Now, I've seen it ruled different from place to place, but out of curiosity, if the cleric made the saving throw, the spell itself was silent and required no motion, and the cleric didn't make a spellcraft check...how did he know someone tried to charm him in the first place?
It's not in the SRD for some reason, but the PHB has a specific example (under saves or something) that says if a person has Charm Person cast on them and makes their save, they know that magic was used on them, but not what.
I remember in Piratecat's game a guy's will save was described as part of their brain saying, "You really want to be a dire whale" and another part saying, "No I DON'T!"
Generally, the characters have already saved each other's lives more than once... and then they do something that annoys each other... and they immediately leap to violence.
That's a pretty good point, because you can even appeal to someone who's saying "That's what my character would do!" with it.
"It's what my character would do!" is a lame excuse. Players choose who their characters are and what they do. Choosing a character who generates dissension is choosing to sow dissent.
Is "It's what my character would do" an okay excuse for something most characters
would do, like taking a swing at someone who insults their mother? Or are you still responsible for the dissent?
"Yep, Bob, you were right, you WERE playing in character...but it's clear to me that THIS character you were playing was not a member of this PC team, but an NPC villain with other aims"
This just sounds brilliant. What a punishment, to have your character taken away.
most of these yahoos in my experience are doing this to assert their superiority
Yes, there was an exchange of this type: "If we fought, I'd just cast invisibility and snipe you." "I'd cast Invisibility Purge and cure myself -- you'd never win!" They shouldn't be using their characters to play "my dad can beat up your dad."
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So far, where my group is at with this is:
Because of my idiosyncratic perspective on Charm Person, I didn't perceive the sorcerer's charm as such an aggressive action as it was, so I placed more blame on the cleric than he deserved for "starting it."
What I should have done is stopped, said, "Wait, you want to cast Charm Person on a member of your own party? Are you trying to start a fight?" I got swept up in the heat of the moment and just let things unfold too fast.
The sorcerer's player has apologized to the cleric for responding without thinking things through. He's planning to keep playing the same character.
Thanks to everyone for all the cool ideas and suggestions!