Cleric of Gruumsh in a party with an Elf

I have a situation brewing and wanted to get some feedback.

In a game I am running right now one of my players is playing a Half-Orc Noble Cleric of Gruumsh. Her backstory is that he was adopted by the fantasy version of Bradgelina and is rebelling against them. She is basically going with the idea that her character is double-downing on his Orcish heritage as part of the rebellion (and of course becoming an adventurer). During the concept stage I warned her that Gruumsh is an evil god (her character is not evil) and this may not be a good idea, but she went with it. The other party members right now are x2 Humans, a Halfling, and an Elf.

The Cleric has just hit level 3, so 2nd level spells are available. I want to treat this as his connection with Gruumsh is deepening. I've already started having the "Whispers of Gruumsh" be a thing, specifically having thoughts of having the Elf's ears as a necklace. I am also *considering* having potential spell failures if benefitial spells are targeting the Elf. I also am thinking that a dream sequence of the Cleric being before Gruumsh in his "court" in a nightmarish scene is something that should play out soon.

From a DM standpoint, I don't want to tell a player how to play their character. But at the same time I can't see a Cleric of Gruumsh doing well with an Elf in the party.

What are some of your thoughts on this situation?

Let them play and don’t let your opinions about how they should behave effect your game.

cmad1977 said:

Let them play and don’t let your opinions about how they should behave effect your game.

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Let the DM play the NPCs... this includes the gods.

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If you don't want an issue between the halfork and elf, don't purposefully do dream sequences and the like that are coaxing the halfork to have issues with the elf.

Is it so important that you treat your world "internally consistent" in your own mind that you force the two PCs into conflict just because you can't see them working together? In my opinion, at some point you need to just let the players do what the players want to do and slightly bend your rigid thoughts on how things "should be".

Let the players figure out whether an elf and halfork can work together. They'll come into conflict soon enough without you pushing them.

Keep pushing her until something happens, then let the chips fall where they may.

Next time, everyone rolls their characters at the same time, and this campaign is an object lesson on why you don't deliberately make characters that can't play with the rest of the party.

Or, if you're not willing to take that risk... then stop pushing. Is the integrity of your campaign world really more important than the integrity of your game group? If you really just cannot reconcile it, cook up some devious divine scheme on Gruumsh's part that his little orphan Annie and her elf friend are necessary for.

Does this cleric actually follow the beliefs and tenants of Gruumish? I would think so since One Eye channels his power though him. I doubt a deity would empower a cleric who is just working though some mommy and daddy issues.

I hate wishy washy clerics.

Sorry I know that probably wasn't much help.

Story-wise, I love this idea. I also love the idea that the player and DM would be in-sync enough to make it work and not result in PvP issues that reduces fun for everyone. If the player could creatively reconcile the divine and personal in a way that doesn't endanger the game, it could be great.

For me as a player, I would use it as a platform for building my characters story and possibly even further my rebellion to even go against Gruumsh and move in a different direction clerically. However, from what I've seen giving players story bits like that usually makes them think they should chase the obvious thing and go dark, which is pretty reasonable, really.

So... dangerous territory, maybe do some side game sessions with the player to resolve it and be clear what your intentions are, or... avoid it completely.

I think the answer to this depends on the level of trust in your players. Are they the sorts that will just go to PvP and possibly wreck the campaign? Or will they use this tension as fuel for role-playing that only makes the game more interesting and exciting?

A little (or sometimes a lot) of tension between characters works well in novels. How well it works in a cooperative game is relative to how good the group is at their cooperation and collaboration. I’ve had lots of fun playing beside a paladin that ridiculed my cowardly rogue as the rogue mocked him right back. But we both had trust that it was never going to boil over into real conflict, that it was just another way to bring our characters to life.

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