Tinner said:
After reading this, my big question is "Why did a new PC get introduced to the party via combat?"
I'm assuming this was the DM's choice, right? Or did the PC's start the fight on their own? I just don't see why you would choose to introduce a PC to the group as an antagonist right from the start? If the players are any kind of RP'ers, there are bound to be confrontations such as you posted here.
Was there a reason for this form of introduction? It seems like it would have been just as easy to have the weretiger found being held captive by some enemies. Then the group could rescue her and immediately have a common goal.
That said, I don't think the situation is too bad yet, but if I were DMing, I'd find a reason for these two to cooperate right away. Have them taken captive and chained together, blind one and cripple the other. Find some way to make this cleric and scout work as a team.
It sounds like you have some solid roleplayers in the group. Give them a litle push toward making peace, and I'd wager they'll take the hint.
I had no idea that hte party would jump the woman. It's not their MO normally. Every new character/player that has come in to this point was questioned of their motives but eventually accepted somewhat.
There werea couple of oddities to this adventure. First, I was not dming the session though this is my campaign. A playero f mine designed an adventure (my gf) and wanted to run it. We'd prepped for months and i was to step in if anything got "out of hand". Bringing in a new player is a good way to teach a newbie DM the basics (she's going to run the Drow war in the Detroit area this fall) . The player, DM and I talked about how the character should come into the party. The player and I had a few conversations about how this should happen. She at first wanted to meet the party in the village, to which i told her wouldn't be a good idea as the party would have no real reason to interact with her. So, we agreed that she'd meet the party as they appeared to be lost and she would offer assistance to them.
The party were on high octane for some reason and heard rustlng coming from the trees. The new player's character, Sadiyah, was rolling high HIDE checks so all the party could do is hear something coming. The party went into ambush mode with the monk taking down the woman quickly. I never allow initiative against party members in my campaign, and the DM called for one once the party started setting up an ambush. I thought about it for a minute and so long as no damage was being dealt and it lasted one round I'd go ahead and let her do it. Which happened
Turn one Monk trips Sadiyah and pins her
Turn two the warforged helps pin her, no one asks her who she is
Turn three the priest casts a detect evil spell and sees that her intentions are good
Combat ends and they begin to talk to her and ask her how to get to the nearest village to which she agrees to take them for a price that may be determined at a later date. From an observant standpoint it wasn't much combat, the party's captured someone they didnt know and interrogated her. They later came to an understanding. Ironically, it ws the priest whom eased the party's concerns about Sadiyah being a threat.
The player playing Sadiyah was somewaht bitter, but helpful during the rest of the game. She helped in several combats and was thankful that they stopped some creatures from sucking out their brain.
The next sessions is later on today. I sent an email last night to both players. Telling the Sadiyah character to watch her lagnauge on the board and do not use curse words. I reminded Alexandria to not threaten party members (especially away from game) and to remember that this is a party and metagame you'll need to find a reason to getalong or atleast be somewhat social with her. I feel bad because it feels like Im picking on her somewhat. This is the third email Ive sent her this week concerning something in game.
1st email, i talked to her about metagaming during combat (she was asking the warforged if she should cast a fireball on his "adopted daughter to kill the bugs and it was very blatant)
2nd email, i asked her not to use japanese dice for her d6 damage. She'd done that several times in important situations and some of the party emailed me with conccerns.
This would be the third one. .Do you thinks this person is a problem player? Whatshould I do?
Her husband also plays in the game (the warforged) and he's a model player.