[True/False] There is a point in every campaign when the PCs come to blows.
Lanefan
Victoria Rules
I can*not* believe the falses are beating the trues by about a 12-4 ratio!
I'd be disappointed if there wasn't in-party brawling in my games and those I play in. Sometimes I initiate it, sometimes I respond to it, sometimes I just sit back and watch...and laugh.
But it always livens things up, and sometimes the party brawls are the best-remembered sessions years later.
In my new campaign there's already been two characters intentionally killed by the party, and they're not halfway through the first adventure yet. (both were highly evil and, truth be told, had a limited life expectancy in any case...)
Lanefan
I'd be disappointed if there wasn't in-party brawling in my games and those I play in. Sometimes I initiate it, sometimes I respond to it, sometimes I just sit back and watch...and laugh.
But it always livens things up, and sometimes the party brawls are the best-remembered sessions years later.In my new campaign there's already been two characters intentionally killed by the party, and they're not halfway through the first adventure yet. (both were highly evil and, truth be told, had a limited life expectancy in any case...)
Lanefan
Lurks-no-More
First Post
The answer's yes and no.
Yes, in that there have been moments of infighting in every campaign I've played in; no, in that they have always been triggered by something external (such as getting possessed, being replaced by a doppelganger, being tricked into thinking a party member has been replaced by a doppelganger...).
Yes, in that there have been moments of infighting in every campaign I've played in; no, in that they have always been triggered by something external (such as getting possessed, being replaced by a doppelganger, being tricked into thinking a party member has been replaced by a doppelganger...).
Phlebas
First Post
As of this moment in time, the ONLY damage my wizard has taken in the whole campaign has been caused by the fighter in the party
1 - Dominated by a vampire and threw me off a walkway
2 - Umber hulk confusion attack
3 - landed on me when falling
this has caused a lot of in character sarcasm more than anything else
at university while i was DM'ing i had a comfort break and came back to the table to find the party roling initiative after the anti-magical priest had thrown the wizards spell-books into the river during an argument.....
I think that in party tensions add to the role-playing experience, but that too many actual conflicts can tend to kill campaigns very quickly
(I went for true btw - but based on restraints, arguments and duels rather than attempted murder...)
1 - Dominated by a vampire and threw me off a walkway
2 - Umber hulk confusion attack
3 - landed on me when falling
this has caused a lot of in character sarcasm more than anything else
at university while i was DM'ing i had a comfort break and came back to the table to find the party roling initiative after the anti-magical priest had thrown the wizards spell-books into the river during an argument.....
I think that in party tensions add to the role-playing experience, but that too many actual conflicts can tend to kill campaigns very quickly
(I went for true btw - but based on restraints, arguments and duels rather than attempted murder...)
MortalPlague
Adventurer
I voted 'true' because this happens in most of my games (though not all of them). Character conflict, whether verbal or occasionally physical, has always been something that happens in our games. We have some strong roleplayers who enjoy playing characters who don't necessarily mesh right away, so there can often be an excellent tension in the party.
Doug McCrae
Legend
Old school.Lanefan said:
Ruin Explorer
Legend
If we include mind control and think only about campaigns which actually last a decent time, I'd say "true", but I know it's a lie because technically even one campaign where that never happened would invalidate it.
If we only include actual in-fighting, I'd say that I've never seen a long-duration campaign where a PC didn't at least grab another PC in annoyance, but then I've run and played in a lot of very old-skool treasure-hunting-type campaigns and generally eschewed this "Band of really nice guys out to save the world from the goodness of their slightly emo hearts"-type of play that seems popular with people I've never met and only know exist due to the internet.
I don't think maturity has anything to do with it, unless we're talking about penis-size-contest-type stuff, because, er, yes, guilty as charged officer, that is a product of immaturity and usually involves intra-party conflict.
If we only include actual in-fighting, I'd say that I've never seen a long-duration campaign where a PC didn't at least grab another PC in annoyance, but then I've run and played in a lot of very old-skool treasure-hunting-type campaigns and generally eschewed this "Band of really nice guys out to save the world from the goodness of their slightly emo hearts"-type of play that seems popular with people I've never met and only know exist due to the internet.
I don't think maturity has anything to do with it, unless we're talking about penis-size-contest-type stuff, because, er, yes, guilty as charged officer, that is a product of immaturity and usually involves intra-party conflict.
el-remmen
Moderator Emeritus
Writing up the most recent intra-party brawl for my story hour is what inspired me to start this thread, but here are two examples from the same campaign that I have already written up and posted (I am usually one or two sessions ahead of what I am posting in terms of what I have written up).
Here is the fight between the wizard (an evoker) Markos and the Militant of Anhur, Victoria (it is a homebrew specialty priest class). You have to scroll down to get to the fight, but you might enjoy reading what a jerk Markos is to understand why everyone wanted to knock him down a peg. It is also important to note that Victoria is still recovering from Intelligence damage from a yellow musk creeper (Fiend Folio Rocks!).
In this one Markos and Telemahkos (rogue/aristocrat) purposefully decide to bunk together so they can fight without the rest of the party interfereing. As you can see from the previous excerpt, there is no love lost between the two. You can start reading just after the Teflem, the 20th of Sek – 566 H.E. (637 M.Y.) date listing.
These are both from early in the campaign and some 25 sessions have passed since them, the most recent brawl had less to do with people not liking each other or insulting each other, but over the use of a holy relic in the case of an emergency.
Here is the fight between the wizard (an evoker) Markos and the Militant of Anhur, Victoria (it is a homebrew specialty priest class). You have to scroll down to get to the fight, but you might enjoy reading what a jerk Markos is to understand why everyone wanted to knock him down a peg. It is also important to note that Victoria is still recovering from Intelligence damage from a yellow musk creeper (Fiend Folio Rocks!).
In this one Markos and Telemahkos (rogue/aristocrat) purposefully decide to bunk together so they can fight without the rest of the party interfereing. As you can see from the previous excerpt, there is no love lost between the two. You can start reading just after the Teflem, the 20th of Sek – 566 H.E. (637 M.Y.) date listing.
These are both from early in the campaign and some 25 sessions have passed since them, the most recent brawl had less to do with people not liking each other or insulting each other, but over the use of a holy relic in the case of an emergency.
Lord Mhoram
Hero
I've run a 10 years superhero game, and a 7 year fantasy game where the PCs never came to blows at all. I didn't need to do anything, it just worked that way.
When such things happen, I stop the game, tell the players to figure out a way that their characters can get along. If they can't, one of the character is magically erased from the game, and the player gets to build a new character. Which side of the fight gets removed is random. Usually the players can come up with something.
I make that clear when I start a new game these days. I don't stand for inter-party conflict (heck in 3.x I didn't allow non-good alignments). I also never passed notes - if I got a note, I'd read it out load and answer the player. I'd make that clear up front as well.
Bascially it boils down to "if you play at my table you play as a group or you don't play"
When such things happen, I stop the game, tell the players to figure out a way that their characters can get along. If they can't, one of the character is magically erased from the game, and the player gets to build a new character. Which side of the fight gets removed is random. Usually the players can come up with something.
I make that clear when I start a new game these days. I don't stand for inter-party conflict (heck in 3.x I didn't allow non-good alignments). I also never passed notes - if I got a note, I'd read it out load and answer the player. I'd make that clear up front as well.
Bascially it boils down to "if you play at my table you play as a group or you don't play"
