Problem Players

Okay, I have a dilemma. I have a player who's concept of a Star Trek captain seriously differs from mine. I had a recent adventure where the crew encountered a strange alien life form. After investigating and learning to comunicate with it, they needed to protect it from a Klingon patrol.

However, this captain decided it wasn't his problem and refused to investigate this "strange new life". Dispite the complaints of the other players, he insisted that it wasn't something that his character take part in.

So how do you deal with a player who insists on creating a character who refuses to "boldly go where no one has gone before!" How can you justify this character having made it through Starfleet? How do you write "Star Trek" adventures for someone like this?

I appreciate any words of advice.

Thanks,
Mark Mekkes

The player is in need of GM counselling...ie you'd better talk to him and explain to him that he's spoiling the game. If he's a Trekkie then it shouldn't really be a problem. Then give him another chance to see if he can conform to the spirit of Trek. If he doesn't you may have to get heavy handed on have him investigated by JAG and then conduct a board of inquiry into his fitness to command. That should shake him up.

IMHO I think a player like the one you've described is not cut out for command and should be replaced and he should consider playing something else, someone who doesn't have to take the lead. Being CO is a very difficult role and few play it well and you notice that it usually rotates between the same players, the leaders of the group.

As ghosty has said, you have the in-game or the out-of-game choices.

I'll add that you can often start with in-game and then move to out-of-game, but the reverse, going from out-of-game to in-game, rarely works well. It's usually obvious what's going on during the in-game, and the player may resent you for "harping" on something he thought was over with, and you thought was still a problem.

You have to be prepared, too, for the possibility that Trek just isn't the right game for this particular player: if he insists on a command role, but can't handle it properly, that may be the case.

I think out of game methods should be tried first. Then watch the player for the next few sessions, if he screws up again, then you'll have to use in game solutions to pass the message.

The initial screw-up should be shelved and well "forgotten" unless one of the other PCs files a complaint up the chain of command in which case you may have to act...but I doubt that any PC would do it...but who knows it happened once in our game when the XO filed a formal complaint with Starfleet about the Captain's Prime Directive violation.

One time i was playing a command character and the other pc's decided i wasn't doing enough on away missions cause i would let them discuss it all and then choose what i thought was best! The GM had a talk to me out of game as all the players had said that if i was put in charge of the ship they would mutiny! It was not a possibility that i would as i was about 5th in command!! But that is what they said! We had a talk and i became a lot more forceful and took no crud from them and there has been no prob! A talk outside the game can help at times if it is put in a friendly light!

I might try making it part of the game. Perhaps this captain rose thru the ranks during the Cadassian War; a time when discovery was not a focus of the Fleet. He could have been in command of a ship with few science capabilities; doing more of an boarder interdiction job--a warship.

Now in command of a ship of science he has to adjust to a whole knew way of thinking and doing the job. Something that could lead to problems with fellow staff, and personal conflicts; trying to be the "ideal officer" but knowing he is falling far short.

But if the player is having trouble fitting into the group. . .captain dies, and next week you suddenly have a new transporter tech. :p

And if all else fails and he does get busted by Starfleet, have them assign an NPC Co, who he has to XO for ;)

That should learn him :)

Or have an Admiral take command of his ship that always works too :)

Crew mutiny, followed by....

A few phaser shot's on heavy stun, followed by....

Stranding his ass in an old cargo hauler on Ceti-Alpha Five.

Prob not the best advice I know, ....but fun ;)

I have nothing but the deepest sympathy for you as a game master. I too deal with players who are ambitious and want to play a command character then just aren't cut out to be a leader in the Star Trek universe. So here's what I did and you can see if it helps you out at all. Tell the player out of game that playing a command rank character carries with it the responsibility of doing not only what is right for the character but for the crew of his/her ship and the Federation as a whole. And, not to steal a page from Stan Lee, that with great power comes great responsibility. The consequences of this power are as grand as the power to command a ship. Then if he does something again in game that is just a bad bad move, give him a way to recover, ie a "second path to the correct conclusion of the dilema" Then if that doesn't work, I know it sounds harsh, but kill him. Have the Klingons make a move against him, or a mutiny, or depending on how badly he pisses you off, have something trivial cause the death of his entire crew, like a navagational deflector that was out of calibration because he just isn't leading his crew to want to work hard for him, and the ship hits a piece of space dust at warp without the nav. deflector the whole ship goes boom.

Hope that helps.

I'm going to echo what was said before: In-Game attempt to fix things first, then out-of-game. Doing it in the other order just breeds anger and frustration.

I'd suggest in-game reminders of rules and regulations. From a Savik or Data-esque character: "Captain, Regulations clearly state that we must respond to a ship in danger..." NPC if necessary, maybe a brash young Lieutenant in the Command Branch who is the Bridge Officer during night shift sometimes. . .

Not sure.

The Doc

I've had to deal with some weird situations with a few players most notably the Lt.Tanko incident.

I suggest an in-game solution, all the one's above are good. You could have S31 confront him an offer him a deal, you know the classic 'sign here thank you for your soul deal'.

You should also inform your crewmen wishing to become Command officers, they should know that any problems which arise because of their crew-THEY will be at fault. The actions of their crewmen reflect on the command staff especially the Captain. In our games, all command personnel suffer even when one character screws up the mission.

You could try coaxing a PC crewmen to start shooting for the captain's job reminding him of protocol. A NPC could do the job but nothing beats peer nitpicking.

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Originally posted by Zortic
Okay, I have a dilemma. I have a player who's concept of a Star Trek captain seriously differs from mine. I had a recent adventure where the crew encountered a strange alien life form. After investigating and learning to comunicate with it, they needed to protect it from a Klingon patrol.

However, this captain decided it wasn't his problem and refused to investigate this "strange new life". Dispite the complaints of the other players, he insisted that it wasn't something that his character take part in.

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Actually, I don't see any big problem here about this character, or at least not without any further information.

The situation as you tell it was something like this as I read it:
Crew discovers new lifeform, crew comunicates with said lifeform, Klingons show up, Klingons attack lifeform, CO decides not to assist aforemetioned alien being.

Now this is only "un-Starfleet like" behaviour IMO, if the Captain didn' have a good reason to act the way he did.

Have you asked the player why he made the decision he did? I wasn't there, so I can't tell, but you might inadvertantly influenced that decision with the way you (as Narrator) presented the situation.

What was the Klingon's reason for their actions?
Had the character in question any reason to believe that this problem would fall under Klingn jurisdiction?
Had the Captain reason to believe that the Klingons would launch a massive retaliation against his ship if he interfered in the situation?

While the discussion on dealing with problem players is usefull, I am not totaly convinced, that you realy have a big problem, at least not from what you told us.

Was it just this one game or is there more to it?

The problem of a commanding officer who misbehaves is unique to military or paramilitary games. In other game genres, you just go with whatever happens (applying class and alignment penalties if you're still playing archaic first-generation RPG's, even if they ARE 3^rd edition), but in a military-oriented RPG (and Stafleet uses a military pattern even if they are not strictly speaking "military"), the CO isn't just "party leader," he (or she) is part of a structure which relies on everyone doing his job. While various solutions proposed above, both in- and out-of-character, work to varying degrees, the onus is really on the GM to choose carefully who gets to be captain. Though I'm not a fan of NPC captains, sometimes that is preferable to a PC captain who doesn't have what it takes.

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Originally posted by Owen E Oulton
The problem of a commanding officer who misbehaves is unique to military or paramilitary games. In other game genres, you just go with whatever happens (applying class and alignment penalties if you're still playing archaic first-generation RPG's, even if they ARE 3^rd edition), but in a military-oriented RPG (and Stafleet uses a military pattern even if they are not strictly speaking "military"), the CO isn't just "party leader," he (or she) is part of a structure which relies on everyone doing his job. While various solutions proposed above, both in- and out-of-character, work to varying degrees, the onus is really on the GM to choose carefully who gets to be captain. Though I'm not a fan of NPC captains, sometimes that is preferable to a PC captain who doesn't have what it takes.

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I concur.

Sometimes the best way to get an inexpirenced player's feet wet with command is to start them as an XO, being groomed to take the centre seat.

But your mileage may vary.

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poster

Nah, there is much easier than that Styro.

"Ok, ensign, you are now transferred to security and you'll have accompany the Captain and some superior officers on an uncharted planet potentially dangerous"
Beaming down...
"Okay ensign, you'll explore that cavern there, the rest of the landing party will wait for you here on this field around the campfire" :D

Sorry for this topic hijacking :)

Mark,

I have a few questions/comments that might shed some light upon this topic.

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Okay, I have a dilemma. I have a player who's concept of a Star Trek captain seriously differs from mine.

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So what? Not intending to offend you or the player, but if your views were the same it would become rather boring now wouldn’t it?

Just a few questions about your group dynamics- Do you and the player “play well together?” Are the two of you adversarial when you play other games? He could be sabotaging your game on purpose in an effort to “wreck your game.” It is rather typical in some groups were a player will feel that it’s “Me Vs. GM” and that if he can be problematic that he is “beating you.”

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I had a recent adventure where the crew encountered a strange alien life form. After investigating and learning to comunicate with it, they needed to protect it from a Klingon patrol.

However, this captain decided it wasn't his problem and refused to investigate this "strange new life". Dispite the complaints of the other players, he insisted that it wasn't something that his character take part in.

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Speaking as a person who embraces Star Trek and its philosophies:

No Starfleet Captain would ever do this. It goes against the basic principles of respecting all sentient life forms. He would probably be court-martialed and stripped of command. (More details would be needed, but unless this alien was destroying/hurting the ship and its crew in some way…)

Speaking as a GM:

During our next session, I would bring in a JAG team to investigate. I would temporarily relieve him of command and bring in a real pain in the @ss Admiral “I will Make Your Life Hell” to take over the ship while the investigation is going on. Think Fleet Admiral Alynna Nechayev on a bad day.

Also, you could make the alien important to the storyline in that they were trying to initiate first contact and, instead of the Federation, it is the Klingons who will gain the area of space the aliens call home.

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So how do you deal with a player who insists on creating a character who refuses to "boldly go where no one has gone before!"

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I personally would not allow such a character. If the player in question is justifying his actions by “Well that’s what character would do???” then I would suggest he makes another character. He has NO CLUE what it means to roleplay in a Star Trek campaign.

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How can you justify this character having made it through Starfleet?

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It would be rare that he would pass ANY exams that deal with respect for life.

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How do you write "Star Trek" adventures for someone like this?

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This is a big mistake on your part. You are not writing adventures to cater to one character. Think about your group and what types of games they like to play and go with that. Enjoyment of the whole group is what you are shooting for. It sounds to me like this player is either going to help or hinder your success as a GM. If he comes around and actually helps your adventure, keep him. If not, and he continues to sabotage your adventures, get rid of him or play a different game that requires little or no roleplaying.

Hope this helps.

About your Klingon Emergency Medical Hologram Styro! You have called it the KEMH and the funny thing is that here in Perth Australia there is a hospital called King Edward Memorial Hospital or KEMH! Just thought the fact that it is also the major maternity hospital here and more women go there to have their babies than anywhere else in this state would be amusing!

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poster

I have to disagree with the thought of not writing adventures to cater to one character.

Well not totally.

The spirit of what you say is true, but when that one character is the commanding officer of the group, he can pull rank and make for poor, unenjoyable sessions. Which is what I think is happening here.

Talk to the player, if he doesn't change the problem, you may want to consider losing him or his character.

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Originally posted by Marcus Kavart
About your Klingon Emergency Medical Hologram Styro! You have called it the KEMH and the funny thing is that here in Perth Australia there is a hospital called King Edward Memorial Hospital or KEMH! Just thought the fact that it is also the major maternity hospital here and more women go there to have their babies than anywhere else in this state would be amusing!

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Well, Women can handle the pain better. ;)

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Originally posted by Marcus Kavart
About your Klingon Emergency Medical Hologram Styro! You have called it the KEMH and the funny thing is that here in Perth Australia there is a hospital called King Edward Memorial Hospital or KEMH! Just thought the fact that it is also the major maternity hospital here and more women go there to have their babies than anywhere else in this state would be amusing!

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Eeer...have we drifted into complete irrelevance here?

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Originally posted by Captain Zymmer
I have to disagree with the thought of not writing adventures to cater to one character.

Well not totally.

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I guess I should clarify. I would not try to plan adventures that are “Idiot-Proof.” By that I mean adventures that this combative player can’t screw up.

I do write adventures that allow one character to be the center of attention. These usually involve backgrounds and the like.

The idea behind my statement was this- Keep writing the adventures you want to write without worrying about how this player may or may not screw them up.

If he does this again, boot him.