So I seem to have a problem character, not problem player I feel she is great and she is only playing a character that she wants to play. The problem is this character seems to be designed not to participate in the storyline that seems to be the focus at the moment, while the other characters have.
I feel the character is just becoming a bit of a 5th wheel, the other characters are getting into it and then I turn to the player with this character and shes like I don’t really want to deal with that in fact I hate magic, and so I would be left with..er…and then another player will jump in saying yeah I do this.
I want to be a fan of the character but I am struggling a bit on what to include that she can take part in, because she has deliberately made the character not that interested in what is happening.
Talk to the player. Find a story – line she would be interested in. Or explain to her how her play impacts you and the other players.
REmember, in game, to give her a lot of ownership. By asking questions…”Why does your character know this new NPC?”, “What have you heard about the abandoned castle of Craigsmoor” or what have you. Those questions and answers will lead the character back into the game. Especially, if you have an NPC ask; “Why do you like or don’t like magic?”
Also, characters can change when the meet play at the table and should. So if she doesn’t want to deal with magic hate, can’t the character evolve?
I agree with the above mentioned in giving spotlight and questions, but, there is only so much you can do. You don’t show up to a basketball game and tell everyone that you would prefer to play futbol or baseball or whatever. That player came to play in an adventure and should also be actively fitting herself into the story, not only expecting the story to conform to her own background.
Perhaps it would be appropriate to sit down with her and explain your difficulty to address that specifically. You could ask her what she finds interesting in the current story and why her character has decided to join this party at all. Why did she come here in the first place? Surely there was a reason to join the group of adventurers. If not, why is she here? Sure, maybe she has a cool character concept, but perhaps it needs some fine tuning. Like others said, evolving your character can be more fun than any treasure or battle found in a dungeon.
Something that I really liked in the new Feng Shui 2 book was the explicit instructions to the player that they should work to find their own buy-in with the story. If the direction that the story takes is a magic heavy one, and her character hates magic, then perhaps she views this as a way for her to undermine the magical underpinnings of the McGuffin.
Or maybe there is a gruff, grin-and-bear-it, resignation that she brings to the scene. I think it was in Dragonlance where the dwarf, Flint, hated water and boats so when it was time to escape via river there was a good character moment. It didn’t stop the story when Flint refused to get on the boat, but rather it enhanced it when he relented.
The player needs to find a way for the character to be there and to be proactive. That said, when the spotlight is shining at that character later it could be cool if there was a moment when magic was shown to be a bad thing (“See! I told you so!”) or, conversely, it creates a situation where the character can start to change her mind – or even retrench further.
It sounds like you might need to introduce something new to get her interested in this particular storyline. Maybe a new faction gets involved with this front? Someone from her past? Making it a little more “personal” for her might be a bit heavy-handed, but it could also go a long way in making her care about what’s happening. Don’t be afraid to change things up and surprise yourself.
Here’s my take on this. This is a player thing. The player designed the character and doesn’t want to buy in to the story …the character is an extension of this attitude. You could ask them some questions to redirect the story butIt’s their responsibility to engage…
Bruce Linck Yeah was thinking of doing that, maybe bringing in her tribe as she is a barbarian. But not to sure how to add them because the Forest they are currently in is quite full with Fronts.
Matthew Aaron Yeah I can actually see that, it does seem to be going that way a little bit but then I sometimes feel where the other 3 have done uite a lot of stuff and I know as a GM I haven’t engaged this player but then I’m like I don’t really know what to put in front of her character that she will care about. Those scenes are cool but I feel there has got to be other scenes where they can participate in as well.
But yeah I think asking a question of what the player wants to do is fine but I don’t know the questions I have asked before have gotten a bit of a shrug.
Maybe I’m thinking about this to hard and she is one of those players that is fine with playing and just being there and doesn’t have to do things all the time…
You said, “I know as a GM I haven’t engaged this player but then I’m like I don’t really know what to put in front of her character that she will care about. Those scenes are cool but I feel there has got to be other scenes where they can participate in as well.”
Ask her. Before or after a game, one-on-one.
Lots of good advice here, and I heartily agree with everyone who says to sit down and talk this over. Also, as Jeffry Crews says, the player is choosing to play this character, so it actually is a player issue.