Champions Player Types

[Christopher R Taylor]

In the Strike Force book, Aaron Allston came up with different types of players to help GMs decide how to run them or understand in order to work the game around the players.  Its been my experience that one of the best tools a GM can have is to run a game so that you give each player something each session to grab on to and enjoy.  So knowing your players helps you do that.

 

So what sorts of players are out there?  I have a few in mind right now:

 

Storyteller - this player is happier as a GM, but they like to play as well, from time to time.  They love the story, the arc of events and developing the plot more than fights or role playing or building their character.  The Storyteller always has something else in mind each encounter, building up to something greater.  How their character progresses or fights in combat is not as important as how they interact with the plotline and see it develop.

 

Murder Hobo - this player has a tough job, tough family, or just is frustrated in life.  They play RPGs for a chance to cut loose and destroy, to beat things, to win for once in their lives.  They aren't necessarily violent or aggressive, they just want to take out their frustrations on enemies.  Role playing bores and annoys them.  Storytelling makes them yawn.  Combat is only fun if they can succeed and trash the opposition.  They are not interested in challenges or puzzles, only in victory and success.

 

Allston had the Pro From Dover (has to be best at what they do),

The Builder (wants to make a permanent impact and fix the world),

The Buddy (only there because friends are, not much commitment to the game),

The Combat Monster (only there to fight, thinks RPGs are just fighting side scrollers),

The Genre Fiend (only interested in the genre and getting all the bits just right)

The Copier (has a favorite character they want to play and be)

The Mad Thinker (Only interested in solving puzzles, finds conspiracies and puzzles where there aren't any)

The Plumber (builds a character and then wants to play out all its personality and depths)

The Romantic (only interested in romantic subplots and interaction)

The Rules Rapist (figures out the loopholes and perfect combos in character building)

The Showoff (must dominate the game and be center stage)

The Tragedian (wants to play miserable conflict, be angsty and emo)

 

What other types of players have you run into?

[JmOz]

The jack of all trades: Probably similar motives to the combat "murder hobo" which I remember being called the mad slasher.  However goes the opposite way, he wants his character to always be useful, not the best, but able to be helpful in every situation (This is me, I often make second bananas with wide range of abilities)

[Christopher R Taylor]

Another I've run into: The Man of 1000 Faces.  This player gets tired of characters quickly, and always wants to try a new idea or build, a different concept.  Radiation accidents and character retirements are common with this character.

[Balabanto]

Another I've run into: The Man of 1000 Faces.  This player gets tired of characters quickly, and always wants to try a new idea or build, a different concept.  Radiation accidents and character retirements are common with this character.

The variant on this is the man of a thousand departing faces,. He creates a million characters, plays in your game for three weeks, and leaves.

[Christopher R Taylor]

The Blurred Line.  For this player, what happens to their character happens to them personally.  Their triumphs and failures, their actions are a personal reflection upon them.  If you insult their character, they attack you.  If their character loses a fight or fails a roll, they are miserable and feel like they have lost.  They are quite good at getting into character, but take it way too far.

[Dead guy on the tab]

Kind of a variant of the Showoff:  

 

Conflict Girl - finds reason to cause conflicts with other PC's because conflicts are role-playing.  Will not stand down and will try to go around the rest of the group when outvoted.

[Ninja-Bear]

The variant of rules rapist is the more benign weasel. The weasel knows the rules the rules well and tries to use them to his advantage. The difference is though that he will abide by the GMs decision and not continue to argue the point.

[Burrito Boy]

The jack of all trades: Probably similar motives to the combat "murder hobo" which I remember being called the mad slasher. However goes the opposite way, he wants his character to always be useful, not the best, but able to be helpful in every situation (This is me, I often make second bananas with wide range of abilities)

Sounds similar to my beloved skill monkey.

 

 

Seriously, I find myself nearly incapable of making characters without tons of skills.

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

Sounds similar to my beloved skill monkey.

 

 

Seriously, I find myself nearly incapable of making characters without tons of skills.

 

The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.

 

 

 

 

[L. Marcus]

But problem = opportunity ...

[wcw43921]

The Blurred Line.  For this player, what happens to their character happens to them personally.  Their triumphs and failures, their actions are a personal reflection upon them.  If you insult their character, they attack you.  If their character loses a fight or fails a roll, they are miserable and feel like they have lost.  They are quite good at getting into character, but take it way too far.

 

You know--I think you just described me.  But what can I do about it?

[assault]

Seriously, I find myself nearly incapable of making characters without tons of skills.

 

Heh. I've got the opposite problem.

 

I've had to include "25 points of weird Knowledge Skills that will never ever be useful" as an item in my standard character budget, just to pacify GMs.

[JmOz]

Heh. I've got the obvious problem.

 

I've had to include "25 points of weird Knowledge Skills that will never ever be useful" as an item in my standard character budget, just to pacify GMs.

 

I have an odd house rule about no everyman skills, but in the Everyman skill template I use (Characters pay for it, but get an extra 25 points above standards) I include a KS: Common Knowledge, this skill is heavily modified in play based on how compelling your backstory is.  If you say you are a expert on Italian Art, then I will give you a +3 to your skill when (BIG IF) it ever comes up.  This has happened with characters who were "Out of time", however they had not bought KS:CN, but rather KS:CN Circa late 1700's (and then KS:CN on an 8-) 

[HeroGM]

The fad-ster: what is hip and happening he wants to play it. Emo, kung-fu, or disco? He's watched from:legacy 15 times just to stat out the martial arts.

[sinanju]

Another I've run into: The Man of 1000 Faces.  This player gets tired of characters quickly, and always wants to try a new idea or build, a different concept.  Radiation accidents and character retirements are common with this character.

We have this guy in our gaming group. It's especially apparent whenever we play Champions, but no matter what the game, he never plays a character for very long before he retires him to produce something new.

 

 

The variant of rules rapist is the more benign weasel. The weasel knows the rules the rules well and tries to use them to his advantage. The difference is though that he will abide by the GMs decision and not continue to argue the point.

Or a well-socialized rules lawyer. I've been in a group of rules lawyers, but they were all well-behaved (probably because whoever was GMing was also a rules lawyer and perfectly comfortable with giving as good as he got); if the GM vetoed a particular build or rules exploit, they'd go along. "Yes, you're very clever and that's technically legal--but not in my game" was sufficient reward to satisfy them. Then they'd settle down and actually roleplay.

[Echo3Niner]

I have a couple who are the "MMO'ers" - players who learned to play from MMO's, and so "grinding" or "farming" is what they think the combats are; opportunities for XP.  A mission?  It's a quest, and if they don't think it's part of the main story, it's a "side quest".  Their entire focus is building their character, but not in the lawyer or rapist way, just wanting more and more XP, so they can get to the "end" and have a "maxed out" character...

 

MMO'ers don't translate to the best players, if the rest are old school P&P RPG'ers...  Their drive to just "keep going" doesn't give my other players time to do anything for their own character, cause it doesn't "move the game along" (to the next helping of XP) in the MMO'ers opinion.

 

Also, I have the "Investigator" who isn't a huge roleplayer exactly, but always has investigatory skills and wants to know the "why" behind everything...

[Echo3Niner]

I'll also add the "tactician", who thinks they can always plan every encounter down to the second, and if everyone just does their job, and the dice don't go the wrong way, everything should always come out smelling like roses.  (And these planning sessions can take longer than the actual combat...)

 

Conversely, I also have had the "combat monster" variant, who can't take more than the basics of the plan, then when the others are taking too long, they kick the door in.  He wasn't always looking for combat, but when the time came, he couldn't be bothered by more than the most basic planning.

 

Those two in the same group, make for some lively games I must say...

 

Last but not least, the "bullet sponge", who thinks his character's role is to be the target, so that everyone else can do their part.  They always seem to be surprised when they take too many bullets, and die; especially in Shadowrun...  ("But, I'm a Troll, I have huge Body and great armor!"  -  "Yes, and they have lots of bullets, which they shot into you, some even had armor piercing rounds, so eventually, even your huge Troll died, sorry.")

[Christopher R Taylor]

The Schemer: the player who has a long-term goal for their character and plans for the campaign.  This is the one that runs for city council because he wants to be president of the United States one day, the guy who suggests the PCs get communicators because he's working toward an army of AI robots under his command.  He's got lots of plans and the GM is just struggling to keep up with his side story.

[Comic]

Do we have a type for the kind of player who just seems to be involved to spoil the fun other people have?

 

The ones who play a superhero game but don't like to see anyone play either a hero or a super -- at least not their way?

 

The ones who play high fantasy, but resent the fantastic achievements of others?

 

The ones who'd rather nilbog than promote party success, who can't have a character that betrays the other characters without being the player who betrays other players' fun, who take special glee in depriving others of glee?

[bubba smith]

I think that would be the sabatuer

[Dead guy on the tab]

There also the Robin the Boy Hostage player who will always choose a player with lots of useless skills, no combat values to speak off, and when actually, by happenstance, having a useful skill will chose not to use it and instead be captured or otherwise be a team anchor.

[Dead guy on the tab]

I think that would be the sabatuer

Wouldn't this also be a variant on Conflict Girl?

[Dead guy on the tab]

Anyone else have the Random Acts of Player Character?  A player who will continuous do things that defy any logical reasoning, e.g. the team is climbing a perilous mountain, and the player decides that is a good time to pray for snow.

[Christopher R Taylor]

The Perfectionist is the kind of player that is never done building their character.  Every session they want to make a little tweak, fix something, add one point to Ego for a better effect, change the special effect from electromagnetic to high frequency electromagnetic, always something.  They have an effect or result that they feel can be achieved but hasn't quite gotten there, or want always to adjust to deal with the latest threats in the campaign.  I need a power to get out of entangles because we were shot with that net gun.  My character needs 1 more point of constitution to make that CON-based mind control not affect me like last time.  For the Perfectionist its not about the game, the story, the role playing or anything except fixing that character to be just so.

[Comic]

Anyone else have the Random Acts of Player Character?  A player who will continuous do things that defy any logical reasoning, e.g. the team is climbing a perilous mountain, and the player decides that is a good time to pray for snow.

 

We were a 5-7th level AD&D (1st Ed.) party, about to enter the tavern together. Our wizard wanted to make a grand entrance, really impress the locals. This was when thieves could advance very, very quickly compared to other classes. So the 5HD fireball hit the oak door, and the DM, reading directly from the example in the DMG word for word, explained the saving throws we'd have to make. What a time for four sixes to show up out of 5d6.

 

So the thief and the fighter fled the scene as the uninjured tavern occupants looted the charred corpses of the 5th level cleric, wizard and cleric-wizard, the fighter taking a couple of nights' rest to return to full health.

 

DM didn't give us any xp for surviving our own wizard.