Managing Player Expectations

By LukeStarkiller, in Game Masters

44 minutes ago, Edgehawk said:

(Btw, for future reference, how do you condense posts into those nifty spoiler-alert, hidden-contents thingies)?

You mean like this? You add the (Spoiler) tag at the start of where you want to hide. Use square brackets instead of the roundy ones though. I only used the round ones to illustrate. If I used square again it would have made a spoiler within a spoiler

:P

I've always made it a point to remind the PCs that they are just starting out. Nobody is the best at anything they do. In the opening section on skill ranks and characteristics it gives an idea as to what the different ranks translate to. Realizing that a Characteristic rating of 2 is average, and that 2 ranks of a skill isn't much training. When players write up their back story and details this helps them not get so let down, since they're starting pretty low as-is.

Sounds like Dave has got to go. I don't know where he got the expectation that he would just start the game as some badass, but this is not his personal power hour of fantasy. This is a group experience, and if you are constantly coddling him, it will only reinforce his bad behavior, and could alienate some of the other members. If he is so sensitive that he can't put his ego aside, or takes it personally when the dice roll bad, then this is not a pastime for him. There are some players that just want all the spotlight on them, and they take things personally when they don't get their way. These type of players can suck the life and the fun out of your games. This behavior usually shows up in the first session or two, and if not promptly nipped in the bud, will become a source of constant headache.

Also if you're going to RP out shopping sessions, always put some security droids in the room to discourage this type of behavior, or have security promptly show up sometime after the incident, perhaps waiting for them at their hangar. There are bound to be holocameras or some recording device in a weapon shop, just use a contemporary shop for inspiration. Unless this is on some backwater planet with no government, there are going to be security forces nearby to prevent homicidal space hobos from just shooting up the place. You could also consider putting a bounty on his head, nothing major, but somewhat fitting. Perhaps from a rival clan. I know you're new, and you probably didn't anticipate this reaction, but Dave also didn't have to shoot the owner when his coercion check failed. Always try and allow players the freedom to do what they want, but maintain repercussions for said actions. It helps keep things immersive and in check.

All in all, why is the droid BH sulking and shying away from the threat of street thugs? Sounds more like it's the player that is the problem, not the character.