I have just been starting to DM, and one of the also new players is giving me quite a headache.
He rolls when he doesn’t even need to, he plots to kill everyone he meets the moment he meets them, he goes on his phone when I’m talking, he’s short-tempered, and constantly thinks that I, the DM, am plotting to kill him. But the thing is, the other players really like him, and I don’t want to seem rude by kicking him out of the group.
You need to talk to him and let him know that these things are bothering you. Explain to him why you don't like what he's doing and ask him nicely to stop. If he continues to be a problem, the only thing you can really do to solve the issue is get rid of the problem. Yeah, it sucks, but sadly we don't have magic to solve our problems in real life. If you're worried that the other players will think you're being rude, be sure to also explain to them why you don't like what he's doing. If it turns out they don't agree with you, then perhaps that group isn't for you. Remember, the Dungeon Master is a player too, and you should always be having fun while playing D&D.
Disruptive players are a pretty common things in our tables, much more than we would like them to be. However, there are several ways to deal with them, and most of these ways are easy to use.
1- Think about the world and ambience you have created for the campaign. Is it a serious campaign, or is it more like a one-shot campaign where players feel free to do just wharever they want, because they are not attached to their characters?
2- Once you have identified the setting ambience, you can do two things. First, you can talk to all your players without pointing at anyone, and ask them to change the attitude, since you want them to go into their characters and play more theater and less comedian style. Because that's disturbing you and you would like to enjoy a more serious DM'ng style. The second one is keeping with your style, and add changes slowly and continously.
3- Try to throw consecuences over your player with the killing rampage. He's probably thinking that you want to kill him everytime because...well, you may want to kill him everytime since he's making enemys anywhere he goes. Killing should have consecuences, What kind of consecuences are you throwing at them? Maybe something that disturbs all the group and not only him may be helpfull, but if the attitude i talked above is incorrect, you will mess your game because the players will start playing against you.
4- Talk to him alone, and out of the table. "Man, i'm feeling very bad with these situation, can we talk?" and stuff like that. Dont get surprised if he just say "i like to play like this". That's okay too, but you should encourage every player to go into their character's mind and not into a computer role game. A character that plots to kill everyone, everytime, is a chaotic evil character. If he's character is not a chaotic evil, or even evil character, you should tell him he's not playing his character correctly and encourage him to read about his alignement and background.
5- Talk to the rest of the table about this issue if all the rest above fails. The reasons they are laughing about this may surprise you, maybe they are acting just as they would do with a bully in the school; playing cool to avoid beign the victim. Or maybe you can find yourself hearing that they thought you were ok with this situation.
6- If this comes to an extreme point where everything fails, dont be afraid, you tried to be in good terms with a player and he's disrupting you. Talk to everyone and also with him, tell him that you would like him to change his character attitude or, sadly, you would preffer him to leave the table, since you are having a bad time because of his attitude.
Hope it helped man, good luck and keep us informed!!!
- oh well. apart from slowing things down, this isn't hurting anyone. Let this one go.
" he plots to kill everyone he meets the moment he meets them"
Ramifications my friend! If he kills an NPC that had the secret to the mystical cave of wonderful wonderfulness, then that secret is gone. And feel free to tell your players that, then, as a party, maybe they will try to curb his bloodlust if they realise it's costing them XP/gold/cool magical stuff.
" he goes on his phone when I’m talking"
No phones. Make it a rule. Unless you have people at your table working in emergency services, that's a no no.
"he’s short-tempered, and constantly thinks that I, the DM, am plotting to kill him"
Plot to kill him. But seriously, you kinda are. As DM's, we're always creating situations where a character may die. But I guess you mean more specifically him, like he feels targeted. Maybe it's because he can tell you hate his character and how he plays him. Work with him on his backstory, and try to tie that into the campaign and it's evolution. Show him that if you're willing to put the work into making it fun for him, clearly he's not a short term character. Also, talk to him about his characters evolution. Where does he want to go with it? What does he think would be cool? Maybe you can work towards the character becoming a little more nuanced simply from in-game experiences.
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I have just been starting to DM, and one of the also new players is giving me quite a headache.
He rolls when he doesn’t even need to, he plots to kill everyone he meets the moment he meets them, he goes on his phone when I’m talking, he’s short-tempered, and constantly thinks that I, the DM, am plotting to kill him. But the thing is, the other players really like him, and I don’t want to seem rude by kicking him out of the group.
What do I do?
You need to talk to him and let him know that these things are bothering you. Explain to him why you don't like what he's doing and ask him nicely to stop. If he continues to be a problem, the only thing you can really do to solve the issue is get rid of the problem. Yeah, it sucks, but sadly we don't have magic to solve our problems in real life. If you're worried that the other players will think you're being rude, be sure to also explain to them why you don't like what he's doing. If it turns out they don't agree with you, then perhaps that group isn't for you. Remember, the Dungeon Master is a player too, and you should always be having fun while playing D&D.
A surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one.
Hi ArchBeginner.
Disruptive players are a pretty common things in our tables, much more than we would like them to be. However, there are several ways to deal with them, and most of these ways are easy to use.
1- Think about the world and ambience you have created for the campaign. Is it a serious campaign, or is it more like a one-shot campaign where players feel free to do just wharever they want, because they are not attached to their characters?
2- Once you have identified the setting ambience, you can do two things. First, you can talk to all your players without pointing at anyone, and ask them to change the attitude, since you want them to go into their characters and play more theater and less comedian style. Because that's disturbing you and you would like to enjoy a more serious DM'ng style. The second one is keeping with your style, and add changes slowly and continously.
3- Try to throw consecuences over your player with the killing rampage. He's probably thinking that you want to kill him everytime because...well, you may want to kill him everytime since he's making enemys anywhere he goes. Killing should have consecuences, What kind of consecuences are you throwing at them? Maybe something that disturbs all the group and not only him may be helpfull, but if the attitude i talked above is incorrect, you will mess your game because the players will start playing against you.
4- Talk to him alone, and out of the table. "Man, i'm feeling very bad with these situation, can we talk?" and stuff like that. Dont get surprised if he just say "i like to play like this". That's okay too, but you should encourage every player to go into their character's mind and not into a computer role game. A character that plots to kill everyone, everytime, is a chaotic evil character. If he's character is not a chaotic evil, or even evil character, you should tell him he's not playing his character correctly and encourage him to read about his alignement and background.
5- Talk to the rest of the table about this issue if all the rest above fails. The reasons they are laughing about this may surprise you, maybe they are acting just as they would do with a bully in the school; playing cool to avoid beign the victim. Or maybe you can find yourself hearing that they thought you were ok with this situation.
6- If this comes to an extreme point where everything fails, dont be afraid, you tried to be in good terms with a player and he's disrupting you. Talk to everyone and also with him, tell him that you would like him to change his character attitude or, sadly, you would preffer him to leave the table, since you are having a bad time because of his attitude.
Hope it helped man, good luck and keep us informed!!!
"He rolls when he doesn’t even need to"
- oh well. apart from slowing things down, this isn't hurting anyone. Let this one go.
" he plots to kill everyone he meets the moment he meets them"
Ramifications my friend! If he kills an NPC that had the secret to the mystical cave of wonderful wonderfulness, then that secret is gone. And feel free to tell your players that, then, as a party, maybe they will try to curb his bloodlust if they realise it's costing them XP/gold/cool magical stuff.
" he goes on his phone when I’m talking"
No phones. Make it a rule. Unless you have people at your table working in emergency services, that's a no no.
"he’s short-tempered, and constantly thinks that I, the DM, am plotting to kill him"
Plot to kill him. But seriously, you kinda are. As DM's, we're always creating situations where a character may die. But I guess you mean more specifically him, like he feels targeted. Maybe it's because he can tell you hate his character and how he plays him. Work with him on his backstory, and try to tie that into the campaign and it's evolution. Show him that if you're willing to put the work into making it fun for him, clearly he's not a short term character. Also, talk to him about his characters evolution. Where does he want to go with it? What does he think would be cool? Maybe you can work towards the character becoming a little more nuanced simply from in-game experiences.