Eternal bliss or Unending strife

[alchemy.freak]

I got a question for all of you out there. Which would rather have

A party that gets along well, agrees on everything and plans things well and executer perfectly.

Or a party that often fights amongst themselves, but is spontaneous and gets the job done eventually

My personal preference is the second one. i had a CoC campaign where the players got on a little too well. the game became boring quite frankly. they were able to plan and execute things well, there were few suprises. It got so boring for me to DM. so i introduced a new PC, who acted as a fifth wheel. the player was new to the game but he roleplayed well. and manipulated the other PC's which made the games much less perfect.

any other experiences?

[mikeejimbo]

I like something in between. My group occasionally plans things well, but hardly ever agrees on anything.

[AmberVael]

I used to play in a group that was so radically opposed to each other that we often killed each other off. If we didn't get through a session without someone dying, it was unusual.
But it was fun. Very fun.

[Jayabalard]

somewhere in between.

by the way, isn't there supposed to be a thog answer?

[Thomas]

The first. I like powergaming, and that includes making and executing great plans. I don't like PCs killing each other - that's counterproductive to the game.

Games like CoC are totally different, but I've never had a problem breaking up player cohesion there. (In fact, in the last CoC campaign, the best powergamer in my group was the one who became convinced of various crazy things and built a bomb in the shared apartment...) I still tailor my CoC games expecting the players to stick together, though.

[alchemy.freak]

The first. I like powergaming, and that includes making and executing great plans. I don't like PCs killing each other - that's counterproductive to the game.

my issue is not game productivity. if they get on too well they get complacent. players would not be afraid of dying if the cleric is their good friend and will always cast resurrection.

but they would be if they were fighting with eachother.

the fact is that a little party strife makes the PC's more human (or elvish or dwarven or what have you) it makes the game much better when you look back at it, even if the dispute seemed petty at the time

granted, one should never let the fights get out of character and out of hand. thats when it gets really counter productive

[PnP Fan]

I want my players to get along, and I like the characters to have a little strife. Makes for good times, and lots of laughter, without people completely ruining an evening of fun.