Hey /tg/, dunno if you remember me, but I was looking for advice on how to deal with cowardly players a while back. If you need a refresher, here's some of the shenanigans they pulled previously.
>Running back to the dungeon entrance if one of the thieves fails a listen roll
>Everyone checking for traps all the time, despite insistence that it doesn't work like that
>Fleeing from any fight against ranged attackers.
>Going all the way back to town, which is an in-game week away from the dungeon, because one of their frontline fighters took minor damage and the cleric had to heal him.
I took some of your advice, and am now ex-DM for these idiots. I just up and quit. I'll tell you how it went down, but don't expect anything good or story worthy. I just need to vent.
>>47758505
>Decide to implement two choice bits of advice. Give them a timed quest, and trap them in the dungeon.
>Before they set out, a messenger runs into town
>Proclaims that the local baron is deathly ill, and that the only thing that can cure him is a rare herb that conveniently grows in the dungeon.
>Anyone who can find it will be granted titles, land, and gold!
>Players just blatantly blow it off. They vocally don't care.
>Even try to justify it by saying that what they've been doing is easier
>And they haven't been doing much
>Whatever, it's fine, still have plan B, let them set out how they please
>They get to the dungeon and head inside
>Once they're sufficiently deep, a sudden cave-in traps them inside!
>And as cowardly as they are, I will give them credit that they never complain about DM fiat or railroading when shit like this happens.
>No, they just decide to clear it out themselves
>Despite very strong hints that there could be another exit if they'd just explore and be adventurers for once.
(cont.)
you cant polish a turd OP find a new group
>>47758628
>they just decide to clear it out themselves
THIS COULD ONLY GO WELL FOR YOU
IN A FANTASY DUNGEON
FULL OF MONSTERS
WITH EARS
WHO HEAR YOU WORKING AND SMELLING TASTY
>>47758628
>Before they start, I give them one last chance, say that it will take a long time to clear the cave in, and that I will absolutely roll random encounters while they do it.
>They seem set, so whatever. They start digging, I start rolling.
>It's not long before they're set upon by vicious goblins
>With bows
>They're trapped, nowhere to run, and for one brief moment I actually expect a proper combat to happen.
>Instead they just park some fighters in front and keep digging
>They don't even fight back, just sit behind their shields tanking blows
>And when asked about why they're not attacking back, they say they're stalling.
>Because only one random encounter can happen at a time, right?
>No, no it absolutely does not work like that.
>More goblins show up in short order.
>Lots of goblins.
>Enough to knock down a fighter and drag him into the dark, never to be seen again.
>So they just park another one in his place.
>And keep digging.
(cont.)
>>47758748
Where are these fighters coming from?
>>47758675
>I can hear you smelling tasty
That sounds like you never had any repercussions for their shit.
They probably figured out that just saying "I walk back to the village an return to the dungeon a week later" was a cheap way to get full HP.
You should punish that shit early.
If they resale the monsters ambush them, if they walk back they get lost or attacked by bandits.
Let them know that the world moves, even if they don't.
Hunt them like animals.
Sounds like they needed to explore the dungeon of comfy pillows and doting nannies.
>>47758655
Think again
>>47758748
>I'm at my wit's end at this point.
>A PC died and they just don't seem to care.
>Frustrated, tired, and eager to just go home, I throw an ogre at them
>I don't even roll, I just say he shows up and smashes the fighter's shields in.
>The goblins overrun them, start stabbing and looting.
>And even while their friends and companions are getting murdered behind them, they just keep digging.
>And since they've been at it for a while now, I just say they've got enough cleared that they can get out one at a time
>So they do
>Immediately
>Out of the 14 PCs that set out, only 6 got back to town
>Not a game ending loss, but still pretty bad.
>The rest got left behind to get murdered by goblins because no one would fight
>Tell them outright it was a botch, and now they're borderline broke and messed up and that they had no one to blame but themselves.
>Then they broke me.
>"No worries guys. Let's split up, get jobs, save up some gold for a few months and come back later!"
>They want to become farmers
>for in-game months
>instead of adventure
>Of course everyone agrees and looks at me expectantly, waiting for a time skip or something.
>"Cool, see you in a few months."
>Pack everything up and leave without a word and walk home.
That was a few days ago. I have let them know that I will not run anything for them ever again, much less participate in anything they're involved with.
I'm taking a long break from the hobby. Lord knows I need it.
>>47758976
Wait? 14 PCs?
Why the fuck do you have 14 PCs?
>>47758976
>14 PCS
>in what is presumably D&D
You fucked up OP
>>47758794
OSR type game. Every player had multiple characters, and the majority were fighter types (either actual fighters or dwarves).
>>47758828
I did all I could do. But it's hard when they run from nearly every fight or nuke it to death before it can fight back. Most of their funds went into oil bombs just so absolutely everyone could chuck them at a guy and run. I don't think anyone actually drew a proper weapon the entire game.
>>47758976
Sounds like you and them had different ideas on how the game works and how it should be played.
Blame yourself for not establishing the way you wanted them to play while you dm.
I have idiot players who don't know what they want.
>Be heavy on plot and character, light on combat, fights are often bosses more than anything
>"Anon we want a more combat-focused game."
>Crack open 4e since that works well for that
>"You want slaughter or tactics?"
>"Tactics!"
>Fastforward, a band of ogres is building a rickety bridge across a ravine to launch an attack on a motte and bailey town.
>Party intercepts at their low level.
>BattleOnTheBigBridge.mp3
>Party is absolutely splattered
>Ask what they did wrong.
>"You're fighting a bunch of ogres on a rickety wooden bridge that was thrown up overnight, and you didn't think to set the bridge on fire to send them tumbling to their deaths."
>"We can do that?"
Obviously my opinion of "tactics" differs from theirs.
>>47758505
>>47758628
>>47758748
>>47758976
First of all,
>14 PCs
Second,
This is some military grade retardation. You should just say "Cool. Your crops die out, you don't make a single piece of fucking copper back and then the goblins that followed you out of the dungeon gank you in your sleep" and go find a better group, one that doesn't isn't singleminded autists like them.
>>47759040
>"it's always the DM's fault" meme
Stop.
>>47759135
Generalizing and meme'ing wont get you anywhere
(You)
>>47759029
14 PCs
You didn't try all you could,let. Try fewer PC's. You were trying to roleplay while they were playing a RTS. Every player gets 1 character and then you make that shit personal. Instead of the Baron being poisoned it's them. Let them fight for their survival if they want it so bad.
>>47759058
Try giving them suggestions next time, if they're new to the game why would tehhey think they could do that?
>>47759040
The only thing he should blame himself for is putting up with them as long as he did.
>>47759316
Nothing wrong with learning from mistakes. Part of the fun of RPG's is that you can approach things from many directions, not just choose an option from a list.
However, I do think it's an error to not warn players about a danger that should be obvious to their characters.
>>47758505
>I'll tell you how it went down, but don't expect anything good or story worthy. I just need to vent.
First, thanks for this.
It lowered my expectations so that the final two lines of your story seemed more entertaining.
2nd, yeah they were cunts, you did good.
>Ignoring mysterious caves and attacking goblins to escape for litterally no reason as they don't care about saving their characters and shrugged off losing over half their number.
Why are they playing?
Thanks for the update.
Good luck and remember to discuss expectations for the game with your next group.
>>47759305
I know of a couple games where the standard is multiple characters per player; can't exactly fault the guy for running the game as written.
>>47759305
>Every player gets 1 character and then you make that shit personal.
This. If everybody has multiple PCs, then it's not a very big deal if somebody loses one of them. It sounds like they're playing the game from a detached standpoint, kind of like how you'd play a video game where you controlled a number of different characters.
>>47758976
>"No worries guys. Let's split up, get jobs, save up some gold for a few months and come back later!"
>They want to become farmers
>for in-game months
There's nothing wrong with this. Some of the other stuff was retarded, but if they're too broke to properly equip themselves, it makes sense to make some money working as farm hands or something rather than go into a dungeon unprepared.
There are two main problems here. First, your players aren't playing the same kind of game you're running. They may be a bit overly cautious, but they're coming at this from a standpoint of prudently milking money and experience from a video game that doesn't let you save your game. They're doing the equivalent of going around and fighting sewer rats and shit rather than embark on dangerous quests. Personally, I think that's really fucking boring, but when you're playing a video game, you're the only person there, so as long as you're having fun, everything's hunky-dory. They problem is that you're there, and you don't want to sit through them fucking around doing piddly shit for hours and hours. Perhaps having a direct conversation with them about this could prove beneficial? Don't try to persuade them by making in-game arguments, but rather convey to them that you, the GM, have no interest in the sort of thing they've been doing, so if they want to game with you, they need to alter their approach.
The second problem is that they didn't listen to you when you warned them about stuff. The seem to have a certain approach to things that has given them tunnel vision, and they treated your warnings as if you were commenting on something you had no direct authority over, like you were looking over their shoulders as they played video games and said "are you sure you want to do that?" To a certain extent, this is understandable. You presented certain facts to them, they considered them and according to their estimation, their way of doing things should turn out fine. What they didn't consider is that what you were saying was merely the tip of an iceberg, and that you, as GM, aren't going to give them the intricate math for everything. That means that your assessment is based on a lot more information than theirs is, and when you give a warning, they should give it more deference than if a fellow player said something similar.
>>47761638
>There's nothing wrong with this.
In and of itself, it's fine(aside from farming being the slowest, most boring way to earn money; npc tier move)
But in OP's case, it is another example of his players disregarding any challenge presented to them.
The game is intended to overcome challenges, not avoid all of them.
Your players are cowards and need to be taught a thing or two about growing a pair and doing something that isn't "Run away from our problems".
>>47758976
>they were allowed to escape
I would've just had the rubble collapse in on itself because of the orc they tried to ignore. "You completely disregarded the threat at hand and died for it. Hope you had fun."
>>47758505
after reading all that OP, I have to ask. How the hell do these guys function in regular society? Because that sounds like a level of avoiding conflict that straight up passes "cautious" and enters "Dale Gribble if he never left his basement" territory.
To refuse to fight back even as the PC's are being overrun is absolutely astounding. Thats shit that gets you removed from the genepool in real life and in most games too.
Did you try just outright telling the players it was time to grow a pair (ovaries or balls, either must be better than what they have) and fight back.
