Post/Author/DateTime	Post
shadowfox628 01-27-06, 07:55 PM	At first I thought I was being tough on her, but I can't stand it anymore. There's one PC who just gets on everyone's nerves. People hate her in real life for her actions, but I hate her for her character's attitudes and her reactions to everything. Let me tell you, I'm not being tough on her.... It's been getting on my nerves for a while. Most of the time, she doesn't think... And when she does, she's close minded. Her character personalities are, well, 2D, and she only chooses one of 2: Stupid, bimbo-like character (seriously) or loner. Both cause problems within our groups (this is spread throughout many campains, not an isolated incodent). Problems: 1) Characters 2) Actions (In game) 3) Actions (Out of game) 4) Psychology Note: This is D&D at school, and we can only play for 1-1.5 hours once a week. 1) Characters: Like stated above, she generally picks one of 2 characters. Look, even I'm trying to break away from my usual character (kleptomaniac or pyromaniac, though in the last session I didn't play my character correctly), and I even help her out when she asks... But her characters cause problems. When she's the idiot, she's either plays him/her (the character) too smart or too dumb, and the loner usually causes the campain to split into 2 "sub-campains," which slows everything down for everyone. 2) Actions (In Game) Idiot: A good example is in a campain that I recently ended (and, unfortunately for us, she claim's she's bringing her back in a new campain). Her character had a INT score of 6 (she asked, and I thought "What wrong could it do?"). However, when it came to actions, she was dumber than Charlie Gordon (character in "Flowers for Algernon," and assuming 1 INT point equals about 10 IQ points, and Charlie had an IQ of 60-67). However, when it came to spells, she was a genious... And even then, I'm not sure if she could cast those spell. Example: She's dumb enough to NOT follow someone who knows his way around the underground cave (bio-based quest, and she and her character KNEW that the leader knew his way around), but is smart enough to know that a Worm That Walks is a vermin. Loner: She tends not to stick with the other PC's, seperating herself from the others, causing the campain to split into 2.... Not good, because we have 1-1.5 hours to play. 3) Actions (Out of Game) If she does ANYTHING correctly, she'll boast about it to the others. Ex: Her: "I killed the Titan by using Greater Command and commanded him to die!" Me: "No, you didn't. Upon what <name edited out>, you couldn't. You settled for commanding him to sleep, and someone slit his throat." Note: Upon just now, you can't command somone to sleep. ..... She generally gets lucky, that's it. She can't roleplay correctly (neither do I, but I'm trying to correct my mistakes). She'll complain if I don't use Metagame knowladge, but she'll blame all of her mistakes on anyone else... Like me, for making her character... And let me tell you, I'm what you'd classify as "Munchkin" (maximizes out anything possible). 4) Psychology: Thise is what I've gathered from listening to what she said: 1. If she's a spellcaster, she think's she's invincible. Me: "For when your current character dies, what do you want your spare character to be?" Her: "I don't need one." Me: "Explain." Her: "I'm a spellcaster, so I'll be the last to die." 2. She'll take almost anything done as an action of her own. Situation: We were trapped in a room with 2 Beholders blocking the entrance. I shot down all of her ideas ("I would burn the eggs, but I don't have any fire spells." She then gives me an evil look.... I made her Bard more support than combat). I move my character to one end to try to distract the Beholders. One followed my movements. I promptly told my character's half-brother to go to the opposite side. This left room for the Bard to cast spells... I told her to cast Blindness on both of them. Me (to a person that said at least one of us was going to die): "Ha! Because of me, I got the group out with no caualties!" Her: "Excuse me, but it was my idea to cast Blindness!" (In all honesty, I did tell her to cast Blindness... After finding out about Beholder abilities, their rays, and Dispel Magic). 3. She just doesn't think.... Well, she does, but focuses on one thing. I'm giving her advise (which actually came from the DM), and she's shooting everything down. OK, she's chained to a wall, be she's also being forced to work in a mine (sodium in solid form, don't ask how) when she's not chained to the wall.... And, let me tell you, she doesn't seem to understand the word "distraction." Instead, she tries focusing on how to get chloride, and cause a reaction with all the sodium (with enoguh chloride to do it) so that it's salt instead of a acid/exploding substance. -------- She's an overall penalty to our parties. She's managed to make just about every single core class in the PHB undesireable, and the ones she hasn't touched is only one, which I (thank Olidamara) made less appealing to her. I really, REALLY need advise on this... I can't give her the PHB, because she'll ask stupid questions ("What does 'Cure Light Wounds' do?"... I almost had a heart attack due to the stupidity... And it wasn't in "how much does it heal," but rather a "what the hell is this?" type question), and I'm afraid that even "D&D for Dummies" is too complex.
kraegor 01-27-06, 08:39 PM	Ok, well this sounds just like a standard "attention getting" character. They are the ones that always clash with others, come out with wierd insane ideas, and create unplayable, or unenjoyable characters (at least for the rest of us). The problem is, that if you focus on them, thats what they want. They are TRYING to get in trouble, they are TRYING to get the attention. The best thing to do is talk with your OTHER characters, and make sure that they always keep an eye on her in case she does something stupid. When she does do something stupid, they stop her. That simple. If she throws a fit over them stopping her all the time, well then those actions aren't wanted, and aren't sanctioned by the group. So it will either force her to behave, or to leave the party. Once she leaves the party you tell her to roll another character. If she does it again, the character goes through the same cycle again and again. Eventually she will tire of being shot down by the PLAYERS instead of you, and either conform, or quit the group. Those are the only 2 options. Quit or Conform. She will learn D&D sooner or later, and the sooner the better. She just wants attention. If she is indeed actually stupid, then I wouldn't want that type of person in my game. But with some of the things she comes up with from your post, scientific and metagame knowledge, she is NOT stupid. So she is a "pretend blonde" that tries to get attention by being stupid. It even makes it 10x worse if she is cute. Now if you want to be VINDICTIVE. Then just act how she acts. Take the credit for anything she does, do stupid stuff, in fact, have your charactor IDOLIZE her. Be just like her. When she says "yeah, i am invincible" your character steps up and says "Yeah, we are totally invincible". This will soon show her hopefully how much of an idiot she is being.
Tiefling_Warlock 01-27-06, 08:48 PM	Listen, if everyone hates her so much, and you, and the rest of the people feel that she is taking away from everyone elses fun, then kick her out of the game. It's that simple.
Good Agnostic 01-27-06, 09:16 PM	You are complaining about her inability to play the game, but she does not have a PHB and you will not let her see yours? ???
I_Strahd 01-28-06, 01:08 AM	this is a stone wall if i ever heard one. if you dont like this person for their attitude in real life, dear god dont bring it into dnd. coach if you can, but dont rant here please.
shadowfox628 01-28-06, 01:20 PM	You are complaining about her inability to play the game, but she does not have a PHB and you will not let her see yours? ??? She has seen a PHB, just not mine (V. 3, outdated.... I just need money for 3.5).
shadowfox628 01-28-06, 01:21 PM	this is a stone wall if i ever heard one. if you dont like this person for their attitude in real life, dear god dont bring it into dnd. coach if you can, but dont rant here please. It's not her attitude in real life, only her characters' attitudes.
Steel91101 01-28-06, 03:46 PM	Me (to a person that said at least one of us was going to die): "Ha! Because of me, I got the group out with no caualties!" Hmm, sounds like there's a lot of boasting going around. Really though, it sounds to me like you are all in grade school and that you have a personal problem with this girl. You call her an idiot for her in-game and out-of-game actions, and you say that "everyone hates her." (hate is a pretty strong word) So what I am thinking is that the most unpopular girl in your grade is in your DM group and you can't stand it. She doesnt really know how to play well --- but neither do you, since you wrote that you played "kleptomaniac or pyromaniac, though in the last session I didn't play my character correctly." You are upset that she takes credit for your ideas, but you wont help her learn the game mechanics. She picks a character called "idiot" and then you get upset that she role plays it accurately. Sounds like there's a whole bunch of issues going on there, and I dont know that there is an easy solution. But let me ask you this: What if this person were the most popular girl in school, and she was someone you really really liked? Would your attitude be different? Would you help her learn the game instead of calling her an idiot? Lend her your PHB? I ask you these questions because very often how you react about a person has a lot more to do with how YOU see that person, and not so much because of what that person is actually doing. Hope all this makes sense.
trapspringer 01-28-06, 04:02 PM	Interesting. Disagree. Right idea, wrong fluff. You should totally chill out. What difference, exactly, does it make if this girl is claiming credit for everything? It isn't like there is any big secred what happened and everyone there knows already. Try this line: "Sure, <her name here>...." I think you should ride it out. You are all clearly new players, and this kind of thing will be omni-present for a little while until everyone figures out how the game runs and gets the basics down. Here is what you should do in a conveniently numbered list: 1. You and this person need to split the cost of a 3.5 rulebook set (55$ for all three from B&N). 2. You need to stop criticizing this person's characters, because if you guys are new you all have some pretty shallow stuff going on and trying to make yourself better doesn't qualify you to correct others (though I would suggest you talk to your DM about minimizing party split-ups). 3. Ignore the bragging, it doesn't matter. Your ego is getting in the way of a game of D&D. But honestly, it doesn't sound like a bad game. Relax, think happy thoughts, hang in there. If it doesn't get better once everyone has learned the basics and gets some more play time nder thier belts, then you might need to think about finding a new group, but you still really don't know what kind of player anyone there is yet. Shuffle around DMs occasionally once everyone gets the basics down, too.
Good Agnostic 01-28-06, 05:52 PM	you say that "everyone hates her." (hate is a pretty strong word) Hate. Hate is such an exciting emotion. So easily it comes to love. I think the two of them should sit down and watch "Gilda."
shadowfox628 01-28-06, 07:55 PM	Hmm, sounds like there's a lot of boasting going around. Really though, it sounds to me like you are all in grade school and that you have a personal problem with this girl. You call her an idiot for her in-game and out-of-game actions, and you say that "everyone hates her." (hate is a pretty strong word) So what I am thinking is that the most unpopular girl in your grade is in your DM group and you can't stand it. She doesnt really know how to play well --- but neither do you, since you wrote that you played "kleptomaniac or pyromaniac, though in the last session I didn't play my character correctly." You are upset that she takes credit for your ideas, but you wont help her learn the game mechanics. She picks a character called "idiot" and then you get upset that she role plays it accurately. Sounds like there's a whole bunch of issues going on there, and I dont know that there is an easy solution. But let me ask you this: What if this person were the most popular girl in school, and she was someone you really really liked? Would your attitude be different? Would you help her learn the game instead of calling her an idiot? Lend her your PHB? I ask you these questions because very often how you react about a person has a lot more to do with how YOU see that person, and not so much because of what that person is actually doing. Hope all this makes sense. 1) This is High School 2) Yes, I do have role playing issues 3) "Idiot" was just a title... She either RPed the "idiot" character as too smart or too dumb (no, honestly) 4) Even if she was the most popular girl in school, and I liked her, I still would have this opinion (assuming that her personality was the same.. Otherwise, there would be no point in asking the question) 5) Sure, I boast, but only when my ideas were shot down and all I got as discouragement 6) Hey, my PHB's outdated. All the DM's use 3.5, so there's no point in V. 3. 7) SHe's too stubborn to be taught. Whenever I point out a flaw, she starts denying it. 8) Well, when a majority of the people that she knows "dislike her very, very much," I don't know what else to put other than "hate." 9) I don't always play a klepto or pyro, for those of you that may now be thinking that. (just for clarifications in the future). 10) She has seen the PHB, and she made her own character... Unfortunately, I cannot say how well, because someone started to edit everything they could do (not me, and I seriously would like to know how well she did)
shadowfox628 01-28-06, 08:00 PM	Interesting. Disagree. Right idea, wrong fluff. You should totally chill out. What difference, exactly, does it make if this girl is claiming credit for everything? It isn't like there is any big secred what happened and everyone there knows already. Try this line: "Sure, <her name here>...." I think you should ride it out. You are all clearly new players, and this kind of thing will be omni-present for a little while until everyone figures out how the game runs and gets the basics down. Here is what you should do in a conveniently numbered list: 1. You and this person need to split the cost of a 3.5 rulebook set (55$ for all three from B&N). 2. You need to stop criticizing this person's characters, because if you guys are new you all have some pretty shallow stuff going on and trying to make yourself better doesn't qualify you to correct others (though I would suggest you talk to your DM about minimizing party split-ups). 3. Ignore the bragging, it doesn't matter. Your ego is getting in the way of a game of D&D. But honestly, it doesn't sound like a bad game. Relax, think happy thoughts, hang in there. If it doesn't get better once everyone has learned the basics and gets some more play time nder thier belts, then you might need to think about finding a new group, but you still really don't know what kind of player anyone there is yet. Shuffle around DMs occasionally once everyone gets the basics down, too. 1) New? Not new, but we may as well be... And the simple fact that we (all the people that I play with, and they admit this) all lack common sense (theory: the smarter you get, the less common sense you have... Don't take this personally, people). 2) I can't just ignore bragging like that... I can understand bragging, but she makes a mountain out of an atom of Hydrogen. Honestly. 3) Nobody's really willing to DM... Thoguh we've had a spike of 3 people recently... Anyway, there aren't enough days in the week for everyone to DM, and not everyone is DM material (in all honesty, I learned that I can't DM over a dozen people... I'm suprised there was anything close to plot significance in my campain. *shudders*) 4) A DM (who's actually a teacher) bought 'club books," which does include the 3 core books of 3.5.
trapspringer 01-29-06, 01:58 AM	1: gotcha' 2: It still shouldn't matter on a fundamental level. The reason it shouldn't matter is everyone knows it is BS. 3: Twelve people? No. Three people. Break up into two or three groups if you have a party of twleve. Other than that, agree. 4: (I had a four?) Get yourself some books. It is pretty much really important to have the PHB. In the mean time, the SRD (an online version of 'Da Rules) is linked in my sig.