Re: (TFT) I knew this guy 3

[lifeisfun@aol.com]

As a GM, I would ask to see his sheet, roll to determine what type of ground we are on, see if he has pick, shovel, etc..  If he actually has the proper tools, then i would report to the others somehow that ancient burial grounds in these parts have strange lingering curses that surround them.  His behavior may be the result of one of these curses.  Breaking the curse might relieve him of his torment to dig holes, forever.  Clearly, someone should put him out of his misery.  :)
 
As a player, I'd let him waste about 15 min of our time as I went and stocked up on snacks, then i'd warn him, then i'd kill him for wasting my time.  Or die trying.
 
I remember feeling like killing party members who spent over 30 minutes trying to buy items or healing in town before we could leave on a campaign.  Sure, it's important stuff to have, but get that stuff done before everyone arrives.
 
Good Fortune,
Rick Walters 
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: davidgrouchy@yahoo.com
To: tft@brainiac.com
Sent: Sat, 16 Sep 2006 11:01 PM
Subject: (TFT) I knew this guy 3


     I knew this fellow who had this thing he used to do to any Game Master he 
could talk into letting him play in their campaign. He would make a character 
normally enough.  He seemed very amicable and intelligent.  But then when the 
Game Master finally asked him what he did, or what he was going to do for an 
action, he always had the same answer. 
  ``I start digging. what do I find?'' 
       Immediately everyone knew that if they let him find gold, all of the 
players would start digging and the Game Master would have completely lost 
control of the adventure from the start.  So they would try to deflect his 
action.  How they did this was more telling about what kind of a Game Master he 
was than it served to dissuade the fellow from digging. 
       I saw Game Masters who would let the fellow find something, like a copper 
ring, thinking that it would satisfy him but he would say. 
  ``I dig faster. what do I find?!'' 
       I saw game masters who would honestly think and try to figure out what he 
could possibly uncover and say that the character found a broken bottle, or a 
bear tab, or some other type of useless garbage.  What was the fellows response? 

  ``I keep digging. what do I find?!'' 
       I sawGame Masters who would try to curb this behavior; with negative 
reinforcement.  ``Your fingers start bleeding as you rake the dirt and start 
uncovering rocks and gravel.''  He had an answer for that. 
  ``I keep digging. what do I find?'' 
       I saw game masters who wouldn't even try to curb this behavior, they just 
wanted it to stop.  ``You find... An umber hulk and it attacks you.''  Now this 
move did cause him to fight, and everyone else jumped in too.  But then, when it 
was over... 
  ``I keep digging. what do I find?'' 
       And then there were the rest of the game masters who dropped all 
pretenses of handling this fellow in the context of the game and tried to deal 
with him as a player.  ``Why are you doing this?''  ``Do you want to play or 
what?''  ``Nothing; O.K.  You're going to find nothing, so give it up.''  But 
unfortunately this response was exactly what  he was looking for, and he would 
get a big smile on his face and everyone would know that he got the best of the 
Game Master because the actions of his character had broken the continuity of 
the game. 
       Fortunately I had a chance to witness this behavior before I was 
inflicted with it.  I clarified exactly where he was digging, as though the 
location mattered.  He insisted he didn't care and that he was just digging.   I 
gave everyone else a turn.  I asked his action and then told him how deep he had 
dug.  I gave everyone else a turn and they sensed that they could still get an 
adventure out of me, so they struck off out of town.  I asked his action and 
then told him how deep he had dug.  I gave everyone else a turn and rolled for 
random encounters.  None.  I asked his action and then told him how deep he had 
dug.  Anyway, the reader should get the idea by now.  As hard as it is to do, 
one should not ignore or reward such behavior because such behavior could in 
fact, exist. 
      It is up to the Game Master to maintain the reality of their story by 
allowing such seemingly strange actions when they arise.  It means that the Game 
Master now has the rare opportunity to show exactly how fair and impartial they 
can be.  The only other time when a Game Master has a chance to be obviously 
fair and impartial is when two player characters try to kill each other and the 
Game Master lets them.  He checks their character sheets to make sure that the 
weapons they are using are actually written down, and they aren't trying to 
cheat. 
     Incidentally, did you know that it could be justifiably argued that 
behavior like this is what allows dungeons to exist in the first place? 
 Someone has to do all that digging. 
                          David Michael Grouchy II 
        
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