I hate to perpetuate gamer stereotypes, but I recently had this mess happen in an FLGS game. If someone has repulsive personal habits in a home game, it's easy enough to ask 'em to leave. When you're playing in a public venue though...
Have you guys ever encountered a socially inept gamer out in the wild? Any tips for dealing with it beyond "leave and don't look back?" I didn't want to embarrass the poor schlub, but it's hard to pull somebody aside in a crowded game store.
Depends what it is. General sloppiness is something I am willing to call someone on. They can have cheesy fingerprints on their own character sheet, but that filth better not spread to anything of mine. And I will tell people that. Everyone has boundaries, and since I try be clean and somewhat neat, I would appreciate if others didn't mess that up for me out of their sloppiness.
Smell is pretty situational. Maybe they don't have access to proper hygiene. Maybe their only free time has to be split between the gym and the game, but the game lasts longer than the gym. Either way, be careful calling people out on their smell unless you know their situation. Air freshener is way better than embarrassing someone who can't afford to do laundry. Yeah, they know they probably stink, they are probably terrified of having it brought up, too.
I have a friend who hates the sound of people chewing. It bugs him, a lot. Chips, soup slurping, lip smacking, he hates it. He brought it up one day and I simply don't eat chips around him. Pretty easy solution with only very primitive communication required to reach it.I
But never excuse pure laziness. If someone is messy or smelly out of laziness, call them on it. Offer solutions to them because lazy people are too lazy to find their own solutions even when you tell them what the problem is.
Have a policy in place for removing people from the table, three strikes you're out, or majority votes you off the island, whatever you choose, have a policy that everyone is aware of, and follow it.
I've never had to remove anyone from my game, but I was in a bookstore once when these two guys approached me as I was browsing the 3.5 books. They said they were looking for a group, so we talked a minute then I told them I had all the players I could handle. The reason I didn't invite them in was because one guy smelled like rotten meat and the other guy had lice crawling in his beard.
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I've never had to remove anyone from my game, but I was in a bookstore once when these two guys approached me as I was browsing the 3.5 books. They said they were looking for a group, so we talked a minute then I told them I had all the players I could handle. The reason I didn't invite them in was because one guy smelled like rotten meat and the other guy had lice crawling in his beard.
They were cosplaying zombies. You just lost two hardcore roleplayers!
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LOL... my core doesn't go that high... LOL
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I've met more people in game stores who smell like poo -- literally -- than I'd care to count.
Usually I finish playing my scheduled round of mtg against them, then vacate to open air. A few minutes for the sake of playing with a new set of cards, I can handle.
I don't think they'd ever make it so far as to receive an invitation to anything longer than some quick card-playing, though. No Pathfinder with Poopsy.
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I play a lot of poker. This isn't just a gaming thing. Some people are just straight nasty. Some know it. Some don't. Over the years I've gamed with all sorts. The convulsive snorter sucking in boogers to keep for some future glue experiment. The "rug yummie" eater (literally ate things off the carpet and chewed rocks, rarely chose to sit in a chair unless forced to). The barefoot hobbit (no shoes, ever). The hairy wet ape (need I describe the smell?). The jock fresh from the workout. The nerd fresh from the sock drawer. The pot head who brought a cloud kill spell with him. Halitosis man. A guy who didn't bath or change his clothes for a month as an experiment. Breastfeeding mom (I have nothing against this, btw, just pointing out yet another thing at a public table). To much cologne man's man. Mr. "let me see that" who takes things without asking. Mrs. grabby, his "wife." Oh... I could go on... but I guess I already have. 40+ years... lol. Good times.
I play a lot of poker. This isn't just a gaming thing. Some people are just straight nasty. Some know it. Some don't. Over the years I've gamed with all sorts. The convulsive snorter sucking in boogers to keep for some future glue experiment. The "rug yummie" eater (literally ate things off the carpet and chewed rocks, rarely chose to sit in a chair unless forced to). The barefoot hobbit (no shoes, ever). The hairy wet ape (need I describe the smell?). The jock fresh from the workout. The nerd fresh from the sock drawer. The pot head who brought a cloud kill spell with him. Halitosis man. A guy who didn't bath or change his clothes for a month as an experiment. Breastfeeding mom (I have nothing against this, btw, just pointing out yet another thing at a public table). To much cologne man's man. Mr. "let me see that" who takes things without asking. Mrs. grabby, his "wife." Oh... I could go on... but I guess I already have. 40+ years... lol. Good times.
Is there nothing more that one can do but be British about it? Sit there quietly fuming while trying to remain polite?
Confront them, preferably sidebar. If the problem persists, put it up for a vote at the table. Diplomacy and democracy are both in your favor and should allow you to deal with the situation guilt free.
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Is there nothing more that one can do but be British about it? Sit there quietly fuming while trying to remain polite?
To be fair, I meet a lot more "stink" at poker tables than I do at gaming tables. You can usually tell who would have grabbed your cards to look at them, if it was not a money game, within about two minutes. I don't really care if people stink, I am pretty odor tolerant. The only smell I can't live with is a heavy oil smell (because of a near death poisoning industrial incident). Butt, yeh, wipe front to back not back to front folks!