Sometimes in my RPG experience I encounter a player whose only goal is to make themselves as powerful as possible at the expense of experiencing the world appropriately. For example, someone wanting a piece of equipment without any justification. Or someone who wants a magic sword before they even have leather armor. Or someone wanting a Hochland Long Rifle at a small town.

I know that the right response is to gently guide them into more appropriate equipment, or to let them roll for it with an enormous challenge. But after you do this over and over again and they don't change their ways, what do you do? It just seems they lack the creativity to engage in the story.

It's hard as well for the other players who are interested in the story and being creative to have this one person constantly pushing the envelope in the wrong way. I begin to feel like more of a referee than a game master.

How do you handle these situations?

Well, this is probably not going to help as I doubt "conversion" of a power gamer is the answer.

I have made an effort to reinforce "the world responds realistically", so Mr. Not Plausible is treated as "outlandish and untrustworthy" by NPC's etc. I have noted that if the King could be toppled by a 5th level D&D adventurer he wouldn't be King, and he's probably got some effective "enforcers" to no avail when the "expedient" thing was to fireball some militia asking difficult questions (royal militia in a mining town with a charter direct from the King), etc. I have reinforced that priests think of the person they will raise when praying for a raise dead spell and if at least one god did not approve of that person the priest would not receive the spell (e.g., is there a single deity in the entire pantheon whose creed you at least try to follow???).

In the end, the rest of the table agreed with ejecting the player in question from the group. They were as annoyed at his "grabby" approach to who gets what item and constant treatment of NPC's as statistics not people etc. as I was. This was after over a year of trying as above. The rest of the group is fine with story first - for example not a one grumbles now in Warhammer about there being no resurrection.

Rob

If it's only a specific single item they're interested in, it's probably not so much about power, but rather about style. They think it's cool, like hte chainsaw + shotgun in Army Of Darkness.

My advice is: don't resist too much. If owning those items gets them involved in the game, let them have it. Or maybe the item is so rare that acquiring it is a story in itself. And that's a story they're definitely going to immerse themselves in. Instead of banning it, use it as a lure.

Now if they're only interested in high stats and damage figures and couldn't care less about what it all actually represents, then you've got a problem.

RumblebellySugarmedo said:

I have a player in my group a bit like that. If he persists, I send him to bed. Coz he's 12.

It may be that this player hasn't yet been immersed into a story they find interesting, or may not understand the enjoyment to be had when this happens.

If they haven't already, get your players to write up a background for their characters. Not only does this allow the player a chance understand their character better, it can be a great source of adventure hooks for the GM.

Another thing you can try is sitting down with your group as a whole (rather than singling out a single player) and having an open discussion about the kind of games they like to play in.

These techniques may point you in the direction of an adventure that'll grab the player and show him the fun they can have actually roleplaying.

I don't really see the issue. The Hochland Long Rifle costs a great deal of money. If they have eventually saved enough for it, make it available, provided they travel somewhere it's sold, such as Altdorf, Marienburg, Middenheim, or Hochland itself.

Also note that there are many imposter weapons and armor. I had a player who broke into a shop to steal a set of plate mail that was on display, only to discover that not only was it a fake, but the owner had hired a Gold Wizard to enchant the gauntlets to be stuck onto the wearer's hands, as well as be clenched into a permanent fist. Though it was a deliberate attempt on my part to teach the player a lesson, it went over well with the group, who then had to find a way to free their unscrupulous companion from his prison.

There are also many people who would steal such a valuable object.

I don't think the problem is that the player want these items ( feel free to correct me if i'm wrong), I think the problem is that this is ALL the player wants.... that they aren't interested in the background or events of the world or t he adventure that their party is on - just on where that next powerful item is coming from.

Hence my suggestion about trying to get the player hooked into the game by allowing them (and the party) to have a say in the direction of their adventures.

Of course, I could be wrong... it has happened before... more often than I'd care to admit....

You are correct. I don't mind that he wants those items. In fact wanting an item allows me to make a compelling story to try to achieve it. It's simply that they don't care about anything else. In my opinion, for an RPG group to function well you need to be creative, understand your role, and work for the good of the party. When it's about your abilities and what one person wants, it begins to be a less enjoyable experience. Basically, the more selfish the person, the less enjoyable it will be for the group.

I love the idea of having them write their own background for their character. That is a great suggestion. We will do that at our next RPG session including a description of what they look like and an answer to the questions in the character creation section of the rulebook.

Thanks!

monkeylite said:

Brilliant.

Just show the player Monkeylite's post; it sums up their behaviour perfectly.

Unless of course your player is 12 too, in which case just accuse him of acting like an 8 year old....

I had an old DnD group a bit like that where some players were more interested in collecting shiney's than the story, needless to say the group eventually split, some still play DnD the rest of us moved on to more story driven systems such as Warhammer. I do recomend that you get player buy in to their characters though, get them to write a back story but also get them to write a future story, get them to define their long term goals and ideals, and get them to think beyond a big gun. If they want a big gun great, but surely what they really want is a big manor house complete with a big gun collection, with grounds to hunt on and servants and...

Then tailoring the adventures to allow them to (at least think they might be able to) achieve these bigger goals should get them to see that charatcer improvement is gained by participating in the stories you have set, rather than just getting a big gun or a +1 STR increase, or whatever.

A big part of the solution is also: why does he want those items? For what they represent? For the high stats? For what he can do with them? If he wants them for what they represent, then he is actually engaging with the setting to some extent. And that's good. You can take advantage of that.

If he wants it because he thinks it'll give him power he craves, give it to him, and then put him in situations where it's not of any use. Of course you should also give him situations where he can actually enjoy his new toy, but show him that some problems can't be solved with a powerful rifle, or superior armour, or whatever.

Basically there's two parts to the solution: use the object of his desire to draw him into a story. Make the acquisition of the item an adventure in itself.

And if he engages in the story, give him the item. For extra reward, give him a nice occasion where he can use it. And then put him in situations where it's useless.

I admit, speaking in terms of problems and solutions is still gamism, and you want to get him out of that mindset. You want to focus on the story, and immersion in the world. I think WFRP can do all of that. If he enjoys having the tools to solve problems, why not let him do that? Don't frustrate him by denying him what he wants (unless you want to get rid of him, but that could get messy). Instead, give him what he wants, but give it in the context of the story. Make his rifle relevant in the story. And if he immerses himself in the story and the world, reward him with situations where he can use his rifle.

A final warning: don't let him steal all the limelight. Let the other players shine too, or they may end up behaving like him in order to get the same attention.

I'd just like to add that the Old World Empire is a pre-industrial society. Items like full plate armour and high quality guns are seldom, if even, 'in stock'. Such items are made to order, even in a city like Altdorf. If you want a Hochland Rifle then a gun merchant in Altdorf can get you one - in 6 months, 50% deposit... Essentially the merchant needs to commission a Hochland gunsmith and have the gun transported to Altdorf.

Full plate armour is made-to-measure - it needs to be. As for magic weapons...

RumblebellySugarmedo said:

In the sad end I usually phase those people out. It is group before individual and life is too short to be spendiding on "bad" gaming sessions.

Give the guy some fair warnings and let him know that the possibility that he will be going back to cheats on his PC if he doesn't shape up and take considiration to the group.

Though I wouldn't be too quick going down the 'throw them out' path (though that is where you may end up).

It could just be that the player (are they new to the group?) has only ever played with groups where it is hack'n'slash and get the treasure. They may not have ever roleplayed . Maybe some re-education is required....