21 Ways Players Ruin D&D Games

Everyone always complains about bad dungeon masters in D&D, but what about bad players? Okay, yeah, we complain about horrible players in Dungeons & Dragons, too. But what is it that defines a bad D&D player? Why do DMs and other players dislike them so much? In this video, we discuss 21 ways D&D players ruin games (and if your DM is sharing this with you...there might be a reason).

------------------------------OTHER LINKS------------------------------

------------------------------CREDITS/DISCLAIMERS----------------------------------------------
Editing ▶▶ Zack Newman
Art ▶▶ Adobe Stock & Wizards of the Coast
Music and Sound Effects ▶▶ Epidemic Sound

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Some videos on this channel are unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.

#dnd #dungeonsanddragons

[stratahawk_]

My worst player: We're playing over Discord and I messaged all the players an hour before game time, asking if everyone would be ready to play when we all scheduled. Everyone said they could make it in time. Ten minutes before game time, one player hasn't logged in yet so I asked if they were running late and needed more time. They said they were at dinner but could make it by game time. I told them it was in 10 minutes. They insisted that they would make it in time.

An hour after game time, they still hadn't logged in so we messaged them again. They told us they went out for drinks after dinner but will be in game shortly. We decided to start the game without them.

4 HOURS AFTER SCHEDULED GAME TIME: They messaged us that they couldn't make it to the game after all. We've already been playing for 3 hours by this point. When they heard that we started the game without them, they implied I was the a**hole for playing without them when they told us they would show up.

[eggy]

One fun story I heard once was when this group had a new player join and their character was a dark and brooding edgy rogue who avoided contact with everyone, and when the group saw them in the corner of a tavern, sitting alone with their hood up, they just straight up ignored him and left, meaning he had to be introduced later which was hilarious to me.

[andrewmeakin]

For the guy wanting to argue the 5 foot reach should be 2 squares: "Sure, we could do it that way... but that means your enemies can do that too. Which means that next round you're not being attacked by two orcs in melee, you're being attacked by seven, because five more of them can reach you now. Still want to make that change?

[MonkeyJedi]

I have what I call "unwilling main character syndrome".
I engage more, ask more questions, and get more involved than the other players at the table. I KNOW I can completely take over the table, so I end up putting about half of my effort into dragging other players' characters into the spotlight.
If I see a player not engaging, I will verbally poke that character for ideas and contributions. I will push the quiet player into a leadership role.
I do all this because I know that if I let my roleplaying stomp all over the table, the other players will get bored and quit, and I will not have a game to play in anymore.

[goliathcleric]

One of my favorite things I've read (paraphrased):

"I use 'that's what my character would do' to justify why my character puts themselves in situations where they can be killed. You use it to justify your character ruining the game. We are not the same."

[kendallchaos]

One of my favorite examples of “TWMCWD” was when one of the characters tried to steal an item from another character, failed and used that excuse…the paladin then bound them and handed them over to the town guard and when the thief asked why they threw the excuse back at them

[jurdgrath]

Good advice. re: #8 "That is what my character would do!" We have a simple rule at PC creation and in play: "Playing a jerk is still being a jerk." We want people who work with others fairly, not against them.

[pkrangehit]

Had one session where we had to make a contract with a hag for some reason. The DM really wanted to sneak in a hidden clause (devils in the details) sorta thing... one of our players was a law student. The two of them went at it, and I kid you not....FOR 3 HOURS! talking about this fictitious contract over and over again, every revision the DM trying to slip something in, it getting pointed out by the player, them debating the exact language of the contract so nothing could be interpreted negatively or taken out of context and repeat. I still have nightmares about that day

[omegaforcezero]

We had a player doing the "that's what my character would do" to save an npc from dying, she was tied and was relevant to the plot, but also had a strong bond with the player's character. He ended up at 10 hp from 140 or something similar but he managed to save her.
I think that's of the few situations where it's not so bad.

[CallixGaming]

I recently got invited to a DnD group from a group of friends. I was really hesitant but just listening to some critical role episodes, I realized how fun the game can be. I went in with minimal expectations and already having an amazing time. It really is a fantastic experience of a game so I appreciate these tips on what to be conscious of as a new player.

[alzedi]

Another thing about expecting a dungeon master to be like Matt or Brennan… the player certainly do NOT have the role playing skills to play in a game like the Critical Role crew or other similar “pro roleplayers”. They literally compose a storyline and expert role playing on the fly. Yeah, don’t expect your GM to be Matt Mercer if you can’t be Laura Bailey

[robertoreilly]

I have had the worst luck rolling dice recently. I am consistently rolling 1s and 2s and 3s. And at the worst times -- I took the helm of ship headed for rocks and rolled a nat 1. The ship's wheel came of in my hands. That kind of thing.

Ironically, the failed rolls are actually way more entertaining and lead to so much fun. Anyone who never fails a roll is missing so much of the gaming experience.

[artemisthunder]

#6 is what's happened to my game. It was so bad that even after a year I had to help him level up his character and explain his character sheet every time we played. He also played a sorcerer who mainly used two daggers and would go a couple sessions without using magic. So when he wanted to use magic I had to explain everything again. Sorry this had turned into a venting post.

[Immudzen]

The plot hook one I find interesting. I have played a few games where the DM complained we missed all their plot hooks and for some reason not a single person noticed any of them. We spent the session confused and couldn't figure out what to do. The DM had to point out the plot hooks we had missed. It was a weird session.

[bapkid]

I had a player with that same weird interpretation of the 5 foot range and I was blown away! It seems like the most simple and clear rule. If you want the extra square of range, go get a weapon with reach 🤦🏻‍♂️

[timwakefield]

my dm experience was ruined for a number of months due to monty python quotes. it would start with "he's not riding a horse, he's just banging coconuts together!" and then the whole session would devolve until the players would literally be shouting "Ni!" at my npc. funny the first time, soul destroying 3 sessions in!

[anna_in_aotearoa]

I've never played D&D, but I still had to laugh/cringe repeatedly throughout this list because as a coordinator of a volunteer community group, I can assure you that a lot of these very same issues apply!! 🙈 Particularly the problems of "might turn up, might not" non-communicators, and people who can't put their damn phone away for the duration of a one-hour meeting... 🤦🏻‍♀️

Coordinating any group activities builds lots of awesome transferable skills, but gosh, it can also turn one's hair grey so fast... 😂 (Edit: completely agree re the expectations issue. I think honestly people often forget that we are volunteers and do this stuff for them FOR FREE!)

[zebramussels]

There was that time one of our fellow players decided to just give himself advantage on every roll. In a 3.5e game, before that was even a mechanic. We were playing online (even back then) and thought we could trust everyone to keep their rolls honest and roll real dice. He probably never would have been caught except that his roommate (who was also a player in the game) happened to always hear multiple dice being rolled from the other room even when it didn't make sense.

[lordanubis]

I had a player in our game actually try and kill us all after fighting the Big Boss and claimed well “that’s what my charcter would do” so my dm had him fight a Tarrasque by himself and instantly healed all of us. He got mad and we told him “well either leave or be a better person” so he left.

[EpsilonIsGreaterThan]

Once our group decided to run an "evil" campaign, and it took a while for the GM to figure out that plot hooks that count on the characters doing things because "it's the right thing to do" wouldn't work any more. The campaign went a bit off the rails for a while until he adapted and started making plot hooks where the party would benefit directly from biting the hooks.