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QueenCaryatid
2011-04-03, 10:56 PM
What should I do if a fellow PC does something that would, in pure role-playing terms, make my character attack him with the intention of killing him? I ran into this problem today when this guy attacked an NPC that I and another PC had explicitly said we needed to keep alive (for our own personal quests). Because neither of us wanted to kill a fellow party member, we stopped attacking him when he stopped attacking the NPC, but if I'm being honest with myself about my character's motivations, she probably would have tried to kill him for that.

Actually, if I'm going to be totally honest, the reason I didn't keep attacking was because the player himself would probably have taken it personally, because he takes everything personally: every DM ruling (negative or otherwise), every in-character interaction, every good-natured out-of-character interaction, everything. He's sort of a problem player generally in our group, which otherwise has often had inter-PC, in-character confrontations that were fun and taken in stride. I once grappled another PC, and he retaliated by doing damage; our entire group once spent half an hour rolling opposing Bluff and Insight checks against each other.

But aside from that specific problem, what's the best solution for when your character's natural reaction to something would stop or derail the game? What's the best strategy for the DM (asks my DM, who is looking over my shoulder as I type)?

DeltaEmil
2011-04-03, 11:03 PM
The way you make it sound, this "problem" player is a bad apple. Before we start telling you how to handle him out-of-game (which is how 100% of all problems should be handled with, naturally), please tell us why he actually even attacked that NPC that you and your other player needed alive.

Occasional Sage
2011-04-03, 11:11 PM
I'd've seen two good options, if I were in your shoes:

1. If the DM didn't, ask him if he remembers that my character needs the NPC. If he remembers and attacks anyway, then it's his choice to put RP before RL interactions. Death is now on the table.

2. What you did at the table, but with a hard talk after.

As a DM, the cardinal rule at my table is that EVERYbody is there to have funk if one persons RP choice wrecks the session for other people, they need to tone down and find a less-perfect action that doesn't step on other players' fun (ie, "no, you may not attack that guy."). one player being a brat doesn't get to run the show.

EDIT: The DM fix will either be arbitrary, or needs to have been set up when the game got together.

Xefas
2011-04-03, 11:47 PM
Stop the game. Talk it over like mature adults while respecting each others opinions. Do not carry the drama into the game itself, it will only cause problems. Do not be vindictive, do not be petty, but don't be a pushover. State your case, say how you feel, have them do the same, and then reach a compromise.

EDIT: Also, if you've tried the above, and this person causes prolonged problems in your group while continuing to act in an adversarial or immature way, just don't play with them anymore. Don't start drama. Don't allow drama to effect you. Just snip the problem and be on your way.

QueenCaryatid
2011-04-04, 01:09 AM
The way you make it sound, this "problem" player is a bad apple. Before we start telling you how to handle him out-of-game (which is how 100% of all problems should be handled with, naturally), please tell us why he actually even attacked that NPC that you and your other player needed alive.

The setup of the campaign is that this NPC has wronged each of the PCs in some way. This guy's character had worked for the NPC and the NPC backstabbed him in some way, so he wanted revenge. The way it shakes out, half the party wants this NPC dead, and the other half of the party (including my character) needs some information from him and then would be happy to see him dead. While we were in the middle of developing a plan to get what we need and kill the NPC later, the guy attacked the NPC.

Goonthegoof
2011-04-04, 06:47 AM
Then... fight. It sounds like his character had a reasonable motivation for attacking the NPC and your character had a reasonable motivation for attacking his character. Whether the fight is to the death depends on the character's capabilities and personalities, but it seems reasonable to me that this would end in a fight.

hawkingbird
2011-04-04, 07:19 AM
I'd agree with suggestions above that this kinda thing should probably be solved OOC. Maybe just pause the game and tell him that you want the character alive (for now) and you'll fight for it. If he then wants to solve it in game, so be it, and good luck.

You'll actually be surprised how reasonable some people can be. We have a guy in our group like this but he's fairly reasonable in our requests even though in game his CE vampire probably wouldn't be...

Radar
2011-04-04, 07:54 AM
Compromise is always desired, since intra-party conflict of the stabby kind messes up any scenario.

OOC you can ask that person to back down from the fight (you can clash swords and wits IC - no harm has to come out of that) and provide reasons for that and preferably ways for his character to justify being talked out of stabbing.
IC you can convince that character, that revenge is a dish best served cold and simply stabbing the NPC is not good enough (obviously don't say it all in front of the pincushion-to-be). That and remind him of the fact, that there is a queue of people wanting to inhumate the NPC so he should get in line.

Morghen
2011-04-04, 08:00 AM
EVERYbody is there to have funk.I have a solution.

http://www.zero-g.co.uk/media/images/GeorgeClintonLarge.jpg

In your case, I wouldn't have a problem with your character backing down once you'd convinced the other guy that you were serious about keeping the NPC alive.

But sometimes, killing a party member is necessary. In a specific example from a game I was in, one guy was playing an [X] and another guy was playing a [Y]. In-game, [Y] consider [X] delicious and can gain temporary magical powers by eating an [X]. The [Y] was in a melee and [X] shot into said melee. No, he didn't target the monster. "Oh, sorry I shot him. I was trying to shoot the monster."

shadow_archmagi
2011-04-04, 08:07 AM
Remember the words (http://www.giantitp.com/articles/tll307KmEm4H9k6efFP.html) of the Giant.

Specifically, the second half on "Decide to React Differently."

The biggest challenge in roleplaying is never to find out how your character would react but rather to find a way that your character could act that makes sense for him and in the context of it being a game with the goals being for everyone to have fun.

Personally, I'd have my character confront him with something like "Thanks for helping out back there. Giving us the opportunity to save his life really helped earn his trust. I'm sure you'll continue to be a team player in the near future *blatant knife menace*"

That said, I sympathize with having to tread carefully because of a problem player. I'd suggest working out your issues, but honestly I think that kind of "everyone is attacking me" attitude probably has deeper roots than you're going to be able to expose or deal with during your weekly gaming night.

That said, it would probably be a good idea to talk to everyone else, and decide on an acceptable policy for dealing with Jim so that everyone has fun and he doesn't feel threatened.

The Watchman
2011-04-04, 08:36 AM
Then... fight. It sounds like his character had a reasonable motivation for attacking the NPC and your character had a reasonable motivation for attacking his character. Whether the fight is to the death depends on the character's capabilities and personalities, but it seems reasonable to me that this would end in a fight.

Goon is wise.