Every Dungeon Master eventually faces a table dynamic that threatens to derail their campaign. While every player slips into bad habits occasionally, certain archetypes—left unchecked—can ruin the experience for everyone. Managing these play styles isn’t about winning against your table, it’s about establishing expectations and keeping the game moving smoothly.
Typically, this is handled during Session Zero and declaring your House Rules, which we’ve covered in the past. Even though we’ve all done something on this list at one time or another, we’ve also probably all experienced the player who digs their heels in so hard that it stops being a fun game to play and becomes tedious for everyone at the table. This post aims to help you, the Dungeon Master, stop that.
The Rules Lawyer
This player quotes page stat blocks from memory, interrupts cinematic descriptions to debate mechanics, and treats the sourcebooks as a binding contract designed to outsmart the DM. To keep the game from grinding to a halt, institute a strict one or two-minute limit on mechanical debates. If you can’t reach a consensus quickly, make a quick temporary ruling, write down the question, and keep moving. You can also turn their passion into an asset by appointing them as the official table librarian, tasked with looking up edge cases during breaks rather than mid-combat.
The important part is to let your players know this is something you will look into, but mid-combat is not the time to grind to a halt.
The Chaos Goblin
Whether it’s pressing every obvious trap button, attacking powerful guards on a whim, or swallowing unidentified potions, this archetype lives to disrupt carefully prepped scenes and team plans. The most effective counter is letting world logic take over without pulling punches. If a character assaults a noble in broad daylight, dispatch the town guard and let the legal consequences land naturally. Before they commit to an absurd action, pause and explicitly outline the likely outcome: “Just to be clear, if you do X, then Y or Z may happen.”
Or, venerable DM, they can learn the hard way…
The Murder Hobo
For this player, every encounter—from an ancient red dragon to a peaceful village baker—is just an obstacle to be killed for whatever he has in his pockets. You can curb this bloodlust by abandoning traditional XP in favor of milestone leveling, eliminating the incentive to treat every living creature as a target. Populate your world with interconnected factions, local authorities, and powerful allies who react realistically to violent criminals. When NPCs have visible families, community ties, and real influence, slaughtering them carries heavy political and social drawbacks.
This is one of those moments where you say, “Are you sure?”
The Lore Usurper
This individual constantly tries to dictate world mechanics based on his character, rewrite campaign history on the fly based on his character, or tell you how your own gods and magic systems function based on his character. Reinforce early on that while players have total authority over their characters’ choices and backstories, but the DM holds final say over setting secrets and historical facts. When they insist on injecting world details, call for a relevant Knowledge check. On a high roll, let them supply a small, localized detail that enriches the scene without upending your broader lore if you’d like.
You can also tell them thats not how any of this works, and to pipe down.
Author’s Note: We had one of these in the Exiles who lasted, I want to say, a half a session, if that. From the very first introduction of his character he took over from the DM in order to try and explain how different the world was now that he was in it.
The Distracted Player
“Oh, it’s my turn? Can someone catch me up?” This player drags the game’s momentum to a crawl. Improve combat pacing by calling out who is “on deck” right before the current turn ends so they have time to plan ahead. Schedule brief, predictable breaks every couple of hours so players can check messages without derailing active scenes, and direct narrative prompts specifically to them to keep their attention locked onto the story.
Final Thoughts
Handling these behaviors comes down to consistent communication. Address minor issues in the moment with natural in-game consequences, but step outside the room for a private, direct conversation if the behavior continues to impact the group’s fun. If a player refuses to adjust after a clear and direct side chat, the final step is removing them from the table, because maintaining a healthy environment for the rest of your group always comes first.
Running a long-term campaign is as much about managing human dynamics as it is about running combat encounters or crafting deep lore. Every DM encounters a challenging player eventually, but identifying these behaviors early gives you the tools to guide them toward healthier play styles. Most disruptive habits stem from simple misunderstandings about the table’s tone or expectations, and a quick, clear conversation outside of game time is usually all it takes to realign everyone’s goals.
When private discussions don’t resolve the issue, remember that protecting the group’s collective fun takes priority over pleasing a single player. Holding firm on table boundaries keeps the campaign running smoothly, preserves the trust of the players who are invested, and ensures that week after week, your time at the table remains something everyone looks forward to playing at.
