Playing it up - bad idea?

[Oryan77]

Your situation is almost exactly like a player in my group. I'm the DM and this player is my gf. She's also new at roleplaying and D&D but she really enjoys the attempt at roleplaying.

As a DM, the problem I see with the situation is that you guys (you & my gf) are distancing yourselves from your party. I don't mind party conflicts, it can be fun, but it can get to the point where it destroys your group. In our case, my gf acts that way so frequently & makes other questionable comments that the party Paladin would occasionally cast detect evil on her! Which that just makes more distrust in the group. Now it's to the point where no one is willing to go out of their way to help each other. The (new) cleric in the group NEVER offers to heal my gf because she's had an attitude with him (just because she wants to be the witchy personality). I'm worried about him keeping his cleric in the party for another adventure because so far he has no reason too....she hasn't exactly welcomed him with open arms. I keep telling her that she's more than welcome to play that way but I warn her that if her comrades don't like her much then they won't help her much. And that can be life threatening. And if she gets killed because no one helped her, the rest of the party has a higher chance of all going down.

Playing the strong personality like that is fun...I like playing that type myself. But why do you need to act that way towards your fellow adventurers? You can totally have a strong bond towards your party members and then act like a complete witch towards anyone outside that circle (NPC's). I've met people like that in RL. A complete prick PC wouldn't be in an adventuring group anyway. No one wants to be around someone who's a drag. That personality type is usually a loner. Even in RL that person doesn't usually have a "group" of friends that he/she always hangs out with. People avoid them. A D&D party wouldn't be any different.

I would play her as witchy as you want. I would just be more friendly towards the party members and direct the anger towards NPC's.

 

[Arnwyn]

Everyone has taken this up on the DMs side-- and, that's not what I'm most concerned about...

Because that's much easier to fix than with a group of players.

I am concerned about how to deal with my fellow players in the situation. I certainly don't want them to be upset with my character for acting overly bitchy-- but, she has in the past made very large efforts to be close, nice, and--above all else-- friendly with the other characters.

And that's obviously the hard part. Really, though, you're dealing with others' perceptions (and it's a number of others, so maybe there is something to their complaints... who knows?).

*shrug* Talk to them, of course. Ask them what (specifically!) they find witchy about your character, and ask them why your friendliness (provide examples!) is being ignored.

However, because it's their perceptions of you, it's up to you to understand what their problem is... because they're not going to suddenly change. It's up to you to understand so you can get your point across.

But, I still get the "your character is such a bitch" thing-- so, two sessions ago, I decided that I would try to fit that mold and now, have gotten a very negative response...

Well, honestly, what did you expect? That they wouldn't give a negative response? I have no idea what you thought was going to happen.

 

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

Your situation is almost exactly like a player in my group. I'm the DM and this player is my gf. She's also new at roleplaying and D&D but she really enjoys the attempt at roleplaying.

If this has anything to do with my relationship with my husband, it's certainly news to me... We've been playing together for almost as long as I have been playing (I'm not new to the game). Yes, he's the DM... yes, he's my husband... but, we do not distance ourselves from the party-- many of the players are, realistically, much "closer" to the DM than myself and my husband, so far as the game goes.

 

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

Well, honestly, what did you expect? That they wouldn't give a negative response? I have no idea what you thought was going to happen.

I suppose I didn't expect a negative response because that is what the group had been calling my character for quite some time-- despite my elaborate attempts to shake the perception.

 

[DragonLancer]

Here's the thing, Charisma isn't about how easy you are to get along with. It's about force of personality.

I'm with Umbran on this one. Your character could be dog-rough to look at, and have a personality like bucket of squid, but with a high charisma you have the force of personality to convey what you need to and get people to listen to you. Theres a reason diplomacy is based on charisma.

 

[BSF]

I'm with Umbran on this one. Your character could be dog-rough to look at, and have a personality like bucket of squid, but with a high charisma you have the force of personality to convey what you need to and get people to listen to you. Theres a reason diplomacy is based on charisma.

That's the reason why Diplomacy & Intimidation are both based on Charisma.