Need help fighting the dreaded MinMaxer.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Mailanka

Don't punish anyone at all. The guy who walks into a Game of Thrones game with a DF character (or the guy who walks into DF with a Game of Thrones character) doesn't need a spanking, he needs to be informed about what the game is. Either he made a mistake and just adjusts his character ("Oh, well, but I still want to play a knight." "Sure, he just needs to fit into how the setting is going to work."), or the GM made a mistake and needs to adjust the game ("Oh, you guys want something a little less ponderously political and with a little more swash in its buckle? I can change things up."), or there's an incompatibility and the player really shouldn't waste his time here ("I really, really, really want to play DF!" "Well okay, but this isn't a DF game and it'll probably bore you to tears. But I know a DF group you can play with...")

I have seen stories that suggest that some players feel entitled to join any game, and to play the character they had already decided to play, without regard for the game's intent; that the situation is sometimes not honest misunderstanding, but lack of will to cooperate with the GM or accept the campaign premise. I'm not sure if I've encountered such a thing personally. But the measures that would work with honest intent on both sides may not be effective if such a case should actually arise.