Game WISH #94
How do you handle an obnoxious character who has habits that annoy other PCs? What do you do as a fellow player/GM? What has worked and not worked for you?
When it’s the character who’s obnoxious, rather than the player, I simply accept it as part of the game. At least two of the new characters in my Thursday game could easily fall into the category of obnoxious.
Morgan is a former powerful and evil sorcerer who has been been cursed. His powers have been reduced considerably, and he’s been put into the body of his first victim–his childhood friend. He’ll stay twelve years old until the god who placed the curse is satisfied that he’s actually reformed himself. (Said reformation to be pursued under the guidance of one of the other PCs, but that’s another story.) This character is frustrated, bitter, arrogant, angry, and evil. He’s already managed to get on the bad side of one character, and the “evil” thing definitely does not sit well at all with his (lawful good) erstwhile mentor. On the other hand, from my character’s point of view, at least he has some manners and he’s intelligent. My character puts a great deal of stock in manners, courtesy, and appropriate behavior (she was brought up at a court with detailed and complex protocol), so the fact that he at least knows how to be polite is worth something. Voluntarily or not, he’s making a fresh start, and my character’s approach is to encourage appropriate behavior with positive reinforcement…while watching her own and others’ backs very carefully. I suspect that so long as Morgan remains reasonable and courteous, the two of them will simply agree to disagree without any emnity developing. So far, it seems to be working. Of course, it’s only been one day.
Onyx, one of the other new characters, is another story entirely. My character can deal with evil; that’s not the sticking point. The problem with Onyx is that he’s rude, odiferous, and entirely lacking in culture and refinement. Also, he persists in propositioning her in the most crude and cliched ways imaginable. Although my character would never stoop to rudeness, she’s definitely giving him the cold shoulder, and I suspect she’ll spend a lot of time ignoring him. So far, it only encourages further efforts on his part. (If she were British, she’d pointedly not invite him to dinner.) My character hopes that eventually he’ll simply get bored and find something else to do. In the mean time, she’ll continue discouraging improper behavior with negative reinforcement. On the other hand, if he provokes her sufficiently, he may well find out that the other characters aren’t joking when they say that she’s considerably more dangerous than she looks. It’ll be fun finding out.
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