Player that doesn't know the 6th World Options

[Troyminator]

Hi All;

I have a player that is new to Shadowrun and the 6th world. In our first real session as the groups face and mage were interacting with him (gun adept), anytime either one (PC's) said anything to him, his response was "Don't say/do that again or I will fucking end you." I know that everyone will play their character the way they want to and the player was kind of drunk, but how do I help him realize that if you say this to a Mr. Johnson (or just about anyone else they might run with) there will be repercussions. Also, what might some of those repercussions look like other than a hit and/or blacklisting?

I gave him the "Sixth World Almanac" to read and possibly "Emergance" (I know I lent it to one of my players, I just can't remember which one) to get him familiar with the setting.

I guess, also, how leniant do I get with drunk players?

Thanks in advance

[Summerstorm]

You can't play drunk. Not Poker, not Shooters, nor strategy, not monopoly and ESPECIALLY no Pen & Paper roleplaying game.

Having a beer or two is ok, but DRUNK? I would leave the session.

Second: So he "played" a dude who is threatening people for talking to him? Well, i guess the character needs to be abandonded and he has to make another one. Since it is clear that someone who CAN not fit into a group can not run with them. (Yeah yeah, a lot of runners have quirks, are starnge or angry at everything - but when he can't function as a runner he cannot be a runner).

[redwulf25]

I guess, also, how leniant do I get with drunk players?

Thanks in advance

You don't. If they're drunk enough to impede play they shouldn't be playing. Tell them to show up sober or don't show up.

[Achsin]

Have him get set up with a nice free cranial bomb for his troubles, then blackmail him into doing a bunch of really dangerous things that will most likely end up killing him off anyways but benefit the one who put the bomb in his head if he succeeds.

My current group usually operates with a mexican standoff level of trust, and something like this would either pass pretty much unnoticed or cause everyone to start killing each other, though probably not at that moment. Such confrontations have happened before, with only one casualty so far (the player wanted to start a new character).

Edit: Also, none of us drink, so we've never encountered that problem before.

[Stingray]

That is one example why alcohol should not be allowed, when playing...

[SpellBinder]

I guess, also, how leniant do I get with drunk players?

If you can afford it, a map to the local pizza place and send him/her on a pizza run. Preferably one on the far side of town. Hopefully they'll actually be gone for the length of the session.

If you wanna be a jerk, then do the above but also call local law enforcement on a possible drunk pedestrian/driver.

What redwulf25 said is also good.

[James McMurray]

Also, what might some of those repercussions look like other than a hit and/or blacklisting?

One of the PCs in our group pissed off a Johnson. They had unknowingly brought in the wrong target in an extraction and the J was really pissed. He was ranting and threatening not to pay them at all and instead find some real runners, so the team's physad put a gun in his face and would have shot him if the rest of the team hadn't talked him down. They eventually completed the run successfully, so the Johnson isn't looking to get rid of a possibly useful future tool, but he has set the wheels of his revenge in motion.

He hired a man named Puck whose expertise is making someone's life hell. The first (and only so far) incident was more of a friendly "let the games begin" sort of thing: Puck planted a bomb under the physad's car but when it went off it was just confetti, streamers, and a commlink with an incoming call. When he answered a voice on the other end let him know that his life was about to get much more interesting and ended with "that was number one."

Next session it ramps up.

Also, word spread that he'd almost shot a Johnson and he wasn't invited to the last meet. The pay also didn't factor him in, though they were never told that and he hasn't been blacklisted. He's just more likely to be avoided by the more cautious employers.

[longbowrocks]

What should you do?

Depends. If he's seriously being an asshole, then kick him out seriously.

If he's roleplaying an asshole, maybe your party's mage will roleplay getting angry enough to cast a force 12 "Fucking End You" on the gun adept.

*edit: or you could challenge him to drink that last beer you "left on the front porch across the street", then lock him out. I love it when people mentally handicap themselves through excessive consumption of alcohol. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[redwulf25]

If you can afford it, a map to the local pizza place and send him/her on a pizza run. Preferably one on the far side of town. Hopefully they'll actually be gone for the length of the session.

If you wanna be a jerk, then do the above but also call local law enforcement on a possible drunk pedestrian/driver.

What redwulf25 said is also good.

If you send a drunk out in a car you'd better be sending someone to drive them or you're just as liable (morally if not legally) as they are for anyone they kill on the road.

[Kyoto Kid]

...it's all in how you treat imbibing while gaming which says whether it is good or bad. If you become visibly and judgmentally impaired to the others in the group, then yes, something is awry. However, if you are careful, and not drinking with the intent purpose to get drunk then it shouldn't be an issue.

When I GM'd my RiS campaign, I usually had a bottle of hard cider on the table next to me. Took me all session to finish it however it never interfered with my ability to maintain the flow of the game. As long as the primary reason for being there is to participate in the game in a cooperative manner and not look at the session as an opportunity just to party, then I'm fine.

...and yes, I have booted players out who stepped across the line.

[TheOOB]

If they player is saying things that will get them shot, give them a nice warning that it's not the kinda thing you say in the shadows. Next time have the person who he said it too shoot him in the face, maybe his next character will be more polite. An important thing every player needs to know is that good roleplaying isn't just doing whatever they want, but doing things that make sense. Any character who can be called a shadowrunner knows how to act around their team and Johnson.

As for drinking, I've always liked the two beer rule, or, if your too drunk to remember the rules well(usually after two beers), your too drunk to play. You play Dance Central on the Xbox when your drunk, you play Shadowrun when you want to RP.

[Kyrel]

If you believe that it was the alchohol that was talking at the time, then you need to have a talk with the player. He needs to understand that drinking only is OK, as long as it doesn't negatively affect the game and his character's behaviour. Once that line gets crossed, he's creating problems for you as the GM, for his IRL gaming group, and for the story, because the most logical response for a Mr. Johnson that is threatened, is never to use the team again, and if it was severe enough, to put a hit on the offending character or the entire team.

However, in this situation, the people the character was threatening, was his teammates, and that creates an even bigger problem, because that means that his fellow runners now have a situation where they have to deal with the situation that they have been threatened by someone they are supposed to be able to trust with their lives... This is a real problem, because unless the character was joking, and that his teammates knew that, then there is now a trust issue, and do they really want to work with someone that is unhindged enough to threaten to kill them over something they said? Personally I have a very hard time seeing it. And if his colleagues don't want to work with him, then that character no longer has a future in the game as a PC. Your problem player needs to understand this.

Good luck.

[Ascalaphus]

We don't mind drinking a bit during the game, but everyone knows how much he can handle. During the game everyone has to stay lucid, but a beer to loosen up and get into the spirit of things is nice. Nobody gets drunk to the point where handling the rules becomes a problem, but sometimes we get a bit more in-game belligerent, which isn't always bad, particularly when we put the smack down on an enemy - a kind of destructive camaraderie.

On the other hand, I've also had players - usually new players - who play a Dude Who Doesn't Take Shit. Those are tricky; on the one hand, that's cinematic. We see guys like that in action movies and they can be cool. So I understand when someone wants to play that. But there needs to be player-on-player respect for each other; talking smack and making some threats can be okay IC, but the player of the jackass character has to give the other characters some space too, even if his character is a jackass.

As for the "but I'm playing my character!" excuse: talk to the player, and try to get him to understand that:
A) Yes, characters like this are perfectly sensible characters for the setting
B) Unless they learn when to back down a bit, they'll get shot in the head, because all the other (N)PCs are just as dangerous.

[Sengir]

Also, what might some of those repercussions look like other than a hit and/or blacklisting?

Mr. J obviously can't let that one slip, because without a reputation of "don't touch me, or else..." meeting professional criminals in dark alleys is suicide. So Johnson packs his stuff, leaves, and tells his gorillas to work over that asshole as soon as he leaves the meeting point.
Or if the situation is taking place in a more civilized area, KE grabs him for disturbing the peace.


And alcohol does not just permeate the blood-brain barrier, it also permeates the fourth wall. So if somebody plays his character drunk, why not let him play a drunk character, too? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[phlapjack77]

I'm guessing you and the other players didn't have fun...

First, ask the player not to be drunk next game. Tell him everyone else didn't have fun, mainly because of him.

Then, if the situation is repeated (of others not having fun because of this one player), don't invite the player back. If it's a friend, tell him his actions are not making this fun for everybody else. His reaction will let you know if he should be invited back.

In general, I think roleplaying an asshole or similar is a really difficult thing to do, in that you have to make sure the others are ok with it and having fun too. Noone likes dealing with an asshole, in-character or otherwise.

[Faelan]

Of course the next time he says that to a Mr. Johnson you could simply give him a laser light show. You know, the kind with thirty little red dots centered on every vital spot on his body, or just be very nonchalant and put a bullet through his brain. Either way the problem should be rectified. I am not suggesting that Mr. Johnson is inviolate, there are instances where putting a gun in his face might be appropriate, after all hiring scum is a dangerous occupation, but in the case of your particular psycho I would make him a walking dead man unless he does some serious sucking up preferably accompanied by some serious reparations. "Does Mr. Johnson look like a bitch? No? Then why are you treating him like a bitch?"

[longbowrocks]

Ah, I forgot that not everyone responds similarly to stimulus. People in our group generally reflect on our actions if we get a slap on the wrist (figuratively speaking) in front of everyone.
Personally, I don't like getting taken aside later on and told what I did wrong, since it's embarrassing. At table, the GM is judge and jury, so being ordered not to do something is easy to take in stride.

[Bigity]

Drunk players are one thing, but drunk DMs are usually pretty entertaining (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

But, having impaired people messing up the fun for everyone else is not good. It happening every now and then is just kinda part of the social experience. I mean, around my table, having fun was more important than the game flowing smoothly every session, so as long as people weren't getting blitzed and being jerks or whatnot, not a big deal.

As for his character, deal with IC stuff in IC ways. Like Bubba the love troll showing up at his doss.

[longbowrocks]

Bubba breaks the usual cap by knowing five moves:
leer
charm
sleep powder
harden
pound

[Rasumichin]

You can't play drunk. Not Poker, not Shooters, nor strategy, not monopoly and ESPECIALLY no Pen & Paper roleplaying game.

I've played all of these while drunk and it never caused any problems. Friend of mine screwed up royally when he was playing Risk while completely shitfaced, but that was actually pretty funny. A total trainwreck, but hillarious.

It's just a game, no need to take it so serious. It's not as if anyone's going to get run over by a drunk player.

[CanRay]

Some people can do it drunk, some people need to be sober, some people even need to be drunk. It's all about the individual in question.

Just don't call tech support for blurry monitor issues while drunk. (My first call at one job, I kid you not!)

[longbowrocks]

Any game needs a measure of organization before you can be silly or have fun. In my experience overly drunk people tend to forget that.
Four square isn't fun if your friend is the only one playing it like soccer.
Shadowrun is far more rules oriented than that.

[Stahlseele]

Just don't call tech support for blurry monitor issues while drunk. (My first call at one job, I kid you not!)

Tell me about it <.<

[Summerstorm]

I've played all of these while drunk and it never caused any problems. Friend of mine screwed up royally when he was playing Risk while completely shitfaced, but that was actually pretty funny. A total trainwreck, but hillarious.

It's just a game, no need to take it so serious. It's not as if anyone's going to get run over by a drunk player.

Ah well. Ok, didn't want to have it sound so harsh. Of course there are some qualifiers involved:

For example: If you just hang out with your friends drinking (and... umm... smoking) and somebody says: "Hey you all draw up some Wushu-characters, i have some dice. Let's play something insane." Surely it can be (wicked) fun.

I am going more into the direction: ONE dude just drinks excessively, while all other just play around. He goes overboard... and now they are all forced to endure a bad drunk for two hours. That is awkward. You either have a fun session P&P or you are heaving a binge-drink party, not both. P&P games are no party games. On the other hand: Like i said one-two beers are ok. Or even more over the whole night, or whatever you can take).

[longbowrocks]

For example: If you just hang out with your friends drinking (and... umm... smoking) and somebody says: "Hey you all draw up some Wushu-characters, i have some dice. Let's play something insane." Surely it can be (wicked) fun.

Agreed. If this ever happens.

Most people I'm familiar with would prefer to play beer pong and have a blast as their motor control is slowly and inexorably ground into dust over the next few hours.