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Enwy
Acolyte
USA
30 Posts |
 Posted - 13 Dec 2012 : 18:00:10
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Hello, Candlekeep!
I'm hoping that I could get some insight on how to handle a problem that's been irking me for a while now.
The D&D group that I'm a part of consists of mutual friends, playing regularly out of one of our homes. We play in the Forgotten Realms, with a pair of us really loving the setting, and every one of us is, for the most part, a serious roleplayer (though we do have our goofy moments like everyone else).
What do you do, though, when you have a player who is, while a great roleplayer, distracting when it comes to maintaining a sense of immersion and setting-appropriate behavior? When it feels as though they've not bothered to really research the setting, or even a corresponding time period? When they even bring in concepts that don't fit the game being played?
It makes me feel horrible to even bring this up as an issue, since I imagine it makes me seem like a crazy elitist, but our group has been going for years now, and when you have a player who keeps acting a certain way that doesn't really "click" with everyone else after all of that time, what do you do...? Has anyone else had to deal with this before?
Thanks guys. <3
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Bran thought about it. "Can a man still be brave if he's afraid?"
"That is the only time a man can be brave," his father told him.
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Kris the Grey
Senior Scribe
USA
422 Posts |
Posted - 20 Dec 2012 : 21:03:45
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Enwy,
A good question. There are an assortment of varied approaches, most of which just usually start with a gentle DM to player chat on the subject, but I'll leave those suggestions for others to detail. Allow me to suggest something outside of the box...
I'm the regular Candlekeep proponent of a certain form of niche FR gaming that I wonder if your 'non setting' player might benefit from. I call it 'Play Yourself' gaming and it exists in the fine tradition of fantasy fiction going as far back as the Chronicles of Narnia. Simply put, you stat out your players as zero/first level characters (depending on your game system) and use a story mechanism to randomly dump them from the real world through some portal of your own devising into the Forgotten Realms. They then have to do their best to use their wits or other skills to survive for long enough to find their way back to our world.
Now, you can make a whole huge campaign of this (as I do), or you can run a single adventure (for a night or two or three), but the key will be to immerse your player into what it would be truly like to live in the Realms day to day by making him (and his iPod) a stranger in a strange land. This is best done if you drop players into a town or city where the emphasis is on being able to talk your way out of trouble and quickly blend in instead of just dying in the wilderness. This would have the benefit of rewarding your players who know the Realms, and who know how to talk and 'act normal' in a fantasy setting and will show your 'out of character' player how best to pretend to be from the Realms (while allowing you to have fun nudging him for his out of setting ways).
The recent 'Ed Greenwood Presents Elminster's Forgotten Realms' is a FANTASTIC supplement for this sort of play. It has TONS of nitty gritty detail about daily life in the Realms, from words they use, to the clothes people wear, to the daily clock.
Anyway, just something to think about...and maybe a fun way to show your player the value of being 'in character' in the Realms! |
Kris the Grey - Member in Good Standing of the Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors, the Arcane Guild of Silverymoon, and the Connecticut Bar Association |
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Thrasymachus
Learned Scribe
195 Posts |
Posted - 21 Dec 2012 : 05:09:28
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Ahhh, been there. Done that.
My suggestion is to employ Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
You'll need a spray bottle (filled with water to start out with), and some Peanut M&M's. |
Former Forgotten Realms brand manager Jim Butler: "Everything that bears the Forgotten Realms logo is considered canon". |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11830 Posts |
Posted - 21 Dec 2012 : 14:25:52
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quote:
Originally posted by Kris the Grey
Enwy,
A good question. There are an assortment of varied approaches, most of which just usually start with a gentle DM to player chat on the subject, but I'll leave those suggestions for others to detail. Allow me to suggest something outside of the box...
I'm the regular Candlekeep proponent of a certain form of niche FR gaming that I wonder if your 'non setting' player might benefit from. I call it 'Play Yourself' gaming and it exists in the fine tradition of fantasy fiction going as far back as the Chronicles of Narnia. Simply put, you stat out your players as zero/first level characters (depending on your game system) and use a story mechanism to randomly dump them from the real world through some portal of your own devising into the Forgotten Realms. They then have to do their best to use their wits or other skills to survive for long enough to find their way back to our world.
Now, you can make a whole huge campaign of this (as I do), or you can run a single adventure (for a night or two or three), but the key will be to immerse your player into what it would be truly like to live in the Realms day to day by making him (and his iPod) a stranger in a strange land. This is best done if you drop players into a town or city where the emphasis is on being able to talk your way out of trouble and quickly blend in instead of just dying in the wilderness. This would have the benefit of rewarding your players who know the Realms, and who know how to talk and 'act normal' in a fantasy setting and will show your 'out of character' player how best to pretend to be from the Realms (while allowing you to have fun nudging him for his out of setting ways).
The recent 'Ed Greenwood Presents Elminster's Forgotten Realms' is a FANTASTIC supplement for this sort of play. It has TONS of nitty gritty detail about daily life in the Realms, from words they use, to the clothes people wear, to the daily clock.
Anyway, just something to think about...and maybe a fun way to show your player the value of being 'in character' in the Realms!
If you do this... just a thought... get some really good headphones that can drown out outside sound. Then record you speaking in random sounds. Then, you talk to the other players while playing tracks for him so that he has no clue what's being said. At some point, provide a necklace/helmet/earring or something that provides the tongues ability. If you want to stress how he's missing out in order to have this "otherworldly" knowledge, give out an item that takes up the exact same item slot as the "tongues" item that he'd love. Make him make the choice of being able to understand you guys OR having a cool item. |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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The iPod in My Jerkin - Promoting Immersion
