In Jade Regent, I have a new(ish) player. She has played one other game of Pathfinder under an incompetent DM, so she's still learning the rules. She also plays a lot of RPGs like Skyrim and Fallout, and wants to be the best at sneaking, melee, archery, magic, and skills all at once, since those games allow for that. Her friends have said she's not good at teamwork. Is this situation salvageable, and if so, how do I make her understand the point of a party system?

  • 2
    \$\begingroup\$ There seems to be two questions here: "how to explain to the player that you need to specialize to be effective" and "how to help the player become a team player." These are not the same question - a jack-of-all-trades character can be a great support character if played by a team player, and an expert at only one thing can be an uncooperative solo act, if played by a player who doesn't like to team up. \$\endgroup\$ – SPavel May 25 '16 at 19:23
  • \$\begingroup\$ What happened when you tried talking to her? \$\endgroup\$ – GMJoe May 25 '16 at 23:43
  • \$\begingroup\$ What does "not good at teamwork" mean? \$\endgroup\$ – Tim Grant May 26 '16 at 0:40
  • \$\begingroup\$ When I talked to her she kind of just brushed it off and half-heartedly said she'd try to do better. As for what "not good at teamwork" means, I noticed she doesn't take part in the planning process and just does what she wants in the end. \$\endgroup\$ – Donut_Druid May 26 '16 at 2:12

Try comparing it as different jobs and tasks

You can try comparing classes and their roles as jobs in real life. You call a locksmith when your lock is broken, not a plumber or a lawyer. Of course, you could try in real life to train a wide set of usefull skils, but you probably lack the time and will to do so. As in real life, you generally prefer to focus your studies in a field to become efficient in it.

Should you translate it to game such as Skyrim, show the barbarian as a Companion (fierce warrior), the rogue as a member of the Thieves guild and so on...

Of course, she could be the Dragonborn and master all the skills... If she was lv 90, as in the game. She's only beginning her journey, and will grow more powerful with time. But as she isn't prominent in all fields, she must learn to cooperate with ally who possess complementary skills.

| improve this answer | |
