PC-cide

[Shadowdancer]

An update: The player in question has changed the character in question's intended actions some, so he's not currently headed down a path that could get him killed by the other party members.

A combination of the GM's subtle and not so subtle hints in the game (and maybe some out-of-game discussion), and some actions by my character have steered the other character off his original course, the one that would have caused severe problems the group, and possibly severe consequences for the character.

I think that the player in question will probably create his own, new character once this adventure is over. Part of the problem was that he took over playing this character in the middle of an adventure, with no easy way to incorporate a new character. When the PCs are on a space ship in the middle of nowhere, it's sort of difficult to work in someone new.

 

[frankthedm]

When i play i have killed other PC's, The worst time was when i killed the rest of the party to get a potent artifact out of the way. My greedy fire wizard William [user and abuser of the mount spell] had a hunch the kind of money the thing was worth and was more than willing to split the coin [evenly if need be]with the party. He also saw the trouble of the item due to

1. Its habit of summoning evil dragons when used.
2. The artifact was being pursued fiercely by assassins and a entire evil religion [ an Anti-Pelor].

In character he gave several hints that he wanted the item taken care of and his willingness to do anything to achieve the goal.

…one fireball much later he had the dagger. The DM did agree with me the players should of realized and done something about my character’s behavior MUCH sooner and did not penalize me for it.

William eventually met death at the hands of a evil bounty hunter [another PC] over the whole selling summoned mount shenanigans. Though I still think a god with a fondness for equines was trying to pay me back for my “creative applications” of the summoned horses.*

There was no bad blood since the group I play with can actually handle that sort of thing and getting a bounty hunter on Billy’s ass was a very logical outcome of his antics.


*This was the game where the horse from the mount spell got named “Agony” for every campaign to be afterwards. Trap detection, wrecking ball, monster bait, target practice, falling weight [until we read summoning horse mid air wasn’t allowed], nothing was too good for that burdened beast.


But usually when PC kills a PC, one PC is usually possessed or the player is being an idiot or a liability. “I can rage LONGER and STRONGER?, who cares if I can’t control who i attack?!” are words that will get a person killed.

 

[BlackMoria]

When the PCs are on a space ship in the middle of nowhere, it's sort of difficult to work in someone new.

Gee....In the various Star Treks, Andromeda, a several other sci-fi shows, it happens all the time.

Here is a way to do it. In Babylon 5 and Teklords, there is a item called a cameleon net, which is a fine mesh harness that uses projector technology to make someone appear as someone else.

So, for your campaign, the new character is wearing a cameleon net, masquerading as the old character, which shorts out (unrepairable), revealing the new character.

Old character is in reality, back somewhere in the last port of call for whatever reason and for whatever reason, the new character is masequarding as him. Which explains the old character's seeming odd and uncharacteristic behavior, since it is the new character using a cameleon net to appear as the old character.

There you have it - a plausible way for the player in question to bring in a new character, even if you are spaceship somewhere ....

 

[Zappo]

I've killed another PC in a star wars campaign not much time ago. He really had it coming, though; he played a dark jedi in a good group and used a nasty dark side power on my character, at the same time revealing himself and making my character very angry. The rest of the PCs didn't believe my character (the word of a 6 CHA with no social skills versus a jedi, no match).

So I waited for a good occasion, beheaded him, stole his lightsaber, and blamed it on the rancor.

 

[frankthedm]

When i play i have killed other PC's, The worst time was when i killed the rest of the party to get a potent artifact out of the way. My greedy fire wizard William [user and abuser of the mount spell] had a hunch the kind of money the thing was worth and was more than willing to split the coin [evenly if need be]with the party. He also saw the trouble of the item due to

1. Its habit of summoning evil dragons when used.
2. The artifact was being pursued fiercely by assassins and a entire evil religion [ an Anti-Pelor].

In character he gave several hints that he wanted the item taken care of and his willingness to do anything to achieve the goal.

…one fireball much later he had the dagger. The DM did agree with me the players should of realized and done something about my character’s behavior MUCH sooner and did not penalize me for it.

William eventually met death at the hands of a evil bounty hunter [another PC] over the whole selling summoned mount shenanigans. Though I still think a god with a fondness for equines was trying to pay me back for my “creative applications” of the summoned horses.*

There was no bad blood since the group I play with can actually handle that sort of thing and getting a bounty hunter on Billy’s ass was a very logical outcome of his antics.


*This was the game where the horse from the mount spell got named “Agony” for every campaign to be afterwards. Trap detection, wrecking ball, monster bait, target practice, falling weight [until we read summoning horse mid air wasn’t allowed], nothing was too good for that burdened beast.


But usually when PC kills a PC, one PC is usually possessed or the player is being an idiot or a liability. “I can rage LONGER and STRONGER?, who cares if I can’t control who i attack?!” are words that will get a person killed.


The whole William incident did bring around the group wide rule of “Unjustified killing pc’s is bad for your exp total”

 

[Shadowdancer]

Gee....In the various Star Treks, Andromeda, a several other sci-fi shows, it happens all the time.

Here is a way to do it. In Babylon 5 and Teklords, there is a item called a cameleon net, which is a fine mesh harness that uses projector technology to make someone appear as someone else.

So, for your campaign, the new character is wearing a cameleon net, masquerading as the old character, which shorts out (unrepairable), revealing the new character.

Old character is in reality, back somewhere in the last port of call for whatever reason and for whatever reason, the new character is masequarding as him. Which explains the old character's seeming odd and uncharacteristic behavior, since it is the new character using a cameleon net to appear as the old character.

There you have it - a plausible way for the player in question to bring in a new character, even if you are spaceship somewhere ....

The game we're playing is Traveller. The science is more realistic than that. Such a device doesn't exist.

And the player switch -- caused by one player (who is in the military) being sent overseas -- happened while the character was trapped in a ship airlock during a fight with pirates. In our PBeM game, the fight only took a few minutes game time, but lasted for more than a month. We're slow.

 

[Hjorimir]

Having a player character kill (or even openly attack) another player character can have its place in a mature campaign. But everybody needs to understand the tenor of such a campaign and be accepting of that model.

As a DM I certainly wouldn't nurture an environment that forces two player characters to come to such an end (but if the players pushed their own characters in such a manner, so be it).

Unfortunately, when this happens players often take this personally (outside the game) and that is always bad for everybody's enjoyment.

 

[Zappo]

edit: a double post after 1.5 hours, wow... I'll grab the occasion to add that in my case there were no hard feelings at all. The dead character wasn't going anywhere anyway.

 

[D+1]

Having a player character kill (or even openly attack) another player character can have its place in a mature campaign. But everybody needs to understand the tenor of such a campaign and be accepting of that model.

Can I get an Amen? Personally, I LIKE a little intra-party violence now and again. It can be all kinds of fun - provided the PLAYERS have mature motives for it (read: in-character motives) and it isn't a situation that will DISRUPT the game as opposed to enhance the experience for everyone.

As a DM I certainly wouldn't nurture an environment that forces two player characters to come to such an end (but if the players pushed their own characters in such a manner, so be it).

My personal dictate regarding this sort of thing starts out at character creation - nobody has the right to create a character that is intended to disrupt the game by being diametrically opposed to other PC's whether it be by alignment, attitude, class, whatever. You just don't have the right to be a jerk. Now in the midst of a campaign if characters BECOME diametrically opposed to each other for whatever reason then I WELCOME that sort of situation as being a natural and INTENDED part of roleplaying. How it's handled from there depends a lot on the players. If they can accept that their character can and will die capriciously at the hands of monsters and villains then they bloody well ought to be just as accepting of their character dying at the hands of another PC with malice aforethought.

Only if the players fail in their maturity checks should the DM intervene to any significant degree. If one or more players just can't handle it or it looks as if the campaign could be headed for a train wreck, then the DM should step in and simply lay down the law - the campaign will NOT be sacrificed to the childish tantrums of players. Whether the PC's are forced to make nice, one or more PC's are forcibly retired, or it's all just hashed out in reasonable conversation matters little and there's not exactly a one-size-fits-all solution to such situations anyway. The DM must use his best judgement in resolving the situation to the satisfaction of everyone.

Unfortunately, when this happens players often take this personally (outside the game) and that is always bad for everybody's enjoyment.

Bad for enjoyment, yes. But I've virtually never seen it happen and I probably couldn't count the number of assasinations and assaults that have taken place over the years in D&D games I've been in as DM or player. ANY player can have a day where they'll just lose it, though some are obviously more prone than others. Knowing your players and knowing when to lay down the law are key. But the first step is always communications - make sure everyone is on the same page as to what might happen and why. If somebody has a problem with it then FIND OUT before it comes to a head.

Otherwise there's no reason it can't be as fun and interesting a part of the game as any other.