Dungeons & Dragonsis first and foremost a role-playing game that involves parties of adventurers working together to solve problems as a group. Sometimes certain party members just don’t end up meshing with the dynamic of your group, or can straight up be disrespectful and even cheat.
Whatever the circumstances, this can lead to you, the DM, sometimes needing to drop that player from the party and the campaign as a whole. While there are various ways to do so, there are a handful of things you will need to consider if you want the process to go as smoothly as possible for everyone involved.
8Discuss It With The Rest Of The Group
While you can drop a player for any reason at any time, it will always be best if you get the rest of the group’s feelings before you do so. This is mainly to see if your feelings are justified or if someone disagrees with why they should be dropped from the game.
This should also be a discussion you havein session zero, which is if the group needs to make decisions unanimously or just the Dungeon Master. However, you should drop a player immediately if they intentionally cross hard boundaries set by the group.
These boundaries should also be established in session zero.
7Make Dropping Them The Last Resort
While it is tempting to remove a problem player the moment you spot one, most problems can be solved out of the game with a simple discussion. One reason they might be disruptive or hard to play with is a simple miscommunication error which can be resolved without more extreme measures.
This can be an abstract concept to balance, but typically works best with the three-strike rule, meaning someone has two chances to control their actions and on the third strike they are removed. However, be careful not to hold this rule over your players' heads, or else they might feel like they are walking on eggshells.
6Expect The Worst, Hope For The Best
Whatever the reason for it, no one likes to feel excluded or targeted, so there is always a chance the player you are dropping will react poorly. Always expect the worst behavior from them while treating them with the full respect they deserve.
This is mainly to protect yourself and other players who could be on the receiving end of unfortunate behavior if you aren’t prepared to counter it. Although this will likely not be the case, which is why you should hope for an effortless outcome.
5Don’t Remove Agency Over Their Character
Although they will no longer be in control of their character in the campaign, you should still allow them to make decisions that will affect the paththat character makes. You should not just delete their character from existence, as that could cause more problems in the short term than it would solve.
The problems are mostly found when having to retcon their actions or existence in the campaign.
The simplest way to achieve this is to ask them what they would like their character to do to give them their big send-off. Obviously, you aren’t required to follow through with their request, as they might want their character to do something that got them dropped in the first place.
4Drop Them Out Of Session
Only in unavoidable circumstances should you drop a player from the campaign or party just before, during, or at the end of a session. This will send the wrong message and have that player questioning why they showed up at all if they were just going to be kicked.
You should always either find a time when you can discuss it in person, or just send them a message on any day besides the one you are playing. If you must drop them on that day, try to wait until after the end of the session.
3Create A New Group Chat
This might seem obvious to most, but you should remove the dropped player from all channels or group chats where you discuss the game, and especially for scheduling. Nothing is worse than being dropped from a campaign just to see the players discussing that campaign.
This can lead them to removing themselves from those chats or servers if they are kept in, which can be embarrassing for some people. If you want a middle ground where you aren’t actively removing them but don’t want them still in the chat, create a whole new chat and only invite the remaining players, leaving the original chat untouched.
Always remove dropped players from chats where they have access to sensitive or private information.
2Don’t Ghost Them
A tempting choice for anybody in any similar situation is to stop messaging that person when scheduling sessions and hope they stop caring. This is the absolute last route you should take, and only if you feel this person is a danger to yourself or others.
In most other situations, this can cause the dropped player to reach out through other channels and even contact other players, putting them in an uncomfortable situation. You’re the DM, and it’s your responsibility to foster a safe environment for your players. The faster you tell them directly, the faster both of you can move on.
1Give The Right Person The Job
Most people in D&D circles will always give the hardest jobs involving every aspect of the game to just the Dungeon Master, andeveryone else’s roleis to just show up. However, don’t be afraid to rely on other players to do things you aren’t willing to handle.
This is especially important to establish when the group is composed of friends or people who know each other outside the game. If one of your players has a better rapport with the kicked player, ask them is willing to do it with you. Your campaign is your responsibility, but sometimes having a friend break bad news to you’re able to make things go smoother.
[Player],
As a group, we have decided that your [playstyle, behavior, character decisions] doesn’t work with the way we want to run our table, and that we will continue the campaign with just the [X] of us. This isn’t a personal decision, and we hope you find a game that better suits your playstyle.
