If you're going to be an asshole, you should have fun with it.
If you're going to be an asshole recreationally in a group setting, everyone should be having fun with it.
this post was submitted on 10 Nov 2025
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Alternatively, don't be an asshole if there's anyone who won't have fun with it
If you're at a 'having fun with a group' thing, yes.
Do you normally go to "be an asshole with a group" things?
Depending on your definition; maybe, but they exist regardless of your definition.
Very important clarification!
If you're gonna be causing friction with the party, I'm okay with you being a chaotic little chaos gremlin during RP, but a team player when the cards are down.
Playing in a game where the mandate is to not be that right now. It's a much taller order, but I am enjoying it.
These are good rules of thumb, but not absolute.
I player character who is being an asshole can be a lot of fun to weave a great story. I played a huge asshole of a character, who was not afraid of being an asshole. I've also played characters who did not trust the group at all and was already to kill/back stab everyone.
My last character was wearing warpstone armor and was slowly going paranoid. I made it clear to the table that at somepoint, I was going to have to fight everyone. My poor character died in a 1 v 1 fight against a wizard.
It is a fine line to play these types of characters cause it's easy to affect everyone's else enjoyment of the game.
Now, an asshole player has no spot at the tbale.
Imo most of these are just a bad group match. Having friction in groups makes for GREAT RP but only with the right groups
The players should never have long-term friction; the characters can have all the friction they want so long as the players are all getting along out of the game.
And in the right game! A big part of these things, more in some systems than others, is writing a story together.
And you all need to be able to adapt and move with that friction, either at creation or afterwards.
Some groups are really adaptive at one place and really rigid in the other.
The secret to having a good time in a game is to make a character that wants to be there and will be okay interfacing with other people on some level. It's not hard, yet many people don't find this out for years.
Or a character whose not wanting to be there will be fun for the whole table.
You can outwardly not want to be there, but you have to have a meta reason to stay anyway and be over the top miserable.
What you can't do is actually have on reason to stay, cuz then why are you staying?
You can do this, it just takes more work.
Literally stay in spite of your character not needing or wanting to? Sure you can do it, but what is the logic to it? Why would that happen?
I just find it a lot more helpful advice to go the other route, because it will for sure leads to less friction. The more you can find reasons to be into what the game is about at any given time, the more engaged you will be with the game itself, because your character is.
The reason for your character to stay doesnt have to be something they agree with. It can be someone else's reason.
And 'the quest to fuck off and do something else' can be fun too. You seem to be working with a very authoritarian concept of game. Those can work sometimes, but are very limiting.
less friction
Not always desirable.
Staying because someone else wants to is a reason to stay though. Assumedly your character cares about them and all that jazz.
I am done arguing this. If you like to play in groups that infight constantly then good for you. Just clear up in session zero what is and isn't acceptable.
However, I have not met many people who like that playstyle, hence my advice.
just clear up in session zero
Necessary and important, especially if you dont know for sure they're down for it, yes.
because someone else wants them to
And has an unrifled pistol for the occasion.
hence my advice
I'm not talking about introductory tables; have been playing these things fir 30 fuvking years. My SOP running a group of first timers is 'here's character creation rules we're using, here's the lore, here's the scenario, why is that your characters thing' like 'why do you want to kill a dragon? If its because your scaly bf cheated on you, talk to petra; she's already using that.' or 'why are you trying to summon a demon?'.
Yeah i dont like these broad sweeping absolutes limiting what ttrpg's can be, and I dont like attitudes/norms saying you can't go for weird edge cases. I'm arguing for (sub)cultural norms that dont cut anyone off from a potential rare fun thing, but instead focus on depth of understanding how/why things can go wrong and growing from there.
I'm arguing for possibility, not the usual.
I love that there is a goblin( My Artistic interpretation, sorry if wrong) and the dudes like "ya we sure love killin".