Player Types

The Genre Fiend
This Player’s motto is “No, do it right!” This is the Player who loves the Game World so much that they learn absolutely every trivial thing possible about it, and considers him- or herself an expert on everything involved with the game. If the GM (or any other Player) misses a convention or an opportunity, the Genre Fiend is certain to let him know about it. Repeatedly. The GM’s task here is to understand the genre and ascertain what sort of encounters, situations, and themes that the Fiend is expecting to play, and then provide them whenever possible.

The Jester
The Jester is the type of Player who finds the entire concept of role-playing games amusing and can’t quite understand what all the fuss is about when they do something completely out of character for the game universe that they think is funny. In small amounts the Jester can be one of the biggest saviours of a game — lest we become too obsessed and immersive that we forget that the game is also about fun. But as with all the other types, taken to extremes, the Jester can ruin the fun of other Players with excessively silly or stupid behaviour that ruins the setting or scene for other Players.

The Mad Slasher
This Player spent a long, hard week at the office or at school, and when he gets to the gaming table all he wants to do is kill. When a villain confronts the hero, the Mad Slasher kills him. When a cop gives the hero lip, the Mad Slasher kills him. When the villain is shielding himself with the body of a girlfriend or relative, the Mad Slasher blasts right through the hostage to get at the villain. The Mad Slasher says, “I put up with garbage in real life; in my games, I get to do anything I want to anyone I want.” Obviously, the problem here is that the Mad Slasher only belongs in a campaign where everyone is a Mad Slasher. If all your Players want their character to be maniacal killers, you have no problem. If some of them are role-players, the GM is going to have to get rid of the Mad Slasher, or calm him down. Getting him to reduce his target list to bad guys would be a good start…

The Plumber
This Player likes to create a character with a finely detailed and intricate personality, and then spend his gaming career plumbing this character to its depths. The GM needs to provide the Plumber with a variety of different situations, including moral quandaries and emotional scenes, to react to. If he does not, the Plumber will grow frustrated and unhappy.

The Prince
The Prince is a Player who is into power and control. Quickly politicking their way to the top of the political food chain of their choice, the Prince is often a mover and a shaker in the Game World. These are the Players who rise to the top of factions, by hook or by crook, and stay there until pried away with a crowbar or the Player grows bored and drops the Character. These characters can be fun to play with, but sometimes their desire to manipulate and control can render them tiresome to interact with and not fun at all to be around. They’re often too busy trying to deal with the “burdens of power” to take time out to role-play interesting scenes with other Player types or advance the groups objectives.