RPG

Okay, so I didn't do one answer a day, I did all these answers in the last few days. But what the hell, it's done now. #RPGaDay2023

First RPG played this year:

None. I haven't played an RPG this year.

First RPG Gamemaster:

My dad, for about an hour. I think in 1977. I rolled a character—an elf, as I recall. He invented a dungeon, using the light blue dungeon geomorphs.

I entered the first room, through an entrance which looked like a huge, monstrous mouth. When I entered, it snapped shut, trapping me inside the dungeon with its metal teeth.

I said that was unfair and refused to play any more.

Little did I know, I was hooked! I never played with my dad again—something which I hugely regret.

First RPG bought this year:

None. I haven't bought an RPG this year.

Most recent game bought:

Barbarians of Lemuria, Mythic Edition.

Oldest Game Played:

D&D Basic. Diplomacy. Metamorphosis Alpha. Traveller Edition 1.

Favourite game you never get to play:

Barbarians of Lemuria, Homebrew Edition.

Smartest RPG you've played:

I can't answer this question. They're all smart, or they're all stupid, depending on how you play them. But as to the smartest RPG mechanism in a game, it probably is the Traveller 2d6 plus/minus modifiers to get 8 for success system. It's so simple, and so well balanced, to accommodate modifiers of ±0-3 or at an extreme, ±0-5. Barbarians of Lemuria's core mechanic is similarly elegant.

Favourite Character:

Daryl Dyte, the Thief with a Black Country accent. I played him weekly for years. It must have driven my fellow players crazy!

Favourite Dice:

D6s. Yeah, I know that there are all these other cool dice types, but, practically, D6s simply work best. Rectilinear, make nice bell curves, can generate wide ranges of numbers. If I get to choose one other type, It's D10s. With D6s and D10s you can do everything that every other dice type can do.

Favourite tie-in fiction:

No thanks. I don't like tie-in fiction. I like every game-master's world to be their own thing, for the players to discover. I can't stand debates about canon—the point about a game-master's world is that it should be undiscovered, unique and surprising, not conformant to some other vision.

Probably the only fiction that I've read that fits in with a game is HP Lovecraft.

Weirdest game you've played:

Maybe Numerera? I've only played it once. Maybe Call of Cthulhu—weird in a way that the question probably doesn't mean!

Oldest Game you still play:

I'm up for playing any game, however old. However, I'm starting to think that the key to good gaming is simplicity. Some early game systems (AD&D I'm looking at you!) are needlessly complex. Were I to go for a D&Dalike, it'd probably be a BX retroclone.

Most memorable character demise:

Not mine, but a friend's. The party surrounded an iron golem and started bashing the hell out of it with magic weapons. It quickly succumbed, after bashing various party members down to a low number of hit points. The DM ruled, "The giant, iron figure starts to collapse, but which way does it fall? 1, North, 2, Northeast, and so on." My friend's character was West of the golem, and started chanting, "Not seven! Not seven! Not seven!" The DM rolled a D8, and inevitably, it came up seven. Failing a saving throw to dodge, the character, who was wearing plate armour, became known, in death, as "Mr. Toothpaste".

Favourite Convention Purchase:

Absolutely no idea. You're assuming I've been to a game convention less than 30 years ago, aren't you?

Favourite Con Module/One Shot:

Again, barely qualified to answer. I guess Tomb of Horrors.

Game I wish I owned:

The original Empire of the Petal Throne?

The Yellow King RPG? Maybe Tales from The Odd? The thing is, when I buy a game I'm almost always disappointed. I like to play, but I don't have a hankering to constantly buy new games.

I also have an issue with artwork—if it's too specific, too detailed, has the wrong vibe, or just reacts awkwardly with the pictures of the game world I originate in my imagination, then it can block my ability to imagine the world of the game in the way I want to.

Funniest Game you've played?

Paranoia

Favourite game system?

I like WHFRP's career system. I like Traveller's resolution system. I like Barbarians of Lemuria's core mechanic. I like the simplicity of Dragon Warriors. I like the creeping terror of Call of Cthulu.

Favourite published adventure?

Ravenloft. Masks of Nyarlathotep.

Will still play in 20 years time?

Liberally homebrewed derivatives of Barbarians of Lemuria.

Favourite licensed RPG?

West End Games's Star Wars RPG.

Best Secondhand RPG Purchase?

I don't think I've bought an RPG second hand. Hah! Actually that's not true! I bought copies of books 5 and 6 of Dragon Warriors on Ebay, to make my set complete. Book 6 was appallingly expensive—around £60 (it should have been under £10!) but I had to have it. I went on to run a 2 year campaign, weekly, in the 2010s.

Coolest Looking RPG product/book?

It's cheating to say Art and Arcana, isn't it? I really like anything featuring the work of Erol Otus. It's good because it's evocative, gonzo, fantastical, gritty, heroic, scary, bizarre, but also kind of primitive, almost cartoonish, like tatoos. So Dungeon Crawl Classics, The Arduin Grimoire, and AD&D's Deities and Demigods. (I have the early version which includes the Cthulhu Mythos!)

Complex / Simple RPG you play?

Simple is the way to go. Barbarians of Lemuria. I like the sound of Into The Odd. I haven't got time for complex, but, for the record, I have GM'ed Aftermath—so complex your character's movement rate may change as you expend ammunition. Each bullet fired makes you less encumbered!

Unplayed RPG You Own?

Dungeonworld—I thought I'd find it really inspiring, but I don't. In particular, it attempts to conjure up exactly the tropes I don't like about D&D.

Noir—The Film Noir RPG

Favourite Character Sheet?

Homemade AD&D Character Sheets, made by me in the 1980s with a typewriter.

Game I'd like a new edition of?

No thanks. Really, I don't hanker after new editions—I play with what I've got.

Scariest game I've ever played?

Call of Cthulhu. A homebrewed D&D adventure by one of my friends, called "The Tomb" in which two thieves, in pitch darkness, were trying to escape from catacombs that proved to be much more extensive and more hazardous than they expected.

Most memorable encounter?

When playing: our characters interacted with an NPC—a powerful wizard, and took him through our reasoning as to why literally the only person in the city we were absolutely sure hadn't done the series of gruesome murders was him. Later it transpired it was him, of course!

When GMing: The evil cult had assigned their most expendible member—a young hybrid snakeman—as a guide for the party, who would, unwittingly, lead them (and himself) to their doom.

As the characters debate whether or not to do away with this grim abomination, I described him using his claws to play a flicking game with a collection of buttons. All of a sudden, they stopped seeing him as a monster, and started seeing him as a child—after which they hadn't the heart to execute him. He ended up becoming a PC's henchman—the perfect sidekick for a mysterious, and somewhat frightening, wizard.

Most obscure RPG that you've played?

Published game, probably Chivalry & Sorcery. Even more obscure is the unpublished Persyl—my own, teenage attempt at a "Rulings not Rules" D&D derivative.

Favourite RPG of all time?

They're all great, and they're all flawed. In terms of game most played, it has to be Traveller. In the 80s I ran an Edition 1 campaign which lasted, in weekly sessions, for more than 4 years. It was vastly expansive.

Now, though, I can't do science fiction. Technology has changed the world so much since the 80s that I seriously doubt that the notion of humans with discrete, individual identities and will even exist in successful future societies.

Call of Cthulhu is great for one-shots and short adventures. I haven't kept up with the latest editions, though.

Barbarians of Lemuria is my current preoccupation—it may yet become my all-time favourite, if I'm able, successfully, to work out how magic works in my world.

Compare your answers with those from the first #RPGaDay.

They exist! I didn't do the first #RPGaDay.

First, please bear with some initial context:

I am creating a MUD engine from the ground up. I am nearing the point in development, where I will have to carve out a player/combat system, however I admittedly have zero experience playing TTRPGs. The only understanding I have is of being a player of existing MUDs and RPG computer games.

My understanding is the majority of MUDs are based upon D&D rulesets, occasionally modified to varying degrees. I would personally like a bit of an edge, and model my system after something else.

The engine is geared towards worlds that:

• Encourage solo exploration and survival.
• Have distant sci-fi, cyberpunk, and dystopian themes.
• In addition to equipment, implant, and class bonuses, will incorporate gunplay.

It would be ideal to base off a ruleset that isn't [[[extremely]]] complex, but also allows for customization and flexibility.

Any suggestions are appreciated, and if there are any further questions, please ask.

Thanks!

EDIT: If anyone is curious about or wants to follow development, here is the github repo.

I have seen a few videos about it but did any one here get a change to see it or play it?

Sometimes you just don't want to prep. Sometimes you get a last-minute call to run a session. Maybe it's your first time DMing and you don't know where to start.

Whatever the reason, prep may seem like a mountain to climb. Well, allow me to help you! I remember when I was first trying to figure everything out and I stumbled across The Wild Sheep Chase. It's a fantastic One-Shot by Richard Jansen-Parkes that you can get for free over on the DMsguild. The only issue at times can be how do I convert this pdf into an actual session?

Some DMs have a gift, they can read it once and go from there, some are masters at improv, storytelling, and off-the-cuff humor. Well, I unfortunately don't fit that boat and I'm sure many others out there are just like me. I need a ton of notes; because once I've got things organized, then I feel comfortable taking things in new directions.

So welcome to Advent's Amazing Advice! The series where I take popular One-Shots, Adventures, Campaigns, etc. and fully prep them for both New and Busy DMs. This prep includes fleshed-out notes, music, ambiance, encounter sheets, handouts, battle maps, tweaks, and more so you can run the best sessions possible with the least stress possible! Onboarding new DMs should be easy and I hope with this I can help grease the wheels!

Without further ado:

• Google Docs Notes for The Wild Sheep Chase: DM Notes
• Link to: The Wild Sheep Chase Playlist
• Link to: The Complete Collection

Included in The Complete Collection are:

• A Word document with all my notes including a link to music tracks for ambiance and fights
• Special PDFs for all the encounters. This includes all the enemies' stat blocks organized neatly along with an initiative tracker and a spot to mark HP.
  • A complete spell list for Noke which gives full details so you're not bouncing around for info.
• A map of Shinebrights tower. I use this as a reference when drawing out the map for my players
• A handout for The Scroll of Speak with Animals

Index:

Other Fully Prepped One-Shots, Adventures, and Campaigns:

• The Wild Sheep Chase - Click Here
• A Most Potent Brew - Click Here
• Curse of Strahd - Click Here
• Death House - Click Here
• We Be Goblins - Click Here
• The Egg of Estyr - Click Here
• Wolves of Welton - Click Here
• To the End of Time - Click Here
• Moon over Graymoor - Click Here
• A Wild West One-Shot - Click Here
• The Drunken Treasure - Click Here
• A Grimdark Adventure - Click Here
• D&D vs Rick and Morty - Click Here
• The Wizards Treehouse - Click Here
• A Prison Break One-Shot - Click Here
• The Barber of Silverymoon - Click Here
• The Tavern at Death's Door - Click Here
• Dragons of Stormwreck Isle - Click Here
• Shadow of the Broodmother - Click Here
• L'Arsène's Ludicrous Larceny - Click Here
• The Night Before Wintermas - Click Here
• The Lost Mine of Phandelver - Click Here
• The Secret of Skyhorn Lighthouse - Click Here

As always, If you see something you think I can improve, add, change, etc. please let me know. I want this to be an amazing resource for all DMs and plan to keep it constantly updated! If you'd like to support me, shape future releases, and get content early feel free to check out my Patreon!

Cheers,

Advent

Greetings, fellow adventurers! We, TTRPG Rising Tide (I, Domille, am the founder of Rising Tide), are thrilled to present our crowdfunding campaign aimed at championing creativity and providing opportunities for aspiring creators by offering captivating TTRPG resources.

As fans of the genre, we understand the profound impact that immersive and visually stunning game elements can have on the gaming experience. That's why we have curated a collection of awe-inspiring battle maps, art packs, and soundtracks meticulously crafted to transport players to fantastical realms teeming with adventure.

Join us on a quest to raise funds for the Storytelling Collective scholarships that will ignite the imaginations of talented individuals yearning to make their mark in the realms of game design, storytelling, and worldbuilding. 100% of the funds raised will go toward the scholarships (we are not keeping anything for ourselves).

The project is already fully funded, and reached 3 stretch goals, with 4th on the cusp!

Wrote a new blog today about how much setting should go in a rulebook. It's different for every game, but I feel a lot of games put too much lore in with the rules.

I know it's really hip to have your setting lean on your mechanics and vice versa, so neither works great without another, but I am more of a fan of rules that support tone and play patterns that reinforce genre more than specific settings. Probably mostly because I am not big on learning a lot about a setting before I feel good about running a game.

I also like to have lots of room to improv and make a setting my own. I know you can do that with any setting, but I just feel more confident doing that with less definition in the setting.

I could probably drop a little something more into my rulebook as a stinger to get people excited about what kind of fiction the game presents. I guess that could be interpreted as setting, or at least adjacent.

Curious about what other think about this topic.

https://infantofatocha.itch.io/chronomutants/devlog/572397/whats-a-paradox-war-anyway

• original source: https://www.tumblr.com/firebirdeternal/616605850794065920/you-know-whats-more-fun-than-worldbuilding-that

---

The post, in case you don't want to click on an offsite link:

You know what’s more fun than worldbuilding that makes some fantasy races EEEEVIIIIIIILLLLL!!!!?

Worldbuilding that gives the different races cultural differences that help explain why there’s a lot of conflict between them:

Goblin culture doesn’t have a concept of “Property”. A stick on the ground and a tool in a locked shed are equally up for grabs if a thing needs doing. They casually take and leave things all over their communities, eat from communal pots, and genuinely Do Not Understand why the Core Races are so Angry and prone to Violence all the time.

Consequently Goblins who live near Core communities develop a reputation as “Thieves” despite not even having a word for that. (The closest word they have is more like “Greedy” and it means a person that hides things so nobody else can use them, and it’s a surefire fight-starter to call a Goblin that)

Common Orc Spiritual beliefs hold that a Soul can only grow stronger by overcoming Challenges in life, and see intruding on another person’s Challenge unasked for as not just Rude, but Deeply Harmful. You’re Stealing their chance to Grow. Asking for help is deeply personal and doing so can be both a way to grow closer with them or a too-personal intrusion, depending on your existing relationship with them. An exception is Children, as far as most Orcs are concerned, all Children are fundamentally the responsibility of the Whole Community, regardless of whose child they are, or even if said child is an Orc at all.

This means that Orcs who live near Core neighbors often seem Rude and Standoffish if not outright hostile, because they neither ask for nor offer aid even in times of trouble, and respond to unasked for aid themselves with Anger. There are even rumors that they Steal Children, because if an Orc finds a child lost in the woods they’re pretty much immediately going to start feeding it, and if they can’t find where to bring it back to, or it doesn’t seem to be well cared for, they’re just gonna keep it.*

---

I just love the idea. It's a lot more believable and nuanced than the "this race is inheritely evil/good/dumb/advanced for no particular reason" some RPGs pull off, and makes certain allegedly "evil" races actually playable if you're not relying on a system that already has them as playable characters.

Do you have any similar homebrew concepts for your versions of Goblins, Kobolds, Orcs, Dwarves etc.?

Hi, I am in the final stage of my D&D campaign, and as I'm tieing up the loose ends, I'm prepping the next campaign.

I like and have played with the Tales from the loop system (and have read, but not particularly like Monster of the week and Kids on bikes), but I don't like the sci-fi robot and dinosaur part of the setting.

In my previous campaigns I put a bit of sci-fi (the government doing experiments and a secret organisation containing anomalies) but I mostly went for paranormal events.

The hooks were by the SCP wiki (details in comments), and I would like to find something along those lines. Do any of you know some good source to look for such hooks? Sites, books, videos?

Thank you!

So, honestly not sure if something like this exists.

Going on vacation and looking for an entry-level RPG like game that I can play together with my wife while camping.

It could be pen and paper based or an actual board game. But it needs to be a guided story which requires little preparation. Also open for other suggestions for 2p other than the typical classic/card games.

Thanks everyone!

Blades' "skip to the action"+retrospective+stress mechanics worked really well for my table.

I'm looking for other systems and homebrews that would allow us to "plan" the heists later, during the actual action.

Welcome to Advent's Amazing Advice! The series where I take popular One-Shots, Adventures, Campaigns, etc. and fully prep them for both New and Busy DMs. This prep includes music, ambiance, encounter sheets, handouts, battle maps, tweaks, and more so you can run the best sessions possible with the least stress possible!

The Lost Mine of Phandelver is a classic, one of the very first Mini-Campaigns that new DM's run. Hell, it's part of the starter set after all! The issue though, as with many other Campaigns, is that it doesn't describe the best way to transform the contents of the book into an actual session. The Book to session conversion can be difficult. Between figuring out when things should happen, to understanding motivations and even balancing encounters.

Well fortunately for you 99% of that work is done! Only a few things are really left:

1. Consider the needs of your group. As you've heard or are about to hear a million times, every table is different. If you plan on combining this with a campaign you'll have to make tweaks here and there. (Bonus points if you include your players' backstory)
2. These notes aren't meant to be end-all be-all. Tweak to your heart's content and don't consider any of what's written to be set in stone. For me, having notes like this helps give me the confidence to go off the rails and follow along with what my players want. It helps me understand where things were meant to go and why. Having that understanding allows me to guide the players and create other new and interesting stories. These are all things that will come with experience though, so don't freak out and enjoy the journey!

Without further ado:

• Google Docs Notes for The Lost Mine of Phandelver (Part 1 Cragmaw Hideout): DM Notes
• Link to: Intro + Cragmaw Hideout Playlist
• Link to: The Complete Collection

Included in The Complete Collection are:

• A Word document with all my notes including a link to music tracks for ambiance and fights
• Special PDFs for all the encounters. This includes all the enemies' stat blocks organized neatly along with an initiative tracker and a spot to mark HP.
  • An additional PDF with Sildar's stats should he join the party as an ally
• A map of Cragmaw Hideout. I enlarged and printed this out for my players as a battle map!

Index:

The Lost Mine of Phandelver Index

• Part 1 - Intro and Cragmaw Hideout
• Part 2a - Phandalin (Coming Soon)
• Part 2b - Redbrand Hideout (Coming Soon)
• Part 3a - Reign of Iron (Coming Soon)
• Part 3b - Ruins of Thundertree (Coming Soon)
• Part 3c - Cragmaw Castle (Coming Soon)
• Part 4 - Wave Echo Cave (Coming Soon)
• Part 5 - Side Quests (Coming Soon)

Other Fully Prepped One-Shots, Adventures, and More:

• The Wild Sheep Chase - Click Here
• Death House - Click Here
• We Be Goblins - Click Here
• The Egg of Estyr - Click Here
• Wolves of Welton - Click Here
• To the End of Time - Click Here
• A Most Potent Brew - Click Here
• Moon over Graymoor - Click Here
• A Wild West One-Shot - Click Here
• The Drunken Treasure - Click Here
• A Grimdark Adventure - Click Here
• D&D vs Rick and Morty - Click Here
• A Prison Break One-Shot - Click Here
• The Tavern at Death's Door - Click Here
• Dragons of Stormwreck Isle - Click Here
• Shadow of the Broodmother - Click Here
• L'Arsène's Ludicrous Larceny - Click Here
• The Night Before Wintermas - Click Here
• The Lost Mine of Phandelver - Click Here

As always, If you see something you think I can improve, add, change, etc. please let me know. I want this to be an amazing resource for all DMs and plan to keep it constantly updated! If you'd like to support me, shape future releases, and get content early feel free to check out my Patreon!

Cheers,

Advent

So I think I'm looking for an TTRPG system that would essentially run a soap opera. Rules light is a plus, really something from the old "one-page rpgs" would probably be perfect. I want to focus on the narrative part and have a simple resolution mechanic that's favors social encounters because combat isn't part of the game.

If you guys were about to run a soap opera game, what would you reach for?

It's billed as a lovechild of Syndicate from Bullfrog and the Cassette Futurism of the Alien franchise; it looks interesting, for sure, and I'm a huge fan of Syndicate. Has anyone played it or Zozer's other titles? I'm looking for info and reviews.

A Random Assortment of Role Playing Game curiosities

Someone recommended I try it. Has anyone here played it? I'm curious what your experience was like.

Each time I try to find something (website, software, ...) to edit and automate character sheets, I go back to spreadsheets because nothing else seems good enough. Am I missing something?

so i got the 2nd ed core book for fantasy age. I do like the rules so far but i haven't had a chance to really play it. Anyone here actually play it? how does it run?

cross-post: https://sh.itjust.works/post/973541

My characters are organizing an extraction of local (country) MCT head of security. He is Japanese, raised by the corp from birth, but not completely beguiled as his son is an orc and he had to pull some levers to get him into school etc.
He's aware of extraction and agreed to it.

But the twist is that he decided to get extracted because he's taking the fall for a secret lab getting blown up in the middle of MCT office campus. So in a way he was made responsible for actions of some shadowrunners and now he's hiring (technically it's his mother organizing this but that's a detail) another ones. I think that can evoke some ambivalent emotions.
They are going to meet in secret soon to get some of his blood, pass the details of the plan, etc.
What are your thoughts on how to roleplay his attitude towards the characters and the whole thing?

P.S. He doesn't know that but, of course, it was our jolly bunch of psychos that have blown the lab up.

Hi, I was writing a campaign setting that was meant to be a heavy metal, sword and sorcery, Robert Howard style setting.

Trouble is I'm stuck for a system, initially I went with DnD 5e just cos it has so many tools for making monsters and encounters, but then I picked PbtA as a particularly troperific system.

Now I'm kinda stuck, cos PbtA doesn't seem to have as much meat on it. Anyone have any advice or suggestions for systems?

Yesterday I ran Last Things Last for a group of 4 friends, and this will have some spoilers for that module. All DND and other ttrpg veterans but no one had ever played Delta Green before. I think everyone had a great time, and I'm definitely interested in doing more, probably The Last Equation next.

Rummaging through Baughman's apartment, I tried to throw in some spooky atmospheric stuff, cars with their headlights out circling the apartment, etc. Constant reminders that the clock is ticking. They ran into Mrs. Janowitz and told her they were lawyers here to execute Baughman's estate. One of the players was a lawyer and had the briefcase and business cards to prove it. One of my player's girlfriend didn't want to play but still wanted to hang out and be involved, so I asked her to bake a treat. At around midnight while they were searching Baughman's office, they got a knock on the door, which freaked them out. It was Mrs. Janowitz, offering them brownies (in game and irl) for working so hard and so late into the night. Two of them abstained for fear of poison.

One idea that I just threw in on the fly was that the circling car was a cowboy Delta Green agent, making sure the job was done properly. They saw him at a gas station on the drive to the cabin, and he sort of cryptically told him that he knew everything. Then he got in his car and drove away. At the cabin, they found the green box and checked out all the stuff in it. They kept trying to draw connections between all of the stuff and I tried to make it clear there werent any real ties, that was just stuff from Baughman's time in the agency. They resolved themselves to look in the septic tank but they would pour the gasoline if necessary.

Outside they saw the cowboy investigating the outhouse. They tried questioning him for more and he let slip that he was part of the rogue Delta Green. One of them used their DG phone to message HQ and they advised them to do what they felt necessary. The party was pretty split on killing him or not. They found the gasoline then opened the hatch. One of them went insane and hit her breaking point, developing sleep disorders upon seeing Marlene. She begged them for help and they tossed her an energy bar. One of them pushed the cowboy in the septic tank, wondering if Marlene would attack him. She did not, and instead tried to tend to his wounds, but he wouldn't let her. They got a ladder from the shed and helped the two up. The cowboy was very unhappy and brandished his weapon, but did not shoot. They advised them to kill Marlene. They were convinced there was something otherworldly about her, but still wanted to help her. The cowboy was pissed but saw he was outnumbered and left.

Hiding her in the trunk of their car, which Marlene willingly did under the promise she would be taken to a hospital, they drove her to a DG research and medical facility. Recognizing that she was not at a normal hospital, Marlene felt betrayed and begged them to take her to a regular hospital. She then tried to plea with the bargain for the secrets of the universe, which still didn't sway her. At this point I imagine she would have tried to fight back, but doctors and guards were approaching, and we were running a little late anyways, so I had her be detained and taken away to study.

It was pretty intense, everyone was a little stunned at the ending, definitely a moral quandary. If we played again, I figured they could talk to her at the facility, which the module suggests. Way different than any other systems I've used but I thought it was awesome. Plus it was thunder storming most of the game, which added to the atmosphere a lot. And I set it in 2004, which they really leaned into that setting, using a lot of early 2000s slang and talking about their Walkman and whatnot.

Couldn't find one but was wondering if there is a Glorantha community here on Lemmy. Any tips?

A little background information: Since we're all busy adults, our group plays mostly via chat instead of meeting in-person. And I don't mean voice chat, but taking turns typing out the actions of your characters in an actual text-based chat. Occasionally, we get a newbie wanting to join and usually embrace them with open arms.

Recently a new player joined our group and gameplay has been a hot mess since then, as she legit can't distinguish between "her stories & NPCs" and the ones that belong to other people. I've been playing for more than 20 years and literally never had this problem with anyone, as I always thought it was an unspoken rule amongst roleplayers that characters and storylines belong to the people who introduced them.

One recent example: I was trying to DM a simple story - haunted house, desparate questgiver trying to drive the ghost out, nothing too complicated but I've had prepared the whole story nonetheless and slowly introduced more information to the group. Then they meet the actual questgiver, and suddenly SHE takes control of the story, describes in detail what the questgiver said about the house and what happened there, introduces his wife and kids (her creations, not mine) and then graciously allowed the others to continue after basically hijacking my plot. She did not ask beforehand whether it was ok, nor did she know anything about the plot that I wanted to DM.

We were all flabberghasted and tried to explain to her that she can introduce her own NPCs whenever she wants but should leave the effing PLOT to the DM. She didn't understand what she did wrong and started asking questions about which characters she was "allowed" to play, then seemed confused when the obvious answer was always; only your own.

I have nothing against my players temporarily taking control of unimportant "faceless" standard NPCs like stable boys, waitresses in a tavern etc. to speed up the unimportant parts of the gameplay like ordering food and the like, but those were named, detailed NPCs that were very obviously important to the overarching story and originally introduced by me. And the best part is that she then expected the other players to take control of the wife and kid SHE tossed into the game, because her character started interacting with them and she didn't want to "play by herself".

Similar situations have happened with the NPCs of other players. She takes control of NPCs that are not her own, expects other people to take control of NPCs she introduced herself, and doesn't get why we won't do that. How are other people supposed to know the background stories of HER NPCs?!

I have never had such a player in over two decades yet she claims that this is how she had always played and it had never been an issue for anyone. And I currently have no idea how to deal with it. On one hand, she is a friendly person and her characters fit right into the universe we created, but on the other hand it drives me nuts that I have to get my mind out of the in-game zone every three paragraphs to tell her to stop doing this stuff. If this continues I will have to kick her out of the group, which I'd like to avoid .. but I can't seem to make her understand the concept of "leave the creations of other people to them".

Did anyone have similar experiences with a player? And if so, how did you deal with it?