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MachineProphet
Alright, for those who have good memories, my campaign is blessed by a particularly skilled player named Hamster and cursed by his particularly auspicious character (and my weak willpower), a Troll Combat mage named Nebuchadnezzar.

Nebuchadnezzar is insane.

He goes through every situation with violence, has unnerring success on all his dice rolls, and is played by somebody who has a way of convincing me to do what he wants (last time, he was hit by a D-Class Manabolt while levitating through the air in flight and convinced me that he could make a Body check to wake up before he hit the ground, cast a levitate spell coherently, and not splatter everywhere from the rapid decceleration. He is now convincing me to let him join a magical group that practices blood magic.). But that isn't the worst.

Last time, though, he crossed the Rubicon. A mission was given to him to recover a weapon focus, and while doing so, his bike got messed up. When his pay did not include expenses, he got angry.
Let me tell you a little bit about his employer. He goes by the name of Uriel, and is invincible. Among other things, he uses the Path of the Righ, and has knowledge of every single spell in the game, including my own, self-explanatory Targeted Redirect (guess what it does). He uses 14 dice for every sorcery check. He has foci where his eyes should be. He only appears as a symbol that whatever is happening is deadly serious. In an ideal world, I would never make him use his powers.
And what did Nebuchadnezzar do? He punched him in the face. With all his combat pool. And got all successes. So Uriel, whose spell locks I hadn't considered, went down. Uriel's ally spirits came out to intervene before Neb got to chopping his arms and legs off (a trick he learned drains people's magic). I was eventually forced to concede (I succumb to peer pressure) that dropping a man out a window does not constitute harming them for the purposes of the Redirect spell, but at least Uriel managed to live. Ally spirits gave chase, and only by hiding in a place with high background did Neb manage to live.

At this point, it's personal. He has walked though the game with a blithe sense of invincibility, claiming that being beaten, disadvantaged, and outclassed isn't fun and shouldn't ever happen. I want to bring him into awareness, properly, in a way he can't refute. And not only that, I need an argument to support me. I can accept this no longer.

So, Dumpshockers, who have never failed me in the past, what do I do?
Adam
It may be boring, but I'd default to "Dude, about this fun thing? You're making this not fun for me. Our gaming styles are not compatible. There's either a compromise coming, or we're not playing together anymore."

But this depends; if the whole group is having fun, and you're not, it may be better to say "Hey guys - this whole GMing thing isn't working for me anymore. I'm not having fun, so I'm not gonna GM for awhile. If someone else wants to GM some sessions, that's cool. If not, we'll play X-Box."

In game "solutions" to an out of game social problem will never work. All you'll do is piss off and alienate players; better to break things off cleanly.
MachineProphet
QUOTE
It may be boring, but I'd default to "Dude, about this fun thing? You're making this not fun for me. Our gaming styles are not compatible. There's either a compromise coming, or we're not playing together anymore."


I don't have the strength of character for something like that. I need a rock-solid argument first.

QUOTE
But this depends; if the whole group is having fun, and you're not,


There is no group right now, save him. I want to form some good and solid compromise. I don't want to alienate him or feel self-righteous. I want a display of self-confidence, as symbolized by turning his character to mush, and then I want to talk things out as equals, something I have trouble doing. For that, I need a solid standpoint, something more than "You're having fun and I'm not."

No, let me amend that. I don't want to just break it off if it isn't fun, I want to improve it so that it is fun.
BitBasher
No, you do not need a rock solid argument.

Just stand up for yourself.

Learn to stand up for yourself or you're going to get walked over in a lot worse ways that Shadowrun.

This is a problem with you, not the game that you need to fix.
danbot37
First of all, in the future, you always have SOMETHING on important, all powerful, story centered npcs to protect them from everything. Quickened speels, bodygaurds, unseen snipers watching fromt the rooftops, etc. Second of all, now that it is too late, don't kill him, f with him some. Take things he finds important about his character, and mess it up (not permanently, unless you want to be really mean). in one game, it wasn't sr but one of them 'other' fantasy games, we had a player that wouldn't shut up about how proud he was of his elven heritage, how cool elves were, blah blah.. it was so bad, that it was annoying us players AND the characters we played, as well as the gm. Well, in one particular dragons stash, after we killed it, we found a ring of wishes with one wish left on it. Since I had the killing shot, I got it, and I coerced privately with the gm, and wished for him to become human and not know it. The next day, at the local tavern, he took a drink of elven wine, and SLAM! he passed out on the floor. He was PISSED when he learned what happened. He had to quest for another wish and change himself back... hehe Theres other things we did to his character too... we were evil. But the point is, when a char bothers ya, dont just kill em, annoy the ever living piss out of him. Leaves a much longer impression, and they dont get that rebellious attitude, "I'll show him... I'll make an even stronger char, etc. etc
danbot37
and "you're having fun and I'm not" is a perfectly valid reason, thats why we all play in the first place.
SugarDog
I agree with the mess-with-the-character method. This Uriel is immensely powerful. I'll assume that for whatever reason, Uriel does not want to kill Neb outright (could be an aversion to killing, a belief that the insult was not great enough, a belief that Neb could be useful to him in the future, minor psychosis or nonchalance born of being too powerful for his own good, etc.). However, my guess is Uriel has huge resources available to him. Have him kidnap Neb's family and implant voice modulator's that make them shout insults about Neb. Have Uriel arrange for great quantities of indelible pink dye to be dropped on Neb occasionally. Have Uriel research some powerful ritual curse that can only be used on people that have 'wronged' him, and curse Neb so that he becomes a narcoleptic. Or have him turn into a human... Hopefully, the player will get the hint. However, it could be that the player really imagines Neb as being that reckless, in which case he should be, IMO, rewarded for attacking someone so immensely more powerful than he as good roleplaying.
Sphynx
I'd personally plant him flat in the middle of a Mana Surge when he next prepares to cast a violent, uncalled for spell. Double the Force of the spell (that'll make him happy) then make him resist drain. That 6S drain becomes 12S Physical Drain. That oughta put him in the hospital for a few.

Sphynx
Polaris
Guys,

If you just want to kill a character, any character (even an IE), simply SNIPE him from 200 meters away with a called shot (no armor). In fact you will get two shots before he can do anything, and chances are (especially if you have a buffed up street-sam doing the shooting [likely]) he won't get any combat pool dice to help him.

If you use the right ammo, this will kill anyone. There is literally no defense against it in shadowrun other than "don't be there" which is not a defense at all.

-Polaris
AK404
I'd have to agree with Polaris on this one, but dude, if you're not having fun, then just fucking say it. As BB said, that's something you have to do: just go up and say, "Dude, I know you're having the time of your life, but this is beginning to wear on me. Either make a new character, come up with a solution we can both agree on, or I'm quitting the campaign." Simple as that, lay the foot down. No Johnson, no run. No GM, no campaign.

When the game gets personal, it's not a game anymore, and whatever switch you have in your brain that's labeled 'maturity' should be turned on right about now because you want to get personal about something that shouldn't be.
Sphynx
Polaris,

2 Things, first off he wants to "harm a character bad", not kill the character off. nyahnyah.gif

Secondly, as wonderful as the Snipe is, it's.... boring. nyahnyah.gif Having a player kill themselves (or so seriously harm themself that they are hospitalized) is a much more interesting way of handling things. wink.gif One of the great things about the Physical Damage of resisting your own Force 6/12 spell, is that you can't magically heal it. His only choice is FirstAid and a hospital. nyahnyah.gif

Sphynx
Fygg Nuuton
cause him severe magic loss, have him caugth by lonestar and them test on him, im sure he doesnt have a SIN, so its ok. make him violate lonestar, which aint hard for stupid people. then have them catch him, voila, hes yours
Rice Bowl
Adapted for a Troll magician, from what happened to a troll sami who had wronged the wrong guy in a very personal way:

You need a high level mage with access to Masking + spells Suggestion and Alter Memory + Control Thoughts (don't forget to use Earth Elemental to take Drain and help your Magic pool!!).
Your Uriel should definitely have these skills, as you say he masters all spells.

You need to get from your PC some bio samples.
You need to Suggest to your PC to come unarmed and unprepared to some nice appointment at regular monthly time. If you succeed in your opposed test, he cannot know about the Suggestion.
Then you can snatch him whenever you like (Stunbolt with fire elementals adding to Sorcery pool...).
If you don't snatch him, you command him to go home and Alter his Memory (earth elementals again) and then re-cast Suggestion (with Earth elementals) to come again at another place next month.

When your Uriel gets some bio sample, he goes to some Beta clinic and asks them to develop female genital parts + breasts + lips + cheeks +long hair etc. based on the bio samples in hand.

After a few months he can arrange kidnapping of your PC, put him in a clinic, change his sex. Keep him gagged, drugged with GammaScopolamine (W -2) and under watch (magical, with Stunbolts at the ready).

You can go along for some cyberware: Simsense recorder (that's a lot of Essence).

You gag him and also IMPLANT him with a new skull containing the Lone Star hood to prevent him to make any magic, astral projection, etc.
Give him also Tailored Pheromones at max (Charisma +4 and Charisma linked skills + 4 dice).

Then, you deliver him to some depraved rasta troll gangers, which you supply heavily with Kamikaze.
They gonna REALLY LOVE that bitch!!!

Of course, arrange to get video and transceive the Simsense recording of the experience...

Then arrange to free him and play his character beginning all anew from that situation.

He'd better have very nice contacts, because if he always fucked everybody, nobody will help him.
He then will be a pitiful trolless, raped by Kamikaze addicted gangers (ouch!), without much Magic left, etc...

At least the player (I have doubts for the character) should think twice before continuing acting so stupidly in future, and learn that acts may have consequences.

Finbar
He wants to join the initiation circle eh?
Blood magic eh?

you know, he could be offered the position if he can prove his Loyalty....
like, of I dont know....Symbolic Sacrafice?
what is he prepared to give up to prove his loyalty?
Rice Bowl
Just forgot to mention that the troll sami to whom this happened also had both arms and legs chopped off.

Luckily for him, he had contacts.

He in the end got his vengeance.
Ronin Soul
I'd personally start making the character's life a living hell. Watch a bunch of horror movies (the real ones - not slasher flicks) and psychodramas and start pulling those kind of tricks on the character. Over time as their world falls apart more and more, and there appears to be nothing their spells or skills or "invincibility" can do about it.
If done right and with a decent role-player, this way can be a lot more effective than simple damage because it does not work on stats and thus cannot be quantified. It remains totally foreign because of this.

I don't know whether it'd work, but that's what I'd do (but then, I take any excuse to put my players' characters through as much psychological trauma and down right f***ed-up surreal weirdness as I possibly can biggrin.gif )
Fygg Nuuton
QUOTE (Finbar)
He wants to join the initiation circle eh?
Blood magic eh?

you know, he could be offered the position if he can prove his Loyalty....
like, of I dont know....Symbolic Sacrafice?
what is he prepared to give up to prove his loyalty?

then we turn him in for the 1,000,000¥ reward!
Sunday_Gamer
QUOTE (MachineProphet)


He goes through every situation with violence, has unnerring success on all his dice rolls, and is played by somebody who has a way of convincing me to do what he wants (last time, he was hit by a D-Class Manabolt while levitating through the air in flight and convinced me that he could make a Body check to wake up before he hit the ground, cast a levitate spell coherently, and not splatter everywhere from the rapid decceleration.



Uh, no. Sorry big giant Troll but you just took D stun damage, you're not conscious and unless it's going to take you several minutes to hit the ground AND you're going to roll incredibly, I'm afraid you will now perform your impression of an unconscious troll bouncing off the pavement.

Sounds to me like the problem is in many ways, you. Sounds like you have a belligerent player who knows the rules and therefore thinks he can do anything he wants and you don't have the skill to face him off, which doesn't say you're not clever, just says he's REALLY belligerent.

I usually kill those people, just to remind them who's game they're in.

He wants to learn Bloodmagic? Great, have him learn it and then put a few shadowrun teams on his ass out to collect the 1 000 000 nuyen.gif reward from Draco Foundation. Once they capture and sell him, maybe his next character will be mellower.

Seriously, sounds like this guy is sucking the fun right out of your game, I'd blow him to kingdom come and watch the little bits fall to the street below.

If you're confused about how to ambush a mage, I recommend 2 mages both cast mana static into the area and then you set a few troll sams and phys ads on him while spirits attack any sustained spells and foci, don't be afraid to use plenty of people, hey, it's 1 million! Once the Draco Foundation have him, feel free to forget about him.

Sunday.
The White Dwarf
There is a VERY EASY SOLUTION. ITs called ....
....
..
..
.

A GM SCREEN!!!!!11!!1!

Next time he rolls "all success on his badass skill pool attack of doom" you just roll a few dice behind the screen, chuckle, and say "boy now youre in for it. He hates when people do that to him"

Youre becoming trapped by assinging the npcs stats, and then when the character's are 'better' or 'rolls well' youre just letting them get away with it. They dont need to see what you roll, they dont need to know what you know. Bend it so that the situation youre in never occurs.

Wham, problem solved, game is fun, troll is quished, life goes on.
Fygg Nuuton
you must be playing sr2 cuz sr3 doesnt have spell locks
Neon Tiger
Well, if you don't want to kill his character, here's a trick you could use:

Tell his char is very hungry and doesn't have anything edible at his home. So, guy janders down to nearest Stuffer Shack or maybe McHughes get something for his munchies. During this, someone, maybe that Uriel fella, has one of those miniblimps flying towards the chars apartment. Now this blimp here, happens to be loaded up with 300 kgs of C-12. This "tactical nuke" rams the apartment and button is pushed (with damage code of 210D), turning the characters apartment pile of rubble. This also means all his equipment, because he sure is not going to take all his stuff when he goes to grocery store. When character comes back, he's probably very pissed.

Now i'm sure someone here has a good idea how to continue from here if the character still displays that same attitude. Well, actually, just give him that 30 D manabolt in to testicles if he still thinks he's invincible.
Raccoon Avatar
Nothing says GM vengence like the "personal cybered-SWAT team".

Between missions, a team of heavily armed and cybered agents with serious magical backup invade the character's home (or the correct one of their homes...the one they're sleeping in)...and he either gets captured, killed, or escapes (and then faces a heavy vehicle of some sort out on the street) and even if they avoid the splat from the vehicles heavy weapons...make sure they lose all their cool gear on the way.

The beauty of this plan? It involves no other PC's...

Now, bear in mind, this is 10+ elite individuals..."augmented" with top-flight cyber and bio so they are all the city needs to track down and eliminate even the best runners (if needed)...What's the name of these? Superiour NPC's I think. ork.gif
Siege
I'll echo the "don't limit uber NPCs by assigning numbers" commentary.

It goes to the "I can jump off a building in SR1 and SR2 because I can only go to deadly" -- before the introduction of damage overflow rules and the simple idea that _dead_ is _dead_.

If the NPC is story-required, shimmering waves of energy intercept and block the troll's punch. Spell? "Armor versus irrate trolls".

Now, to be fair, I've been on the other end of being "disadvantaged, under-equipped and outclassed" on a regular basis and it does suck when it becomes a reoccuring theme in the game.

Your player sounds like a twinkie who should be playing d20 and not a "dark, gritty and life-sucking" campaign.

Not to mention that if indeed your player doesn't like playing at a disadvantage, he's probably not going to be amused at his "superior" character being hurt, injured or in any way less than perfect.

-Siege
TinkerGnome
QUOTE (Fygg Nuuton)
then we turn him in for the 1,000,000¥ reward!

Why is it that when I hear the word "blood magic" I hear a sound much like a dinner bell in the back of my mind? Oh, yeah...
Hot Wheels
QUOTE (Fygg Nuuton)
QUOTE (Finbar @ Sep 24 2003, 11:34 PM)
He wants to join the initiation circle eh?
Blood magic eh?

you know, he could be offered the position if he can prove his Loyalty....
like, of I dont know....Symbolic Sacrafice?
what is he prepared to give up to prove his loyalty?

then we turn him in for the 1,000,000¥ reward!

That was my thought, let him become a blood mage and then put a big ol' target on his back. The group will probably no longer want him to run with them if every time they are trying to break in somewhere, a group of bonuty hunters not associated with the run starts shooting them up for the nuyen.gif 1 million.

Bottom line, we're in it for fun. If you're not having fun don't do it. If you can't say no? Then you can come over and clean my windows and hose.
Buzzed
Wouldn't all this violence create a very bad reputation? How would that affect the street prices of his gear? What about those magical bounty hunters that use mana links to track down, confuse, demoralize, stun and eventually take down the troll mage? If I am not mistaken, law enforcement companies often hire entire magical groups for such a high profile threat. I am sure more then a few mega corps would like to see this careless mage out of the picture. They don't like sloppy work. So, find any Johnsons willing to hire you lately?

Sounds to me like the shadows are no longer a safe place to be for him.
Adhoc
Don't get mad, get wicked.

You have to show this guy that you can outwit him. So far you've been involved in an arms race and it has already gotten to the point of being redicouless. Come on: all the spells in the book? how old are you?

Here's the deal:
Invite him to a meeting at top of the Space Needle (or somewhere else high).
Does he like taking the stairs? No, so he goes for the elevator.

The elevator is rigged;
On top of it is a tank with DMSO (Man&MAchine p111) and a drug of your choice. If you just want to kill him, make it cyanide (M&M 118).

The elevator stops stops between two floors and the cabin is flooded with CS/Tear Gas (M&M 118). He gets a +3 modifier to all actions if he doesn't make his bodysave; I'll assume he does, -he is after all a superhero. But as a GM-ruling I'd say that he has at least a +3 modifier to all actions that require vision, including spellcasting.

After the CS, the cabine is flooded with the DMSO/Cyanide-combination.Or if you want to get totally medieval on his ass: Seven-7 nervegas. He'd have to resist 10D Stun and nothing short of a fullbody HazMat-suit will do any good. Keep him rolling those rolls until he's down and remember that the wound modifiers for stun add up. So eventually he'll be rolling for 13D stun.

Now it's time to torture him. First off: as payback, cut his arms and legs of.

Have a ball with him and end it all off with a bullet in the head. Make a new character and start playing Shadowrun instead of CyberMageMunchkin©.

wavey.gif
Adhoc
Adhoc
QUOTE (Polaris)
Guys,

If you just want to kill a character, any character (even an IE), simply SNIPE him from 200 meters away with a called shot (no armor). In fact you will get two shots before he can do anything, and chances are (especially if you have a buffed up street-sam doing the shooting [likely]) he won't get any combat pool dice to help him.

If you use the right ammo, this will kill anyone. There is literally no defense against it in shadowrun other than "don't be there" which is not a defense at all.

-Polaris

Nothing?

Read Magic In The Shadows p71, under "Using Anchoring".

It's called "Executive Protection".

Do it on a high enough force and no sniper will ever get you.

wavey.gif
Adhoc
Hot Wheels
QUOTE (Buzzed @ Sep 25 2003, 10:06 AM)
Wouldn't all this violence create a very bad reputation? How would that affect the street prices of his gear? What about those magical bounty hunters that use mana links to track down, confuse, demoralize, stun and eventually take down the ....
Sounds to me like the shadows are no longer a safe place to be for him.

That's where I was going, sure he's a bad ass, but he's not goinbg to be too welcome in the SHADOW community.
Hot Wheels
Of course you want be mean, have him get pulled over for a minor traffic citation- tail light's out. If he keeps calm, then you can nickel and dime him to death with fines.
If he assumes "the man" in on to him for the bloodshed and gore, and puts up a fight, sure he could get past one patrol car, he is the biggest meanest bad ass in town, right? But then he'll have the entire Lone Star Corp- an AA rated corp that specializes in violence, on his tail.
krishcane
If this is just you and one player, and he's having all the fun and you're hating life, you need to think real carefully about that relationship. Doesn't sound like a friend worth having -- you're better off gaming by yourself as the GM and the player than playing with someone you don't like. This is the same social dynamic as an abusive lover, just applied to the SR world. You either wake up and walk out, or you just keep getting beaten and raped. Trying to just work your way back to a good relationship almost never works.

--K
Stormdrake
One, have him pass near a temporary rift and attract the attention of a host of imps who inhabit all of his foci. Two, have a blood mage or shadow spirit take on his appearance and do horrible things to orphans and old folks then drop his appearance letting him take the backlash for his misdeeds. Third and finally have some one close to him drake out and have the resulting hunt get confused about the target and start chasing him. Any one or all would be interesting and not something impossible to over come but it would put the hurt on the character. Just suggestions.
danbot37
If it annoys his comrades too, let him become a blood mage, talk with the comrades in private, and have THEM turn him in for the reward. They prolly wont turn down the cool mill, especially if they dont like his attitude either
danbot37
oh, this was a single campaign, wasn't it? Well, have a contact call him in for a 'favor', and then they turn him in. They don't need a guy like that ruining their rep, after all.
Raptor1033
or give him that magical virus that attaches itself to his aura and drains him of his essence. or if he ever goes astral have a shedim take over his body and walk off. if he doesn't find his body fast enough his link to his body gets severed and he dies, not even any combat involved unless he finds his body.
MrSandman666
First of all I want to say:
As a GM you have the ultimate control over the game world and therefore the PCs life. Never forget that!

First, I would tell him in the face that he's spoiling your fun. Nothing bad, just "Hey, I really want to keep playing with you but what you're doing right now is ruining the game. Either you stop being such an asshole or this won't be fun for you either." Ok, maybe you cold make it sound a little less aggressive. My rethorical skills are nearly non-existant right now (tired as hell and non-native english speaker). Whatever you tell him, it's importand that he knows that you don't like his style and that you'll make him feel it if it doesn't change. This is importand because if you don't do it, he won't learn from it. He'll just be annoyed, call you a bastard and a bad GM since he's not connecting it with his behaviour.

Then, if he keeps being annoying, you can go down on him.
Next time he comes out of a facility which he just raided, leaving death and destuction behind, arrange for a welcome committee of, ooohhh, let's say 20 Lone Star Squads? All the things he's already done would justify such a force. They'll ask him to give up once. If he does one wrong move, make him resist over 200 shots at short range from a wild mixture of shotguns, assault rifles, sport rifles, and maybe 10 or 15 snipers. They all fire pretty much at the same moment. Now watch him roll those dice for as long as you both can bear. He'll be busy for a while and dead in the end. If for some reason he manages to survive that and escape, Lone Star will use all his ressources to hunt and kill him. A happening like that is not something Lone Star will forget easily. Just think of the reputation hit!

Of course, you could always have Uriel show up with a couple of elementals and torture him with some manipulation spells (controll actions, levitate, controll emotions, etc...). You can make their force high enough so that they are impossible to resist. Than chop off his arms and legs...

Also, the already suggested bounty hunters for the blood mage are a good idea.

You could also pick a corp which he screwed over particularly bad and have it come down on him with any force you need. Remember, for gaming purposes, the ressources of a corp are unlimited.

If nothing helps, bring in a dragon. Lofwyr, or somebody like that. Even Hestaby could fuck him up without even trying hard.

Ooohh, the possibilities!

I like the Lone Star approach most, since they give him a chance to surrender. Then, he really can't complain if he dies. You have warned him at least twice. Once out of game and once in game. ANd you can give him as many more warnings from any NPC as you like.

Remember: You're the GM, you're in controll. If you can't controll you're game like this you should think about whether GMing is the right job for you.
krishcane
With all due respect to this....

QUOTE
My rethorical skills are nearly non-existant right now (tired as hell and non-native english speaker).


You might want to re-think this advice...

QUOTE
Then, if he keeps being annoying, you can go down on him.


That has a different meaning than you meant, I think, although it is a very venerable and ancient form of diplomacy.

--K
MrSandman666
Uuuh... oops... embarrassed.gif


I guess you know what I really wanted to say. I mean like... uh... punish him (though that could be the same thing for some people wink.gif )

Of course I don't want to encourage any homosexual action if it is not entirely wanted by everybody involved.

Ah, whatever. I'll just shut up before I say even more things that don't have the intended meaning. sleepy.gif
John Campbell
What you want here is not the GM's personal vengeance, which is what most of these suggestions come down to. The GM is omnipotent within the context of the game. You can do anything you want to him for no reason at all, up to and including hitting him with a kinetic bovine strike. But you do not want to do that. Turning a game into the player(s) vs. the GM never works out well in the end. It just becomes an escalating duel of munchkinism and rules-lawyering.

What you need is consequences. When the PC does something ridiculous, visit the consequences on him. And make it clear that you're not doing this because you're personally out to get him, but just because that's what happens when someone does that.

In this specific case, your player assaulted a powerful NPC. The solution here is not to go, "Waaa! Mommy, he beat up my NPC!" and {infect him with bizarre astral diseases,have imps infest his foci,drop an orbital cow on him}. It's to show him the consequences of assaulting a powerful NPC. Namely, he's just made a very powerful enemy. Burn his safehouses, blow up his vehicle, have contacts shun him and cops harrass him.... but make clear that it's Uriel that's doing all of this, not you. It's Uriel paying the arsonists, it's Uriel pressuring his contacts, it's Uriel bribing the cops... and don't do anything that Uriel wouldn't realistically be able to pull off. It's not happening because you, the GM, are mad at him, but because Uriel, the NPC, is mad at him. This is Uriel's vengeance, not yours. And let the troll fight back, too... you don't want him to succeed too easily, or even necessarily at all, but you don't want him to feel like he can't have any effect on what's happening to him, either. ("Actions should have consequences" goes for the good as well as the bad.) And if he bitches about it, just say, "Hey, you punched the guy in the face. What'd you expect him to do?"
Polaris
Guys,

Executive Protection is useless against snipers. After all, the sniper will do a called shot to avoid all armor anyway, and the amunication can be APDS which means that even the best armor will be cut apart like tissue paper even if he didn't (highly unlikely).

If you want to wound rather than kill, have the sniper take only a single shot. This will give the guy a deadly wound which is likely to cause magic loss, loss of any ally spirit, etc etc but won't actually kill.

The point being is that going by the book there is no defense against sniping. Even Executive Protection is useless (so don't waste your money on it).

-Polaris
Shadow
The problem is the GM, not the player. Oh don't get me wrong, the player is a munchkin from hell. But players are like children, they only do what you let him get away with.

What you need to do is retire the character. Say he has become to powerful. Give him one last adventure where he fights a dragon, and if he wins great! He has something to remember. But win or lose, that's it. Then start over with 115 point characters and learn from your mistakes.

Everything he has is because you gave it to him. Those D&D characters with a +30 sword got it from some DM. Don't be that DM. Follow the rules strictly, and only your interpretation of the rules counts. Do not allow arguing about the rules during the game. Tell them your decision stands as is, but if he wants to discuss it after the game, fine. But not during the game.

Killing this character is not going to resolve your problem unless you change your ways as a DM.
MrSandman666
I aggree.

(Beware! Yet another attempt of me trying to bring a point across!)

All of the things I suggested above have some kind of rooting in his previous actions. (if you know what I mean)
However, what is clearly better about John's approach is that you're not making it personal, which makes for an even better learning effect. At least it got my players thinking ("Hmm... so you can't sneak guns through the front door of a heavily guarded corporate condo... what now?")

Yeah.... anyways.... I'm rambling again... I'm going to go to bed now...
sleepy.gif
Crimsondude 2.0

Take the char sheet and burn the motherf-er, and tell him, "Trogboy is dead. Make a new PC." Don't take anymore of his crap, either. You're the goddamn GM for crying out loud.
Ed_209a
Let your other players do the payback for you.

Have your superpowerful NPC make it known to the fixer community that he will be very unhappy with anyone who offers jobs to this guy, or sells stuff to him, or buys his loot.

The first fixer to cross the line has a very expensive, but not deadly "accident", as an example.

See how long your other players can go without work before they stop telling Neb when the Mr Johnson calls.
Crimsondude 2.0
QUOTE (krishcane)
This is the same social dynamic as an abusive lover, just applied to the SR world. You either wake up and walk out, or you just keep getting beaten and raped. Trying to just work your way back to a good relationship almost never works.

Wow.
michaelius
so i'm curious to know what MachineProphet finally decided on...

well, MachineProphet? what are you gonna do to him?

mich
MachineProphet
QUOTE
so i'm curious to know what MachineProphet finally decided on...

well, MachineProphet? what are you gonna do to him?


I'm going to talk to him about our problems. In fact, I'm doing so as I type this message. Let's see how he takes it.
MachineProphet
QUOTE (MachineProphet)
QUOTE
so i'm curious to know what MachineProphet finally decided on...

well, MachineProphet? what are you gonna do to him?


I'm going to talk to him about our problems. In fact, I'm doing so as I type this message. Let's see how he takes it.

Well, that went very well for me, but he still questions the logic of Uriel wanting in for his character. Still, I think we'll reach an acceptable compromise soon.
Sigfried McWild
He is questioning the logic of Uriel being pissed at his character???

Was he thinking that Uriel would come groveling that he was so sorry about not paying expenses???
RedmondLarry
I think Shadow gave the best analysis. The problem is the GM, not the player. But I'd give different suggestions for change.

You must change your GM style. You have tried to make him like you by taking it easy on him, and instead you should try to challenge him by setting up a tough campaign world, with fixed boundaries (the rules), fluid opposition (the NPCs run by you), and gritty consequences. Only in such an environment can the player, Hamster, gain a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. If you, the GM, bend on established rules just to keep his character alive, and he knows it, then it is impossible for him to go home feeling good about the strategies he has chosen, his selection of equipment, or even the character he designed, because he knows you're letting him live and that his choices don't have anything to do with his success.

I suggest you don't kill his character with Uriel the Invincible. Getting beat by the super-monster NPC (a) doesn't teach him a lesson, and (b) doesn't change your GM style. Instead, you retire Uriel. Let Nebuchadnezzar learn that Uriel was destroyed by a gang (perhaps the Ancients) when he became arrogant and started to believe that a single magician could defeat an organized group. Let the rumors say that Uriel destroyed 12 Ancients, and they in turn hunted him down and killed him.

I suggest you don't make any special opposition to take out Nebuchadnezzar. That wouldn't teach the player a lesson or help you develop a better GM style. Instead, simply run the game with realistic challenges and character death that happens by the rules. Based on your description I think it likely that Nebuchadnezzar will get himself killed in the normal ordinary course of play, which is just fine and exactly how you want it. The player will learn the most if his character is defeated by something ordinary and common and which is simply a consequence of his actions.

You must have a set of fixed rules. Not everything must be fixed ahead of time (for example, many people enjoyed Shadowrun even before there were rules for when a Toll hits a Volvo with a Dwarf -- when this happened the GM would make up target numbers and damage codes on the spot). Invite Hamster to participate with you in selecting your campaign's rules. Agree that the rule set is exactly the rules in books X, Y, and Z, plus a given list of house rules you specify before the start of play. Tell Hamster that when a situation occurs where there are no rules, or you don't know the rule, that you'll make up one on the spot and continue play, Rules made up on the spot should never cause character death. If character death is possible, take the time to look up the published rule, such as "Healing Stun Damage" p. 126 where it says that a character who has been knocked unconscious from Stun damage will not wake up till his or her Stun Damage is reduced to Serious.

It's hard to run a Shadowrun campaign with one character. Our experience is that characters make mistakes, and sometimes those mistakes would be deadly if other characters didn't come to the rescue. I suggest that you allow Nebuchadnezzar to gain a follower -- someone good with words but not combat, perhaps, and you make Hamster role-play the follower.

A good campaign includes some adventures that are best solved by talking, some by stealth, some by combat, some by acting, some by strategy, etc. etc. A variety of player characters, with a variety of skills, is part of what makes it fun. Unfortunately your campaign is at the point where there is only one character, and his skill set and choice of tactics severely limits the types of jobs he'll be hired for. The good news is that you get to practice your GM skills without harming too many players, and that soon you'll have Hamster out looking for additional players because of what a great GM you are.
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