[RPG] How does a GM deal effectively with a player unable to lose gracefully

gm-techniquesproblem-playerssystem-agnostic

How does a GM handle effectively a player that overreacts to any negative effects the player's character suffers, like level drain or death?

Best Answer

Stefano, I am a GM and one of "those" players. The main thing that makes me hesitant and generally concerned about my character gets killed comes from a few sources:

  1. The few times I have died have been a result of a bad roll and not the result of heroics or stupidity on my part
  2. Many GMs claim, "I am not trying to kill the PCs, they won't die unless they do something stupid." So that puts the players in a position where if their character dies, it is their fault.
  3. I used to play a Magic-User in BD&D and AD&D1 (I didn't care how powerful my char was, I just wanted to be a wizard).
  4. Usually, the risk of death is nowhere near the reward.

Your player probably has different reasons. But, for me, the "fix" is not to play a care bear game or to ruthlessly me off until I leave or "get over it." the fix is, play a system where the stakes are known. I am perfectly willing to risk character death for the "right" reason. Everyone talks about how cool it is when their character dies for glory. I wouldn't know, I have only died because the GM rolled a double crit...

For instance, Shadow of Yesterday has a "free and clear" phase where you can negotiate what you get and what you risk in a roll. While Dogs in the Vineyard has Stakes setting and a "Give" rule where you can just concede the Stakes without risking character death. Finally FATE has Consequences and Concession. These are all games where the Player has more control over when their character lives and dies. But it does mitigate or prevent risk. Most of these players are not risk averse, they just want a means of risk assessment.

So, that would be my advice, try one of these games and if that doesn't work out, then you need to figure out what is really going on (it probably doesn't have anything to do with their character death then)...