Specifically here I’m going to go into the types of gamers in PnP games. You might see some of yourself in some of these descriptions. If so, ask yourself what you can do to break from that mold.
The Roleplayer: Rules mean nothing to the roleplayer. Dice are an after thought. Character backstories are sacred, and they probably have custom pictures of their character, full descriptions of their wardrobe, etc. Don’t confound or deny them with things like rules or regulations. If they want to try some whacky stunt in combat, they feel they should be allowed, doesn’t matter if they don’t have the power or feat necessary. Character ideas are more sacred than the rules, and if they are denied their ideas with rules, then the rules are obviously broken.
Dealing with a roleplayer takes a balance of openness and understanding. Communicate. Tell them you will let them roleplay to their heart’s content, but don’t want them take over scenes with their dramatics to the detriment of the rest of the group. Give them plots, and interesting NPCs to talk to. Encourage their creativity, but don’t be afraid to say no. Allow them to try anything, but don’t give them cart blanch to succeed in anything.
The Rules Lawyer: Page # and paragraph quoters, the rules lawyer could care less about the story, and more about her own superiority of the rules. She will confound even the best DM with her contradiction to rulings, and ability to quote the rules at the worst times. She will grind a game to a halt while she debates whether or not a certain rule is accurate or not. Do not try to debate them the veracity of certain rules, or you will end up in a month long email conversation about the rules and what QA from the company said, etc.
The best way to deal with her is to use her skill to your advantage. Don’t debate, invoke rule zero, but when you have a rules question yourself, ask the lawyer and you will probably save yourself some time, and stroke their ego to boot. Do not debate the veracity of rules. Don’t do it. Just invoke rule zero and move on. Challenge them directly with roleplaying pointed straight at them. It forces them to think outside the tactical or skill challenge box and actually roleplay for a while. Also, communicate. Tell them what is going on, how you need their experience and rules expertise, but how you need to be able to control the game flow and keep interruptions down.
The Munchkin: While this is a close cousin to the rules lawyer, the munchkin is not about rules superiority in all situations. Instead its about loophole manipulation and power character generation. If you have five levels of this and four levels of that, and combine it with a flaming lifestealing rapid bow +1 then you can you can become a veritable machine gun! Watch in awe as your encounters wither to nothingness before the power of the munchkin. See your other players writhe in agony as their characters are destroyed over and over by monsters designed to barely challenge the munchkin.
How best to deal with a munchkin? Lots of rule zero, a healthy dose of reality checks, and a swift kick out of the game group is all I have to offer unfortunately. If a combo seems broken, it probably is, rule zero it. Most munchkins are usual built around a certain sort of attack or combo. Exploit it by throwing things in that are immune to that combo. Marginalize the combo through terrain, tactics or other things. Communicate. Talk to the player and show them how their munchkinism is effecting the group. Again, challenge them in areas they are not specialized in, maybe then they will realize that they are being so one sided.
Heavy Handed GM: This is the guy that runs his game like a tight ship. Nothing gets out of hand, and no one speaks out of turn. You will play his adventure and like it, maggot! You have no say in the plot. Be glad you are not being forced to play premade characters and speak prewritten lines!
How to deal with such heavy handedness? Communicate. Explain how you want to explore some aspect of your character, if its possible to work that into the plot. Offer to help them control the flow of the game by taking over initiative marking, or even just party leadership.
The Winger GM: This guy preps nothing, runs everything on the fly and it shows. Encounters don’t seem to follow any sort of semblance of plot. Random things happen. Its like playing in stream of consciousness. Party wipes are common, as is party infighting as anything goes turns an adventuring group into a band of chaotic selfish self centered idiots. Often times the winger is a result of a group that can not become cohesive enough to give the GM any idea how to go forward, so the GM’s prep time is always wasted as plot hooks are ignored.
How do you deal with it? Offer some constructive criticism. Communicate. Tell the GM how some sort of coherency might do the group well. Organize the players for the GM. Get them to agree to a central theme for what they want to do, so that it can be presented to the GM for ideas ahead of a session.
The Truth
In truth, all of the above are me. They are different facets to my own gaming personality. At one time or another, I could quote specific examples of how I have embodied the various flawed. So if I’m picking on anyone, its myself. You see, through all our gaming, we usually walk the fine line between doing the right thing one direction or the other. Going to far in one direction leaves you out of balance and turns you into one of the above.
Like all things life, its the balance that brings out a harmony that allows things to flow smoothly, and for the game to really click and be a great experience. Always remember, the point behind the game is the companionship of gaming. Its not to beat the bad guys.
If you want to do that, go play nintendo.
