D&D 5E Sudden changes to the party dynamic

[Charles Rampant]

Just FYI:

The player in question tends to treat her characters as walking stat blocks (not just my opinion, players from other campaigns confirm this), and only really seem interested in hurting people. On more than one occasion we've had to restrain her from beating up random NPCs for information (or setting her "torture rat" on them!), which highlights the problems caused by an evil character in a otherwise good-aligned group. The new character is also evil, which is likely to mean more of the same.

My main view on this issue - as a DM, so different than yours as a player - is that there is no golden lasso tying your characters together. I mean, unless you're doing a Fated To Save The World plot or whatever. So if new characters join who turn out to be crazy killers, then your characters should simply eject them. In other words, tell the table that you're not happy with this crazy killer in your group, that your character isn't going to work with them, and that new characters more suitable to the existing makeup of the party should be used. I'm not talking about classes here, but instead about morality; once your party is Good or Evil or whatever, it seems daft to allow drama and unhappiness to exist just because someone wasn't willing to take the memo on that. I'd expect the same if someone joined a party of Rogues and Thieves' Guild types and made a Paladin who then shouted at everyone; why on earth would they accept that person into their ranks and then tolerate their presence?

 

[Warpiglet]

I've been with our D&D group from the start, running a half-elf ranger (with 1 level in rogue since our full-time rogue bailed on us). Our other members were a half-elf (draconic) sorceress, a human cleric and a dwarf fighter. We're now at level 12, and things have taken a disturbing turn.

We just spent 2 entire sessions rescuing the dwarf from what turned out to be a disguised rakshasa, only to have her do a bunk and be replaced by a different character entirely, specifically an elven assassin. Apparently the player was bored and wanted a change. Trouble is, we now have no tank.

The DM also said another player could join the party, without running it by the rest of us first. His character uses Mercer's homebrew gunslinger class, which puts me in a bit of a bind. We now have a dedicated stealth character, and another who can do ridiculous damage at incredibly long ranges, which kind of makes my ranger redundant.

Any suggestions?

I think changing characters mid story can be less than fun for other participants from a story point of view. Conversely, if someone dies in the game, we don't generally tell them they cannot come back and play! We introduce a new character many times.

As to no longer having a "tank," I can only say what others have suggested. Adapt and overcome. I have played for many years and only rarely discuss the classes we are taking ahead of time. Our typical conversation relates to alignment but classes not so much. In 1e, a party of low level wizards would be toast right away. Now? I am not convinced that wizards wouldn't win the day.

Take what you want. Don't impose some artificial standard of roles that must be taken. There are not rules about party composition whatsoever. In reading posts like these I wonder if our group was the only one to take all thieves all fighters or whatever. I did not think we were particularly unique!

Also, you are not redundant. If anyone one is, it is the late additions.

I can think of many reasons it would be fun to have a total party capable of stealth or whatever...play your character and have fun. If the DM does not give party appropriate challenges, it is on them. Play your character as a unique character with personality and goals and you cannot be redundant to anyone.

 

[wedgeski]

Some people feel weird when someone else orders "their" dish.

OT: They do?!

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[zymurgy65]

Thanks for all the feedback. I'm going to see how things pan out over the next few sessions. I still think the main problem will be keeping our cleric alive unless I start "mixing it" (which isn't my character's forte), as I doubt the gunslinger chose close-quarters shooter as a fighting style and the assassin can only be relied on to look out for himself. Still, what is life without a challenge, eh?

 

[schnee]

OT: Yep!

It's one of those weird things, which just goes to show that you cannot account for the infinite varieties of human experience and/or the pet peeves of people.

In Venn Diagram terms, these tend to be the same people that spend a large amount of time discussing orders ahead of time.

The only way this analogy works to explain this D&D situation is - as the other person eats their dish, the food disappears off your plate so fast you can't eat the meal you built your night around.

Being out-shined by another player *sucks*. They literally take the situations you anticipated being a part of away from you and leave you just sitting there. And having some adult fun interfered with by a kid in a certain annoying stage of emotional and mental development is even worse. I have hobbies to get away from that for a while. Having it come into the group is just a drag.

This is a bummer, and it's made worse by the family/age dynamics that make it hard to address.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[UngeheuerLich]

The only way this analogy works to explain this D&D situation is - as the other person eats their dish, the food disappears off your plate so fast you can't eat the meal you built your night around.

Being out-shined by another player *sucks*. They literally take the situations you anticipated being a part of away from you and leave you just sitting there. And having some adult fun interfered with by a kid in a certain annoying stage of emotional and mental development is even worse. I have hobbies to get away from that for a while. Having it come into the group is just a drag.

This is a bummer, and it's made worse by the family/age dynamics that make it hard to address.

I am sorry for you. And I really feel with you. In our group of 2 persons as mentioned before, all concerns melted away after a single session. The exact same session we found out how close our characters were thematically. We immediately also notced our different personalities and we noticed the still different abilities of our characters. And where we have big overlap, we politely ask the other one if we work together or whose shift it is to do the chores... in our case its ritual casting. Alarm spells and detect magic. And we found out what is better than a single alarm spell... two of them... or even more. In an hour you can ward a quite big camp if two persons ward the place...

 

[UngeheuerLich]

The only way this analogy works to explain this D&D situation is - as the other person eats their dish, the food disappears off your plate so fast you can't eat the meal you built your night around.

Being out-shined by another player *sucks*. They literally take the situations you anticipated being a part of away from you and leave you just sitting there. And having some adult fun interfered with by a kid in a certain annoying stage of emotional and mental development is even worse. I have hobbies to get away from that for a while. Having it come into the group is just a drag.

This is a bummer, and it's made worse by the family/age dynamics that make it hard to address.

I am sorry for you. And I really feel with you. In our group of 2 persons as mentioned before, all concerns melted away after a single session. The exact same session we found out how close our characters were thematically. We immediately also notced our different personalities and we noticed the still different abilities of our characters. And where we have big overlap, we politely ask the other one if we work together or whose shift it is to do the chores... in our case its ritual casting. Alarm spells and detect magic. And we found out what is better than a single alarm spell... two of them... or even more. In an hour you can ward a quite big camp if two persons ward the place...

 

[Warpiglet]

I respectfully don't get it...however, I usually play with friends.

Player A and B have a fighter. That means they both can beat ass or pierce monsters with arrows. It does not mean one suddenly sucks. Factor in character A is LN and a big honor first kind of guy while character B is an impulsive hot head who does what is good even if it is not very structure affirming and the only overlap is the dice we are rolling.

Make your character the coolest and most memorable character you can. The fact that someone else is proficient with stealth is immaterial. It is a group endeavor. Interact, have disagreements, save eachother's asses! Just because two guys do damage or sneak does nothing to make them unimportant. In a fight, each "soldier" will count!