In a blatant act of theft from The 80's Gamer, this month I'm going to take a look at the different kind of 20-something gamers I tend to encounter. These are obviously gross generalizations, but they're made in all fun with no attempt to offend. That said, let's get to it.

The E1337ist

These guys are powergamers. They find the most ridiculously twinked build for whatever character of whatever game. They minmax like there's no tomorrow. More than that, they're proud of their ability to break the system. These are the people who have grown up with things like World of Warcraft and Everquest; to them, if your character isn't absolutely specialized in their field, you aren't giving the party your all. They think that minmaxing is they way the game is supposed to be played, and some even go so far as to deride other players for their inability to maximize their character.

Pros: In a game these players can be a good or a bad thing. They tend to do have few in-character interactions beyond what's absolutely necessary, and are usually focused on whatever they believe to be the current objective. This can be good if your players are prone to squabbling about the right course of action; these guys will make a quick decision and go after it. They also make undeniably useful characters: sometimes you have a hard GM, and you need an invincible tank. Sometimes you're trying to build a party where every player is hyper-specialized to their role. A lot of the time you just want a good night of monster-murder. If you want a direct, no-nonsense player with a hyper-specialized character, these are your peeps.

Cons: When you're looking for any kind of deep or meaningful roleplaying, these kind of players just aren't into it. Most of the time they'll just fade into the background or wait in the peripherals, annoyed, but sometimes they will actually get angry at the other players for "wasting time". They aren't in it for the character or story development. They're there to kick ass and look awesome, and if that's not what's going on, they get impatient fast.

The Actor

The Actor is usually my favorite person at the table. I actively search for these kinds of players for my games because these are the kinds of players that best suit my tastes. The Actor more than anyone else throws themselves into their character, carefully considering what their character's motivations and desires are. They think up their own quests, deciding what sort of thing their characters will pursue and attacking it with everything they have. The Actor is about developing their character, plain and simple.

Pros: Their tendency for self-motivation means less work for the GM, more involved roleplaying, and more in-character action. These are the players who will give in-character speeches so compelling or character-appropriate you don't make them roll. These are the ones who will latch onto a random NPC you never gave more than a name and turn them into a three-session story. They have complex, developed characters in their heads, and they want to see that reflected in the story of the game.

Cons: On the bad side, they can be difficult about their characters. They have a clear idea of who their characters are and what kinds of situations they would willingly enter, and sometimes they aren't willing to bend their concept to fit the game. They also want deep, dramatic roleplaying, and they can be drama queens if they feel a game isn't portraying their character properly. If your game is more lighthearted or lassez-faire, you better hope the Actor knows that ahead of time, or you might end up short a player.

The Bear-Grylls

A.K.A the Survivalist. These players are about being prepared. They want their character to live, and if that means they have eight bedrolls and a ten foot pole on them at all times, so be it. These guys are a bit frenetic: they run from fights they could probably win at the slightest provocation, they do anything to avoid combat, and they try to make sure their character is prepared for anything. They want to live!

Pros: Funnily enough, in the best cases this kind of behavior can lead to a good deal of interesting role-play. Depending on how realistic your setting or system is about things like disease, hunger and other mundane dangers (WFRP loves these guys), these players might come across as being the reasonable ones in a party of adrenaline-junkie lunatics. Many of them will also go to the trouble of giving in-character reasons for their character's actions, making interesting, realistic characters for a world in which the characters probably have every reason to be worried about their survival.

Cons: The paranoia gets old. It's fine to have one survivalist in the party as the voice of caution when the group cooks up some crazy plan, but when an entire gaming group is made up mostly of these guys, the constant ducking and running away from every possible danger or plot movement can become very, very annoying. In addition, the characters they make, while interesting and realistic, can also lean towards the two-dimensional. A character that's just about surviving, with no other goals or motivations, loses a lot of its cache when the group has some downtime. Checking your ale for poison is only funny so many times.

The Kender

A.K.A. the Tasslehoff. Kender are at the game table for one reason: to mess around. They usually roll stealth, magical or tech characters, whichever will give them the greatest opportunity to cause mischief in a given setting. They like to mess with the NPC's, the characters, and the players. They make jokes out of character about the characters, and make jokes in character about the players. They fool around, and they're there to have easygoing fun. These are the people who will scam NPCs out of ten gold at level 20, risking the party's entire plan because it seemed like fun at the time.

Pros: Kender players usually make very interesting, engaging characters that are easy to build plots with, if only because of the amount of trouble they tend to get into. They bring a lot of humor and lightheartedness to the table, and can make things fun for everyone if the rest of the group is willing to play along.

Cons: Their constant shenanigans can cause some ruffled feathers. No one likes to be the butt of every practical joke in the game, and some of the more serious role-players can get outright angry at these players for ruining the mood or being a distraction. Unfortunately, since the Kender's shenanigans are the main reason they show up, the most you can do is to tell them to tone down the PvP mischief.