Dealing With Grief And The Players That Cause It

Chaos can be caused by many factors including troubled players!

Sometimes D&D games go off without a hitch. Sometimes everyone has a grand-old-time and you're able to smile sincerely and high-five that player who's sword just took off the dragon's head, as it was about to devour the king's daughter, amid a chorus of back-slapping and cries of "Huzzah!" from the other players. And sometimes one of the players decides it would be funny to launch a fireball right in the center of the room where it's certain to hit all of the monsters as well as the fighter, the swordmage, and the cleric.

Now, as a DM you have to expect to mediate a certain amount of "friendly-fire", but when players begin to maliciously attack one another it's a fair bet that some good-old-fashioned DM intervention is required. To make a long story short, the party wizard saw a chance to off his enemies while settling a dispute with his fellow players, perhaps not in the most mature way, but a means to an end is a means to an end.

I must admit that there was some previous bad blood between these players, something that DMs have to deal with every now and then, involving a magical item from a few games ago. Feel free to refer to my previous article on dealing with treasure distribution if this is a constant problem in your group.

As we of the generally adult world know, backstabbing is never the best option, especially when you're not even playing the same characters you were at the time of the dispute but it begs an interesting point, dealing with troubled players, the troubles they cause, and how to (peacefully) resolve said troubles.

1) Troubled Players - I want to point out that I'm using the words "troubled player" not "trouble player" because even the most straightforward, D&D loving, lawful-good paladin can stray to the path of chaos if they feel jilted enough. The main split between troubled players and trouble players is this: Troubled players act out when they feel they've been tricked or cheated out of a prize be it xp, loot, or even a coveted role-playing opportunity, such as the final blow to a particularly hated enemy or if they're bored with the premise/game. Trouble players just want to watch the metaphorical world burn.

2) The Troubles They Cause - A good DM must learn to discern between an idea being an honest, if crazy, one or a troubled player's way of getting back at someone in the group. This can be a hard thing to do as most creative ideas may require a bit of collateral damage. However, a troubled player's idea will generally include maliciously attacking another or kicking someone when they're down.

This seems a good time to point out that in an evil campaign (A campaign in which the player characters play the roles of an evil adventuring party causing mayhem and mischief across the lands) you shouldn't limit your players chaotic potential, including aggression against other PCs.

3) Resolving Problems - Resolving troubled players is surprisingly easy. Unlike trouble players, troubled players are not in it just to destroy relationships and objects. You can handle these situations a number of ways: You can give in to the player and fulfill his/her unspoken demands, you could talk to the player outside of the game, or you can try to do a better job mediating in the future. In the end what's done is done, and no player can totally ruin the game. Or can they?


Troubled players are a hazard. They can derail a game and cause others to lose sight of why we play (fun). But they are nothing that DMs have not handled before and will continue to handle until that last twenty has been rolled.

Guild Building

I'm sure some of my readers have played Assassin's Creed 3. If so you know the joy of building and maintaining your homestead. In a recent game (Of Gods and Mortals, run by ZBlackHeart) our group acquired a hero's guild in the town of Loudwater and began the delicate task of rearing the next generation of heroes. Not unlike Assassin's Creed 3 "The Guild" as we took to calling it, started as a small two-story building on the docks of Loudwater, a small shipping town near the sword-coast. Not very impressive on the outside, and only a little bit better on the inside.

At first we only had three members not including our group of four, two of whom didn't wish to participate. Really it could only go up from there, or so I thought. We soon discovered that, of our three young initiates, one was a kleptomaniac, one was a traitor, and the third was possessed. Over all not a very fortunate turnout. But we powered through and over the next fifteen years (in game time) the guild prospered and grew. Today "The Heroes/Merchant's Guild of Loudwater" has found fame and a place to call it's own within the political hierarchy of Loudwater.

As of late I've offered to buy out my friend's portion of the guild, thus taking on full responsibility of The Guild.

Don't underestimate the importance of this part of the game. It is a high stress job. Think about it, if you fail or if too many of your trainees die in the process you've effectively damned the next generation to a life of misery under the cruel lashes of one overlord or another.




Why do I tell you all of this? Well if you look at the above example of play you'll see lessons in marketing, business, teamwork, and an example of how sound investment and time can make you rich.

Heed this lesson next generation.