New Players

[Alrik Vas]

So I got someone interested in this game. They seem to like the action packed way the system works and they dig on blowing stuff up.

The problem is he's played a lot of other games and thinks he knows everything. I say, "Cool, bring a basic character, no need to get crazy" and he thinks i'm treating him like a child because i won't let him stretch the limits of legality.

The guy is certainly an adult (nearly 30) but, well, he's acting like a spoiled brat demanding treatment like an adult.

In any case, he has a grasp of the system, but when bringing in someone new, do you really want them playing the best mechanically slayer of splugorth possible? Talk about a focus on mechanics rather than roleplaying...

[Mechghost]

I would limit what was available for the first campaign, so the players get a hang of the system (not just reading the rules) and how the world is (again not just reading the fluff) and then let them powergame and drop a hammer on them to show that there's always something bigger in Rifts and the game is about roleplaying. of course just MHO but I've had it work in the past.

[Bill]

I don't feel like you've given us a complete picture of what's going on. If he wants to bend a rule and has a good excuse for it, why not? As long as it doesn't make the game less fun for anybody else, what's the harm? If it would negatively impact another player, including yourself, you've got a concrete reason to shoot him down. And if he won't let it go, tell him he'll need to find another game.

[Mechghost]

Actually Bill, I think the "stretch the limits of legality" part of the description implies the player isn't just bending a rule with a back-story, something I like doing on occasion and if a player does it for roleplaying reasons I allow if not to much of a bend, this seems like more of a deliberate effort to make the most powerful char possible. Just how I'm reading it.

[Alrik Vas]

Actually Bill, I think the "stretch the limits of legality" part of the description implies the player isn't just bending a rule with a back-story, something I like doing on occasion and if a player does it for roleplaying reasons I allow if not to much of a bend, this seems like more of a deliberate effort to make the most powerful char possible. Just how I'm reading it.

Basically this. He's the type to feel vulnerable if he isn't overpowered.

[Bill]

Okay. It's a pretty common response to having too many options. Apologize, take the blame for being too open-ended with him, and narrow the field down to less than ten classes that would fit your vision. And if he's still not happy, apologize again and tell him you'll be in touch when you start something more high-powered.

[Mechghost]

I agree with Bill, limit his choices to fit the campaign's start as you see it. He has to learn at some point he's not always going to be the toughest char around, as an adult he shouldn't have to powergame to have fun, at least not every game.

[arouetta]

Okay. It's a pretty common response to having too many options. Apologize, take the blame for being too open-ended with him, and narrow the field down to less than ten classes that would fit your vision. And if he's still not happy, apologize again and tell him you'll be in touch when you start something more high-powered.

The limited choices sound good. In my only Rifts game, the conversation went somewhat along the lines of "Want to join? We need an operator." "Sure, cool."

[Alrik Vas]

That's pretty much what happened. First game is coming up, we'll see how it goes.