Counter Productive

Hi all,

***

[I deleted the previous version of this post because it came out completely different from how I had imagined it in my head. I had something to say that I felt would be helpful and informative but the words I used, and the tone in which I used them, were all wrong.

Instead of imparting what I hoped would be valuable insight, I just vented and complained. You don't need to hear me bitch and moan. Oh I do it from time to time and sometimes I enjoy it don't get me wrong but this post needed to be more than that.

Yet try as I might, I can't seem to make that happen.

Here's why...]

***

Monday, while the majority of folks in the good ol' US of A were remembering the honored fighting fallen with seared meat and cold brews, I ran a one shot RPG session in honor of our group bidding farewell to one of its members.

My player and dear friend Hans is moving, and although he intends to return to New York City at some indefinite time in the future, for the foreseeable now he will not longer be gaming with us. This was his last hurrah, at least for time being.

The possibility exists for a game over Google Hangouts, but that is still a little ways away, and a discussion for another time.

What we decided to play was my personal, homebrewed variant of Dungeons & Dragons, invariably known as D&D AD, D&D-But-Not and D&D-For-Those-People-Who-Don't-Like-D&D.

Oddly, we have a few people in this group who do like D&D, but they were willing to give my weird, hippie alternative a try. After all, Hans was the guest of honor, and it was he who had chosen this particular game over other options. He had heard some of the players talk about my D&D before, but he hadn't played it himself. This might be our one chance to try it out, so why not?

The game went over well in general, and there were some great ideas, fast paced actions, creative uses of abilities, funny lines and cool character moments.

There was also...sigh...some issues.

These issues pop from time to time in my group, but for some reason, especially when playing fantasy. I'm sure they pop up in every group at some point or another.

For the last three days I've been trying to formulate a post that addresses the issues themselves but more importantly how one can combat them when they appear in their own game. Here then was Barking Alien's chance to give some really insightful tips to the GMs in the audience, both rookie and veteran, on how to handle a particular player generated faux pas.

In the end however, I can't do it. I can't do it, and honestly, I am not sure I should.

The problem in question resulted from the actions of a single player and I have no interest in singling that player out. It was brought to his attention by the entire group at the end of the game. I've spoken to him since and he not only admitted that he was indeed partaking in the behavior we all called him on, but he felt like an arse for acting that way.

He didn't realize he was doing it at the time. It's a habit he's had since he started gaming. He's noticed it before, but this was the first time everyone noticed it to the point where they said something. He has learned his lesson, or to be more accurate, he's going to try very hard not to do what he did Monday in future games.

So you see, I have no sage advice, no grand solution to an age old gaming issue. All I did was notice something, bring it to that player's attention and talk to him. He did, or will do, the rest.

This renders my original purpose for this post moot. It's not even worth identifying the behavior since it was the personal actions of one person who, with some help from his friends, will solve it himself.

Now, on to something far more interesting...

AD
Barking Alien