A Problem Player In D&D

[@ZoeSmith-sc5xr]

Brennan is the perfect person to do this.

[@JacobL228]

He's the only person to do this. No one else could do it.

[@tatehutchinson7920]

You can see in his eyes the absolute pain of past campaigns that he has had. A true warrior tested in the realm of battle

[@HessenUK]

“It’s what my character would do”

[@girlwithtehface5880]

​@@HessenUK Fuck! "Trigger Warning" that, would ya?! /jk

[@recksroller2220]

I adore your profile picture.

[@Infinite_Archive]

@@girlwithtehface5880 It's worse for me considering the fact that I once WAS That Guy who said "It's what my character would do." I've learned a lot since then, but Goddamn.

[@justinsmith5169]

Based on the laugh from Matt, I wonder if it's either a story he's told before or if Matt was there and knows exactly who this is about. Definitely felt personal.

[@pbfloyd13]

_"Now that we're done with whatever that was..."_ *Immediately filled with rage from past experiences*

[@ghost_of_kurdt_haunts_my_room]

fucking REAL. worst sentence to ever say in a campaign, worse than "that's what my character would do" because that at least ACKNOWLEDGES the goal of shared storytelling. tell me you're a narcissist without saying you're a narcissist...

[@cheyannegiles9772]

@@ghost_of_kurdt_haunts_my_room don't insult us narcissists like this

[@ghost_of_kurdt_haunts_my_room]

@@cheyannegiles9772 yknow what you're right. guys like this are a unique brand of assholery, one that cannot be healed from or forgiven.

[@zhishangdi3522]

I only use it when the rest of the party has just been a chaotic mess and they know it as well it usually gets a few good natured chuckles as we return to the point

[@pyrotechnic96]

That could actually be a funny line in character but like....at the table that's just awful.

[@nobodyspecial9]

"And my name is Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way."

[@sunnydays07]

Eyes like limpid tears?

[@DeathBatBabe97]

No...Not again. Please.

[@jamesharbour7622]

Omg please continue this thread lmfao

[@zynstein]

I think i just physically recoiled from sheer cringe

[@adriahrin3284]

that one is from my immortal right? i've read many hilariously bad fanfics with edgy teenagers and i lose track of which name is from which fanfic

[@nunya_bizniz]

"My custom character is half dragon, half demon, half devil, half giant, half half-elf."

[@Evelyn-rb1zj]

Me, the maths person: So they're a fifth dragon, a fifth demon, a fifth devil, a fifth giant, a tenth elf and a tenth human? Damn, I'd like to see the family tree for that.

[@bluewuppo]

@@Evelyn-rb1zja lengthy ancestral lineage of bards

[@nomukun1138]

That would actually be an awesome character

[@Evelyn-rb1zj]

@@bluewuppo yeah you'd be a lot better off picking a number of "halves" that were a power of 2 so the family tree was actually reasonable (in fact I don't even think it's possible to be a fifth or tenth anything because the exponentials of 2 are never actually divisible by 5 or 10) so you just need to add "half angel, half mindflayer and half archfey" or into the mix and then you have a character that is technically somewhat genetically possible with great grandparents that are a dragon, a demon, a devil, a giant, a half elf, [an angel, a mindflayer and an archfey] (or whatever else is being thrown into the mix)

[@thebigbo]

Uhm, actually the child of a half elf and a human is still called a half elf even though they're technically a quarter elf. This being said, the lineages from giants, dragons, demons etc can be further than a direct parenthood

[@Wolf6119]

They might as well have called this prompt "Brennan, would you like to vent?"

[@snykyninja5632]

That might end up being the entire episode

[@tomasjavorsky5323]

sus

[@darkmemelord2917]

"Brennan do you see that small vent in the floor?" "Have you ever heard of Amo-"

[@Devlerbat]

​@@snykyninja5632"Brennan would you like to vent" could be a whole series that I would watch gladly.

[@Aesos3429]

I’m your 6,000th like I just thought you should know 🥰

[@Werewolf.with.Internet.Access]

I can feel Brennan going back into his mind palace and angrily finding the file labeled “That One Fucking Guy”

[@bonnie1303]

If fox noise gets a cardboard box, TOFG has like one exploding envelope that has become crammed with tidbits of annoyance one campaign at a time 😂

[@Invinzible001]

Alternatively: “things I REALLY wish I didn’t do when I was younger”

[@User__Not__Found]

​@@bonnie1303They get a Harry Potter style screamer letter

[@Exile8oh8]

This comment perfectly summed up the darkness behind his eyes. Thank you.

[@MauiWowieOwie]

the dragon guy at the start of critical role is a great example

[@gentleseal1778]

Thank you Brennan for giving me traumatic flashbacks to one of my session where I had a player almost exactly like this

[@floor_tile]

Could you give me somw more detail? This sounds interesting.

[@cocoabo3470]

replying so I get the detail notif 💀

[@bitchwaffle]

detailllssss

[@ratboy5761]

my first D&D experience was a middle school club in which our dm invited his friend from high school who played a "halfling girl who really looks like a little girl but definitely isn't" and she was a barbarian and he kept talking about how little clothes his character was wearing and she would just murder hobo the shit out of everything. It was awful and everyone was uncomfortable.

[@MorrahaDesigns]

​@@ratboy5761that was gross and creepy af. Hope he never got invited back.

[@tuckertardif1162]

“Gloomstalker ranger, assassin rogue” ah yes, the degenerate one-shot build. This dude knows his stuff.

[@jedinxf7]

lol big time. it's so fun though. rolling all the dice in the room for sneak attack crits lol

[@jimmy_the_squid9456]

It's the build Ally used to wreck his shit in A Crown of Candy

[@Twilight__Princess]

I was going to say..... NO ONE BESMIRCHES THE AGONIZING REVENGE OF PEPPERMINT BATMAN!!!!

[@PhoenixPalmer88]

Fuck I just started BG3 for the fourth time and I'm building GSA. I had no idea I was that guy.

[@Evelyn-rb1zj]

Don't forget that it needs to have sharpshooter and elven accuracy too +potential crossbow expert if high enough level

[@coopertheodore7894]

I think Brennan is incapable of play a character without giving them a shred of humanity or complexity. That “I’m so alone” at the end tied it all together

[@joost00555]

I think it also is another dig on the problem player, that they don't really have friends.

[@xathridtech727]

somehow he made me come up with a beautiful Idea for a character of a necromancer that isnt a necromancer because they want power but because hes lonely. actually could be fun as a small child but that alway complicates games. maybe as an NPC. sorry im brain storming in comments

[@pixelmace1423]

@@xathridtech727 stealing this for my campaign, thank you!

[@thetherrannative]

@@xathridtech727 This is literally a character from a satire novel I'm writing 😂

[@thepopeofatheism]

​@xathridtech727 I played someone like this. The party were a bunch of refugees from a destroyed village who all escaped the attack and vowed to come back ten years later for revenge. My was a sickly loner before the village got raided and had a hard time surviving alone. He got taken in by a death cult and became a necromancer cleric. When asked what he'd been up to he said "I had a hard time alone, so I learned how to make friends." When he raised his first skeleton, the rest of the crew freaked out. "I told you. I learned how to make friends," he repeated.

[@melwasnevergivenaname]

You forgot the part where they're glued to their phone during everyone else's turn so they open with the "okay what's happening?" And then immediately do nothing to further the happening. Why did you even ask Ari?! WE ALREADY KNOW YOURE GONNA SPLIT THE PARTY AND HOG THE LOOT!

[@charmquark7514]

Ah yes the adhd experience

[@Dracomancili]

I specifically am only on my phone during segments where my character would not have access to the info so that my malfunctioning brain doesnt cross a wire and try to act on info that my character wouldnt know

[@HessenUK]

DnD… the social cooperative storytelling game, played by lonely socially awkward math nerds.

[@skeletor2012]

@@charmquark7514 no

[@DashingSteel]

You're confusing your types of PP (Problem Player) Yours is a Wandering Mind Brennan is showcasing the all-the-more-common Edgelord Minmaxer, a good choice for a bit. Note the aforementioned Katana - that signifies a crossbreed with the Main Character Weaboo, a more common sight ever since anime emerged as a mainstream and socially accepted hobby.

[@yheti3584]

“Okay, now that we’re done with whatever THAT was-“ This alone encapsulates problem players so much, because every one ive met just feels like instead of synergizing with other players or telling a story with the others, theyre honestly just WAITING for their turn and have no problem demeaning whatever another player/the dm just did.

[@ShugoAWay]

Well to be fair there are some that are impossible to synergize with like beyond disturbing backstory that the DM is clearly not backing up into cannon like you look to the DM for backup on what the f☆ck is happening as the player is describing how an important npc to the campaign is actually romanticly interested in their character is disgusting detail that sounds way more at home in some errotic fan fiction than the game and when they finally shut up, that quote is about all anyone can say without being seen as mean or unwelcoming

[@ShugoAWay]

Like so bad that you are messaging the DM part way through and are like "dude they came to me with none of this, and if they had I'd have told them no" or much worse "dude i told them no to this"

[@The_Bean_Machine_]

Protagonist Syndrome. They think the story is about them, and them alone, so whatever anyone else is trying to do is "wrong" or "inconsequential".

[@The_Bean_Machine_]

@@ShugoAWay Had a guy want to be racist against Elves, with two people playing Elves in the party. Nothing was said about this before campaign start so that everyone could agree. Took everyone else by surprise. Racism was the whole character. Mentioned every hour, on the hour, while the party is looking at the DM like: "Why did you agree to this?" Final straw was him using magic to trip my character in the middle of a fight. No one wanted to play after that unless the DM kicked him, but even the DM was burned out after 5 sessions.

[@ShugoAWay]

@The_Bean_Machine_ exactly an example where that quote is warranted. Like, yeah we are going to just ignore you being nasty and move on

[@HessenUK]

“I burn down the orphanage” “It’s what my character would do” “I have a tragic backstory but I’m super powerful”

[@confidentship7335]

To the effect of the third, that is exactly what they'd say attempting to justify any horrible action that isn't befitting their character relative to the current campaign, and an ex-machina for trying to be the god of that universe and why no one else is allowed to do anything about it.

[@Shade01982]

Out of interest, what's the hate with "it's what my character would do"? I see it everywhere, but I don't really get what's wrong with it...

[@dridiennydaral5579]

Listen, like I told the town guard, that orphanage attacked me! It was self defense! You can't prove it wasn't a mimic!

[@duskdevil5662]

@@Shade01982 I think it kind of depends on the context of why they're saying it. As in they're using it as an excuse for why they're being annoying, not exactly sure though. That's just my guess

[@RConnickJr]

@@Shade01982 Two related reasons: One: Because they're saying "It's what my character would do" about a character that they created and control every aspect of. Two: It's generally used as a way to try and excuse themselves for behavior that's destructive to everyone else's enjoyment of the game. A good rule of thumb for DND character creation is that one should start with "I'm going to make a character who's interested in behaving in a way that doesn't ruin the day of five adults who made time to be here" and then work outward.

[@wyrmofvt]

"What are their loots? No, not the instrument. I mean loot plural!" "That IS their loots... Lutes. That's the cost for porting over your sword of soul reaping. It changes all the loots they would drop... to lutes."

[@zippomage]

hmm a dark bargain indeed.

[@Heldarion]

Well, what loot does he even need if apparently everything dies when he attacks it with his super swords?

[@wyrmofvt]

@@Heldarion Well, how's he even going to pay for his inn stay if everything that his victims drop is just lutes? That dragon horde? Lutes! That bandit gang treasure? Lutes! That high level monster that normally yileds valuable materials? Just lutes! That wild boar you hunted for game? It's a lute now. Unless you can strike a deal with a luter, you're back to hunting with regular weapons if you want any good stuff from your adventuring.

[@WanderingWolfe]

Yeah... I ported their loot over from the wandering minstrels you murder-hoboed last month.

[@ninjaslicertheguardian6433]

Anybody gunna talk about how funny his little “yeah-huh?” was at the start? Don’t see enough love for that.

[@ChromaJune]

"The longer i avoid therapy, the more powerful i become..."

[@EEEEEEEE]

E‎

[@abbyr.630]

real

[@Nyghtking]

Ah yes, the feat where you gain power for every negative status effect you're under.

[@surpdawurp9265]

@@NyghtkingGuts from pokemon

[@GlorinMF]

Doofenshmirtz??

[@mallow4644]

the grown up variant of the “actually i have a force field🤓” kid

[@SpyrosKoronis]

For a biological definition of "grown up" at any rate 😄

[@evanbeinstein5102]

"No you didn't hit me, your guy missed."

[@alderblanco2362]

Halo was super popular when I was a kid so guess who kept getting pwned by a freaking honeycomb shield EVERY SINGLE MAKE BELIEVE GAME.

[@maciejtorbicz9616]

Ummm actually , my power is infinitely plus one ☝️🤓

[@null.6669]

*dodges*

[@megharoni]

The problem player is the one who cancels last minute and doesn't show up to the game when we're about to FIGHT VAMPIRES and he's the one with the SUN BLADE. PHIL.

[@SeveralGhost]

FOR FUCKS SAKE PHIL GET IT TOGETHER

[@matthewjames7504]

I'm sorry Phil let you down

[@ashtonhoward5582]

May I bring to your attention: having absent players be comatose. Then a different player can just take the mcguffin for the session.

[@SeveralGhost]

@@ashtonhoward5582 you can't fool us, Phil

[@Mocha_x_svt]

😂

[@spectranwolfinfusion]

That "Gloomstalker/Assassin/Battle Master" was deffo real 😭😂

[@emperorshrek5827]

It’s a monsterus build 😂 soooooo much dmg

[@MrBlitzer75]

"I get 11 attacks, and the first one is critical. Oh I missed? That means I get more attacks. Okay, now off hand attack."

[@emperorshrek5827]

@@MrBlitzer75 oh don’t worry it’s worse every attack u make before they get to go is a crit

[@shealupkes]

it's really fun if you run it by the dm first and don't use it to hog the spotlight, for example popping off on round 1 against the final boss so the paladin whose backstory actually revolves around it can get in the final blow is a great use of the interaction

[@yodawgzgaming4416]

I am 100% sure that Brennan could answer this question, off the top of his head, for long enough to count as senatorial filibuster

[@zenmastermtl]

I just realized that would be the greatest filibuster of all time. "The chair recognizes the representative from _____" "Thank you. Alright, let me tell you all about my DND campaign..."

[@ColtNomad]

The hilarity of "I ported it over from my other 1 person game of d&d" just killed me

[@isaiahwalz7470]

This had heavy “plays dnd like it’s a video game” vibes from the start. Especially when Brennan said “I ported it over from my last game.” 😂

[@rompevuevitos222]

5e was made to be played like that, i dropped the game when i realized that it was just a very slow dungeon crawler where anything not combat related was clearly unintended mechanically Tried some other systems since then and enjoyed them a lot more

[@Verylengthyapple]

I HATE when they try to win instead of tell a story. it takes away from the experience and the mentality encourages metagaming. like stop, u rolled shit now deal with ur consequences. yes I know it sucks but it makes the game more lovable and not a weird OP world where nothing is real and everything you win.

[@lucaslennan3356]

​@@rompevuevitos222they specifically say that the roleplay elements are to be decided by the playefs, not by the rulebooks. The rules are there for combat and structure, not to tell you how to have your character act. People like 5E BECAUSE it has lot's of stuff that helps with roleplay. 4E is the one that was just lists of tables and numbers explaining the different ways fighters could swing their sword. (Actually I would totally play a 4e style dungeon crawler card game, that sounds sick)

[@rompevuevitos222]

@@lucaslennan3356 I have heard it before and it's BS. That doesn't fly when the books are FILLED with limitations for balance purposes. Because they put balance before RP and that balance is based on combat, not RP. The only way you can play 5e and RP as they claim it is intended is by ignoring the most of the rules. There's a LOT of limitations on character choices for balance reasons, for example, you can't choose a feat until level 5. So all of those cool character defining traits like tavern brawler or Keen have to wait until you have the power tier 3 spells or a double attack (or choose human). There's no in-between If you play something like CoC and choose detective, you'll be better at combat hands down because you have a gun and combat training. The game does not give the other choices a different kind of combat boost or nerf your capabilities, because the game is not based around combat nor it's "balance". It is about RP But 5e DOES because it is about combat, not RP. The reward of playing a debutante over a detective in CoC is the RP opportunities of being one, the rules don't artificially balance them like 5e does or sets gates for certain features because it would be "unbalanced" otherwise.

[@lighthadoqdawg]

@@rompevuevitos222 you're thinking of 4e, 4e was the ultra video-gamey one that's why it failed. 5th edition tries not to overdo modifiers like 4e and pathfinder. and your experience sounds like it's more anecdotal and based on how your DM wanted to play and that clashing with what you want. earlier editions were notorious for being heavily dungeon crawler. especially ADnD where the meta was to buy tons of mules and henchmen to carry the loot.

[@BadgerOfTheSea]

Opposes doing any rp until they get to a tavern then they want to do a hyper detailed rp of having sex with the bar maid

[@skedizzle]

The DM: I did not consent to this...

[@89animegirl]

This is too accurate 😭

[@airplanes_aren.t_real]

​@@skedizzleplayer: I consent Character: I don't have a choice Dm: I don't

[@milesanvari7458]

This is too real

[@kj01a]

​@@skedizzle Neither did the bar maid!

[@TheKyfe]

This reminds me of one of my favorite sessions. I played a Paladin. My friend played a rogue who used his charm to convince me he was a priest, and he spent the whole session just stealing everything and convincing me it was fine. We ended up just doing heists my character thought were holy orders from the church.

[@lambentlamprey]

That sounds awesome.

[@donjay710]

Was his rogue's name Palpatine, by any chance?

[@RumpusImperator]

That sounds dope as hell, especially if it's a one-shot or short campaign.

[@OuterRimPride]

Man as a DM I don’t want to hear a damn thing about your build until you’ve made an interesting character

[@Dopeyblazer_420]

"I don't have any friends, i hate other people, i'm so alone" such a relatable statement

[@ayatollahlalalola]

i feel called out

[@Maple-Gaming-z7x]

My reply to that statement in this context would be more considered as,"Well,Yeah! Edge lord. Of course you don't have friends and alone"😆

[@kangbang718]

i feel like that wasnt even part of the bit and he was indirectly talking to the person that did that to him lmaoo

[@Gordan1Freeman3]

"But it's what my character would do! He's Chaotic Neutral!"

[@alexotlthegreat4450]

“I just burnt down the house of a beloved npc and killed his family with a rock. Also I gave the bbeg a huge sword. Sorry that’s what my character does.”

[@pamelah1220]

Diet Evil

[@inezketchup]

Naddpod DND court reference?

[@Gordan1Freeman3]

@@inezketchup never heard of that, this is just something I've genuinely heard in the few campaigns I've played

[@Mystprism]

"if thats what a chaotic neutral character does, you sure would need to be an asshole to ever play a chaotic neutral character, eh?"

[@juliarunn5009]

There’s always that one edgelord trying to overcompensate for something

[@greenberry6019]

And in Dimension 20, it's Cody from Unsleeping City. Not Murph, just the actual character Cody Walsh

[@juanmenez4549]

Yea, they need to cut back on half that shit and it might be somewhat decent

[@SnowLily06]

As someone who hadn't played dnd till during my current campaign I made my character to be the edgelord of the campaign and it was such a mistake 😭

[@zanelaufey]

Unfortunately I was an edgelord elf vampire bloodhunter…I was compensating for massive amounts gender dysphoria

[@MDaggatt]

“Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.”

[@shadowwwwwwwwwww]

To us, this is funny hyperbole. To Brennan, this was a person.

[@catherinelempke8451]

ALWAYS a multi class, ALWAYS with an exotic weapon, good lord

[@Lotusborne]

It's either a scythe, a gun or a katana, take it or leave it

[@bluelikesky]

Giving Brennan a D&D prompt? Is it his birthday?😂

[@MaceHelm]

😂😂

[@DeCake93]

If it was something with birds as well it would have been 100%

[@thebigbo]

Or is it OUR birthday? :D

[@torinreese4829]

it’s honestly like 50% of his prompts on dropout programs lol

[@Mytharax]

@@DeCake93 OH YEA! I keep forgetting that like it's just a second proffession character of his or smth

[@DoctorCVC]

As someone who plays videogames and is mostly an outsider to tabletop, I am always confounded hearing about these types of people, because I’m legit wondering why they don’t just play video games if they don’t wanna participate in the socialization/storytelling?

[@SupahTrunks7]

Because they want the other people to fuel their power fantasy by being present to show off to. So they hate people but they need them around to provide the validation they don’t get from video games

[@matthewphoenix6372]

I think part of the enjoyment for that kind of player is to have other people witness how awesome their badass character is and how sick their build is.

[@idontwantahandlethough]

@@matthewphoenix6372 I mean yeah, definitely. But that's why World of Warcraft exists. I mean... _right?_ (I suppose for those types of guys, it would have to be WoW Classic. Anything else would be too casual for them 😂)

[@macaronsncheese9835]

My theory is, if several things go wrong with your socialization, it comes to be that you don't understand collaborative fun. They think social fulfillment means winning, and that only one person can win. What confuses me is who on /earth/ invites these people to the table to begin with?? Some of them realistically don't realize their friend is this player til it's too late, sure, but most have gotta have red flags, right??

[@carsonrush3352]

Some people don't want to be Frodo, Samwise, Gandalf, Pippin, Aragorn, Boromir, or Faramir. Some people just want to be Legolas, Gimli, or Merry. I don't like to play the "main character". I don't care if you know my backstory. Creative writing projects give me anxiety attacks, and this is the closest i come to solving that issue. If I can play that BA teammate, mentor, voice of reason, or problem solver, then I'm happy. In the classic "5 man band", i am either the "strong guy", or the "smart guy". If I die, I hope it's while I'm doing something epic or memorable or clever. I don't make characters, I hack off a chunk of myself, exaggerate it a bit, give it a name/ accent, and the isekai it to a fantasy world to see what I would do in that story with those powers. Mostly i just play myself and do my best to make good choices in hard situations, and it wrecks me whenever I fall short. I like to solve problems and explore unique worlds where anything is possible. Video games always have an edge of the possibilities, and D&D doesn't. Also, i like spending time with my friends and this is what they enjoy. Also, video games (especially MMOs) have a dangerous tendency of being addictive. Please turn to page 6 of the DMG and learn that there are other modes of play outside of acting and deep storytelling.

[@ThatGreyGentleman]

The only thing he’s missing is “It’s what my character would do”

[@malcolmdarke5299]

...eh, there's also "orders everyone else around for 'optimal combat'" and "knows every monster stat block by heart and tells the GM when the monsters die, and also throws a fit if the GM doesn't use 'official D&D content'".

[@Zimzuni2980]

I love how he thinks merely saying he attacks guarantees everything else dies

[@jimmy_the_squid9456]

His ported katana has the effect of power word kill

[@jimmy_the_squid9456]

Brennan stored this prompt in his mind palace and used it to make the Rat Grinders in Junior Year

[@Josh-99]

That right there is the vocalized pain of a DM who has seen some shit.

[@ianhruday9584]

I've met this guy before. Our DnD group turned his name into a verb.

[@SaysSamara]

I'm so curious what their name is, damn it.

[@ianhruday9584]

@@SaysSamara his name is Glenn. He was the most neurotic person I've ever met. He used to disappear from the table like a ghost right in the middle of a session, and we'd call it "Glenning off." Sometimes he would disappear from the table in a huff because the DM wouldn't let him do something ridiculous, and we'd call it "to Glenn the fuck off." Also, the D&D game was at his house. He was roommates with the dm, but still. He had a whole constellation of undesirable personality traits, but he had the best memory for dialogue I've ever seen. He once recited an entire Shakespeare Soliloquy to a waitress because she made an oblique reference and he couldn't prevent himself once he started.

[@SaysSamara]

@@ianhruday9584 "Sometimes he would disappear from the table in a huff." Huff is my last name, so Glenning off in a Huff would have a different meaning to me haha

[@doctorjay8673]

I run a Percy Jackson campaign with my college friends and we had someone like that. I won't say his name but he has zero redeeming qualities both in and out of the game. He joined in without asking and we were too nice to say otherwise. He would never pay attention unless it was drugs, killing, drinking, and or just something stereotypically edgy. Mind you our characters were incredibly young because of the setting and he was 17 and actively doing drugs in character. He kept telling me the abilities I gave him were "too lame" and "not cool" when I told him I wanted to release the module for everyone and not just for him so he made me change everything or he'd whine about it. The original has star constructs and healing in darkness while he wanted just kill kill kill and stalk people. Yes he used the words stalk. He wanted an arc where his daughter from the future came back in time to kill the party because they killed him or something. Again his character was 17 and he supposedly had a daughter by this time because he was supposedly killed by the party. This is a Percy Jackson campaign and I'm sure there wasn't time travel like this but I digress and reluctantly tried to think of a compromise. In general he was a scummy person and a scummy player who only cared about himself. When I tried to confront him about departing and didn't even try to shift blame but truly encouraged him to get help after an incident in our server. I told him he was always welcomed back if he ever got the help he needed, because I really believed he could be better. Then he betrayed us. He went behind our backs and reported all of us for racial discrimination which we never did once but he did multiple times to himself and I'm pretty sure others behind my back. That was pretty much the last straw for me and I never want him within 100 feet of me.

[@drummerrck]

His voice quivering when he says, "I'm so alone" is just so good.

[@Mazie137]

He forgot “I cast fireball” for EVERY SINGLE thing.

[@creepybasementdoctor2257]

Accurate, but your forgetting the slurs and incomprehensible anger thrown at the DM, along with the gaslighting them into thinking they’re in the wrong.

[@foxmikelima]

This was spoken from a first person perspective 20 years ago as a bunch of 14 year olds at brennans table.

[@Tensen01]

This is almost exactly something he talks about with Amy Vorpal in an episode of Adventuring Academy, about his days running D&D for kids at camp. A bunch of 14 year olds making an entire party of tragic loners.

[@Happyfoam-lw3yt]

But, if it was first person... Nevermind.

[@danhatter6823]

You can tell when Sam is excited to give someone a prompt. This is one of those times.

[@SpecTeach]

Brennan has been doing this so long I feel like he's not simply channeling one "That Guy", but the Speed Force equivalent all "That Guy's" draw power from

[@FreiTheTiefling]

The problem player of my table was someone that I had known for a few years at that point. My other players had wanted him to join, and had convinced me that it would work out just fine. In the first session he was in he kept on trying to kill everyone in the town, as well as wanted to attack the other party members. He also tried to introduce themes that I wasn’t okay with having in my game out of game he is okay, but us still very forward with a bunch of things that I have expressed I wasn’t okay with. With all that said I no longer talk to him to any capacity and isn’t playing in my games anymore. Edit: after the first session the rest of my players were on my side and hadn’t expected him to do those things and agreed with me on removing him from the table. Also I had already before his first session cleared with him the themes I was okay with and themes I wasn’t as well as expectations at my table.

[@longbeing]

Even the posture and facial expression is spot on

[@necordektox879]

The one guy who tries to flirt with the DM or a player under the guise of roleplay

[@megharoni]

On the flip side, my husband's character and my character absolutely hate each other.

[@AdamFunk]

@@megharoniWait a second, that’s adorable.

[@EugeneGM1]

I know that this is addressing the toxic behavior of some players, and it's not okay to do it, but speaking personally, it'd be nice to have someone find me attractive, even if they're just hoping for a vorpral sword.

[@beets_and_rice]

the DM and i flirt with each other all the time anyways, so i don’t really think it’s a problem for me 😂

[@blazesalamancer8767]

What do you do if you're dating the entire group Convinced my polycule to play game with me lol

[@m.b.8701]

My problem player is different... they want to do anything they want and completely disregard the rules in almost every way. Very imaginative, and flavor oriented. And a huge pain.

[@softreyna]

Brennan has that problem too, but calling out the rest of the D20 cast would be too much inside baseball for even the inside baseball streaming service lol

[@Boredchinchilla]

Mine insisted on playing every campaign naked with only a stick of butter and a common oar. It’s funny the first couple times but then it gets old when he’s trying to shoehorn that frickin stick of butter into every move (although attempting to deep fry every monster -and sometimes their teammates-did make me giggle when I think back to it lol)

[@zahidanpurnama3027]

You can try out other ttrpgs! D&D is designed for some structure in the game, but some ttrpg actually embrace full on improv

[@m.b.8701]

@@zahidanpurnama3027 not the problem, but thank you!

[@rat-gang-]

​@@zahidanpurnama3027if everyone else is doing fine in d&d except for this one person, i think it's on them and not the rest of the players to find a new game 😅

[@Aigis31]

Ahh, the player who treats D&D like a Diablo game in which they skip all the cutscenes. A classic.

[@SeraphsWitness]

To be fair, that's how original DnD really was. The storytelling and role-playing element was pretty non existent. 5e really brought a lot of that into light especially

[@conspiracypanda1200]

​@@SeraphsWitnessI was confused because when I first saw the short and he said "I kill all the guys; what loots do they have?" I thought he meant he was attacking and robbing his own party members. Surely uncaring loot hogs initiating needless PvP and ruining game night with their bs would be a timeless That Guy moment that even the old schoolers can grind their teeth in rage over!

[@pricerowland]

​@@SeraphsWitnessYou're right but even in the early days the heads of TSR were writing statements about how players like this are kill-joys. Especially because in the era of tournament-style play it was actually very commonplace to "port" characters into convention games.

[@SeraphsWitness]

@@pricerowland sure, but the original game was loot and combat based. Not really story/RP. You'd start a session in front of dungeon. Go in, kill, loot, kill more.

[@pricerowland]

@@SeraphsWitness I agree, but just saying those players weren't a problem bc of lack of RP, they were a problem in other ways

[@obaytheface]

the posture, plus the half closed eyes, really sells it, just the stance and everything, perfect.

[@JageshemashFTW]

“Fine! I’ll tell a freaking story!” Well, that would be much appreciated for this STORY-TELLING game!

[@TheKingFriday]

"I invented my own race so i have to tell you all about them first before we start"

[@KyleRayner12]

Or worse, "I invented my own race, but I'm not going to tell you about it until I kill a bunch of goblins with my +5 to strength."

[@sunnydays07]

@@KyleRayner12yea, like I wanted to say I was a Fae (because I wanna be a little fairy), but I at least researched, used the next best thing for stats (Half-Elf) and just use it in story.

[@snakewithapen5489]

I love homebrew races, I've made multitudes of my own and also just spiced up versions of vanilla races, but I gotta know all about them in advance so they can mesh with my worldbuilding bro

[@EvanKnightly]

Always all of the buffs, but never any negative traits

[@Cosmo_noBones]

​​@@EvanKnightly you gotta have negatives, makes it interesting. And the ✨quirks✨ that's what characters are about

[@PupStunt24]

That was amazing! You could see the pain in his eyes. Poor Brennan.

[@SymbioteMullet]

I was kind of expecting him to just say "It's me" completely stone cold and just move on.

[@khristopherkomodoensis4734]

Nah Brennan is a born DM, he definitely experienced several players exactly like this.

[@SymbioteMullet]

@khristopherkomodoensis4734 yes, quite so. However, comedy!

[@Miss_Myth]

LEGIT wanted him to just go "HI, I'm Brennan Lee Mulligan... (drops into bass voice) you have no idea what's coming for you..." 😂😂😂

[@CMDRZero01]

Honestly i was expecting a caricature of most of Emily's role-playing... but they do work together.

[@grimdagoblinmain]

​@@Miss_Mythnah, Brennan is a joy of a player. It's obviously Wennan Wee Wuligan who is the problem player.

[@magetsalive5162]

"I seduce the... where were we again?" "Literally the demon lord's lair. There is nothing for you to seduce." "I seduce the demon lord"

[@the_tactician9858]

That's just the average bard... More seriously tho, while seduction and romance can be nice elements to have on the table, do keep in mind that being a seducer should have in-game consequences. For example, boasting about how you seduced dozens of women will make you a legend when you tell it in a tavern at 2am, but in the court of the king it will probably just give you suspicious glances. If you want to play a Scanlan Shorthalt, you better also be prepared to deal with the consequences (which Sam Riegel did great by the way, his CR characters are great at rolling with consequences of their actions)

[@glyph68]

Player always shows up 2 hours late. Spends the night on phone asking "What just happened?"

[@bobmcbob49]

The last time I showed up super late, my character was a bugbear anyway so we wrote it off as "my character overslept and then ran to catch up"

[@riverd7361]

The way he says katana sells the character perfectly somehow

[@namedrop721]

That was a memory 😂😂😂

[@kevinfelton689]

I've thought about allowing katanas in my game (basically just a long sword with the finesse property), but I really don't want to argue with weebs who think it's a light saber with a d30 damage dice.

[@TheOnceandFutureJake]

This hits so hard. Especially the "now that we're done with whatever *that* was!" I once started playing Curse of Strahd with a group, everyone was playing setting appropriate characters, except for the DM's cousin. They were playing a Cataur (Cat Centaur, yes really) Ranger. The group had to go in a building's attic, but the Cataur was way too big to even get inside, so they had to wait outside. We were having a tense moment of RP when suddenly the cousin just yelled into their mic, "I'M BORED!!!" Various other behavior like that ensued throughout the session. When I tried to talk to the DM about it, they were extremely defensive because it was their cousin. Suffice to say, I did not continue playing in that game.

[@donjay710]

Admittedly, it does sound like the cousin was forced to sit and watch other people have fun for a bit, which is not what you want to do at a table. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that he let out that whiny scream not five minutes into the party having to go ahead into the dungeon without him though. Sounds like the type to do that. A game stops being inclusive a half-hour or an hour into having to watch everyone else play without you, but there are players who will bitch the moment it's not their turn, and I do agree they are a big problem.

[@TheOnceandFutureJake]

@@donjay710 It was his choice to play a horse+ sized character in CoS. We went into a building to investigate something and he couldn't fit inside. At some point, you have to consider if you're making a character that you'll actually be able to play. But yes, it was about 10 minutes into the particular scene.

[@calliopeeowynlyric3986]

im high school i tried to start a d&d club and like 2 sessions in our dm quit out of nowhere. and since i was the only one with even a slight hint of interest in learning to dm, then naturally i became a permanent dm for the rest of my life. this clip is giving me ptsd flashbacks of AT LEAST ten separate people. it is unreal how much i understand brennan right now

[@DaddyWarlocks]

"Brennan! The problem player at every DND table." "Hello, I'm Tiberius Stormwind from Draconian."

[@SeraphsWitness]

You forgot to have him argue a pedantic rule

[@charlescrawford9972]

You forgot: 32 years of experience at age 18 but level 1.

[@OhNoTheFace]

So every BG3 companion

[@charlescrawford9972]

@@OhNoTheFace Yes. Logically it's a real problem that nobody has really talked about. Side note: OMG a Lucius fan!? At least I hope that's him! Been years since I played FE.

[@vladildikan]

Killed an elder god threatening the realm... 17yo, level 1.

[@charlescrawford9972]

@@vladildikan #animeprotagonistproblems

[@sorio99]

I enjoy those last few lines, where you can’t tell if it’s the character or the d-bag playing them.

[@StrakanDocrusReakal]

The more i hear about the typical edgy rogues, the more i want to make a rogue that has a reputation for being all evil and brooding, but in reality, they are just so extremely happy-go-lucky and cheerful. Edit: i love hearing people stories about their characters. honestly, if you have any interesting stories about a chracter, even if it's not entirely related to my original post, feel free to put it below. I would love to hear it.

[@megharoni]

The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet of Chaos has a rogue like this. He seems all shadowy but he suffers from terrible anxiety.

[@Heiryuu]

Played a rogue that was really broody but he was just super introverted. Once you got him to open up he was actually a really nice person. Donated food and and money to street kids because he used to be one.

[@ashurredly7994]

I'm playing a rogue that is partially inspired by Alexis from Schitt's Creek. No real tragedy, just kind of spoiled and reckless.

[@idontwantahandlethough]

@@ashurredly7994 Alexis: "I cast fortify charisma on myself. Now everything thinks I'm the coolest and prettiest. So I win now, right?"

[@mop2420]

My group once did a oneshot with Blades In The Dark, and I made the equivalent to a Rogue. I gave him the world’s equivalent to Scotland as a background, and he was quiet and kept to himself- not because he’s brooding, But because he had the thickest Scottish accent known to man. This man opened his mouth and bagpipes immediately overrode the background music, it was that strong. It was a riot having him finally open his mouth about 3/4 through the oneshot to go off on one of our enemies during a fight, culminating in a variant on the Scotsman’s insult from Samurai Jack, and seeing the other players and the GM all lose their shit.

[@inspiredgluestick]

"I don't have any friend. I hate other people. I'm so alone." why is that relatable.

[@artttard]

God, I remember one time with a player. I was the DM and the player had a super high AC during the first session. I told him there was no conceivable way that he could have such a high AC under the rules. He told me that he was using variant rules for combining armor, which we have never discussed, and he also pulled an item from some obscure splatbook that increase his AC.

[@helenmccauley]

Gotta say, you know it's a hateable monologue when you feel the urge to roll your eyes in the first five seconds. Just too real!

[@jacobbarker4180]

everyone's first time playing is either "What do I do? What do I do now? And what now?" or "I'm chaotic neutral and I will kill all the important NPCs and do whatever I want"

[@KitsuneFyora]

Guaranteed the moment I finish my character, my very next sentence will be, "ok...now what?"

[@01ofconsequence]

Who doesn't live a space trooper vampire demon blood paladin assassin? Pew hiss growl pray stabb. Relate 😂

[@cosmodusty]

HOOT GROWL HOOT GROWL HOOT GROWL

[@dndhydrate]

The "It's what my character would do" bit reminds me of how often I'd briefly check in with the table before making a potentially detrimental decision. The key to playing a chaotic character is knowing the expectations of the table and improvising with other choices if they are unfavorable. Fortunately I have not encountered much players or GMs that isn't down with my own brand of chaos. :3 Mostly because I look to escalate everyone else's fun along with my own.

[@NearlyInfinity]

if you can jokily play this kind of character it actually works so well, I have ironically played an "edgey outcast" type before (talked to dm before to make sure they were good with it ofc) and tried to play it into any joke possible lmao

[@brawlybard7014]

"I'm so alone." Lmao.

[@mormacil]

I know body odor doesn't translates well to video but it's missing

[@Platypi007]

Once we had a problem player join a game mod-campaign and after two sessions we agreed to say that was the end of the campaign and we probably would take a few weeks break. We picked back up the next week without him and never regretted it!

[@Glaycier]

You can’t just tell us this and not say what the player did. I want the details. (If you don’t mind)

[@Platypi007]

@@Glaycier it's been almost 8 years now, I don't remember specifics from gaming. Outside of gaming he was kind of an ass in general. Tried to tell a quantum physicist who has worked on one of the big underground neutrino detection experiments that he was wrong about something related to quantum physics once and asserted he knew because he's a medical physicist, among other things.

[@ckurova]

@@Platypi007 NERD

[@jeremypayne5078]

My group always had the guy who would look at the DM with a shit eating grin and ask, "Now that we're in a new town, are there any magical item shops?" DM always had to say, "No, Gavin. For the eighth time, magical items aren't just sold at antique shops. They're incredibly rare."

[@moorejim13]

Can you imagine being the person or like some of the people he is referencing and having to find out you were the problem this way

[@peepinlechien2560]

he waited for that very moment the entirety of the gameshow

[@renatocorvaro6924]

Man I wish my DMs would let me port characters from my one person adventures

[@Velociraptor449]

In the distance you can faintly hear "FIREBALL!" from a obnoxious red Dragonborn

[@patriciofelipe4376]

Ah yes, the frozen iguana

[@kjj26k]

​@@patriciofelipe4376 OOF But also: "I'll just buy _every mirror_ in Emon!"

[@bensdreamatorium8315]

@@kjj26k”Wait, wait…I’m worried that what you just heard was, I’m going to buy a lot of mirrors. What I meant was, give me ALL the mirrors you have.”

[@Three_Tiny_Robots]

I've genuinely had another player do the "now that we're done with whatever THAT was.. " after I role-played a eulogy for a valued NPC who died in battle. 😅

[@Nuadin]

"Oh, that was a cool dark backstory, but my backstory is actually darker."

[@THEGRUMPTRUCK]

I generally enjoy showing one or two of the random Brennan D&D clips at my local game store. One guy got extremely mad after watching this, and left.

[@TenkoVA]

Reminds me of the one guy who tried to make a death note without telling the DM about it and complained when it wasn't working in the game.

[@killerlork]

That goes beyond a problem player to straight up psychiatric problems

[@kiyadenham6515]

You forgot when the only immersive roleplay he does is forcefully insisting on "seducing" other characters, npc or players

[@nekrowasbanned]

'no IM not racist and creepy to women! Thats just my character! And it's period accurate!' - My cousin before he got kicked out of our D&D campaign.

[@Xahnel]

What a terrible act, he didn't even uncomfortably hit on his fellow players or get high and drunk and order food and procede to fall asleep at the table.

[@imglidinhere]

"I am Tiberius Stormwind. I hail from a town called Tyriex, located in the heart of Draconia, born from a politically respected family. At the age of 15, I succeeded in passing the Sorcerer's Rite, showing prodigy-like control of my magic."

[@futuza]

I mean, this isn't that bad its a fairly innocent origin story, the stuff in the Player's Handbook can be far worse, its the stuff that came after that was bad.

[@the_tactician9858]

​@@futuzaTiberius was a great character, unfortunately Orion got main characteritis to complement a lot of personal problems. He has moments of briliance, but sadly those are overshadowed by those moments where he trampled over other players with his behaviour. I think that parting ways with him mid-campaign was the best decision for both parties.

[@MrDoenyon]

As a forever gm, I felt that one in my soul.

[@itslexactually]

“FINE, I’ll tell a freaking STORY!” I felt that

[@bellamccauley9645]

gloomstalker ranger and assassin rogue being ally's character build in CoC makes this so much better

[@willc3697]

Born to be badass edgy MC, forced to be annoying ‘that guy’

[@allyh7075]

The worst problem players to me are the ones that think they can get away with being a total creep and then the second they get called out they're like "hey that's just what my character is like!! 🥺" yeah dude, the character that *you* built. The choices you made without checking with anyone whether they'd be cool with being sexually harassed for an entire campaign. 😑

[@MissWildcat3.14]

My "That guy" was the drama teacher when I DMed the school's D&D club. He played like a 5 year old, really. He broke every law got the whole party in jail then went on and ON AND ON about "well I use my magic to go back in time to where I hadn't done that". I didn't let him do that. Because your ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES AND BARDS CANNOT DO COMPLEX CHRONOMANCY AT LEVEL FREAKING THREE. He was used to getting his own way all the time with pupils, so I quite enjoyed putting him in his place 😈 Edit: He got the cleric arrested, the cleric player was a 13yr old boy who took ages to get warmed up to D&D. He was really mean but I got him back!

[@Arkainjel]

"Also I'm entitled to have sex with any character I want, NPC or PC."

[@chewedw1re]

jesus christ that’s a thing?

[@Arkainjel]

@@chewedw1re It's the whole 'main character syndrome' that people like this have. "I'm the hero, so there are no consequences to my actions." Then they throw a fit when the DM goes "Cool, sooooo you're going to jail for harassing the barmaiden..."

[@OhNoTheFace]

@@Arkainjel People really need to "rocks fall, your character is dead and un rezzable" these types of people

[@Queen_Celia]

In my campaign it is kinda the opposite, we have one character, pickles. He does not understand dnd. He wants to be a demon. He wants to ditch the party. He wants to kill other members of the party. He wants to hide under the table instead of playing. He wants to throw things. We love pickles but pickles, please calm down, I am actively trying to describe the monster, no you can not jump on the table(in real life).

[@stevie_mouse]

honestly i even be watching the sponsored bit, you guys are just so cute and you deserve the love!

[@nunyabidnez529]

The little blinks as he's telling this story. The pain of each eyelid closing

[@mknotultra]

i have tried DMing exactly once, everyone was a problem player in their own special way (except one of them. shout out to Jiro), but one, who this reminds me of was especially difficult. the party fell apart as i had zero experience and a party of very strong willed individuals who had mostly all played. i have since stayed as a player, trying to learn from my lovely friends who DM.

[@kizikucalegon8673]

God, I remember having someone this out of touch once. They wanted to play Drizz't. Not generic drow Ranger, no - Drizz't specifically. With all the gear, history, personality, and abilities and such. I spent over an hour trying to explain, calmly, rationally, and with increasingly smaller words how I wouldn't allow it in my homebrew setting. Next day he comes back with the same sheet, only he's scratched out Drizz't Do'urden and scribbled in Briennelle Zaharina. Shockingly, the game didn't include him.

[@reverse_engineered]

I played with someone like that once too, only it was Raistlin Majere. And he was DM too. And Raistlin wasn't actually part of the party, but just kept showing up and getting all the glory and credit every time something cool happened. It was really annoying.

[@bassyxgrelle8659]

Had one of these "Cause my character is a maniac who committed mass genocide. You guys got to hold me back from committing mass genocide. I'm going to commit mass genocide." He also never let the dm finish explaining and would talk over them constantly :')

[@the_tactician9858]

A character who has a history of taking part in a genocide could be fascinating if played right... in particular if the character is otherwise fairly good or at least neutrally-aligned. How does Joe, the Vietnam veteran, deal with whatever deeds he has done? Does he look for redemption? Is he running away in denial of the deeds he's done? Did he feel reluctance in carrying out their orders? Did he secretly try to save some of the people he had to kill by letting this one mother with her kids live? Is he still recovering from years of propaganda, still mistrusting the people he massacred despite his conscience telling him otherwise? It could be a fascinating story, especially if it involves the backstory of other characters. People that play genocidal maniacs without proper explanation on the other hand... oh dear...

[@bexthewitch87]

Oof! I can smell the Fritos coming off that one!!!