Rules Index | GM Screen

GameMastery Guide / Player Characters / Player Interactions

One-Trick Pony

Source GameMastery Guide pg. 75
A player who falls into the one-trick pony type has a preference for playing a particular character or filling a specific role. She might always be the paladin, standing on the front lines and charging evil every time she sees it. Or maybe she’s the wizard specialized in evocation who blasts enemies to bits. She has a play style she likes, and she tends to stick with it.

The one-trick pony tends to keep a certain role locked down, preventing other players from experiencing the game from that perspective. Her insistence also has the effect of forcing other players to approach the campaign in a certain way. For example, players can never sneak in to attack the boss by surprise if the paladin always charges forward into every combat.

Of course, there’s nothing inherently wrong with indulging a one-trick pony as long as everyone is having fun and you’re able to take your campaign to its final destination. But at the same time, you aren’t required to maintain the status quo just because that’s the way it’s always been. When the time comes to shake things up, embrace the change and communicate it to everyone. One way to address this situation is by announcing the main campaign story before players roll up characters, and requiring everyone to come up with characters that fit into it. If you’re running a thieves’ guild campaign that requires stealth and trickery, it’s fine to disallow certain classes or require select skills.

A second type of one-trick pony is the player who uses a specific tactic against enemies again and again during the campaign. This player has found an effective combo or strategy and uses it whenever possible, to the exclusion of all others. Again, while not technically wrong, this play style can quickly get old, and there are a few ways to address it. Before you do so, however, stop and make sure there’s actually a problem. Is the player’s strategy boring the other party members? Or are you merely frustrated by its effectiveness? Don’t punish players for being good at what they do—instead, try exploring counter strategies, and enlist other players and GMs outside of the game if you need tactical help. If you have recurring villains, it only makes sense that they’d quickly learn to defend against their enemies’ greatest weapons, or turn the party’s pet tactic around and begin using it against them. There’s no strategy for which a defense cannot be devised, and if the one-trick pony complains that the enemy seems unduly prepared, let him know that’s the danger of predictability.

Archives of Nethys

Rules Index | GM Screen

One-Trick Pony