From the article archive
Expanding an Idea: Punishment
Mark’s latest article Rewards helps us take a good look as some of the aspects of rewards for good gaming. While I enjoyed the article, I’d like to take a look at the flip side of rewards. That’s right, let’s talk punishment.
For me it's only fair that if players get rewarded for playing the game well, they should receive some kind of punishment if they play the game poorly. When I say poorly I’m referring to actions that are horribly out of character and destructive/disruptive to the game itself. If the GM doesn’t punish this kind of behavior then he is telling the offending player that these actions are acceptable. By allowing the poor gaming to continue the group runs the risk of no longer having fun or, worst of all, falling apart completely. So, how do we punish poor gaming?
One thing to realize is that punishment can take as many forms as rewards do, and it doesn't need to be painful. In most games we can cut back or even eliminate the XP gained from a game session and use that as our punishment. If the player continues to have his character beat up every beggar he runs into, the GM will subtract XP each time he insists on doing so. I know this is a favorite way for some of my friends who GM to deal with disruptive players, but I'm not too fond of it.
The problem I see with this method is that XP is normally rewarded at the end of a session or adventure, and that’s not the best time to implement punishment. Even if your not using XPs as the reward, waiting until the end of a session is asking for trouble. Doing so leads to hurt feelings as players will often claim they had no idea what they were doing was wrong and “Why didn’t you tell me?”
In my group we have a two pronged approach to help deal with the problem of punishment. The first approach is from the GM’s side, and the other is from the players. One of the keys for us is that punishment must be done at the time of the offence. If you wait until the end, it's normally too late. So, let’s look at the GM side first and see what we can do prior to the end of the game.
As the GM I have a rule that I will warn you three times per session for poor roleplaying. If you try to slaughter farmers for fun, regularly act out of character or continue to disrupt the game you get a warning. After the third warning, I punish you every time you game inappropriately. We’re all at the game to have fun and as each game dictates the type of actions that are acceptable (Toon actions are much different than Shadowrun), I translate Inappropriately to mean:
“Causes an unwelcome disruption to the rest of the group’s gaming experience.”
You want to slaughter farmers? Fine. The town guard is going to come, kick your butt around and lock you up or, in some cases, your character may be put to death after a quick trial. At the very least you going to get a stiff fine and a bad reputation. That bad reputation will follow you until you do something to correct your bad publicity. If necessary, I’ll change the alignment of your character or remove powers/abilities that hinge on proper behavior (e.g. A Paladin or cleric’s powers and spells) until you redeem yourself.
You want to interrupt the game with “This funny thing happened at work” stories or Monty Python quotes every ten minutes? Fine. After the first three warnings I’ll remove XP right on the spot, I have all NPCs react to you as if what you are saying is being said in character or, if it’s bad enough and you won’t take a hint, I’ll ask you to leave. I've only had to ask one person to leave the table because they wouldn't stop being disruptive.
We know that the GM is the main source of conflict resolution in an RPG, both in-game and out of game while at the table. However, as I mentioned before, the GM isn’t the only person who has the ability to punish bad gaming. We can’t expect the GM to focus on running the game and be the only person to deal with problem players. He needs some help.
Everyone at the table is there to have fun and the players have as much of a stake in the quality of the game as the GM does. In my group players who continually act out of character or who are disruptive/destructive in the game are punished by the others at the table. The players take teh initiative and warn the offender that his actions are not welcome.
If you want to beat up every beggar that you come across because you think it’s fun, the rest of the party will try to stop you with PC vs. PC actions. These actions range from in character debate to combat to witholding information or aid from the offender. The main focus of the group is to react to the player in game. The group uses their characters as the tool to get the offender to play along. We’ve found that this kind of PC pier pressure works very well at correcting bad gaming behavior and, as the actions are done in-game, it maintains the focus on playing the game.
The other option that my group uses is for the group to ask the offender to please stop being disruptive as it’s ruining the game. If the group doesn’t want to hear any more movie quotes they ask the player to please stop. Directly asking someone to not do something isn’t easy. We’re all friends and we don’t want to hurt feelings, but it’s very effective and sometimes necessary.
Many players at first don’t realize what they are doing is disruptive to the game. If they got a few laughs when they quoted Python the first few times they may think it’s ok and not realize they’ve crossed the line with quote number thirty. Asking a player to stop being disruptive may cause a moment of discomfort for the group, but I find that this is quickly overcome as the disruption is forgotten once attention is back on the task at hand - Gaming.
Everyone slips once in a while. Everyone talks out of character and out of turn, and everyone is disruptive occasionally. That’s why I prefer to warn people. If after warnings the player is still being disruptive corrective action is needed because if you let it continue it’s only going to get worse.
-Brett
For me it's only fair that if players get rewarded for playing the game well, they should receive some kind of punishment if they play the game poorly. When I say poorly I’m referring to actions that are horribly out of character and destructive/disruptive to the game itself. If the GM doesn’t punish this kind of behavior then he is telling the offending player that these actions are acceptable. By allowing the poor gaming to continue the group runs the risk of no longer having fun or, worst of all, falling apart completely. So, how do we punish poor gaming?
One thing to realize is that punishment can take as many forms as rewards do, and it doesn't need to be painful. In most games we can cut back or even eliminate the XP gained from a game session and use that as our punishment. If the player continues to have his character beat up every beggar he runs into, the GM will subtract XP each time he insists on doing so. I know this is a favorite way for some of my friends who GM to deal with disruptive players, but I'm not too fond of it.
The problem I see with this method is that XP is normally rewarded at the end of a session or adventure, and that’s not the best time to implement punishment. Even if your not using XPs as the reward, waiting until the end of a session is asking for trouble. Doing so leads to hurt feelings as players will often claim they had no idea what they were doing was wrong and “Why didn’t you tell me?”
In my group we have a two pronged approach to help deal with the problem of punishment. The first approach is from the GM’s side, and the other is from the players. One of the keys for us is that punishment must be done at the time of the offence. If you wait until the end, it's normally too late. So, let’s look at the GM side first and see what we can do prior to the end of the game.
As the GM I have a rule that I will warn you three times per session for poor roleplaying. If you try to slaughter farmers for fun, regularly act out of character or continue to disrupt the game you get a warning. After the third warning, I punish you every time you game inappropriately. We’re all at the game to have fun and as each game dictates the type of actions that are acceptable (Toon actions are much different than Shadowrun), I translate Inappropriately to mean:
“Causes an unwelcome disruption to the rest of the group’s gaming experience.”
You want to slaughter farmers? Fine. The town guard is going to come, kick your butt around and lock you up or, in some cases, your character may be put to death after a quick trial. At the very least you going to get a stiff fine and a bad reputation. That bad reputation will follow you until you do something to correct your bad publicity. If necessary, I’ll change the alignment of your character or remove powers/abilities that hinge on proper behavior (e.g. A Paladin or cleric’s powers and spells) until you redeem yourself.
You want to interrupt the game with “This funny thing happened at work” stories or Monty Python quotes every ten minutes? Fine. After the first three warnings I’ll remove XP right on the spot, I have all NPCs react to you as if what you are saying is being said in character or, if it’s bad enough and you won’t take a hint, I’ll ask you to leave. I've only had to ask one person to leave the table because they wouldn't stop being disruptive.
We know that the GM is the main source of conflict resolution in an RPG, both in-game and out of game while at the table. However, as I mentioned before, the GM isn’t the only person who has the ability to punish bad gaming. We can’t expect the GM to focus on running the game and be the only person to deal with problem players. He needs some help.
Everyone at the table is there to have fun and the players have as much of a stake in the quality of the game as the GM does. In my group players who continually act out of character or who are disruptive/destructive in the game are punished by the others at the table. The players take teh initiative and warn the offender that his actions are not welcome.
If you want to beat up every beggar that you come across because you think it’s fun, the rest of the party will try to stop you with PC vs. PC actions. These actions range from in character debate to combat to witholding information or aid from the offender. The main focus of the group is to react to the player in game. The group uses their characters as the tool to get the offender to play along. We’ve found that this kind of PC pier pressure works very well at correcting bad gaming behavior and, as the actions are done in-game, it maintains the focus on playing the game.
The other option that my group uses is for the group to ask the offender to please stop being disruptive as it’s ruining the game. If the group doesn’t want to hear any more movie quotes they ask the player to please stop. Directly asking someone to not do something isn’t easy. We’re all friends and we don’t want to hurt feelings, but it’s very effective and sometimes necessary.
Many players at first don’t realize what they are doing is disruptive to the game. If they got a few laughs when they quoted Python the first few times they may think it’s ok and not realize they’ve crossed the line with quote number thirty. Asking a player to stop being disruptive may cause a moment of discomfort for the group, but I find that this is quickly overcome as the disruption is forgotten once attention is back on the task at hand - Gaming.
Everyone slips once in a while. Everyone talks out of character and out of turn, and everyone is disruptive occasionally. That’s why I prefer to warn people. If after warnings the player is still being disruptive corrective action is needed because if you let it continue it’s only going to get worse.
-Brett
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