[RPG] ny way to stop a player from charging into every room

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A player at one of the games (D&D 5E Adventurers League) I go to has decided his character is a dumb smasher. This is fine, I have no problem with this.

He is in my Friday game and does it every time which is a part of why I don't enjoy the Friday game that much. Now he started showing up at the Tuesday game I'm in with a different group and different DM doing the exact same thing. I like him as a person but that playstyle is really annoying. If he did it once in a while fair enough but it's literally every single room and encounter making it impossible for anyone else that might want to play a different style.

It's ruining the game for the rest of us that would like to play with other strategies. Not just in dungeons either but all sorts of situations like meeting X while walking and before we can even attempt to talk to X he's already "smashing." This week, which was his first time at the Tuesday group, the DM had to roll back time because he said we wouldn't be able to progress if we don't know what the NPC was supposed to tell us — the NPC was of course killed by him while the rest of the party was trying to get answers.

Other than try my best to tactfully ask him to tone it down, or feel like a tattle talking to the DM, are there any options for something like this? Is the best course to just wait outside the next time he dashes into a room and let his character get the fate it deserves?

Best Answer

Yes, let his character get the fate he deserves

Storytime:

In one of the first games I ever ran at a convention, there was a player that was doing exactly what you described: charging ahead, thinking he was better than everyone, not playing as a team, etc.

The next time he charged ahead though, all the enemies were of course waiting to gang up on the first person in range, which was enough to take him down. The rest of his party waited a few rounds before healing him (rationalizing it as "cautiously dealing with the enemy", but it was pretty obvious what they were doing). This was all orchestrated maturely and politely by an older lady (a mother, playing a cleric), and was one of the best examples of subtle peer pressure I've seen.

He only missed a few rounds of playing, but the subtext was clear: "your team-mates are not happy with you, and have the ability to hang you out to dry". He played much more nicely after that.

TL;dr - yes, let his character get the fate he deserves.