The d20Blonde

Welcome to Dear Blondie, a new column that will run every Tuesday (presumably posting at noon eastern time, but don’t quote me on that).

Dear Blondie is Dear Abby’s nerdy kid sister who hangs in the basement with a bunch of dorks and a pile of dice. The d20Blonde has experience navigating all sorts of sticky gaming-related etiquette situations. Now, she endeavors to make your lives easier by answering your RPG etiquette queries.

Submit your questions to DearBlondie@d20blonde.com or hit her up on Twitter (@d20Blonde).

Dear Blondie,
I am a brand new GM, and I’m running a fun, enjoyable, rules-light game for my husband and a bunch of his friends. One player is being a real pill, though. He is playing his character chaotic evil (even though he insists he’s not). He has tried to kill random NPCs just because they’re annoying, and has threatened to dominate all of the PCs (he’s playing a Psion). A lot of the players are feeling intimidated. We have all tried to tell him that his character is totally not cool, and I have refused to let him do a lot of the violent stuff he says he wants to do, but he keeps trying to do evil stuff any way.

He’s usually a pretty cool and funny guy, but his character is totally annoying. I am the youngest member of the group, the only woman, and the least experienced gamer. I think he’s really pushing the limits of what he can do as a player, because he doesn’t take me seriously. How can I make him respect me as a DM and listen to what I say?

Thanks,
Game Master N00b

Dear Noob,

You’re doing the right thing by enforcing your authority during game-play. Do you have a way to orchestrate in-game consequences for his actions?

During a similar situation many years ago, I was playing a Lawful Good Cleric who acted in a decidedly NOT GOOD way and killed a civilian. When I declared my action, the DM asked if I was sure my behavior was within my alignment. I shrugged it off because, dude, it’s D&D. KILL THAT GUY AND TAKE HIS STUFF!

The second his heart stopped beating, the DM requested my character sheet and promptly crossed off any and all spells and abilities that required my Lawful Good alignment. The next several adventures required me to atone for my transgressions in order to regain favor with my god. It gave me a much-needed lesson in humility.

If he doesn’t have an abilities specifically tied to his alignment, you could always toss out a magic item that has some badass specials that require him to be Good. See if giving him an additional d6 vs. undead or somesuch can motivate him to be less annoying.

In the event that in-game mechanics do not rein him in, you’ll need to confront him directly. Pull him aside alone (making a spectacle of someone is never a good idea) and speak with him bluntly. Tell him that you do not want to create an awkward situation, but you – and your players – have less fun when he insists on engaging in chaotic evil shenanigans in-game.

I know it’s hard to say, but you need to let him know that, if he continues to harsh the collective mellow of your group, he’ll need to find another set of gamers to play with.

Good luck, Noob!

Yours geekily,

d20Blonde

After much consternation, I present to you the list of playable characters for my DC Gameday Alice in Wonderland Dread game:

• Alice
• Mad Hatter
• March Hare
• Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum (a single PC with two distinct personalities – should be a lot of fun)
• Walrus
• Knave of Hearts

I had some MAJOR trouble with this decision. Initially, I really wanted Dodo to be a PC, but he doesn’t have a built-in connection to an NPC the way that Walrus does (to the Carpenter)… and, in Dread, those sorts of connections can be very important.

Next up: basic plot outline and character questionnaires! I like to tackle these things at the same time because, as I devise backstory for the game, I being to draw connections between each PC. Those connections will play out in the form of questions that tie the characters together through existing relationships, as well as longstanding grudges.

In the meantime, I’m interested to know if you all have any interesting ideas for personality quirks for the available player characters? What about deep, dark secrets? I’m always looking for inspiration, so throw them at me!

This is part 1 of a series I’ll be doing on my DC Gameday prep. I have no idea how many posts it’ll end up being, but – because the process of planning a Dread game is very involved – let’s plan for a lot.

I’m preparing to run a Dread game at the October DC Gameday. It’s not just any Dread game, either. It’s my dream game. That adventure that has been percolating in my brain since RPGs and I were first introduced. You know? Back when I was awkwardly tall and wore hot pink Chucks with mismatched laces. (Though, let’s be honest, that description is still pretty accurate. Only difference is that my laces match these days. I am a professional.)

In the most general terms (as there are people who will be playing in the game that read this blog): The PCs are iconic characters from Alice in Wonderland… but it’s not such an innocent, nonsensical world. My Wonderland is a real place. A country with domestic and foreign strife. A government that must manage the chaos inherent within its borders and, in doing so, answer a question(s) that is ripping Wonderland to pieces: Should that chaos be contained? Or should it proliferate?

There are few rules that dictate social (or professional or political) interactions in Wonderland. Really, there’s just the one: One should never turn down an invitation to a tea party. So, when our beloved characters receive cryptic invitations to an upcoming party, they arrive with caution…

And, sadly, that’s about as far as I’ve gotten with actual session prep. Thus far, I’ve been too consumed by shopping for props, re-reading my dogeared copy of Alice, and trying (quite unsuccessfully) to decide which characters I want available as PCs.

Which is why I am posting this right now: By Monday, I will have selected the available PCs. And then, I’ll report back. If I’ve not posted by 5pm, it’s your job to hunt me down.

So, here we are. Lost all my data. Again. Had to re-install WordPress. Again. This time *knocks on wood* nothing bad is going to happen. We’re going to have smooth, blog-ilicious sailing.