Have any of you had The overly Avoidant PC?
>be me
>be playing Star Wars Rpg
>player is sith lord who's role is to travel to a different planet and discover and root out what appears to be a light force prodigy and his mentor
>player who is a sith lord is basically more OP than most other characters refuses any conflicts
>from npcs confronting him for being a outworlder
>to physical confrontations
>to random encounters with villagers
>to actually encountering his target, not securing her and allowing her to get away
> he literally went back to his base and totally avoided any possible situations
he refused to engage anything
WTF DO YOU DO WITH THAT AS A GM
>>44379249
Kill his character.
>>44379249
Have his father show up and ask him to come home.
I'd just force him into conflicts.
NPCs hassling him for being an outworlder? Don't have the jerks let up. Have them keep hassling him until he either runs away (marking himself as a coward and a weakling) or lashes out in anger (as a good Sith should).
If he needs information on the Jedis' whereabouts, but local villagers aren't being forthcoming, he can either shrug his shoulders and go without the info (and have no idea where his targets are, rendering his mission impossible to complete) or he can start hurling Force Lightning until someone talks (as a good Sith should).
If he finds his targets, but doesn't want to confront them, he can either let them escape (like an idiot) or he can actually step up to the plate and fight (as a good Sith should).
And if he goes back to his base with nothing to show for his efforts - does he have a superior? A Sith Master maybe, that he reports to? Because that's the time when his Master should give him a rightful chewing-out for being a weak, spineless coward and an embarassment to all Sith.
I wouldn't have the Master kill him for his failure, but a metaphorical whack upside the head is definitely in order. Then he should be sent out on another mission, with the threat that if he doesn't get results, he's a dead man.
Of course, this assumes the player isn't avoiding encounters out of shyness or lack of confidence. If they are, talk to the player, and try to bring them out of their shell. Make them feel comfortable at the table, and assure them that no-one's going to laugh at them or think they're stupid for making mistakes in a TTRPG. Try to impress upon them the importance of boldness in RPGs, and being willing to take risks to get what they want. Break down any fears they might have about performing in front of the group - it's all just fun and games, at the end of the day. There's no need to worry about it, or take it so seriously.
>>44379297
I kek'd
>>44379297
>>44380000
Quads confirm, that is the best idea.
>>44379249
>player is sith lord
Err... Perhaps go along with it so he doesn't torture you with force lightning.
What's he playing as by the way?
Fuck it annoys me so much. Had to play with and run a game for a character who just didn't care about anything at all. All the other characters had stories and relationships and feelings and reactions and acted like people.
This fucker boiled down to two traits, "Serial arsonist that hates ships" as in inanimate object ships, and "Defies logic with loony toons level bullshit". 90% of the time he didn't react to anything just a brooding state, if interacted with and you were lucky enough for him to actually respond rather than outright ignoring as he usually did, it would be in shrugs or single syllable "yes" or "no". The other 10% of the time he didn't act different emotionally or think differently, just nonchalantly started setting fire to ships without hesitation, even if there were tons of people on board, including civilians or innocents. This was in a mostly ocean setting so ships were everywhere. Even worse in fights, he just shrugged off pretty much all damage or simply dodged it (including bullets), set himself on fire and started swinging his fire sword aimlessly and spreading fires around him. Really the ONLY thing I can remember having any thoughts whatsoever towards was a child character of the group and even then he displayed no emotions, just diverted his attention to whatever might attack or interact with the kid character.
Fuck, it still makes me angry thinking about it. I distinctly remember a time where he was swimming through the ocean (as he did, to get between islands, drinking seawater and swallowing fish that swam into his mouth for sustenance, because reasons) and came upon a random passenger boat. He climbed on board and started lighting matches to set the ship on fire, people kept telling him to stop and he acknowledged them but just kept on doing it. When someone acted to stop him he pulled out his sword, set himself on fire and started randomly attacking people and setting the ship on fire.
>>44384828
Did the player pitch this character as "pyromaniac autist"?
>>44384828
You need to come to grips with the fact that:
#1: Player agency isn't absolute, as much as gamers will argue for ages that it is. If a player wants his PC to do something INCREDIBLY dumb, you have every right as a GM to say "No, you don't" and simply not process the request.
#2: Just because a player is willing to show up to your game consistently doesn't automatically mean he should be allowed membership. At some point you should just state to them bluntly, but politely: "Look, you're not a good fit for this game. You should find another one more your speed."
Those are all combat situations. Maybe figure out non-combat stuff? Like puzzle rooms or have him try to pull of a heist or whatever?
I remember playing a Star Wars tabletop rpg where 4 other people and I stealthily infiltrated an Imperial base even though the GM had planned on us just storming the place. We had more fun coming up with weird ways to sneak or disable security than we would have his way.
>>44384828
Just kill his character. Set yourself on fire? You die. Drink sea water? you die.
I had to do this before with some lolrandum guys who wouldn't properly role play. "Tanks are approaching" "I want to loot these bodies more" "Okay the tanks are here and aiming at you" *we roll* "Okay, you're dead."
I try to avoid killing PCs but I'll do it to make a point.
>>44384893
Nope, just "terse/reserved swordsman with a hatred of ships".
>>44384901
This was an online game and I wasn't in a position to deny him. And I didn't have a particular problem with the guy back then, it was just so dissatisfying to play with his characters. Absolutely brain-wracking trying to think of or come up with ways to involve him in the plot or even draw a reaction, emotion or thought out of him.
All made slightly more annoying by the fact that everyone else pretty much loved him and considered him a core character to the game.
>>44384979
>All made slightly more annoying by the fact that everyone else pretty much loved him and considered him a core character to the game
HOW?!!! You just told us he's not terribly involved in the game 9/10ths of the time, except for the 10% of the time he's needlessly setting shit on fire. How do the rest of the players who are more involved and take this just a little but more seriously not notice this behavior and also want the bastard out on his ass? Did he personally buy a copy of the game for all the other players via Steam or something? Or is there something you're not telling us?
Also: What game?
>>44379297
underrated post
>>44384965
>Just kill his character. Set yourself on fire? You die. Drink sea water? you die.
Again, online game, so no one not even the active DM could outright force something upon a player character. I already know how it would have gone down,
>"You can't set yourself on fire, you can't drink seawater."
>"Oh don't take it too seriously, it's just for fun! He's just that kind of character."
Pushing the point further makes you look like the bad guy since he was an easygoing dude and popular with the group.
>>44385013
The honest answer? Because he was one of the oldest and founding player characters. Just by experience and seniority, people liked him and had sort of a reverence regard towards him. In-game the other characters tended to regard him as a sort of lovable crazy old uncle, the lovable part coming from him just being around so long.
It was an online One Piece game. Still actually going though this guy and the character aren't around anymore.
>>44379249
>e literally went back to his base and totally avoided any possible situations
>he refused to engage anything
>WTF DO YOU DO WITH THAT AS A GM
Have you tried enforcing the consequences of his actions?
I mean, obviously you haven't; that was sarcasm.
>>44385057
>It was an online One Piece game.
Spotted your problem. Don't expect weeaboos to be rational when it comes to social interaction. That includes you for expecting a game based on an animu to be any good.
>>44385057
>Again, online game, so no one not even the active DM could outright force something upon a player character. I already know how it would have gone down,
>>"You can't set yourself on fire, you can't drink seawater."
>>"Oh don't take it too seriously, it's just for fun! He's just that kind of character."
Boy, that must be a great GM to play with
>"Your character gets hit and killed."
>"Nuh-uh!"
>"OK, fine, your character doesn't get hit and killed."
I wish I could assume you were trolling and bullshitting, but I think the GM really was this awful and spineless.
>>44385092
Except that most of the rest of the game was great. In many ways the best ongoing game I've played in.
>>44385119
It wasn't any one DM's problem or fault, it was the rules of the game, that you can't force something like death upon another person's character no matter what. You can put them in a position likely to die, but you can't actually yourself kill them. It comes down to them to say whether the character dies or not.
>>44385142
>Except that most of the rest of the game was great. In many ways the best ongoing game I've played in.
Yeah, sorry, that came out wrong. Here's a better way of stating where I'm coming from:
Games based on anime should not be expected to be met with any degree of seriousness even if it's based on a serious anime. Because anime is cartoons. To better illustrate my point: Imagine your game were suddenly transported into the old Warner Brother's world of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck where wacky cartoon highjinks are the order of the day. Do that and maybe you'll understand why that player did it, why everybody else chuckled about it, and why you should have expected it and not gotten so butthurt about it.
Wacky cartoon hijinks frequently happens in a lot of anime, what with concepts like dimensional hammers and nosebleeds at seeing naked girls and shit like that. There's even a RPG dedicated to wacky animu hijinks: Maid RPG.
So really, now that we have the full story here, you're the one sounding like the autist here. I probably would have been one of the players who chuckled at his behavior when we frame it in the context of "a cartoon."
So if you're going to keep plunging headlong into all these anime-themed games, you need to bear one thing in mind: It's a cartoon world.
>>44385184
>Games based on anime should not be expected to be met with any degree of seriousness even if it's based on a serious anime. Because anime is cartoons.
Please never play or consider playing in a game even remotely influenced by anime.
>>44385202
Fuck you, I do what I want.
I think I'll go set some ships on fire now.
>>44385184
As time went on the game became more serious though as our player base got older. At the end we were dealing with pretty dark and serious themes and tone of the game, but this guy's character was still around and never changed.
>>44385221
Join the /tg/ One Piece crew then, you'll get pretty far with a character like that.
>>44385184
>Wacky cartoon hijinks frequently happens in a lot of anime, what with concepts like dimensional hammers and nosebleeds at seeing naked girls and shit like that.
Hm yes, because goofy comedy anime exists, that means there is literally no anime that's ever serious at all.
Do you ever read what you post?
>>44385269
>that means there is literally no anime that's ever serious at all.
That means you ought to expect shit like that in anime-themed RPGs.
>>44385184
But I do get nosebleeds seeing naked girls :(
>>44385269
>that means there is literally no anime that's ever serious at all.
Even Tezuka's Monster had some absolutely redonk parts.
Plus you weren't just doing an "anime" RP, you were doing a fucking one piece RP. One piece is as pure broody murderhobo shonen as you can get in the past decade and a half.
