Some campaign advice if possible. Much appreciated.

[Malphite]

Hello, guess I should get into this there's a lot of stuff that's happened in this game so far.

My players are:
Dwarven Barbarian
Elf Barbarian(Elfbarian)
Warlock
Psion

So essentially my game so far has been sticking to a less grand epic quest to more simple small adventures in a vast open world. My players have actually barely explored the Barony they are currently located in to put how large the game world is into perspective. So far my players have gone from clearing out a Gnoll warlord, to defending a town from a well trained Hobgoblin army, to now creating their own mercenary company, I would like to mention they are only level 6 and not even halfway to level 7 and so far they have been really enjoying the Mercenary group they have I even gave them a fort in a forest near the town they defended.

Everything has been going to plan for the most part and anything that hasn't has actually gone better for me, although recently we hit sort of a road bump in a sense. My players were hired too go and clear out some werewolves in the northern part of the forest they are based in, when they got there they encountered the second in command a druid who beckoned them away since they have not harmed any travelers. These Werewolves only hunt those who get close to their territory, now unfortunately one of my players was sick last session and since he is the leader(Dwarf) of the Mercenary group one of my other players who was named his second in command(Elfbarian) decided to take charge since the commander was sick both out of game and I said in game as well. The Elfbarian decided to tell them that they have to leave or the forest around here will be burnt down, the Werewolf druid told him they would not leave since they had not harmed anyone, and they would stay their ground if an attack happened and the Elfbarian decided to assault her. Nearly killing her our Psion decided to heal her and the Elfbarian got extremely enraged at this both in and out of game claiming he was helping the enemy and that was not a good call to make.

Now the Psion said that this way he can negotiate them leaving easier since he's proven to be helpful and again the Elfbarian said that since he was second in command he should follow his orders. Now before this got into a huge dispute I decided to continue the game and the Werewolf again beckoned them to leave and called a few younger Werewolves to her side, she also offered the Psion to come with her and talk to her privately since he proved he was not trying to antagonize them. He decided to go with them and said he would try and negotiate a peaceful resolution and the others returned back to the fort with the Elfbarian telling the NPCs at the fort to assemble silver weapons which I allowed him to do by dipping them in melted silver pieces and said the effect of the silver was not permanent and would only be good for a few swings on a melee weapon. The Warlock on the other hand tried to get the Elfbarian to see how the Psion could help negotiate this without violence since the Werewolves were not trying to be hostile, and the Elfbarian told him to follow his orders and lead a group of NPCs to find a good place to lay a trap.

Meanwhile in the Werewolf camp the Psion tried to reason with the Werewolves leader a large sized Werewolf who was almost purely feral and could only be understood by the druid, to no luck but was offered to join the Werewolves he decided to think about it and was allowed to stay in their camp where they treated him like one of their family and he grew to actually like them. Eventually late in the night the Warlock came and met him and told him of the circumstances of the Elfbarian's plans and the Psion said he'd try to to convince the leader to at least face them and get the others to escape, the next day they set the plan in motion.

This is when things turned into a mess, the Psion established a psychic link with the other two party members and led the second in command away where the entire Mercenary company lay in wait and knocked her out and then told him to go tell the leader that the entire coven was in danger to cause panic since they could not understand their leader in his feral state. The Psion told them he needed more time and the Elfbarian ordered him to do so since he messed up the entire contract in his eyes so the Psion went and did so and the Leader went into a frenzy and rampaged out causing panic in the camp. He tried to calm it and was then ordered through Mental Link to lead the other Werewolves into the trap area even though they had young children with them, he hesitated and asked if they could be evacuated and was told no that their job was to clear them out so he led them to the trap. The Elfbarian and Warlock saw the children and the Warlock said he wouldn't harm the children and the Elfbarian said that they can live then just aim for the adults with a volley of arrows, the Psion again pleaded for them to be let free and the Elfbarian again said no and told the Psion that he was siding with the wolves over his friends.

They launched their volley but the Psion told me he wanted to use his Psychic powers specifically control air to knock the arrows back, I said alright that's fine I'll roll with that and let it happened and again the Elfbarian grew angry and came out into the trap area and drew his weapon at the Psion. The Werewolves started howling and that drew their leader to the area well the Psion told the Warlock and Elfbarian he would lead them away and the he couldn't let them put the children in danger although he acknowledged that the Warlock did not agree and also did not partake in the volley. Needless to say they fought the leader and killed him well the Psion convinced the now awake and freed Druid to retreat deeper into the forest and not to worry about the Mercenaries, the Druid agreed to it and said she wanted the Psion to be her eyes and ears in the camp well they prepared to get revenge on the Mercenaries he hesitantly agreed and went back to the Mercenaries where the Elfbarian again told him that they were ordered to clear them out not make them retreat deeper into the forest and he would be thrown in a cell and not be paid for his "betrayal".

I still let them get paid(Psion included) and get experience but there was a lot of party fighting that happened. I used it to my advantage since I think there was a lot of good character development from the Psion and even the Elfbarian, with the Psion growing fond of the wolves well the Elfbarian struggled to lead since he had never done it before. Overall I thought it was a good session but at the same time I'm not sure if I handled the party fighting right, perhaps I should have mediated it better since throughout the whole session the Elfbarian got increasingly more frustrated and angry that the plan was falling apart and he wasn't able to handle the situation. The Warlock although not mentioned much did his best to help diffuse the situation as well and he played a good role as the voice of reason.

I don't know if I let this get too out of hand. Was wondering if I could get some thoughts and advice on this, also sorry if this is a long read and if it isn't the best grammar.

Thank you for any advice you can give.

[LentilNinja]

>Skimmed, read the last big paragraph

Its not the DM's job to mediate character conflict. Player conflict (OOC) is definitely your job but not otherwise. Character conflict happens and, in my opinion, is part of the game. Don't feel you need to stop them, because if the party wants them to stop then they should say so to those guys.

[Segev]

Since this sounds like the first real IC character conflict internal to the party, I would open the next session by asking the PLAYERS how they feel about it, OOC. If it looks like OOC rancor is going to be a problem, then you need to discuss it OOC. Don't focus, in the OOC discussion, on who was "right" or "wrong" or whose "fault" it was. Focus instead on what the players want to see happen: do they want to pursue the IC conflict, or do they want to get back to everyone being on the same side? If the former, let it happen. If the latter, discuss ways to resolve this that will satisfy people and let the party recohere. (Note that following the conflict through to its end could also wind up with a recohering party, but only if people are willing to risk their characters leaving the game.)

If they're okay with how things are going, OOC, then let it continue. Your players will run an interesting story with you. Eventually, it may come to pass that one side or the other of a party split shifts out of focus; if PCs leave the party, either the party shifts out of focus (leaving the split-off group of PCs as the new party) or those who leave do. They become NPCs and their players make new characters. Again, this will require that everybody be cool with how things are going, OOC. But that's the one thing you'll need to do to avoid having to run two games simultaneously: be ready to let people have their characters leave the party if they can't reconcile staying with them. They will need to make new ones.

[Nibbens]

Sounds like a fun game! I think your in-game handling of it was fine. Too bad the Elfbrarian player got all butt-hurt, though. He shouldn't have let it get to him like that.

I agree that this is an player problem not a character problem. Bring up the issue outside of the game with all the players involved and discuss.

[MrBright01]

The way you describe, the Elfbarian seems upset because his plans were not working, but it sounds like the Psion was being creative and crafty with his defense of the wolves, and nobody else seemed heart-set on killing them when an alternative was viable.

I also notice the phrase ".. the Elfbarian ordered..." in there at least once. Unless the Elfbarian is the official leader of the organization, or is officially of higher rank, he most likely has no power to order anyone.

Check these by directly asking the players, OOC, the following:

First: Are all the players cool with all this?
Second: Did the group enjoy themselves?

From there, you'll get a lot of useful info. Either way, I find your way of handling it to be reasonable. You did nothing more then act as judge for rules, which was your duty. It is what I and most of the DM's I've known would do.

That said, I can see Elfbarian becoming a problem player if this keeps cropping up, They seem to be VERY into having authority over the others, which can be very caustic to the party. How was it decided the Elfbarian was the leader? And if the answer is not good, consider finding a way to remove him from power (maybe he gets an overseer from the local lord, who fears his growing military might, or maybe the Psion or Warlock wants to declare him unfit for command and try to replace him, preferably with an NPC to avoid power struggles.) That assumes that the players are not happy with how the game is playing.

Also useful, make the werewolves become immediately useful. Maybe have a couple arrive and volunteer for service. Werewolf troops can be immensely useful...

[Malphite]

Thanks for the responses guys. I talked to the Elfbarian this morning actually he said he's fine, and to keep rolling with what happened in game the Warlock and Psion felt the same way, IC though I can see issues rising. I also talked to their actual leader the Dwarfbarian who said he wants to talk to them IC about what happened during the contract, OOC Dwarfbarian player is not all that happy about the OOC conflicts but liked the IC conflicts since he views it as he is their focal point in the group as the leader. Without him the party fell apart command wise and although he named Elfbarian second in command the other two don't view him as a higher rank since they were all promised the same level of power in the group from the Dwarfbarian.

After thinking of that I thought it was a pretty neat dynamic that he mentioned there, some under the radar character development happened with the Dwarfbarian which is good. As for the wolves I kind of have a plan for them mostly as a recurring group of enemies who want specific revenge against the fort, I ran it through my head and thought this might be good considering how they want revenge for their leader and they have plenty of forest to hide in. Right now the group is heading off to a recently discovered Dwarven stronghold to the north of them to check it out, and I'm putting the wolves on the back burner until they return, alright got some plans for that area was thinking on the way they might encounter some hill giants using tactics to test their teamwork, and maybe throw hints of a White Dragon in the area.

For reference in the kingdom they live in, Dragons aren't rare just the weaker ones fled only the strong live in the kingdom since they can fight off adventurers seeking to slay them.

For the stronghold itself there is an entire band of Duergar ruling over it and are planning to convert it into a base for a new kingdom for the shadowheart clan.

[MrBright01]

Just beware, if the werewolves become foes, the Elfbarian might revert to "I told you so" mentality. Otherwise, sounds promising.

[Malphite]

Thank you for warning me I have an idea of how to use them again, with a build up to them becoming foes. My idea is that since they weren't overly hostile, before they were force from their territory the begin hunting humanoids and I think I know how the Psion will react with a response of "They are only doing this because of us" which adds an interesting dynamic. The players have an effect on the world around them beyond just good stuff or bad stuff happens, they did a job and a negative effect happens can help them think about their choices which is a good thing in my opinion.