Gamemaster Evaluation

[Oriande]

I have debated posting this, but two sessions of hostile reactions from the same player have me concerned.  What I need to know is how do other gamemasters rate their own performance? 

Usually, I like to listen to my players between sessions. If they are eager to talk about what is happening, are pestering me for clues on their plans or theories, and are looking forward to the next session, then I think I am doing well.   In addition, I like to place an emphasis on role-playing: character interactions, conflict and growth, instead of simple monster slaying.  However, when I recently presented the groups True Believer with a moral dilemma – a test of Faith – the player was far from happy with me.  Ironically, other players whose characters are facing threats to their family, job or freedom all appear to be enjoying the game.
To paraphrase one player: “My character hates it, but I think it’s great.”   So… how do I know if I’m doing this right or not?

[Moriden]

this is a difficult situation to handle. From what little you've given us it sounds like you have a player whose looking for a different style of game then the others. Can you give us a bit more detail,  perhaps describe the moral dilemma you gave him and what his reaction was to it?

[sinker]

Most of the time I keep a very open dialogue with my players, so I hear directly from them when they're unhappy with the game. What I would say is find some time to take the player aside and figure out exactly what is bothering him. It's possible that s/he doesn't want a game of introspection. That's totally ok. You can run a game with differing results for different players. It might also be possible that what ever you brought up is just too close to them. I know that I have a lot of abandonment issues, so as a player personal betrayals tend to sour me on a session. So it may not be the method, it may be the specific situation.

[UmbraLux]

However, when I recently presented the groups True Believer with a moral dilemma – a test of Faith – the player was far from happy with me.  Ironically, other players whose characters are facing threats to their family, job or freedom all appear to be enjoying the game.

A couple of possibilities come to mind...do note, I'm speculating not accusing.  

• The player may not see the dilemma you've presented as a choice.  Does he think you've railroaded his character into a dead end which the character can't reasonably recover from?
• The player may not see the same choices you do.  Does the player realize there is a way out through Faith?  (Remember, you want the character to show faith.  You don't need the player to do so.)
• It may simply be an area of play which the player is uncomfortable with.  Ether the ethics of the situation itself, the 'gray' nature of a moral dilemma, or he simply wants to fight monsters...or something else entirely.

[Paynesgrey]

Another issue to consider is "how is he objecting?"  Is he simply expressing that he's unhappy with the way things are going, or is he actively trying to screw up the whole gaming experience for everyone? 

Can you adjust the things to accomodate him without being unfair to, or otherwise upsetting the other players?

[Drachasor]

I'm with Umbra at the moment.  What's this dilemma?

[Bruce Coulson]

It sounds like the issue is with the problem you've presented to this player, not the game in general.

What I would do is try to find out what about the situation the player finds upsetting.  And how things could be modified to better suit what the player would like to see.

[Oriande]

To elaborate:
Part of the current plot centers around a child who was conceived in a demonic ritual and baptized in blood. The cultists intend for her to be the mortal vessel of their master – to be possessed by him in order to give him access to and power in the mortal realm.  The character must decide whether he will destroy her before this can happen.  

As for his reaction, the player initially called me a bitch and flipped me off.  The character tried splashing the kid with holy water which had no effect as she is not currently a demonic entity.  At the most recent session, he told me I was destroying the game since Betty [another character] would never forgive him if he killed the child.  I tried to provide some subtle guidance by asking him who he wanted to consult; the local head of his order? The parish priest? The party?   Eventually, he confided in another character who observed that he seemed more concerned for himself; “I could go to prison.” than with “I might be killing an innocent to save the world.”

Later, I thought everything was going to be resolved and the character triumphant, but then things went downhill again. The character had hit on an excellent (perhaps even brilliant) solution when he declared that he would invoke an aspect “With Faith All Things Are Possible”, determine whether or not the child had a soul, and if it had been sold to Satan, he would get it back.  Unfortunately, when I asked how he wanted to proceed, he said that his character was going to the rifle range to practice marksmanship, in case he had to “blow her head off.”  while the player went back to texting his girlfriend.  [Maybe that’s the problem.] His actions did not strike me as being an Act of Faith – quite the opposite in fact… as two of the other players commented at the end of the session.  

[bitterpill]

As moral dilemmas go that one is particularly harsh I suppose you should signpost him a good out in that

[UmbraLux]

There's another possibility I neglected to bring up in my initial post...the issue may not be related to the dilemma presented at all.  It could be an external issue being acted on via game play.  That's what your expanded explanation makes me think.  

Talk to him.  Find out what he's looking for and, if you can, his complaints.

[Katarn]

well, for starters, you put your priest in a very challenging moral dilemma, one that most other players won't have to face anything remotely similar.  He tried various faith aspects (such as holy water), which did not work.  if your player is normal he'd hate killing an innocent, regardless of his character's affiliation.

More likely than not, it feels unbalanced to him.  He has the biggest struggle, so I'd say he's frustrated and locked into what seems like a hopeless situation.

[Drachasor]

I don't think that's a bad dilemma at all.  Try to find a way to stop the demon from taking over, if that fails, kill the kids AFTER the demon is in charge (harder than just killing a kid, but not impossible, I'd think).  It's a PROBLEM, but not something terribly difficult to manage in principle.  Seems like the player freaked for no good reason.  So either he expects everything to be super-easy or there's something else going on like Umbra said.

[devonapple]

A) I think that is a pretty harsh moral dilemma.
B) These types of dilemmas happen with some regularity in the fiction, so you're totally justified in having such moral conflicts.

I occasionally find myself having to say to my own players "you're almost there - you're doing great" when a particular challenge seems to be confounding them.

I feel bitterpill's suggestion of nudging the player towards some sort of "out" or signpost might be alright. Perhaps have a priest NPC - of his own volition - approach the character, as if God felt there was some way he could help with something, the same way Michael just ends up where he is needed all the time. Don't make it a social conflict to force the PC to unburden himself, though - the player will feel even more out of control if he is forced by an NPC to spill his troubles, and it would reinforce any perception of player-GM antagonism.

The player may simply be "checked out," however, but without talking to him, it will be hard to determine whether this is some external frustration being expressed in-game, or actual dissatisfaction with feeling trapped by the GM.

Say something like "hey, I know this dilemma is harsh, but it happens all the time in Dresden Files. I'm not doing it to punish you or make your own life hard - it is supposed to make the game more compelling, and to give players serious choices to make so that they can grow. There may be ways out which you haven't identified, but this game isn't supposed to be a chess game between player and GM - we all are here to have fun, so if this isn't fun for you, lets work together on resolving it. We can discuss - out of character - how to resolve this dilemma, without the other players. I'm happy to hear your thoughts and help out if I can: just tell me how you envision this ending."

[Drachasor]

A harsh dilemma would be having to kill the kid before the demon takes over or the kid and another kid dies.  Something like that REALLY sucks.  What we have here is just a difficult problem.

[UmbraLux]

It is a dilemma, but I can see several ethical (though not necessarily legal) ways out.  Kidnap the kid and adopt him out or have him raised by the church.  Put the kid through a regimen designed to remove the ritual taint (repeated baths in holy water, various blessings, or even more elaborate rituals).  Variations or combinations of those are possible.  It could be as simple as ensuring the player knows there are a variety of options to consider beyond murder or possession.

But, when the person reacts angrily and / or passive aggressively, it's probably time to a) cool down and then b) have a reasoned discussion to find out the source of the problem.