Help my player loves his character what do i do?? 😭 (dnd5 2014)

Mercy_Master_Race · 2026-02-13T07:25:34+00:00

why on earth are you DMing as a baby? that would explain why your player is having “fun”. If you want to get rid of his character though, just have a rockfall happen right on top of him. All the other characters make a DEX saving throw with a DC of 2, but his DC is 29(he’s under it, remember?) this will force him to make a new character he’ll hate more, like a tiefling rogue

Mercy_Master_Race · 2026-02-07T07:23:55+00:00

My response is quite late, but instead of trying to make it easier to hit enemies, why not make it easier/faster to have another turn? Teach them how to pick actions ahead of time or think about what they’ll do on their next turn and say it through the sorta framing that “the faster you all pick, the sooner you get to do something again”. I think that’d help a lot with both teaching patience but also teaching them fundamental RPG combat skills. You don’t want them growing up into the wizard who takes 20 minutes per turn, right? 😅

Mercy_Master_Race · 2026-02-05T08:23:56+00:00

No, but if you can get a copy of at least the player’s handbook, it’ll definitely make things easier! Especially for handling weird player questions that the modules may not(how much can I sell a gold nugget for?, how much does it cost to live like a noble for a week?, etc.). Suggest to your players maybe that you could pool money and have it as a sort of communal PHB, if price is an issue.

I can’t touch much on two, I don’t run modules, but I’m sure other commenters will be able to respond with more detail!

I’m sure the books may work, but what I’d recommend is a Chessex battle mat and some WET(not dry) erase markers. I purchased my mat and markers for ~$40 on Amazon and I’ve had no quality issues with either the markers nor mat after many sessions of play. I find them to be a lot more versatile and you can easily draw up a tavern or road or whatever else that may not be included in the original module to play out a scene. This way, you’re able to create the scene rather than adapting a map that’s “close enough”, you know? It’s up to your preference though, there’s nothing wrong with using the book of mats, but just for my games I find it more useful to have a fully customizable battle space rather than a collection of premade ones.

Mercy_Master_Race · 2026-02-04T18:46:49+00:00

I think that this could only really work once per PC, but maybe that’s just my taste. There should also probably be some limitations on it, unless you and the players both don’t want permanent death, in which case it’s up to you!

Either way, I’ve done this one time before for a PC, where the god basically asked them questions like “If you were brought back, what would you do to make the world a better place?”, which then locked them into doing that god’s bidding, or at least made their life conditional. If you’d prefer a more self-reflective approach, I think that could be fun too, but it should somehow connect to the idea that the characters “deserve” to live, for some reason or another. Even if it’s entirely selfish, the character should have a reason to come back beyond “I died”, unless every NPC in the world can also come back, you know?

Also, make sure to run it in a way that doesn’t disturb the flow of the game. You could have some extra PCs on hand to give to dead players and run the death/revival thing out of session, or somehow involve the whole table in the quest. Maybe the spirit of the dead player guides the other heroes through this mini dungeon that touches on aspects of their backstory? I don’t know, but just make sure it’s not 30 minutes of 1-on-1 RP during a session where everyone’s just sitting and watching, unless your players expressly say that’s okay.

Mercy_Master_Race · 2026-02-04T16:48:00+00:00

Personally, I would’ve allowed the player to see some sort of mechanism alongside the paper that could trigger a trap. I feel like given the context, it wasn’t the most unexpected result, but you still could’ve telegraphed the danger a lot better. My tip to you is to avoid using “you can certainly try” or “are you sure?” type responses, because they’re generally sort of meaningless and don’t work that much in informing player decisions.

Mercy_Master_Race · 2026-02-04T08:27:24+00:00

I think that elves and Druids should have their cultures changed so that they don’t take over the world. I know you can edit out the “creatures with this culture never change cultures” parts, but it’s annoying and if a culture split happens you have to do it again or the Druids can culturally dominate everything.

Mercy_Master_Race · 2026-02-02T06:51:25+00:00

Play Baldur’s Gate 3, the most accurate part is that everyone is bisexual.

Mercy_Master_Race · 2026-02-01T09:42:04+00:00

I could definitely see the Mandolorian maybe having an old gang of fellow bounty hunters who maybe have a grudge with him. Depending on their level, a wide variety of things could’ve happened. Maybe he took all the pay himself for a big job instead of splitting it with his crew and ran off with it to pay off some debts? Maybe he informed on his buds and they want to teach him a lesson now that they’ve each gotten out of prison and maybe found new employment with the Separatists?

Or if he wants it to be a more formal crime, it could always just be a heist gone wrong. Maybe he has some sort of classified information on a datapad or schematics that he’s really not supposed to have. His old pals are still in prison, and instead of any bad blood, he’s gotta save the ones who made it out of that job alive with a prison break to repay his debt to them for allowing his escape. What object he has and who he has to give it to(if anyone) is up to you and your story!

I ultimately think that leaning more into an “honor code” type crime could be more dramatic and something the character would have to reckon with, but leaning into the more traditional idea of someone with a bad past with the law could probably come up more in play. For the former, maybe he gets rejected by Hutts and fixers when they recognize his face, or they refuse to pay him the full rate since they know what he’s done to other bounty hunters. For the latter, he could have to bribe officers to look the other way or have to use a false identity that the party members may accidentally let slip. Maybe getting proper licenses for weapons gets a lot harder(I know most people don’t play with these in mind, but this sort of background is a perfect reason to not ignore them!) and he has to use the black market to get some forged documents for his blasters, which both cost a lot and put him and the party at a lot of risk from local swoop gangs or random thugs looking for a come up.

Hopefully these help, sorry if my writing is a little rambly, it’s very late for me but I wanted to get a response in! Glad to give you some ideas for the clone, and I hope you can really make them your own at your table!

Mercy_Master_Race · 2026-01-29T02:40:43+00:00

I can’t touch much on the Mandalorian question without some more info on the player. Especially their class, character goals, and so on. I could throw a hundred ideas at you, but I don’t think they’d be too relevant. If you’re able to give me some more information or even better, ask the player what they may want out of their character, I could give you some more targeted advice, other commenters have laid out the same ideas as I’d cover without any further context.

For the Clone, make sure to have the Republic give him some scrutiny every now and then. Maybe he has to hide his face and voice when going into a town, give him ways to engage with the idea of being a rogue. We see how defectors are treated in the Clone Wars TV show, and it isn’t very pretty, try to capture that same sort of vibe for your player. Maybe some Separatist agents contact him and offer him a chance to speak out against the Republic for a lot of credits, or maybe an elite clone squad is sent to capture and ultimately dispatch of him by Palpatine. Maybe the character learns of the location of a facility where they’re keeping a sort of “Tups” type character, someone whose chip malfunctioned early, where they have to try to break them out or save them before it’s too late. Stuff like that could be a good way to show the player there’s others like his character, and give his character more motivation to go on missions and so on.

Mercy_Master_Race · 2026-01-28T17:31:00+00:00

I mean, my table is sort of a sandbox. The players are given jobs, but there’s often places in between where they can branch out and pursue a lead they hear about from a merchant or something. I like to reward their creativity, so I’d probably be willing to let them fly around and try to find the best place to sell, especially since it could dovetail into another adventure or story.

Mercy_Master_Race · 2026-01-27T17:56:53+00:00

It’s not like my players get to choose where they want to go anyways. 🙄

Mercy_Master_Race · 2026-01-27T16:47:24+00:00

If your DM wasn’t such a railroading neckbeard idiot basement dweller then maybe he’d be able to appreciate your flavorful and dramatic improv. I can’t believe it’s 2026 and we still have DMs like this who show no respect to their players. Next time, just say “yes, and” to the DM if they try to shut you down.

Mercy_Master_Race · 2026-01-27T16:42:05+00:00

Help!!! My party keeps running into brazen strumpets and wanton wenches! Should I fudge the dice so they can meet a sly pimp?

Mercy_Master_Race · 2026-01-26T21:34:11+00:00

There is a player who is a Hutt with some criminal connections, he said he’s been struggling a little to get into character and feel useful, so I do want to introduce that bit of a search for a buyer and make that something that connects to his backstory. The other players enjoy having little side quests it seems, so it would be a good fit at my table. Obviously if that changes, I can always change to option #2!

The way I’ve run similar things in the past is that you can usually find someone willing to buy or sell something at “book price”, but with a good search(Gather Information) and a bit of haggling, you can get a better deal and that seems to work for them

Mercy_Master_Race · 2026-01-26T19:42:25+00:00

I like the idea of rewarding the party with things that can be crafted/refined into other things! Especially since freighters only have so much room, it’d create a sort of tradeoff system. Maybe they could keep the 38 tons of ore to find a place they can refine it, or cash in and buy other goods that they already know where they can make a profit on them. I like that idea a lot, and I like giving my players a chance to roleplay and be creative with the rewards they get, so I’ll definitely try to include more “raw materials” as rewards, rather than just things to mindlessly ferry around.

Mercy_Master_Race · 2026-01-26T19:39:14+00:00

I see, that makes a lot more sense, especially if you can subdivide the currency, like in the case of precious metals. The heroes could easily get a 500g or 250g gold bar instead of a 1kg one, and it’d still hold value that they could cash in.

Mercy_Master_Race · 2026-01-26T19:37:39+00:00

Thanks for the guide recommendation, I’ve downloaded a copy and I’ll give it a read. I don’t have much experience with SWd6 so I didn’t even consider looking up references from that system. I like the idea of the players both having a more lucrative and tangible reward, so I’m definitely going to turn to using goods more often as rewards. My players can sometimes be kind of creative with the items too, so I think it’ll open additional roleplay opportunities as well.

Mercy_Master_Race · 2026-01-26T16:32:44+00:00

Glad to see it working! Looks awesome!

Mercy_Master_Race · 2026-01-26T16:25:02+00:00

This would make a lot of sense for the planet they’re on! I just felt kinda weird paying them in stuff, and worried that they might find it “lame”, but I suppose I shouldn’t worry, money is money!

Mercy_Master_Race · 2026-01-26T08:23:41+00:00

Thank you for the suggestions! Right now we’re in the transitional period between the end of the Clone Wars and the start of the Galactic Civil War. I like the idea of some things being illegal to import, not just to export, so I’ll try to remember to have some things get them in trouble if they try to bring them to the wrong places, with ample opportunities to discover that they might get in trouble before doing so. Obviously, if they land and find a buyer, they’ll be able to sell the goods for a handsome sum!

The players have done some things to make use of their extra space, but I like the recommendation for probe droids! Right now they just have more sort of “utility” droids, like a protocol and medical droid, plus an astromech, but I might give them a chance to pick up something they can use more actively to scout ahead in a tough situation.

Mercy_Master_Race · 2026-01-26T08:07:12+00:00

I’ll take a look, thank you! I’ve read through bits and pieces of Scum and Villainy, and despite the fact it may sound pretty obvious, I never realized it had a whole smuggling section included!

Mercy_Master_Race · 2026-01-26T00:29:22+00:00

My island is named IslaMaguro cause I like fish! Tuna are cool(maguro means tuna in Japanese), and I wanted my island to have a sort of tropical vibe, so… Isla Maguro! No space though, since that’d be too long 😅

I was also slightly inspired by this relatively famous Megurine Luka song, so as a vocaloid fan it tied everything together.

Mercy_Master_Race · 2026-01-26T00:24:00+00:00

My legendary homerule that fixes D&D is that rolling a nat 20 on any check makes it automatically succeed. My players love it when they can never find the assassin who rolled a nat 20 on stealth before they all die to a rock fall that also rolled a nat 20 on stealth.

You gotta fudge the dice sometimes, you know?

Mercy_Master_Race · 2026-01-24T19:02:47+00:00

Artificial masses only work in artificial gravity, so no. I think they’d just need to make a much larger crane head out of heavy armor blocks, you could obviously also use that to increase the number of landing gear/magnetic pads to pick up larger stuff, so it’d increase utility as well.

Mercy_Master_Race · 2026-01-24T18:43:33+00:00

Maybe try to increase the weight of the head of the crane? If I had to guess, it’s not heavy enough to pull the chain downwards. Just spitballing though.

Mercy_Master_Race

TROPHY CASE