Handling A Sticky Situation Without Sticking it to Anyone

Twink. Cheat. Munchkin powergamer on a rampage. We all snicker, remembering a few players who fit those descriptions. What do you do, though, when the player is someone in your current troupe? Is there a painless way to ease him out of the group? Probably not. But there are steps to make it sting as little as possible:

First, as a GM, there are steps to take before a problem ever happens. Spend the first gathering of the troupe discussing appropriate behavior and spelling out the steps that will be taken to correct conflicts. This will save you the hassle of someone claiming to be singled out later on.

Some GMs favor "good karma" and "bad karma". At the storyteller's discretion, a player's die roll may automatically be maxed.... or minimized. Other misfortunes include contracting a rare disease, extraordinarily bad luck eavesdropping, or the all-mighty 'random' lightning bolt strike for 5000 hit points of damage. However, I prefer a more direct approach. It lets the player know directly that there's a behavior that needs to stop, and what will happen until it does while saving the rest of the troupe from having to deal with the person:

Once you know there's a problem, talk to the source at a private time. Give the player a probationary period for the behavior to stop.

Has probation come and gone without relief? Again, talk to the player and point that out. Suspend the person from a few sessions, then restart probation for the last time.

If worse comes to worst, and the second probation ends without resolution, it's time to have the player leave the troupe. Mention his good points, but be firm and clear. Don't lie. Sometimes people have a Jekyll-Hyde personality as roleplayers- they're wonderful friends outside a game, but inside become rabid grues. If this is the case, suggest another activity apart from gaming to enjoy together. Allow the player to have input into how his character leaves the storyline.

With any luck, following these steps preserves a troupe without sacrificing a friendship.

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