A game master for Dungeons & Dragons reports to the community how she realized through a conversation that she would definitely not invite a colleague to her tabletop sessions. The community knows similar scenarios, highlighting what truly defines a problematic player.
Why did the game master decide not to invite her colleague? The game master Lunetheart shared with the community on Reddit about a conversation with a work colleague when the topic of Dungeons & Dragons came up.
“This might sound mean, but hear me out,” she starts, before explaining why she quickly regretted bringing up the topic. She had discussed the game with him before he expressed interest in playing.
When asked by Lune, he raved about how he would play a Christian holy character, which she initially considered a potential opportunity. However, his character description took a turn that made her regret the offer.
He explained how his character would prohibit other players from drinking in taverns, “because good Christians don’t do that,” and that he would expect everyone to adhere to the commandments of his god.
While Lune is open to religious characters, his holy character had no personality other than prohibiting things from other players for that reason. The colleague became so worked up that Lune’s initial assumption of a joke was quickly proven wrong, and she ultimately decided not to bring up the topic again.
The game master then asked the community if there are other people who, after the first conversation about Dungeons & Dragons, immediately thought: “Oh, I would never let you play at my table.” And indeed, there are some.
Many game masters already handle their ‘Session Zero’ in their heads
How does the community react to the story of the game master? Based on the over 3,600 upvotes and more than 1,000 comments, the game master doesn’t seem to be alone in this realization. A lot of people from the community can relate to the feeling she describes, which led them to dismiss the idea after the initial conversation with potential players.
The biggest “Red Flags” from the Reddit community arise from different situations, but you can categorize similar archetypes of problematic players:
- Chaos fetishists: “He told me in detail how he would do everything in his power to make every session completely derail. I said: ‘Haha, yeah …’ and didn’t invite him.” (NightOnTheSun)
- Murder hobos: “I asked about some of his characters and learned that he only plays ‘chaotic murder hobo goblins’ whose only goal is to counter the plans of the rest of the team. (cursearealsword02)
- A “player versus game master” mentality: “I knew someone who thought it was the players’ job to sabotage any story the game master had devised. He attempted to kill important NPCs, destroy crucial items, or simply divert the group from a predetermined adventure. The game master’s frustration and the effort he had to put in were his idea of fun.” (Shiroiken)
- Romance simulator fans: “It turned out she wanted a romance with Astarion from BG3, but preferred it as a tabletop game instead of a video game because there would be ‘more dialogue options.’ She instantly lost interest when I said that I don’t do anything beyond family-friendly romance at the game table.” (keelekingfisher)
- Absolute roleplay deniers: “A colleague said he was interested in playing but immediately added: ‘Yeah, but I don’t do funny voices or that kind of nonsense, and if someone else does, man, that’s dumb, and I can’t handle that.'” (UnerringCheez-it)
What insights can players and game masters gain from these experiences? Based on the many stories that players and game masters have already experienced, some veterans have learned important lessons. Player arm1niu5 points out that Lune’s example and many other experiences are great illustrations of why a Session Zero is so important.
Generally, the community on Reddit can understand the game master’s decision not to invite the colleague, but also commend him for his transparency. Just like the conversation, a Session Zero should proceed in the same manner, and if the colleague had not communicated his vision clearly, it would have become an unpleasant experience for everyone involved at the table.
A player manages to perfectly pinpoint the expectations of Dungeons & Dragons and how they can be misunderstood. According to WWalker17, the often-communicated selling point of D&D, “You can do anything you can imagine,” is misleading and is often confused with “I will do all the crazy things that I can’t do in real life because this person said that it’s allowed in D&D.”
21stCenturyGW explains accordingly: “Everyone always seems to overlook the second sentence: You can do anything you can imagine. The world will then react accordingly.”
Unfortunately, there are many ways to (accidentally) become a problematic player in Dungeons & Dragons. Even MeinMMO editor Caro meets pretty much all the requirements to annoy her friends with her dark cliche warlock, but she consciously makes sure not to get on their nerves: I am the dark cliche warlock in our D&D group, but I manage not to annoy everyone with it
