Need Opinions on a Game Situation

[Quickbeam]

Here's my two cents being thrown in to the mix well after the discussion has essentially died down.

1) I HATE metagaming, but it's an unfortunate reality in some groups, with certain players. Attempting to air your concerns is a fine idea, but it isn't likely to change much. As noted above...this player likes to "win" and the means to this end is playing powerful PC's who will rely on her personal knowledge if that helps their cause. We have a player in our group who is an otherwise fantastic gamer -- he just can't help using player knowledge. We've asked him to limit these incidents because it's detrimental to other player's enjoyment of the game. This has worked to some degree, but ultimately we've had to accept this is part of the fun for him. IOW, we all try to accept the wants/needs of others at the table.

2) Creating a character to carry out the vendetta of another PC is horsebleep!! Maybe this was her just venting a bit; perhaps it's her sense of humor; it's even possible she was trying to get a reaction out of the rest of you. In any event, that behavior has no place in any decent RPG. Hopefully, this was just a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing.

3) IMO, the elf should not have acted on player knowledge, and the dwarf should not have argued so strenuously that the contents of the box were evil. The Deck had nothing to do with the human's loss of a limb -- that was a trap on the box itself. Like most arguments, sadly, this one should have been avoided.

4) Finally, the fact that you like this woman outside the game does not have any bearing whatsoever on how you feel about her in game. Your playing styles are in direct conflict, and your definitions on what determines an enjoyable session run counter to one another. Unless you're both (all) able to compromise a little, your feelings of frustration are certain to recur again and again.

Good luck...and BTW, let her play another character. You may enjoy the challenge of playing a PC with one limb, or using a temporary character to help recover your PC's lost soul. Other players, though, would hate every second of the experience. The game is about having fun, and expecting/forcing her to act in a manner she loathes doesn't sound like much fun to me.

 

[Magestrike]

....

Actually, she did get a reaction form everyone when she said what she did. This was after she went into the bedroom to look through some books first. (They have an 8 ft tall bookcase with nothing but DnD stuff...its quite impressive). The DM the human player and the dwarven player are all in the kitchen shooting the breeze about the mission and how the halfling isnt going to believe it. She comes out and makes her comment.

Almost immediately, the DM, who is her husband, says very sternly "No. No way. I want a party of local heroes that are pretty much on their own in the area. No way Im letting you play a character with those kinds of connections and with that power. Especially not after your comment about the dwarf and doubly especially not after that stunt you pulled tonight. Now I have to go back and reprepare for the next several weeks because your damn elf is catatonic. Thanks a whole lot."

She was of course quite upset at this and was arguing feverishly during the entire thing. Like I said, who knows what went on after we left. Whew. The DM actually surprised us, because he doesnt ever react like that. I think that he really upset about her actions, because in his words to us, "I stil cant believe she did it. Her elf wouldnt have done that. But you know me...I let the players play their characters without any guiding. Now Im sorry I did."

All will work out in the end though. I honestly cant wait till Tuesday when we play. It will be interesting to see what has been worked out.

Not to mention that if she is playing a Harper....I aint playing....lol. Im the dwarf...lol.

Thanks again.

 

[Bob Aberton]

I'll defend the dwarf's actions/motivations here:

Some have said that when the dwarf swore to destroy the box & its contents, that that was really weak RP, because "the box isn't evil; just the trap."

I disagree. If I had to LOP OFF a FRIEND'S HAND, just because he touched some box, I wouldn't then assume that the contents were harmless. Maybe it's not logical to feel a certain loathing for the object, BUT that's the way the human mind works. I just had to horribly maim my friend to save his life when he just touched The Box. Thus, my mind associates a certain amount of pain and perhaps grief with the object. The object becomes linked to the deed I had to do to save my friend. The object becomes an object of my hatred. So, I vow to destroy it. I'm no psychology buff, but I'm pretty sure that's the way the mind works, right?

 

[drothgery]

My group's policy is that all new PCs start at half XP of the highest XP in the group. This isn't that bad in 3E, where it puts you on average 1 to 1.5 levels below the rest of the group.

In 3e, you get farther and farther behind depending on the party level in that system. After sixth level, you're two levels behind; after 8th level, you're three levels back; after 11th, you're four back; after 15th, you're five back, and after 18th level, you're six levels behind the highest-level character.

I haven't brought new characters into a running 3e game, but I think I'd just go with 1 level back before 5th level, and two back afterwards.

 

[Magestrike]

....

That was pretty much my thinking with my character Bob. The dwarf didnt want anything to do with the box after the whole "lopping off the humans arm thing". I thought either I would take it to someone a lot more powerful than me to investigate it, or Ill just leave it here where it was to begin with. I went with the first choice at frst, but then just left it, so I could help my friend back to town as quickly as possible. We actually left too. After a while, and not seeing the elf following, we went back inside to see what the delay was. Thats when we found the elf.

Actually we were joking afterward that the trip back to our town should be interesting in the least. The human has one arm and the elf is catatonic. The dwarf however is ok except for some cuts and bruises. Wonder who everyone is going to look at funny back in town....lol.

 

[Kilmore]

Well, here's my two copper. First off, a comment about wanting to "whack the dwarf" is certainly cause for alarm, but it IS a comment. Actions speak louder than words. If you are concerned, speak with her after a couple of days or so and ascertain if she REALLY has a vendetta against your character and express your concerns if necessary. If she brings a personal grudge against your character in a game in the future, though, especially if she's playing another character, you have a drastic problem.

Another thing, in my opinion, there's nothing wrong with low level characters having artifacts if the DM has something in mind for the campaign. Heck, you can't tell me Frodo was a 10th level character in the start of Fellowship of the Ring. In many classic adventures, it IS the artifact that makes the ordinary into heroes. Care must be taken, of course.

And even good characters can be tempted with powerful magic.

The thing that would irk me the most about the situation is that the player blabbed out the contents of the box before the character would have any way of knowing. That right there would have probably stopped my game right in it's tracks.

I would not let any players know my plans at any rate, whether I was married to her or not. I won't even co-DM a campaign because of spilled beans in the past. As far as I'm concerned, a hefty portion of the fun of an adventure is in the unravelling of the story.

 

[starwolf]

Ahhh yes the good old VOID card. Happened to me once.....but here is where it gets interesting (and Rat Basterdly).
You now have a character who has a mind and body, but no soul....an open house so to speak. Now there are plenty of extra-planar "beings" who would just LOVE this opportunity to just "move in" to the recently vacated house. So after a day or two the elf suddenly seems to return to her old self (since the Mind is still there whatever has taken up residence as the "soul" has access to the elf's memories). Now what happens?



Bwahahahhahah

 

[Silver Moon]

Another thing, in my opinion, there's nothing wrong with low level characters having artifacts if the DM has something in mind for the campaign. Heck, you can't tell me Frodo was a 10th level character in the start of Fellowship of the Ring. In many classic adventures, it IS the artifact that makes the ordinary into heroes. Care must be taken, of course.

I agree. My initial gut reaction upon reading about the artifacts was "Are they crazy? Who would put artifacts into a low level game? Must be a bunch of crazy kids."

I then began posting over on the Dragonsfoot.org 'Campaign Journals' message board the log from 1982 of my group's very first campagin , which reminded me that I had given them an item that granted wishes very early into the campaign. So who am I to be a critic! What really stands out in my mind about that adventure was how much fun everybody had.

 

[Quickbeam]

Two more quick comments:

1) Perhaps I need to restate my views on the dwarf's actions pertaining to the box. It's not unreasonable that he would be afraid of a box trapped in such an insidious manner; it's not unreasonable that he would want nothing to do with the contents of said box; and it's fair to say he might even want to destroy the box out of rage on behalf of his friend. I just find his initial determination a bit surprising. I think his fear would preclude him from assuming he could destroy such an item or its contents. And once his stubborn (and curious) elf friend decided to mess with the cards inside the box, I'd envision him washing his hands of the whole affair while he escorted the human into town. Nonetheless, it's not my PC or campaign, and I shouldn't judge from afar. So kindly ignore these ramblings, but I still stand by the other advice .

2) A final good luck wish for your upcoming session!

 

[Piratecat]

You now have a character who has a mind and body, but no soul....an open house so to speak. Now there are plenty of extra-planar "beings" who would just LOVE this opportunity to just "move in" to the recently vacated house.

Just wait until someone else is reincarnated into her body.