone's intentions, do unto them before they do unto you and you'll live a long and prosperous life. Get the heaviest hitter in the group apart from him and get it over with next time he sleeps. If you don't really have any other heavy hitters remember that ray spells can be used to coup de gras, and yes, they do have a critical multiplier. If the player throws a tantrum then frankly he's not worth playing with anymore, boot him.
FeceMan
01-15-07, 04:22 PM I have a player in my campaign that plays a Goliath barbarian and is totally controlling. We always have to do his plans and if we try to do one of our plans instead, he just threatens to kill us. This wouldn't be a problem, but since his Goliath has a level adjustment 1 he is better than the rest of us, we tried to complain to the DM but all he did was lower his strength by 2. All the races that don't have level adjustments but do have ability mods even out (Elf gets plus 2 dex, minus 2 con) but a Goliath gets 4 strength and 2 con minus 2 dex so even when he got rid of 2 strength he still has a gross bonus of 2. How should we deal with this character?
1. Say you aren't going to travel with him anymore.
2. Kill him if he attacks; have the guy roll up a new character.
3. If the problem persists, hit him with a folding chair and call him "Steve."
bob_the_great
01-15-07, 05:47 PM why does no one ever want to resolve disputes out of character? this is another issue where thye best result is to talk to the player.

The only in-game solutions are really to either put up with it, kill him before he kills you, or refuse to adventure with someone who threatens you. The first ruins your enjoyment and the other will probably tick him off and will not really solve anything as his next character will likely be just as bossy.
DreadArchon
01-15-07, 06:13 PM Kicking the character out of the group is a bit harsh. Have the party kill him in his sleep and see if he leaves on his own. Either he'll get the message and stop or he'll get mad and try to stop you. And what is he going to do, beat you up in real life? Call the cops if he really thinks that you can handle people like that.
Ryusage
01-15-07, 06:34 PM Goliath Barbarian eh? This means only one thing to me: low Will Save.
Have the party wizard prepare some interesting enchantment spells, or even have the cleric cast lesser geas on him, ordering him not to harm the party.
YamiSouru
01-15-07, 10:57 PM a goliath barbarian eh? any illusionist or enchanter will turn this guy into a sock puppet....

Hoo-kay lets get to work on breaking mr meat shield.

Step 1: in game find a wizard/beguiler who has/is studying the emotion of fear, hopefull ending up with the result of finding a wizard(or beguiler)/nightmare spinner/dread witch.
step 2: introduce yournew spell casting friend to the goliath, who should at this time start barking orders at the "weakling" mage.
step 3: when the mage gives the goliath the finger the goliath will most likely try to attack makeing the mage pull out his spells to defend himself, namely his fear spells.
step 4: grab some popcorn as the mage completely destroys the barbarians psyche (due to its low will save) untill it passes out thanks to the nightmare spinner prestige class.
step 5: sell the goliaths gear to pay off the mage and go scouting for a nice timid adventurer to join your group.
step 6: ???
step 7: profit.
FntsyWlkr
01-16-07, 03:07 PM When he threatens "do this or I hurt you."

... do it anyways!

Sure, he may kill your character. Then make a new one.

Either way it forces the DM and the bully to deal with it. The minute you guys roll intiative, you can ask, "Are you having fun?"

"Yeah!"

"Ok, well I'm not. I don't have fun with bullies in real life, so I'm not having fun with it in game."
robertliguori
01-16-07, 04:36 PM If the DM isn't stepping in when the Goliath threatens you all, he probably won't step in when you all CdG the goliath in his sleep, which is the only real reasonable response to "Do this or I kill you." from a melee-type in-game.
danielinthewolvesden
01-16-07, 09:27 PM why does no one ever want to resolve disputes out of character? this is another issue where thye best result is to talk to the player.

.
Either they are immature or they think that silly IC "solutions" are funny.
draco1119
01-16-07, 09:35 PM Cryo's solution is OOC... :P
Adrian_Crane
01-16-07, 09:37 PM In addition to the above...

Is the guy stronger than all of you IRL, or does he otherwise have some leverage? You can always find another place to game if you're worried about not being able to play at his place or whatnot.

As to physical strength, if he's seriously the type who'd be immature to come to blows over a game, there's always the cops--and besides, one person vs 3-4 means you shouldn't have a problem holding him down if he snaps.

Otherwise, deal with it out of game. Tell him you understand that his barbarian is a pushy, rough type--that's an archetype of the class, after all. However, it's not fun to you as the players to have to deal with a one-way personality who won't budge. For the sake of gameplay, he needs to find a reason to make compromises.

If his WIS is half-decent he should recognize that other people are sometimes more capable for leadership. If his WIS sucks, then just have the party face smooth-talk him.

To give him a convennient IC reason to shift his view, have your rogue or wizard prove their own superiority to lead through good plans. Have your druid shapeshift and beat the guy down to prove he's not top dog physically. Have your DM arrange a diplomacy-based scenario for a bit so the guy sees he's not king of everything.

Goliaths are tribal and have a strong respect for kin. Bring that up, see what it'll take for you all to function as equals. If he still won't budge, wave goodbye. Preferably while leaving him to fight the latest encounter on his own. :D
SokenzanMarauder
01-16-07, 09:45 PM Cryo's solution is OOC... :P
It's also the best possible one.

-Gene

P.S. Link's still dead there Cryo. :p
Stormbrand
01-19-07, 10:40 PM I have a player in my campaign that plays a Goliath barbarian and is totally controlling. We always have to do his plans and if we try to do one of our plans instead, he just threatens to kill us. This wouldn't be a problem, but since his Goliath has a level adjustment 1 he is better than the rest of us, we tried to complain to the DM but all he did was lower his strength by 2. All the races that don't have level adjustments but do have ability mods even out (Elf gets plus 2 dex, minus 2 con) but a Goliath gets 4 strength and 2 con minus 2 dex so even when he got rid of 2 strength he still has a gross bonus of 2. How should we deal with this character?

I'd like to hear from you for an update please, to know why is he not dead yet?

Are we done helping? Do you still need input?

My Paladin would kill him in his sleep.
Dragoloth
01-19-07, 11:46 PM 1)KILL HIM.
2)place his head in your backpack (the PC not the player)
3)show his next character the head in the bag
4)tell new char. mes with us we will have 2 heads in the bag.
kelvinaw273
01-20-07, 04:19 AM This is an old, old theme where one player (often a power gamer/optimizer) tries to dominate the action completely. Why? Because the player has issues.

1) Talk to the PLAYER and explain that their character is destroying your fun, and everyone elses (which I presume that they are). Explain that you don't want to spoil his fun, but that if you react IC the way anyone would, his fun will end.

2) If he persists, argues, tells you where to go, do just that. The party gang-up should finish this character pretty quickly if you are too honourable to kill him in his sleep.

3) If you feel really kind, just steal his stuff in his sleep and leave him rather than kill him ...
StrangeGuy
01-20-07, 04:51 AM Personally, my suggestion would be a mix of the two common themes..

1) Talk to the player out of game, and tell him that he's being a dick.

if that doesn't work...

2) Wait till he's sleeping, chain him down, have your party's caster ready to cast hold person if he breaks the chains, and tell the character to shape up or you're going to have to defend yourselves from the threat he poses to all of you.

assuming you have the standard group of 4, 3 on 1 should be a pretty simple battle especially if he has poor ranged attacks.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
FearTheKirk 01-14-07, 07:54 PM	I have a player in my campaign that plays a Goliath barbarian and is totally controlling. We always have to do his plans and if we try to do one of our plans instead, he just threatens to kill us. This wouldn't be a problem, but since his Goliath has a level adjustment 1 he is better than the rest of us, we tried to complain to the DM but all he did was lower his strength by 2. All the races that don't have level adjustments but do have ability mods even out (Elf gets plus 2 dex, minus 2 con) but a Goliath gets 4 strength and 2 con minus 2 dex so even when he got rid of 2 strength he still has a gross bonus of 2. How should we deal with this character?
DarkNick 01-14-07, 08:16 PM	Well, from an ingame perspective, as a character I would not travel with someone that threatens to kill me. Gather the other characters up and throw him out of the party "we are sick of you threatening us, you're out". Alternatively just make it hard on the guy. Accept his plans and then don't follow them - pretend you misinterpreted him. Hang back in fights and let him take all the punishment. Pretend you are out of spells so don't heal him. The problem with this is nobody will end up happy. Personaly I would stand up to him him. This is not really a character problem so much as a player problem. He is just a bully, you need to make a stand. If he wants to kill you let him try "If it will make you feel like the big man, go ahead, I won't even lift a finger". Better to stand up to him than be forever his *****. Also don't take it personally, act like you don't care. This will rob some of this guys power. If your character gets killed simply make up another one. Be warned though this guy will end up seeing you as his personal enemy and try to make things even more difficult for you. At the end of the day I think you will find that this person will not change. Better to simply not play with toxic people than try to fix it. Be honest about it too. "I don't want to play because so and so is being an arse and it does not feel good playing with him"
TheChilliGod 01-14-07, 08:19 PM	If you've tried dealing with the player first (If you haven't, I would really suggest talking with the player and asking why he's being such a control freak in a cooperative game), then nothing in all the world says you can't just kill the goliath off. Assuming that the entire party is being repressed like this, I have my doubts that a goliath could kill each and every one of your PC's, especially with its level adjustment of 1, which means that the goliath should be having 1 less class level than the rest of the party, which misses it out on hit points, BAB, saves, class features, skills etc. Even if he didn't, if one party member is able to lay waste to all the other party members, you definitely have some issues needing working out OOG. What you could do is either kill the goliath in his sleep (this works rather well if the goliath doesn't wear his armor to sleep), or just leave him. I would suggest the latter, assuming that the goliath can't follow you and completely slaughter you. When you leave the goliath, ask that the player make a new PC, because his last one was a total jackass. Good luck, hope I helped.
Reversefigure4 01-14-07, 09:00 PM	especially with its level adjustment of 1, which means that the goliath should be having 1 less class level than the rest of the party, which misses it out on hit points, BAB, saves, class features, skills etc. I just wanted to repeat this again. With a LA+1, he shouldn't be better than you. In theory, he should be equal in power, because if you are Level 4 characters, he should be Level 3 - one lower. (Many users of LA would suggest he should actually end up being LESS powerful, not equally so). Check you're using the Level Adjustment rules properly, that may be your problem. (Of course, if the character keeps control by threatening to kill you, your game probably has bigger problems than what's wrong with the LA on a Goliath).
tharivol266 01-14-07, 09:07 PM	i would invest in a scyth (x4 crit mod), then have thed rogue take first watch and whomever can cast bulls strength offer to take second. move all of his weapons away from him and cdg. if he lives past the damage and the fort save he still has a rogue and a caster to deal with alone and un armed.
Thoragg 01-14-07, 11:23 PM	if you guys are playing a non evil campaign to kill some one because he didn't follow your plan is and evil act thus making his character evil and out of his control. second lvl adjustments do level out the playing field quite a bit so he would be 1 level lower than every one else but i hate playing and having players use metta races and why the hell is a barb coming up with your plansthe only good plan my barb ever had was running in water to fight a shadow dancer if this guys plans are to complex he should be making int checks to see if it would think of it
danielinthewolvesden 01-15-07, 12:14 AM	The best thing is to sit down with the player and dicsuss it with him like adults. Next best is to have your PC's (all in agoup) tell the Goliath "Well, thanks, it was fun, but we are leaving now, youre no longer part of this party. Have fun, be safe. If he insists on following you, tell the DM you are all going to town and taking mundane jobs until the goliath leaves and stops bothering you. Killing his PC is the worst. The Player will just come back with another stronger PC and kill you all one by one. If you kill that, he'll try again and again.
philnicau 01-15-07, 01:12 AM	Tell him in front of all the other players that his attitude and playing style is ruining the fun of the other players and he can either alter his style or leave, if he agrees to stay be prepared to stop the game and remind him any time he slips back even slightly into his old ways.
Yokomohoyo 01-15-07, 01:27 AM	Got a mage? Hold person/charm person/hipnotic pattern are your friends if he tries to kill your party for not taking his route... Afterwards just leave him that way and have the party walk away... A control freak is never good after all DND is a game for a party its not final fantasy where one player controls the party after all. BTW your mage could also summon monsters to help out with the guy... A few meat shields and a few party members can and will take out one all the time.
MongooseFamiliar 01-15-07, 10:17 AM	If you want to deal with it in game, the rest of the players could decide that this guy is homicidal and a threat to them, as well as other people. They would be doing the world a favor by getting rid of this evil creature. That said, lead him into a bog, quicksand, or to the fragile edge of a cliff and let gravity do your work for you. If you leave him in a bog, archaeologists can study his well-preserved corpse a few centuries in the future.
seldom_seen 01-15-07, 10:32 AM	A lot of the above posts hit on the same theme, which is that this is a real life problem as well as a game one. This guy is a controlling and dominating type personality. During his roleplaying, he gets to act out all his aggression and fantasy. This is not going to be an easy fix. It will be very hard to get this person to downplay this type of personality. You might want to just say, "You know what, it's been fun, but your personality just doesn't match with the rest of the group. We took a vote, and we're asking you to leave." Then don't have him back. It may be a hard thing to do, but why should the whole group suffer because of one player?
Novabomb 01-15-07, 10:35 AM	2 things 1) This sounds more like an out of game problem, deal with this out of game (ie speak with the troublesome player) If this doesn't work ask the dm to exile him from the game. Direct him to this thread if necesary. 2) There should not be a problem with the goliath's LA. I am not sure if you are aware of this, but level adjustment means that the troublesome character is behind on lvl compared to the rest of the party. Your balancing concept is misguided. There is no reason why all races should have even stats. If your taking an LA race u better have stat boosts, or some truly bada$$ abilities
SneakyPetey 01-15-07, 11:21 AM	A lot of the above posts hit on the same theme, which is that this is a real life problem as well as a game one. This guy is a controlling and dominating type personality. During his roleplaying, he gets to act out all his aggression and fantasy. This is not going to be an easy fix. It will be very hard to get this person to downplay this type of personality. You might want to just say, "You know what, it's been fun, but your personality just doesn't match with the rest of the group. We took a vote, and we're asking you to leave." Then don't have him back. It may be a hard thing to do, but why should the whole group suffer because of one player? This is a very astute observation, however I think you should confront the problem and give this player a chance to change before tossing him from the group. At one time, I was like this as both a player and DM but our gaming group stuck together and I've learned to "share the sandbox" so to speak. Of course I wasn't as bad as this guy sounds, but I still think you should confront him out of the game and try to work it out. In game "solutions" have their place, but in this case I believe they will only make things worse. I hope this helps! Have good gaming! :)
razorboy 01-15-07, 12:11 PM	I'm just curious, what's the DM doing during all these threats? What's the Goliath's alignment? If it's not evil, the DM should be stepping in and forcing the player to adher to his alignment. If he and the rest of the party are evil on the other hand, then the rest of the party would've killed/tortured/abandoned/sold into slavery the Goliath a long time ago. Heck, even a non-evil party would've walked away from him as soon as the bullying start. So far, most posts emphasized talking to the player. Well, I would suggest talking to the DM first. And if the DM is not doing his job as an arbiter, then walk away from a game, because you got among the most dangerous mixes of DM/player possible - an unruly player and a weak-spined DM and a game like that is not worth your time. Good luck in your next game.
CryoSilver 01-15-07, 12:13 PM	Hit him with a chair (http://www.geocities.com/absolutecryogenic/dnd/steve.pdf)
BW0222 01-15-07, 03:31 PM	FearTheKirk, >We always have to do his plans and if we try to do one of >our plans instead, he just threatens to kill us. Time to have an out-of-character discussion. Let your DM and other players know that you don't enjoy player-vs-player conflict. Stealing, threats, assault, attacking each other... simply lead to unbelievable PC interaction, hard feelings between players, and the almost certainly the end of the campaign. Then ask the other players and DM for their thoughts on whether player-vs-player conflict is permitted. (If they say "Yes", find another group.) Next, invoke the "real life party" rule. At anything the majority of the PCs vote a PC out of the party, that player is out of the gaming group -- until such time as the other PCs allow him back into the group. Do you think any group of soliders would allow one of their squad to threaten to kill everyone? No. They'd leave him in camp, call the guards, etc.
Dei 01-15-07, 04:10 PM	Five simple words: Kill Him In His Sleep or the abridged version: Coup de Gras Seriously, if he's threatening your lives and the rest of your party is not lawfully aligned introduce Mr Dagger to Mr Jugular and let him roll up a new character. If you know someone's intentions, do unto them before they do unto you and you'll live a long and prosperous life. Get the heaviest hitter in the group apart from him and get it over with next time he sleeps. If you don't really have any other heavy hitters remember that ray spells can be used to coup de gras, and yes, they do have a critical multiplier. If the player throws a tantrum then frankly he's not worth playing with anymore, boot him.
FeceMan 01-15-07, 04:22 PM	I have a player in my campaign that plays a Goliath barbarian and is totally controlling. We always have to do his plans and if we try to do one of our plans instead, he just threatens to kill us. This wouldn't be a problem, but since his Goliath has a level adjustment 1 he is better than the rest of us, we tried to complain to the DM but all he did was lower his strength by 2. All the races that don't have level adjustments but do have ability mods even out (Elf gets plus 2 dex, minus 2 con) but a Goliath gets 4 strength and 2 con minus 2 dex so even when he got rid of 2 strength he still has a gross bonus of 2. How should we deal with this character? 1. Say you aren't going to travel with him anymore. 2. Kill him if he attacks; have the guy roll up a new character. 3. If the problem persists, hit him with a folding chair and call him "Steve."
bob_the_great 01-15-07, 05:47 PM	why does no one ever want to resolve disputes out of character? this is another issue where thye best result is to talk to the player. The only in-game solutions are really to either put up with it, kill him before he kills you, or refuse to adventure with someone who threatens you. The first ruins your enjoyment and the other will probably tick him off and will not really solve anything as his next character will likely be just as bossy.
DreadArchon 01-15-07, 06:13 PM	Kicking the character out of the group is a bit harsh. Have the party kill him in his sleep and see if he leaves on his own. Either he'll get the message and stop or he'll get mad and try to stop you. And what is he going to do, beat you up in real life? Call the cops if he really thinks that you can handle people like that.
Ryusage 01-15-07, 06:34 PM	Goliath Barbarian eh? This means only one thing to me: low Will Save. Have the party wizard prepare some interesting enchantment spells, or even have the cleric cast lesser geas on him, ordering him not to harm the party.
YamiSouru 01-15-07, 10:57 PM	a goliath barbarian eh? any illusionist or enchanter will turn this guy into a sock puppet.... Hoo-kay lets get to work on breaking mr meat shield. Step 1: in game find a wizard/beguiler who has/is studying the emotion of fear, hopefull ending up with the result of finding a wizard(or beguiler)/nightmare spinner/dread witch. step 2: introduce yournew spell casting friend to the goliath, who should at this time start barking orders at the "weakling" mage. step 3: when the mage gives the goliath the finger the goliath will most likely try to attack makeing the mage pull out his spells to defend himself, namely his fear spells. step 4: grab some popcorn as the mage completely destroys the barbarians psyche (due to its low will save) untill it passes out thanks to the nightmare spinner prestige class. step 5: sell the goliaths gear to pay off the mage and go scouting for a nice timid adventurer to join your group. step 6: ??? step 7: profit.
FntsyWlkr 01-16-07, 03:07 PM	When he threatens "do this or I hurt you." ... do it anyways! Sure, he may kill your character. Then make a new one. Either way it forces the DM and the bully to deal with it. The minute you guys roll intiative, you can ask, "Are you having fun?" "Yeah!" "Ok, well I'm not. I don't have fun with bullies in real life, so I'm not having fun with it in game."
robertliguori 01-16-07, 04:36 PM	If the DM isn't stepping in when the Goliath threatens you all, he probably won't step in when you all CdG the goliath in his sleep, which is the only real reasonable response to "Do this or I kill you." from a melee-type in-game.
danielinthewolvesden 01-16-07, 09:27 PM	why does no one ever want to resolve disputes out of character? this is another issue where thye best result is to talk to the player. . Either they are immature or they think that silly IC "solutions" are funny.
draco1119 01-16-07, 09:35 PM	Cryo's solution is OOC... :P
Adrian_Crane 01-16-07, 09:37 PM	In addition to the above... Is the guy stronger than all of you IRL, or does he otherwise have some leverage? You can always find another place to game if you're worried about not being able to play at his place or whatnot. As to physical strength, if he's seriously the type who'd be immature to come to blows over a game, there's always the cops--and besides, one person vs 3-4 means you shouldn't have a problem holding him down if he snaps. Otherwise, deal with it out of game. Tell him you understand that his barbarian is a pushy, rough type--that's an archetype of the class, after all. However, it's not fun to you as the players to have to deal with a one-way personality who won't budge. For the sake of gameplay, he needs to find a reason to make compromises. If his WIS is half-decent he should recognize that other people are sometimes more capable for leadership. If his WIS sucks, then just have the party face smooth-talk him. To give him a convennient IC reason to shift his view, have your rogue or wizard prove their own superiority to lead through good plans. Have your druid shapeshift and beat the guy down to prove he's not top dog physically. Have your DM arrange a diplomacy-based scenario for a bit so the guy sees he's not king of everything. Goliaths are tribal and have a strong respect for kin. Bring that up, see what it'll take for you all to function as equals. If he still won't budge, wave goodbye. Preferably while leaving him to fight the latest encounter on his own. :D
SokenzanMarauder 01-16-07, 09:45 PM	Cryo's solution is OOC... :P It's also the best possible one. -Gene P.S. Link's still dead there Cryo. :p
Stormbrand 01-19-07, 10:40 PM	I have a player in my campaign that plays a Goliath barbarian and is totally controlling. We always have to do his plans and if we try to do one of our plans instead, he just threatens to kill us. This wouldn't be a problem, but since his Goliath has a level adjustment 1 he is better than the rest of us, we tried to complain to the DM but all he did was lower his strength by 2. All the races that don't have level adjustments but do have ability mods even out (Elf gets plus 2 dex, minus 2 con) but a Goliath gets 4 strength and 2 con minus 2 dex so even when he got rid of 2 strength he still has a gross bonus of 2. How should we deal with this character? I'd like to hear from you for an update please, to know why is he not dead yet? Are we done helping? Do you still need input? My Paladin would kill him in his sleep.
Dragoloth 01-19-07, 11:46 PM	1)KILL HIM. 2)place his head in your backpack (the PC not the player) 3)show his next character the head in the bag 4)tell new char. mes with us we will have 2 heads in the bag.
kelvinaw273 01-20-07, 04:19 AM	This is an old, old theme where one player (often a power gamer/optimizer) tries to dominate the action completely. Why? Because the player has issues. 1) Talk to the PLAYER and explain that their character is destroying your fun, and everyone elses (which I presume that they are). Explain that you don't want to spoil his fun, but that if you react IC the way anyone would, his fun will end. 2) If he persists, argues, tells you where to go, do just that. The party gang-up should finish this character pretty quickly if you are too honourable to kill him in his sleep. 3) If you feel really kind, just steal his stuff in his sleep and leave him rather than kill him ...
StrangeGuy 01-20-07, 04:51 AM	Personally, my suggestion would be a mix of the two common themes.. 1) Talk to the player out of game, and tell him that he's being a dick. if that doesn't work... 2) Wait till he's sleeping, chain him down, have your party's caster ready to cast hold person if he breaks the chains, and tell the character to shape up or you're going to have to defend yourselves from the threat he poses to all of you. assuming you have the standard group of 4, 3 on 1 should be a pretty simple battle especially if he has poor ranged attacks.