Don’t Be the Munchkin: Tabletop Edition

Timmy, Power Gamer

Fellow Geekcentricity writer and resident Dane of Awesome, Brian recently wrote about some undesirable habits he has observed in various Play-By-Email (PBEM) role-playing games he has participated in over the years.  A few weeks before that, he wrote another post on a related topic.  Between these two posts, not to mention some of the exchange between Brian and frequent commenter Darla, I knew that I had to write something on this subject.

What’s In a Name?

Munchkin.  Twink.  Power Gamer.  Much-maligned terminology for often-maligned players.  What does it all mean?

I am well acquainted with the type of behaviors I wanted to write about, and I have heard (though rarely used) the word “munchkin” for years now.  The problem is that I’m not sure that what I’m going to describe to you is really securely in the realm of munchkinism, whatever the hell that is.

Everybody has their own set of qualifiers for what “munchkin” behavior is.  There are dozens of threads on every gaming message board or discussion site about the subject.

Brian, my fellow geek, says:

“A munchkin, any way you slice it, is a gamer who are out to win, be the most powerful, and have the most treasure without regard to anything else.”

James “Grim” Desborough, author of The Munchkin’s Guide to Power Gamers, says:

“[A munchkin is] a player who is out for nothing but the thrill of slaughter and/or making the absolute most powerful character they can by whatever means they can.”

Perhaps the best definition found online is the Wikipedia entry for “munchkin”:

“A munchkin is a player who plays what is intended to be a non-competitive game (usually a role-playing game) in an aggressively competitive manner.  A munchkin seeks within the context of the game to amass the greatest power, score the most kills, and grab the most loot, no matter how deleterious their actions are to role-playing, the storyline, fairness, logic, or the other players’ fun.”

That definitely describes the behavior I’m looking to classify.

To Munchkin or Not To Munchkin?

Still, I’ve seen many people who are offended by the pejorative nature of the term “munchkin” itself.  These tend to subscribe to one of two schools of thought:

• “Don’t label someone just because they play the game differently than you.” This school of thought asserts that there are very few, if any, examples of “bad” role-playing out there.  There are just many different styles of role-playing, and we should all just sit around the table and get along.  This school of thought also contains a subschool that posits that the only reason people are annoyed by so-called “munchkins” is that they are better at building characters and knowing the rules than the people who would label them as munchkins, therefore the labelers are just jealous.
• “There are some bad role-players out there, but calling them ‘munchkins’ is insulting to younger, less experienced gamers.” I’m serious.  This is a pure anti-labeling stance that takes offense only to the terminology used, not to the idea that the players in question are actually a detriment to the game.  It is mainly an argument of semantics.

Honestly, I don’t really care if you call them munchkins, twinks, power-gamers, or whatever.  What I object to is a set of behaviors that is detrimental to the enjoyment of others are the table.

Is This a +12 Flaming Dagger of Slaying I See Before Me?

“Munchkin: One who, on being told that this is a game about politics and intrigue in 17th century Italy, asks to play a ninja.” – Andrew Rilstone

The Lollipop Guild predates the RPGA and the Pathfinder Society.

No matter what you call them, there is a set of gamers who view the game in a certain way that causes them to often be labelled as munchkins:

This group approaches the game from the standpoint that the GM is the adversary.  The GM’s job, from their standpoint, is to try to defeat/kill the characters.  From this perspective, the munchkin’s goal is to beat the GM, along with (possibly) the other players.  Along the way, these players are trying to accumulate the most treasure (“phat lootz”) and have the best character from a statistical standpoint.  To this end, they will learn the letter of the rules by heart, along with any loopholes that exist.  Some of them have even been known to possess magical dice that roll better than anyone else’s.

Many of them are excellent at math when adding bonuses and dividing treasure, but are terrible at math when calculating stats and bonuses.

They are prone to scouring the internet to find the most overpowered class/build that is possible in whatever game system they are playing.  Some of these players are also willing to bend or even break the rules in their quest for power, wealth and dominance of the game.

Most of them love the hack & slash and revel in scenes of combat or outright slaughter.  They want to reduce their enemies into a corpse puddle in the triple-digit negative hit points. Merely killing them is not enough.  To experience more combat, they will often sabotage role-playing scenes, sometimes to the point of pissing off powerful NPC’s, even potential allies, just to see if they can beat his or her minions, allies, armies, city watch, or whatever the GM can throw at them.  When treasure is divided amongst the party, they are always trying to justify why their character “needs” the more powerful items available (“spamming need”).  They are the one who always wants to play a half-dragon/drow and tries to make a case for doing away with any nerfing of his chosen race/class combo.

“Got skills, I’m a Champion of D&D” – Weird Al, “White & Nerdy”

They often fall into the trap of thinking that their characters are the center of the game’s universe; that there is no challenge they can’t defeat.  They develop an invulnerability complex.  Since they are the “heroes” and the “heroes” of the story never die, they must be safe, right?  These players make it extremely difficult to foreshadow future nemeses:

Player 1: “You say we saw the shadow of a dragon flying overhead?  We try to follow it to its lair.”

Player 2: “Ummm… that’s a dragon.”

Player 1: “Yeah, so what?  It’s probably got a ton of treasure!”

Player 3: “But… It’s a dragon… And we’re only 2nd level!”

Player 1: “Well, the GM wouldn’t have had his shadow fly over us if we weren’t supposed to go find him and kill him.”

GM:  /facepalm

In short, they treat the game like an MMO where the goal is to “win.”

Before you say it, I know: in some games, this is appropriate and expected behavior.  There is nothing wrong with these games.  The problem with the munchkin is that he either doesn’t know when it is inappropriate for the game or the rest of the group, or he doesn’t care.  As long as he is having a good time, it doesn’t matter if he’s pissing off everybody else.  Until they choke the life out of him, he’s having the time of his life.

photo by C_Dave

As He Was a Munchkin, I Slew Him

“Just for that, your entire party falls into hell.  Roll to see how painfully you die.” – Comic Book Guy, The Simpsons

As a GM, these players have made me want to tear my hair out.  I don’t view the game as an adversarial contest against the players.  I know, that is my personal preference.  Not everyone has to play that way.  But I think that players choose to participate in a game.  If they choose to participate, they are, by default, choosing to go along with the conventions of the GM and the majority of players.  After all, the game belongs to everyone at the table, collectively.  A player’s right to conduct themselves however they wish and serve their own needs in-game ends where it causes the majority of the group to no longer have fun playing the game.

These are the players for whom “Rule 0″ was created.

I’m assuming that you have tried to talk to the player in question about his play style.  Actually, it’s often better that another player from the other side of the screen try that approach as well before you consider GM-inspired divine intervention.  Still, as I am well aware, some players for one reason or another, cannot be persuaded.  It is either all they know, or merely attempting to discuss the subject with them shatters some fragile place in their self-esteem and they become convinced that they are hated by you or others at the table, or they just don’t see a problem with their behavior and insist that there is nothing wrong… or better yet, that everyone else should play their way, because it is obviously way more fun.

Yes, there are other ways to deal with the situation.  You, as GM, can study the rules and stay one step ahead of the offending player(s).  You can constantly change the game to throw encounters at them that challenge their character.  Unfortunately, this only plays into their “GM as adversary” view of the game.  And can chew through everyone else’s characters.

Sometimes the best solution is the proverbial “blue bolts from the heavens” or even the dreaded “Rocks fall, everyone dies.”

Nothing In His Life Became Him Like the Munchkining

A word of caution here.  In my experience, a munchkin play-style is often the result of something much larger than wanting their character to have cool gear and lots of hit points.  I have run head-first into some pretty nasty situations where the play-style is an offshoot of something in the player’s life or psyche that is out of the ordinary.

That guy who is playing the fighter who is bullying the rest of the party and taking all of the best gear for himself?  Maybe he is getting bullied by a supervisor at work and is about to lose his job.

The other guy who sits in the corner and always insists on playing a ninja, or at very least a rogue or assassin?  He may have Asperger’s Syndrome and this may be the only way he knows how to handle communication with the rest of the group.

The girl who gets bored with anything but combat and is always playing “beat the GM” including sabotaging role-playing encounters?  Maybe she is dealing with depression, a fragile self-esteem, or possibly even Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

A note on Narcissistic Personality Disorder at the gaming table: People with NPD do show up at gaming tables more often than you would think.  Role-playing games are excellent opportunities for them to act out power fantasies that they can never live in real life.  A common misconception about people who are suffering from NPD is that they think they are better than everyone else, and they certainly make it appear that way by their actions and words.  The truth is, narcissists usually have extremely low self-esteem and are overcompensating in a grand way to hide this extreme lack of self-worth from the rest of the world.  In a group setting, they are proud and boastful, often reminding people why they are awesome.  They are prone to the invincibility complex and always want the coolest of everything: character, gear, spells, etc.  The reality is that they feel so uncool and worthless that this facade is the only thing allowing them to cope.  NPD is an extremely serious disorder and should be treated as such.  

Problems that the GM may be unaware of can crop up in players lives all the time, especially if the game is hosted at a gaming store or for some other reason the players aren’t all close friends.  Hell, even close friends keep things to themselves that nobody else at the table knows. Also, even if you do know about something that is an issue for a player at your table, you may not know the severity of the issue and how it is affecting them.

In-game solutions like the aforementioned “blue bolts from the heavens” or “rocks fall, everyone dies” can be demeaning to these players and make their problems seem compounded by them no longer feeling welcomed in their gaming group.  At the same time, they may not be open to discussion their problems with their fellow gamers or may be in denial about what is really affecting them.  This can create some extremely awkward situations that can lead to the disintegration of the entire gaming group.

Still, and I cannot stress this enough, as a GM, you are NOT a psychotherapist.  You are most likely not qualified to provide these players with the assistance they require (unless you actually are a mental health professional).  Don’t try.  Offer them a friendly ear or shoulder to cry on, by all means.  If appropriate, suggest that they find the help they need, though in my experience, that conversation never goes the way you intended.  Finally, encourage them to take a break from the game.  Sure, this game may be one of the few bright spots in their day, but they also soon may be the only player left at the table as everyone else is driven away by their behaviors.  Encourage them to rejoin the game when they are better able to do so.  This is a difficult conversation as well, and could go poorly, so be prepared for some hostility.

Above all, remember that, as GM, you are doing this for fun.  It is not a job and should not feel like one.  It shouldn’t cause you undue amounts of stress.  Most importantly, if you ever dread sitting down behind the screen because of a player, you either need to fix what’s wrong with your group, including possibly removing that player, or take some time off from running the game.

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Have you ever had a player like this in your group?  If so, how did you handle it?