I'm still quite new to D&D, having only played a few sessions myself with two friends (Friend A and Friend B for the sake of this), who are as new as me. So far it's been me and Friend A playing, and then Friend B DMing. Friend B wants to take a break from DMing, so I'm choosing the campaign for the next session. says he's open to RP and wants to try a campaign with actual RP in it, which I am excited for (I've done RP before, so it'll be easier for me to handle), so it'll be switching to me being the DM, and Friends A and B as players.

I have a selection of ones I think would be great, but I have a problem, and that's Friend A so far.

In every session we've done so far, his contribution to the party is a Lawful Good High Elf Wizard with a nat 20 in Intelligence (we all saw the roll, it was legit lol). The problem is, he's a metagamer through and through. He treats it like a video game where character lore and whatnot don't matter, so he has no development of any sort for his character and will do things that completely fly in the face of both combat logic and RP logic.

Despite his Lawful Good alignment, he has no problems with looting a fallen comrade, being a murder hobo, and leaving me for dead. He also loves standing about 30 feet away from any type of combat and letting me (Dwarf Rogue with less HP than him lol) tank all the hits. And that's only what's happened in two sessions.

We haven't even done any RP and I'm terrified to think of the stuff he'll pull just because he feels like it. Can you guys please suggest some ways to help all of us? 

Friend A views the game in the same way you'd view an actual RPG: the character is a vessel for your will, and you can do whatever you like with them. What tips would you recommend for creating a character's backstory and shaping their personality, turning the character into an actual person and not just something controlled by you, but someone that makes their own decisions? How would you roleplay a character? Just general tips for someone new to the concept of RP and D&D.

For me, the DM, what campaigns for beginners would you recommend? How can I help tie in a character to the campaign? How would I keep my players on track in a situation that could just as easily be solved with combat as it could with negotiaion, while also subtly stressing the importance that whatever you think, the noncombatants are worth 0 XP and that laws actually exist here?

Also, what's a typical round of D&D combat actually like? Because so far, our experience has been sitting around the table taking half an hour to even do a round of combat because Friend A keeps asking stupid questions about trivial and inconsequential ways a spell would work and whatnot while both Friend B and I are basically growing grey hairs because of how long this takes.

Is combat done in silence, as in, no tabletalk? If so, how can I allow players to strategize beforehand, and to an extent, during combat? 

It sounds like a conversation is needed first.  Have him write out a page of backstory, including who his parents are, what they did for a living, where they lived, who their friends were, who their rivals were, etc.  As well as what his childhood hobbies were, who his friends were, when he left for his wizardly training, how dutiful of a student was he, how much trouble did he get in, etc.  Make the player understand that this is roleplay, and not a videogame.

If Link from the Zelda games were in D&D, he would be a hated thief with the guards after him if he barged into everyone's homes, smashed their pottery and stole their money, even though that's how things work in the videogame.  So this player's character needs to change the way he's thinking about the setting.

Regarding combat, You should have a conversation with him about needing to keep the game moving.  Have him text any questions about how spells work to the DM out of game time, so those sorts of questions aren't slowing down combat.  If needed you can get a 30 second timer and tell the players that you have to decide on your action  within that 30 seconds of being told it's your turn, or your character doesn't do anything for that turn.  But definitely do the conversation first to see if that fixes the problem.  What you see as stupid questions might be him trying to come up with clever uses for spells that aren't strictly in the spell description.

For combat, you can deny table talk if you like, but the characters can speak if they aren't in the area of a Silence spell, so they should be able to say a short sentence on their turns to communicate in the fight.  Ex: "I need healing", or "That one's getting away, shoot him".  Most tables allow a measure of table talk though, because it's a game, and it's supposed to be fun.  The DM needs to match expectations to what will be the most fun for the players.

Quote from Sirocco745 >>

 

In every session we've done so far, his contribution to the party is a Lawful Good High Elf Wizard with a nat 20 in Intelligence (we all saw the roll, it was legit lol).

 Not directly related, but did you roll 3d6 for each stat rather than 1d20?

Quote from Farling >>

Quote from Sirocco745 >>

 

In every session we've done so far, his contribution to the party is a Lawful Good High Elf Wizard with a nat 20 in Intelligence (we all saw the roll, it was legit lol).

 Not directly related, but did you roll 3d6 for each stat rather than 1d20?

 If you used 3d6, then the max you could get would be 18

I don't think we used a d20, so idk how he got the 20, but he did

Quote from FayetteGamer >>

It sounds like a conversation is needed first.  Have him write out a page of backstory, including who his parents are, what they did for a living, where they lived, who their friends were, who their rivals were, etc.  As well as what his childhood hobbies were, who his friends were, when he left for his wizardly training, how dutiful of a student was he, how much trouble did he get in, etc.  Make the player understand that this is roleplay, and not a videogame.

If Link from the Zelda games were in D&D, he would be a hated thief with the guards after him if he barged into everyone's homes, smashed their pottery and stole their money, even though that's how things work in the videogame.  So this player's character needs to change the way he's thinking about the setting.

Regarding combat, You should have a conversation with him about needing to keep the game moving.  Have him text any questions about how spells work to the DM out of game time, so those sorts of questions aren't slowing down combat.  If needed you can get a 30 second timer and tell the players that you have to decide on your action  within that 30 seconds of being told it's your turn, or your character doesn't do anything for that turn.  But definitely do the conversation first to see if that fixes the problem.  What you see as stupid questions might be him trying to come up with clever uses for spells that aren't strictly in the spell description.

For combat, you can deny table talk if you like, but the characters can speak if they aren't in the area of a Silence spell, so they should be able to say a short sentence on their turns to communicate in the fight.  Ex: "I need healing", or "That one's getting away, shoot him".  Most tables allow a measure of table talk though, because it's a game, and it's supposed to be fun.  The DM needs to match expectations to what will be the most fun for the players.

 Thanks for the tips! I'll definitely talk to him about this stuff before we start our next campaign. Also, I know this guy. He just asks about the spells for shits and giggles.

The table talk and combat advice was very good, thanks!