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Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
So INTERPARTY conflict time, how do you handle it as a DM?
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<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 6743446" data-attributes="member: 4937"><p>I understand what the intent is, but in the general case this just doesn't work.</p><p></p><p>More often than not, intraparty conflict is driven by differences in how the players want to treat NPCs. If a player wishes to treat an NPC fairly for some reason, and another player is declaring various actions that will drive the party into conflict with the NPC, you are basically saying that the person who wants to be a jerk to the world always wins and must ultimately be supported. One area that I see this happen is with regards to some authority figure - a king or a noble - where a player ultimately decides to act the part of a jerk, threaten the ruler, steal from him, assault him, or otherwise provoke him. That player is basically signaling (usually unconsciously) that they want to play renegades, that they don't think the NPCs have the force to retaliate, and that in any event his party is going to back him up. </p><p></p><p>When in fact the logical thing for one of the other players to do in some cases my be throw the offensive PC to the ground, tackle him, sap him in the back of the head, or otherwise put him out of commission or so forth. Now, a mature RPer may even be expecting this and will play to the cue. Indeed, in some cases only by attacking the PC do the other PCs place themselves in a position of respect where by they can bargain on behalf of the offensive PC and keep his character (and the party) from fully suffering the consequences of being an evil jerk.</p><p></p><p>A good example would be imagining a party that contains both Frodo and Gollum. One of the dynamics of that party is Frodo is basically always saying, "You have to excuse my horrible 'friend'." And Gollum spends a considerable amount of time tied up by his fellow party members. A mature player of the Gollum character is fully understanding of all that, even when Gollum himself isn't. Indeed, this might be the story he's going for through his play. An immature player of Gollum is just as outraged as Gollum, which suggests he has rather too much in common with Gollum IMO.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 6743446, member: 4937"] I understand what the intent is, but in the general case this just doesn't work. More often than not, intraparty conflict is driven by differences in how the players want to treat NPCs. If a player wishes to treat an NPC fairly for some reason, and another player is declaring various actions that will drive the party into conflict with the NPC, you are basically saying that the person who wants to be a jerk to the world always wins and must ultimately be supported. One area that I see this happen is with regards to some authority figure - a king or a noble - where a player ultimately decides to act the part of a jerk, threaten the ruler, steal from him, assault him, or otherwise provoke him. That player is basically signaling (usually unconsciously) that they want to play renegades, that they don't think the NPCs have the force to retaliate, and that in any event his party is going to back him up. When in fact the logical thing for one of the other players to do in some cases my be throw the offensive PC to the ground, tackle him, sap him in the back of the head, or otherwise put him out of commission or so forth. Now, a mature RPer may even be expecting this and will play to the cue. Indeed, in some cases only by attacking the PC do the other PCs place themselves in a position of respect where by they can bargain on behalf of the offensive PC and keep his character (and the party) from fully suffering the consequences of being an evil jerk. A good example would be imagining a party that contains both Frodo and Gollum. One of the dynamics of that party is Frodo is basically always saying, "You have to excuse my horrible 'friend'." And Gollum spends a considerable amount of time tied up by his fellow party members. A mature player of the Gollum character is fully understanding of all that, even when Gollum himself isn't. Indeed, this might be the story he's going for through his play. An immature player of Gollum is just as outraged as Gollum, which suggests he has rather too much in common with Gollum IMO. [/QUOTE]
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Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
So INTERPARTY conflict time, how do you handle it as a DM?
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