Player Character vs Player Character fight ends in death...

[Hannibal King]

(sighs)

Based on my experiences, you are dealing with an Alpha Male player versus a Chaotic Rebel player,....

Well you hit the nail on the head right there Edena_of_Neith.
So I'm curious if the player of the barbarian who sees himself as a ROLE-PLAYER will take the true nature of the Alpha Male 'philosophy' (?) and decide that the wizard is now the Alpha Male of the group. The barbarian character has focused on more a wolf pack mentallity with him as the Alpha Male with this party so this should test the players ROLE-PLAYING skills if he goes with that angle or allows META-GAME thinking to cloud his judgement.

We'll see.
HK

 

[William Ronald]

Well you hit the nail on the head right there Edena_of_Neith.
So I'm curious if the player of the barbarian who sees himself as a ROLE-PLAYER will take the true nature of the Alpha Male 'philosophy' (?) and decide that the wizard is now the Alpha Male of the group. The barbarian character has focused on more a wolf pack mentallity with him as the Alpha Male with this party so this should test the players ROLE-PLAYING skills if he goes with that angle or allows META-GAME thinking to cloud his judgement.

We'll see.
HK

From what I have seen, vendetta begets vendetta. So, I hope that the group can have player characters who cooperate with each other. A DM could easily have NPC opponents who are aware of the animosity of two PCs exploit the situation to the harm of the party. (It was not necessary to do this, as the PCs fought amongst themselves without goading.) Mind you, such an experience might teach the players the perils of having characters fight amongst themselves.

I find the wolf pack mentality confusing because those opting for it forget that humans are not wolves. (I tend to resist efforts to force me to do something. In the case of someone threatening a character, I would have to think of a good reason for any PC of mine to want to adventure with that person. I think that a key thing to determine if this is an issue between the characters or the players. If the player of the now deceased barbarian starts acting hostilely against the player of the wizard character without a good role playing reason, perhaps it is best to take both players aside for a serious talk.

Personally, I think both of the characters have been disruptive. Whether the players are disruptive is something for you to determine, Hannibal King.

 

[Hannibal King]

Personally, I think both of the characters have been disruptive. Whether the players are disruptive is something for you to determine, Hannibal King.

Well it gave me a break from DMing as we watched the fight play out

They are generally cooperative with the usual hijinks and goofs that occur while adventuring. Heck everyone has stuffed up at some point.

My issue is that threatening other player characters is not on. PERIOD. You wanna threaten NPCs? Fine, I don't care. But threatening another player character who has the capability of tossing a 33,000 cubic feet fireball at you is plain stupid. Especially as the threatened player always plays a headstrong character.

Sure if a player plays a weasely, timid character then I'd expect them to roleplay being inimidated but if that's not the case, save your threats for the monsters.

A beautiful lesson learnt IMHO.
HK

 

[merelycompetent]

so building a game where you can interact with others in a hostile fashion and seek a similar goal means unity. building a game where each individual has his own goals that may conflict with others will lead to... yup.. hostility.
kill things and take their stuff.

Quoted for truth.

The problems, IMO, come with taking it personally. Player A is upset that Player B injured/killed A's character. Player A starts looking for revenge (creates a new character, current one starts plotting) - not exactly friendly to the other players or the DM. B becomes (justifiably) paranoid and takes additional player/DM-unfriendly actions. The DM and other players watch the campaign + group start circling the drain.

At any point, some basic actions can prevent this escalation (not an all-inclusive list):
* Role-play the character out of the party - "I don't feel safe travelling with you guys. Seeya. DM, can I roll up a new character?"
* Talk to the other player(s) - "Whoa, Frank! My character's just fooling around. I'm sorry it went too far. Let's chill the death threats. My character apologizes."
* DM sets expectations - "Do not create a character that cannot work with others in the party." Or "Guys, I'm not putting any requirements on your characters. If you turn on each other, whatever happens is what happens. If you carry a grudge out of the game, you won't play."

Different games for different groups. Most of it falls apart simply because people don't talk to each other before it gets out of hand.

My issue is that threatening other player characters is not on. PERIOD.

Make sure all the players know that.

Good luck!