Wednesday Boy
The Nerd WhoFell to Earth
When asked why I did that, I replied "What? Shoot first, ask questions later." The table erupted in laughter and we remember that incident to this day.
I guess since everyone at the table (including the player of the dead PC?) shared a laugh, who am I to argue? But if the "shoot first" dynamic was really an important story element to play up, I think it would have been better to play it narratively. Narrate that you drop the new PC to the ground with a dagger wound, then have an RP scene with the new PC about how dangerous it is to sneak up on people in this town. It seems jerky to consciously make someone waste their time making a new character.
As a DM, I have had probably 20 PCs die in my campaigns from other PCs killing them. Thankfully, not in the last few years. These days I simply ask people not to make characters with a code of chivalry, or extreme religious dogma. That little change alone has seen a 100% drop in PC v PC fatalities. Codes of chivalry, or worse yet, bushido, are just terrible for making players feel like they either act out in a disruptive way or stain their honour, I really hate the (often false) dichotomies it forces.
The only character I killed was in my first L5R campaign. I misunderstood honor (and the concept of the Scorpion Clan) so I thought a minor slight from another PC gave me justification for killing them. And to be honest while I used the honor misinterpretation as justification, I definitely got a kick out of killing another character.
Now that I understand honor and I'm a more mature player, I understand there are better ways that I should have handled the situation.