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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Corinthi" data-source="post: 1252361" data-attributes="member: 8272">I'd worry about the situation a little, although it'll work out with time. It's possible that his play style just doesn't mesh well with the rest of the group. Look at his campaign, is it high octane action with challenging encounters and vicious fights? Does he seem to value noncombat encounters and reward diplomacy? Examining his game could yield insights into the type of game he wants.Don't rule out the Bad Week factor though.  Nothing caps a bad week like an unsatisfying roleplaying session. He may have come to the game looking to blow off steam in some nice monster bashing, but instead found himself trapped in the land of 'talk'. Then when he finally forced his way into a fight, the dice turned against him. The failed save vs. Chain Lightning knocked him down into the killable range, and when you asked for everyone's hit points, he knew /exactly/ why. This guy is an experienced GM. He knows a gm asks for hit points when they plan a little bit of benevolent fudging. He /didn't/ want fudging. In his pride filled male head he was ticked. The fight he was counting on to blow off steam turned bad, and he was going to die...but by god, he was going to die because of the choices he made. He wasn't going to accept mercy from any GM at that point. Then, he died and listened to the other players say how his poor choices caused his character's death. Well, he /knows/ it was his own darn fault, but listening to other people say it makes him feel like they're rubbing it in.  My guess is this guy gets quiet when he's angry, the sort of uncomfortable quiet that's like a coiled spring. The sort that makes other people tense around him. He doesn't blow off steam as much as he slowly unwinds. Passive aggressive if you will. That's how I view the email you referenced. It's him unwinding with a calculated comment or two about shaking things up and moving them along. If he's anything like what I'm speculating, then he's got far too much pride in his D&D to make a purely revenge character. Targeting other PCs for something they did to a dead character is the lowest of the low. My guess is that he wants a character who can kill some things and get things done in a offensive fashion. He might even want to stir interparty conflict, but not actually try to get the other characters killed.I think that you're handling the situation well. Communicate with him. Don't expect him to come to his senses immediately. Give him time to cool down, unwind. Maybe let him blow off steam with a short lived troublemaker if it won't disrupt other people's fun too much. Try to determine if the conflict is stress driven or campaign preference driven. When you know that, you'll have a much better idea on how to smooth over the trouble.This entire post is rampant speculation based off 22 years of gaming experience and my own slow simmering temper. The player could be complete different in every way. These are just my guesses. Take with much salt.</blockquote>

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