[RPG] A fellow player is uncooperative with the group and gets GM favoritism. How to handle this

dresden-filesproblem-gmproblem-playerssocial

I actually have two situations but they are interconnected. Our group is currently playing a Dresden game. The GM and one of the players are married. Along with that, he is a new member to the group. I can understand her (the GM) wanting to make him feel welcome but it has gone into the the realm of blatant favoritism. A few examples:

  • Every idea he has is deemed fantastic, wonderful, awesome and is always successful. Most of the time he doesn't have to roll to see if he succeeds; he just does.
  • After a series of major setbacks to the other player's characters, I joked that her husband was the only one left to mess with. Her answer to that was that she would absolutely not be messing with him in the game. He and his character were safe from that.
  • In the last session, he and another player had to make the same roll using the same skill for the same information. He needed a fair to succeed. The other player needed a great. Not the first time that has happened.

The second part of this has to do with him as well. As I said, he is new to the group. When we were discussing a game to play, it was made clear that it would be cooperative. We would all be working together to a common end. However, he will not- I mean ever- share any information with the rest of the group. No matter how vital or needed that information is to advance the story, he just smiles and says he's got nothing. To try and get around this problem, a group aspect was created. That way if a situation or information that everybody needed to know came up, a fate chip could be played and anyone who wanted to be a part of it could be present. He is totally abusing it. Now, instead of just not telling us anything, he adds give me a fate chip and maybe I'll tell you something. It's like he is trying to beat us at the game and that is not the way it was set up.

So, the question to these two situations is what do I do? How do I handle this in a rational and sensitive way? To complicate things further, the GM is my best friend. He is her husband. I don't want to put her in the middle but I am about ready to quit the game. I am tired of it being his game and everyone else being bit players. Should I talk to her or should I talk to him? If anyone has had experience with this, any advice would be appreciated.

Best Answer

Player Revolt/Intervention

You must, in an out-of-character context, talk about this with your GM. There is no rule in the world that will solve player favoritism. This conversation needs to include, bluntly

  • That this behavior is making the game unfun for you
  • That this behavior is making the game unfun for your table-mates
  • That the behavior must end

Feelings will be hurt, if it has already gone this far.

After-Action

  • Do not let either party of the couple be the GM. If they are both at the table, they must be players.
  • Or, Remove one of them from the group
  • Or, Remove both of them from the group

It is already too late if it has come to asking strangers on the internet.

Addendum

If you catch this earlier, the answer is much different. If you catch this early, you still have the out of character conversation, and you still do not sugar coat anything, but there is no ultimatum. You come up with a mutually agreeable solution. sometimes that is strict adherence to the rules (which may require a change in system), and sometimes that means asking her not to bring her husband. Feelings need not be bruised then. In your case, sadly, there will be hurt feelings. The cardinal rule of the hobby "these are your friends, don't be a jerk", has already been broken.