Establishing Harmony: Players in the Party

A friend of mine raised a question that I think is not often addressed. This is a common issue at the table for a lot of DMs. How do you create and run a game for players that are interested in different aspects of the game? Some players are interested predominantly in combat and fun fight sequences, others are more interested in the acting aspect, the roleplaying aspect (those can and do often differ), others invest in their character’s success and reputation, sometimes just want to see if they can build a powerful character and to test what it can do, others are there more for the social aspect of just playing with their friends.We’ll investigate various types of tabletop game players and how they play in to the game environment as a whole.

The Fighter

The fighter is a fun person. Their intent is mainly to enjoy the game for the sake of its combat. They want to swing from chandeliers, drop kick goblins, and have a Gandalf-esque free fall fight with an Elder Evil. I personally tend to enjoy having this type of player at my table because they will, through their own desires, help make combat more interesting. Fighters have a tendency to absorb the setting that a DM is trying to convey and use every single piece of it to their advantage. They will usually be the ones to make a DM think about the combat they are creating. If the DM is interested in offering this player an interesting experience, they will often work together in those moments and create a better experience for everyone else. The downside to this type of player is they may be too prepared to get into combat. I had one player that fit this description, and if the party didn’t trust an NPC fully, he would be ready to start an encounter… or rather, he’d start an encounter. This is easily fixed by satiating the player’s blood lust at the appropriate times and making the encounters interesting enough so he isn’t always fighting everyone his character sees.

The Actor

The actor will always be invested in their character and their role in the story more than anything else. Like the fighter, they will enjoy combat, and probably take it more seriously. You can be sure that this player is more committed than most to a character and will not get bored of their character as long as their character is involved in the story and feels like they are effectual. The actor tends to help the DMs and other players get more involved in character development. In order for the actor to thrive in the environment of the game, the DM needs to meet the actor half way with interesting characters to guide and provoke the actor. The actor’s greatest flaw is that he is bored when he is not in a scene or involved, and at his worst he is bored when he is not in the spotlight. In order to keep the actor’s thirst for the limelight in check, it is usually best to involve the actor and his character emotionally with the other characters at the table. If he isn’t in a scene, perhaps he is worried about the other party members and hoping he can help soon. Essentially if you trick the actor into caring about everyone else, you will have his attention regardless of who has the stage.

The Role-Player

The role-player is actually much different than the actor. Many players and DMs think they are the same thing. The role-player is not as self-focused (self-obsessed) as the actor. They are interested in the progression of the story through the choices and events that take place. For instance, in most roleplaying video games, the only input a player has is choice. The character’s personality aren’t fleshed out as much and in some ways, the protagonist’s character is as only as consistent as the player determines it to be. This is the essential quality of the roleplayer. Their choices and the choices of the characters around them are the most important in their eyes. They may not speak up much, but when crucial moments of choice arise, they will definitely share their opinion. The role-player brings a very subtle benefit to the player, and knowing who they are beforehand is key. If a DM is aware of who their role-players are, they will be more conscious of the direct of the story. At times, it will be most entertaining to hand them the broken moral compass and quest tracker without anyone else realizing it. However, role-players can be hard to work with, especially when they are more passive individuals. If something seems trivial they will prefer to let the rest of the table decide, and only speak up when crucial issues arise. Other players may see this as being less involved, and creates a trust issue among the party. To remedy this, a smart DM can emphasize this player’s importance by explicitly offering this player more forks in the road that are entertaining for the other players to bear witness to.

The Mogul

The Mogul tends to want to make something of his character. These are usually the types of players who want to start their character’s own organization, business, or guild. Every moment their character is present for they will attempt to further this goal. The mogul will create an interesting political environment in the game. They will usually force a DM to do a little extra world building so their competition in whatever environment they seek to insert themselves is well fleshed out. Moguls can create interesting opportunities for the players and tend to easily fit into the role of the “HR” guy as their character is usually amassing hordes of wealth and items to fund their exploits. For the most part, the mogul can be pretty ok to have around, they usually are compelled by a sense of generosity to the party members because of their surplus of wealth, and they make delegating items rather easy because they will attempt to take care of the other players meaning a DM only has to communicate that topic with one player. Like any player archetype, the mogul also has his short comings. The mogul is the greatest threat to your world’s economy. Should he be particularly shrewd and successful, he can very quickly undermine the power curve of your game. He will have the monetary power (if you let him) to afford most items of significant value. If he doesn’t he will undoubtedly be working his way to it. In order to deal with this, do not feel pressured to give him the world on a silver platter, but do not stranglehold his accomplishment either. DMs often fail at dealing with these players; they either overindulge or they undercut the mogul player. The proper course of action would be to follow a standard for wealth gain an access. Maybe they excel the team to success a little faster than most, but what is most important is to involve the other players. If the mogul’s exploits grow tiresome to the rest of the table, they won’t want to participate in his growth that benefits them as well.

The Kryptonian

Some players make characters like they would a deck in a trading card game, the types of synergies they can find and produce will often inspire them to build the most powerful character they can. In a way, this player is a blessing and a curse to the DM. The kryptonian player will undoubtedly strive to have the strongest character at the table. On one hand, it inspires the other players to try to match him and stand out, while the DM tries to create better challenges to make each other player at the table stand out. On the other hand, the kryptonian will often become the most hated player at the table if not handled carefully. This doesn’t mean that the kryptonian is a bad player, or should be unwelcome at the table. To keep this player’s experience enjoyable while keeping harmony with the rest of the players intact, the DM can work closely with the kryptonian player and stay aware of what build or strategy he is using. A lot of the builds a kryptonian dreams up are contingent upon there being a weakness, flaw, or imbalance in the system. After this crack in the system’s structural integrity is located, DMs tends to lose control of the game because their method of gaming has been destroyed. If the DM is aware of what the kryptonian wants to do, by either checking in, or the ever important pre-game session, the DM will know how to balance the power of the kryptonian. All the kryptonian wants to do is to exploit his powers on someone, at some point. I haven’t met a kryptonian who wants to ruin the game. The other players and DM simply do not know how to handle the kryptonian.

Fellowship of the Ring

What is important to remember is that it is impossible to have a table of all the same type of players. You will usually have a mix of these five somewhere at the table. The DMs job is to create an experience for each of these players. Tabletop roleplaying games are designed to be a team effort. A good DM will provide the opportunities the players are looking for individually, but the challenge over all is to blend them together so each player remains interested throughout. Before starting a game, I would recommend asking each player at the table what they are looking for in the game. Classes and abilities don’t matter at that point. What really matters are the friends sitting down to play a game together.