Party Infighting?

[Steverooo]

Just out of curiosity...

Do you find that it happens often?

All too often, especially in online play...

As a DM, do you try to stop it? Encourage it? Penalize it? Reward it?

I try to stop (or at least discourage) it. I point out to the players that it decreases their liklihood of success. EGG has said that, when the party splits, that he runs the group that split off into encounters to try to drive them back.

As a player, what's more important, role-playing, or maintaining the party? In your experience, do RP conflicts cause OOC conflicts? Do OOC conflcts cause RP conflicts?

Both are important; it's all just a question of what you can put up with. I have seen RP problems become OoC ones, and vice-versa. It can go either way.

As for interesting anecdotes, one time when our usual GM got a chance to play, he rolled up a CE PC, and proceeded to try and grab all the wealth and power... IIRC, he was a Necromancer, with a Staff of the Magi, or somesuch... My Druid stopped him by threatening to cast Warp Wood on it, if he didn't behave. He said that he didn't think it would work. The local Rules Lawyer said that he thought otherwise, and proceeded to tell him the effects. The GM agreed with him, and proceeded to tell the Necro's player what else was likely to happen... The player asked me - please - not to do that, and I, again, asked him to behave. He was a good li'l' party-member thereafter!

Dr. Phil would be proud. I found his currency, and used it to change his behaviour!

 

[MonsterMash]

In the group I GM for it really doesn't seem to happen OOC and in D&D not usually IC, when I run Paranoia of course I'd be disappointed not to see it.

In the group I'm currently playing in there isn't any OOC conflict, but due to the nature of the party group there is some IC stuff which is adding to the campaign and due to the wider missions that the characters have it is still reasonable that they are in the same party at this time, but it is possible that longer term it could create larger conflicts.

 

[Falkus]

That appears to be amazingly shortsighted on the GM's part. Those characters would kill each other at first sight, no questions asked.

Which is exactly what happened, and is why I don't play in any of his campaigns.

Ah, a textbook case of SDS. How were the two of you introduced? "So, this is Jack, the Paladin, who is forbidden by his god to work with evil persons, and here is Joe, the Blackguard, who is obviously evil and proud of it."

SDS? The druid leading the party hired him. I protested to the DM, of course, but he wouldn't relent. My character got the hint after the blackguard started chopping up some civilians.

 

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

My group has experienced numerous conflicts IC that became OOC conflicts. We've recently had a player refuse to play a new game because problems "at the table" because problems "away from the table".

It makes me very sad.

I've seen players get really involved in and serious about the game - spending hours and hours outside of game time working on their characters and having IC conversations with the DM over email/messenger. This has caused some major jealousy issues with some players and favoritism issues with others. This has also caused super attachment to characters, and characters have become very angry when their PCs died.

Lastly, I have experienced a lot of PC competition (My strength is higher than yours! ha ha!) which - while it may seem fun at first - is not.

We've just started a new campaign with a new set of "Table Rules" to try to avoid such conflict. Hopefully, everyone will start to have a little more *fun* with the game and take it a little less seriously. Hopefully, we'll play as a team and not a bunch of individuals with different agendas. Hopefully.

((If any one in my group happens to read this, it's not meant to offend or anger any of you.))