The Inevitable. Let's face it. Someday, this IS going to happen to all of us.

[Eclipse099]

So, this may have already happened to a few, or is yet to happen. Maybe you are preparing right now while reading this. When your character just don't get along, and eventually it boils down to a fight. You know, one character is like, "I wanna kill this random dude in his house for no apparent reason at all" but the other is totally NOT cool with this, and they they declare a minor war. :smallfurious: *GRRRRR* :smallconfused:*What? It's just one guy!* You are just sitting there, thinking "Oh god, here we go again."
So, my question is, what are the rules (If any exist) for the players doing combat? Mine fought last time, and it was a druid vs. rogue. You know how it ends, spider, web, rogue is stuck, spider promptly eats them. But I was just wondering if anyone has more insight into the players battling it out. :smallsmile:

[Greywander]

What you're describing sounds like a mismatch in player expectations. One player wants to be a murderhobo where they can just kill and steal everything. Another player is looking for, well, pretty much anything else, so they're not okay with the muderhobo-ing. In a situation like this, you pretty much have three options:

Just put up with it if it's not actually causing too much trouble.
Talk to the players to figure out what they want from the game, and try to realign them so they're all on the same page.
Talk to the player who is causing issues to see if maybe they'd have more fun playing with a different group.

The most important thing is to talk to the players. Not to tell them off, but to understand why they're playing. Being a murderhobo is a perfectly valid way to play D&D, but if that's not the type of game you're running then it's going to cause issues. Would the player be willing to tone it down? Would the other players be interested in playing a murderhobo game instead? Compromise is the name of the game here. And sometimes it really is best if the player leaves the game, not because they're a bad person, but because they're trying to play a different game than everyone else. Maybe you could even start a second group to cater to the murderhobo play style.

Another thing to consider is that maybe there isn't actually a problem. Inter-party conflict can be a good source of RP as long as it is the characters rather than the players who are fighting. Sadly, most PvP seems to stem from conflicts between the players rather than the characters. But mutually agreed upon PvP can also be a good source of fun. So it's worth double checking that the conflict here is actually a problem for the other players, and not just between the characters.

[Wizard_Lizard]

I... don’t. Player pvp isn’t really what the game is about. If it were to happen, both players must agree to it and it has to be certain that the disbute is between PCs not players and that either player would be happy with any outcome, even if it resulted in Their character dying.

[Pex]

Talk to the players and settle it. They agree either to stop it or they quit. Win-win. As DM do not enable it. This is an out of character problem that needs an out of character solution. The problem player needs to stop it. If he refuses he must leave. If the DM enables him, you leave. There is no other solution.

[Demonslayer666]

This is why you discuss it in session 0.

I flat out tell my players this is not a PVP game, and you need to make a character that will work with the other players. If another party member asks you not to kill someone, you should listen.

The only way I will run a game with PVP is if everyone is on board ahead of time. And I already know the answer to that is a resounding no from one player, so I highly doubt it will ever happen. /shrug

[Lupine]

Another thing to consider is that maybe there isn't actually a problem. Inter-party conflict can be a good source of RP as long as it is the characters rather than the players who are fighting. Sadly, most PvP seems to stem from conflicts between the players rather than the characters. But mutually agreed upon PvP can also be a good source of fun. So it's worth double checking that the conflict here is actually a problem for the other players, and not just between the characters.

This. In my game, I have had PCs fight three time. Each time, I made both them afirm that they DID want to do this AND that it is something their character would do. Those three events (all by the same two players) are laughed at, and considered some of the best fun we’ve had.

Player fighting is fine, but you need to run it right. You should also encourage the players not to go all-out, and stick to fists. They’re not enemies, but they are violently in disagreement. They fight, but not to kill: only to assert dominance. They don’t want to waste resources. Only assert dominance.

Lethal fighting is something which I require pre-session notification for, so I can work up back-up characters for either way it goes. Also to make sure all players involved are at a point where they’re ready to lose the character, if need be.

[DeadMech]

I was hoping this thread was going to be about some of my favorite monsters that 5e has unfairly shunned. I'm collecting homebrew stat blocks for them.

As for the topic on hand. Just generally don't. PC classes are not created to fight one another. Part of the buy in to the game is that everyone is going to work together. And generally even if it's not to the death it's going to sap resources and put the mission in jeopardy.

Though all rules have exceptions. If everyone at a table is okay with pvp then fine. But that has to be everyone.

[False God]

I typically allow pvp, though I discourage it.

Most of my games encourage epic questing to beat the bad guys and while that includes inter-party drama, I encourage players to resolve it without violence, and especially without player death. If it MUST come down to two PCs killing each other, I might have an out-of-character discussion with the players to ensure that it's all in good fun and they're OK with it.

[Pex]

Characters are allowed to disagree with each other. Agree to disagree. No one player always gets his way. No one player never gets his way. A player doesn't steal from the party. A player doesn't withhold plot relevant information from the party. Play with your party, not against them nor in spite of them. A player can have personal goals for fun to do on downtime that does not hurt the party or campaign plot. If you want to keep it secret, fine. DMs do not enable nor encourage the bad behavior. If you cannot abide by this I will not play with you, and I'm perfectly fine with this being mutual satisfaction.

[Eclipse099]

You should also encourage the players not to go all-out, and stick to fists. They’re not enemies, but they are violently in disagreement.
This. Is where things went wrong.
You see, my party consists of 1 rogue and 1 druid in this game... and the druid becomes the problem. STR is their dump stat, so they just have to go giant spider and murder everything. The rogue survived on 1 hp but passed out from poison, so I was never going to allow one to kill the other. Anyway, they were with Myconids at the time, so they would have some remedy or spores to get him back up.

[Eclipse099]

So, it seems like this is done and dusted. Mainly, don't let the PCs fight, unless they are both have their minds set on it, and will not see otherwise. If they demand to fight, let them, but don't kill anyone.
I can't really say "Stick to fists" to a druid, because their fists are Wild Shape... So overall, I have now learned a lesson.
Don't let them kill each other (Was kinda obvious at the start... but it happened.)

[BloodSnake'sCha]

If characters try to fight they roll initiative ant take their turns one in a time.
Every one who want to join also need to roll.

Each one take his turn when it comes in the initiative order.
Each one have an action, bonus action and his movement he can use in his turn.
Reactions by the triggers.


Basically it is just like a regular combat but with the PCs fighting eachother.


In my games it is known that the actions have consequences.
Be it by the other PCs or by NPCs.

You can't screw your party without expecting backlash.