Dealing with Problem Players

I've played with a lot of groups before finding one group that fits well with my preferences. I played with people I didn't much care for because I love the game more than I hate that one person. It's a sad, simple fact that sometimes within a group certain players can drag down a game. If you are lucky you won't run into these types or at least they won't make their issue everyone's issue, but that is not always the case. Dealing with those players can be difficult and most books do not cover this subject, the most notable exception being Victoriana second edition by Cublicle Seven, a fantastic rpg for anyone interested in Steampunk. To help a new GM combat these various types of players I'll outline a few of the archetypes and give a few tips on how to handle them.

Type: Anti-social Players
Description: These players make characters that almost seem bent of ruining the other players good time. They rarely say anything productive, their actions ruin any chance for advancement, and the character has a hard time fitting into the group. Sometimes this can create dramatic tension but usually it just pisses everyone off.
How to Handle: This character, by their very nature, is a lightning rod for misfortune and it should be demonstrated. People with poor people skills that make bad decisions rarely have good things happen to them; karma is a bitch. All else fails, kill them.

Type: Attention Hogs
Description: These players try to take up the spot light in every scene. They sometimes run off on their own, yell over other players to get their point across, or speak up before anyone else can react even to the point of cutting off the GM. These players forget that there are more than just them involved
How to Handle: The first step is just to tell them to take a step back and let someone else do something. In the case of them running off ahead of the group just make something bad happen to them. Keep is less than death but more than just a loss of hit points. A random kidnapping is a good way to remove them from the scene for a little while but giving them something else to focus on doesn't hurt either.

Type: Inattentive Players
Description: They might be present but they are not involved. They tend to surf the internet, text others, or play video games while you are trying to run your game. While not game wrecking it can be disrespectful. This is my least favorite type of player.
How to Handle: If you have to see whether they need to leave for any reason. If they say they are involved but still don't participate then have misfortune befall the character or just withhold experience points. Do not hold back.

Type: Min-Maxers
Description: These types of players are generally associated most with unstoppable death machines and the archetype can be closely associated with Power Players as well. They put all their character points into only a few stats and skills while leaving the rest nearly empty. These highly specialized characters tend to easily overcome certain obstacles and are usually unrealistic characters.
How to Handle:The nice part about this archetype is they are easily beaten by any task they are not specialized in. A simple locked door or bit of knowledge can separate the Min-maxer from their goal and help stress the need for a little diversity.

Type: Munchkin
Description: This person is a real minimalist in terms of story. The character is little more than a collection of stats. The character seems to have no past, goals, or plans other than to "be better".
How to Handle: Since the character has no set backstory you should use it. You can withhold extra story based bonuses from them. Completing personal goals generally merit more experience or additional bonuses but those are hard to achieve if the player doesn't have any. Reward your players that complete story arcs. Since most Munchkins are concerned with gaining as much experience points as they can they will be more motivated to add some story to their character.

Type: Power Player
Description: These are the types that focus more on the "game" aspect than the role playing and have this idea in their head that they can "win" the game. This is usually accomplished by killing everyone in their path as would be the case if it was a video game.
How to Handle: The easiest way to beat the power player is to create a task that can not be accomplished through brute force but through role playing. Give them a social engagement where they have to gather information and where people would notice somebody bullying a NPC or cleaving them in two.

Type: Rule Lawyers
Description: When kept in check a rule lawyer can be useful as they tend to know the mechanics of the game system. They can help speed the game along by remembering that one rule you forgot but they can also slow it down the same way. This player is the most likely to try to get a GM to overturn their ruling or call them out when something is not canon.
How to Handle: The easiest way to handle them is to simply remind them who is running the game. It's the role of the GM, not the player, to judge what is what. If you have a good reason for the change then be free to let them know why, story trumps mechanics every time. If you don't have a good reason then maybe you should listen to the lawyer.

Type: Secret Keepers
Description: This person tries to keep other players in the dark, usually for their own benefit. This type can also try to keep secrets from the GM in an attempt to blindside the story, once again, for their own benefit. They will try to work ahead of everyone else or undermine the group. Sometimes this can help build story but most of the time if just makes running a game difficult.
How to Handle: This is an easy one. Just find a way to drop the information into another character's lap.

Type: Whiners
Description: It doesn't matter what how poorly they play or how many benefits you give them, the minute any misfortune befalls their character they have to complain or claim something isn't fair. This is obnoxious due to the fact that sometimes things just don't work out and that's life.
How to Handle: There isn't too much you can do about this player except remind them that they could always run a game if they aren't enjoying playing yours, leave the game entirely, or just suck it up. Remind them that conflict is a part of life, which the game loosely represents, and no one wins all the time.