PC's Killing PC's

[Tabarnak Smokeblower]

A little "situation" happened last night, whereas a PC got mad at another PC, and killed him. Note that the players aren't or weren't mad at each other.

Situation: a halfling rogue/sorceror and a half-orc barbarian meet up with another rogue, who want to convince us to join his "band" (the game takes place in a city hit by an earthquake, and 3 organization rose of the chaos. The thief is the friend of the organization that suits us the most).

The thief is being really abrasive and snotty towards the barbarian, which warns him that if he continues, he's going to get a punch in the face. The thief continues, the barbarian punches him. The thief draws his rapier, the barbarian rages and draws his greatsword. The rogue/sorceror (me) tries to step in to stop the figth, to no avail. The barbarian cuts the thief in half with his 2nd blow (the thief drops waaay below -10).

What I'm wondering about isn't "who would you have handled the situation" but more "Do you let PC-to-PC death happen in your adventures? Has it happened a lot?

Thanks in advance for your input

TS

 

[Mark]

Sounds like a fun campaign!

I try to discourage PC fighting (remember what happened when Ape killed Ape?!?) but as long as the players keep it in-game and the DM is OK with it, there's really nothing wrong with it. In the long run the team progresses more quickly when the players cooperate more fully, but in some games that just isn't the main priority.

 

[apocalypstick]

I have no problem with PC-PC death; as a matter of fact, I encourage it (but not in a spiteful sort of way). You see, I hate the whole "PC Halo" effect where characters who would loathe each other stick together simply beacuse they're PCs. In the same vein, if a majority of the PCs want to kick a PC out of the group, the player running that PC needs to roll up a new character.

Note that I do not appreciate these sort of actions occuring because of player-player animosity.

 

[Emiricol]

I don't usually allow it, but wouldn't necessarily disallow it. However, it hasn't come up yet.

If it did happen, I'd spend a whole lot of time deciding whether an alignment change was in order, and the rest of the party might have to decide whether the killer would remain with the party, but all that is PC-focused. Which is okay I guess, as long as it doesn't detract from the enjoyment of the game much.

I echo Apocalystick in that I would NOT be happy if it came up due to player animosity.

 

[Kilmore]

In most cases where PC kills PC, it's usually either a case of players bringing some sort of baggage not involved with the encounter at hand to the table or a player doing "what my character would do" at the expense of the rest of the group, so PCicide usually doesn't float well with me. But it seems like that particular encounter was neither, and no harm done, so I guess I'd be cool with it.

 

[Fenes 2]

I usually make the players create characters that have ic-reasons to be together, and I discourage or outright ban PCs that do not suit the rest of the PCs, so PCs killing PCs does not come up in my game.

 

[Beelzebub]

It has happened in my games on several occasions. When this pops up:

1. It is a major event. Companions killing each other should be a tragic happenstance; not a comedic footnote. How do the other players respond when one of their own turns out to be bloodthirsty and VERY dangerous? Make sure to emphasize this.

2. It sounds like the characters don't like each other, not the players, so this probably doesn’t apply to you. If it IS the players who don't like each other, consider if they should be at the same table. In a previous game, all of the players liked me, but not necessarily each other. I was forced to hurt some feelings and ask some people to go. In my mind, it was better to hurt somebody’s feelings than to waste 4-6 hours of everybody's time every week with petty out-of-game bickering.

3. DMs probably should not "not allow" PCs to kill each other. Discourage: yes. Not allow: no. The free will of players is very important in the suspension of disbelief for D&D. By rule 0ing a PC's CHOICE, the DM makes the players feel like a puppet.

 

[Glyfair]

I don't like the whole aura of players killing other players. It's not because it shouldn't be allowed. It's because it too often ends up causing real-life repercussions. Often the game degenerates at this point. Sometimes it's because the player being killed trys to get revenge, often leading to a vicious cycle. Sometimes it's just the whole campaign moves away from a story and becomes "who can kill the next character."

However, as long as the group is mature about their gaming & doesn't take it personally, then I would have no problem with it.

 

[Silver Moon]

That happened twice in our campaign, once during our first year and again during our second year. Both instances were the result of players acting as individuals rather than team players, and actually wanting to hurt the game as a whole. In both instances the players who initiated it left the group shortly thereafter. We've had twenty years of smooth sailing since then, so I doubt it will come up again.

 

[JoeGKushner]

How do you not let it happen? I dislike seeing it because unless you've got good gamers, it's one thing after another at that point.

If you're up front as a GM and state that characters are responsible for their own actions, then no, I don't really see a realistic way of stopping it.

What's worse is that say the thief did shut up. Latter on that night, slash across the sleeping throat of the half-orc and someone else is out a character.