What to do with a psychpathic character?

[Ashrum the Black]

I’m looking for some advice.

I have a player that is playing a magister (wizard) in an Arcana Unearthed homebrew. His concept was the second son of a merchant prince in a very Arabian setting. Another player is playing his childhood friend and body guard (warmain), along with an archer concept scout and guide (unfettered). They’ve been together for a while (in game) and have been playing for about a year real time. They’re all around 11th level and have started to fall into some prestige classes and begun to unravel some of the mysteries of the world they live in.

The other night they decided they were going after the magisters brother, who has been missing for over a year of game time. They know he was last seen in an area of civil unrest in a distant kingdom to the north. They know he was chasing a thief to recover a lost artifact, but don’t know if he’s done so or not. They decide to scry out a safe village the scout, who is from that country, knows about and then teleport there. This goes off without a hitch and they end up in front of the privy of an inn in this small one horse town. They startled an old man coming out of the privy and then end up talking to him for some information on what is going on in the area and country.

The old man has no idea who these folks are, but they appear important and he shows some deference to them, especially to the big man in the blue crystal armor. The bodyguard. He address’s him as my lord and chastises the magister for his ill manners. (which were condescending and mean spirited)

Later, talking to the mans son, the magister is again condescending. The son is helpful, but not deferential to the magister he believes to be the hired help. The body guard tried to step in an smooth over his friends ill manners and act the role of the lord to get the information they wanted. He ended up punching the magister in the arm (in game) and giving him meaning full looks to shut him up.

This is when the magister went nuts (in my opinion) and cast a spell on the bodyguard doing 41 points of damage! The player came across as “I new he could take it” My NPC that has a crush on the bodyguard looked at it and slugged the magister with her gauntleted hand and told him to “stand down”. Having seen that same spell incinerate their foes in the past. The magister teleported out and left the party stranded half a world form home and for two days before he returned. :\

My problem is that I can’t see any reason for the party to want to stay around this man if he will attack them at little provocation, and then leave them with no way of getting home. The magister is a noble and receives, and expects, a certain amount of deference among his people. I played the scene to show the player that he was in a foreign land ,and here, his name and standing mean nothing. It is a martial society, at war with their neighbor, and they took the exotically dressed warrior to be the man in charge. Seemed fine to me and the warriors player seemed to be enjoying getting to “take charge” a bit and be the face guy for a change. What the heck do I do?

I don’t want to force the player to make a new character, but at the same time, why would anybody stay in the same city as him if he acted this way. The unfettereds player has already told me her charcter would leave in a heart but, but doesn't want to make a new character herself. In all fairness she is my wife and some of my own sentiment has probably colored her disposition.

-Ashrum

 

[Insight]

First, you need to know whether the player is just playing his PC that way or if the player is being belligerent on purpose. Basically, is the malice purely in game or does it trickle into out of game discussions as well?

If the character just has that personality, and the player is playing him honestly, then you have a far different problem as opposed to a belligerent player. If it's the character that's causing a problem and there is no way to fix it in game, you should probably ask him/her to make a new character. If it's the player, you need to figure out whether you want this player in your game.

 

[Ashrum the Black]

It is just his in game persona. Out of game he's a really nice single father and would bend over backwards to help.

This isn't the first time he character has "gone off the deep end" either. A magister opponent teleported out of battle before he got slaughtered. The player in question had thought he new where the opponent was going and teleported alone to the business the other magister was employed by. When he showed up, covered in swamp muck, singed, and bleeding with murder in his eyes the stores gaurds drew swords and approached while the store keeper screamed murder and thief and he dove for cover.

The magister layed down a murderous spell and did soemthing like 60 points of damgage. Incinerating the store front as well as all three of the stores occupents. The other characters were less than pleased when what he did came to light. The players themselves were shoocked and annoyed by this as well.

It took them two months of real time to get out from behind the eight ball and they ended up framing some local slimeball for the whole thing. He was a real sleaze so they didn't mind much, but the other players still were cheesed that his actions led to them being hunted by the ruthless cartel that owned the store.

-Ashrum

 

[Anax]

My problem is that I can’t see any reason for the party to want to stay around this man if he will attack them at little provocation, and then leave them with no way of getting home. The magister is a noble and receives, and expects, a certain amount of deference among his people. I played the scene to show the player that he was in a foreign land ,and here, his name and standing mean nothing. It is a martial society, at war with their neighbor, and they took the exotically dressed warrior to be the man in charge. Seemed fine to me and the warriors player seemed to be enjoying getting to “take charge” a bit and be the face guy for a change. What the heck do I do?

I don’t want to force the player to make a new character, but at the same time, why would anybody stay in the same city as him if he acted this way. The unfettereds player has already told me her charcter would leave in a heart but, but doesn't want to make a new character herself. In all fairness she is my wife and some of my own sentiment has probably colored her disposition.

I have had similar situations come up twice in games in which I was playing. (Both involving the same player, but with different characters.) The first time, the party voted the character out--it pretty much came down to the CN fighter and his (CE) cleric cohort leaving the party, or the mage leaving the party, and everybody (including the *PALADIN*) voted the mage out. The second time, the character simply went berzerk in front of witnesses in a large town, and found out the hard way what dwarven justice is like.

I think you pretty much have to let the players decide whether and how much to bend their common sense. If the players all say "My character isn't upset enough to attack and kill him, but surely will never trust him again", that's a pretty good sign that it's time for the player to roll up a new character.

I believe that if there's a "childhood friend" situation here, the other characters probably have a good reason to stick around--but ought to be on their guard and worried about their friend's extreme mood swings. (Which could make an interesting plot point, if you sell it to the player right.) If the behavior persists, despite attempts by the friends to help him, they're completely justified in being shut of him.

In a more typical adventuring party, I'd say that this would be enough for a last straw: in the case above where the mage got kicked out, the trouble started after one fireball was dropped point blank on the fighter, but in the midst of combat. (And if that had been all, it might have been okay.) But in your case, the offensive spell was cast with *no* other reason at all.

If my bosom buddy did that to me, I'd *really* want to know what his problem was.


As for whether the character's actions were in-character and sane... Well, I think they could be arguably in character and sane. But only if the character has no respect for anyone but himself. Which kind of leads to the conclusion "either he is turning into the kind of person who values no life but his own, or he is bonkers". Which is... not a very comfortable attitude to see in a mage.


Anax.

 

[cmanos]

It depends. Are the other characters upset with the magister? Do they just roll their eyes and complain about the bratty noble? If it is seriously hampering game play, pull the guy aside and ask him to tone it down a bit.

 

[Umbran]

I don’t want to force the player to make a new character, but at the same time, why would anybody stay in the same city as him if he acted this way. The unfettereds player has already told me her charcter would leave in a heart but, but doesn't want to make a new character herself. In all fairness she is my wife and some of my own sentiment has probably colored her disposition.

Well, the thing to realize is that you aren't the one who put him in this position. He wanted to roleplay arrogance and petulance, and he gets to reap the rewards therefrom. You are not the one who made the character act this way. You aren't the one who earned the ill-will of the party members. He did that all on his lonesome.

You are not the one who decides if this magister sticks around with the party. That decision lies with the other players, honestly. To a certain degree, it's not your problem.

That being said, it is the DM's job to try to make sure everyone has fun. You might want to inform the magister's player that his character is on the brink of being ejected from the company. He is well within his rights to stay the course, so long as he is willing to accept the consequences with good gamesmanship.

 

[Ashrum the Black]

Well, the bodygaurd lef the building after being targeted so if there was a fight he could take it outside, and to leave the guys sight to tone down the situation. The unfettered was less than pleased and was busy trying to smooth things over with the locals. The npc, me, wasn't so kind and slugged the guy.

I'm starting to worry that I'll need to have "the talk" with this gentleman. He's fond of playing outside of the law with his PC's which is fine to an extent. But when he starts down the "I don't care about anybody except myself" we have a problem. I'm just attempting to work this all out in my mind on how to do this without giving offense. I don't want to tell him how to play his characters, they're his, not mine. But in this case I'm just stunned.

He just blinked back into group several days later and acted like nothing had happened.
The NPC was seriously considering taking him out before he could hurt anyboday else, or leaving all together. And if he leaves then the glue that held them together, his father and his family, leaves as well. I can manuever around that with some DM magic, but it does leave a vacum to be filled in plot and story.


-Ashrum