Player Types

The Pro From Dover
This Player creates characters who must be the best at what they do. If the hero is a Brick (super-strong, super-tough fighter), he must be the strongest and toughest in the world. If the character is a scientist or magician, he must be the undisputed master of his field. The GM needs to provide the Pro From Dover with occasional opportunities to display his prominence, and must be careful not to allow new PCs to overlap the Pro’s area of interest.

The Romantic
This Player is most interested in the personal relationships of his characters. If the Romantic’s character does not become involved with another PC, the GM should make sure that the PC is supplied with NPCs to meet, get to know, and develop relationships with – not just romances, but professional relationships, familial relationships, etc. If the Romantic can’t develop relationships, the Romantic won’t be happy.

The Rules Rapist
Typically this is an unhealthy variant of The Pro from Dover. In general, the Player wants to create characters with skill or powers which bend and exploit the existing rules. These Players are constantly redesigning their characters for higher point-value efficiency, and, unless they also have other campaign interests, they’re probably not all that involved in role-playing. In mild forms the Rules Rapist can be an excellent friend to new and old Players, constantly suggesting new ways to use the game’s systems to their full potential. Often, the GM will not be able to satisfy the Rules Rapist’s gaming needs, or find himself engaged in an “arms race” of new tweaks and tricks. Something he will always lose if he allows the Rules Rapist to copy his tweaks on the morally blackmailing basis of “What’s fair for NPCs is fair for us”.

The Showoff
This Player needs to be on-stage, at all times, keeping the spotlight on himself. His characters may be well-designed and inventive, or could be unimaginative and ordinary: only the amount of attention he receives, and the number of faces staring at him, are important. It doesn’t make a difference what the setting is, or whether or not their character should be the centre of attention at that point in time, they *will* to do something to get themselves noticed. This Player type can be an excellent source of role-playing for others (who can mock, admire, or interact with the Showoff however they wish), but can also be extremely annoying when taken to the extreme. The GM will have difficulties with the Showoff; he must either let this Player dominate the campaign, or must make sure that all Players get equal time until the Showoff grows out of this phase or leaves the campaign.