When PCs clash ... to the death

[JoeGKushner]

In fact, years ago two players wanted to do this in my 2E campaign to see who would win. Between a Wizard and a Cleric, the ultimate winner was the wizard with the old "touch teleport him 500 feet up" trick. The wizard even had the brass to wave bye-bye at the cleric on the cleric's way down.

What type of amateur cleric doesn't have a good old ring of feather fall ready for swapping eh? And come on, he couldn't survive 20d6 (terminal velocity in D&D I believe) damage? Heck, he could've buffed himself with spellso n the way down!

 

[Crothian]

If they agree to it, then yes. If one of them gets mad and leaves for loosing then maybe he shouldn't have agreed to the fight.

 

[Jdvn1]

I'd talk with the two players beforehand so they knew what they were getting into. If they want to go ahead with it, that's their call not mine.

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

I would have a problem with it if one of the players would be, as you say, seriously ticked off.

I have no problem with arena combats (for bragging rights or otherwise), with intra-party conflicts that result in violence, or even with creating characters solely for a Mordheim-style tactical wargame (which would actually be majorly fun in d20 ).

However, the players getting involved in any of those situations need to understand that character death, even at the hands of a party member, is just part of the game.

My guess? You face far more serious problems in your campaign than allowing/not allowing this to take place if it's a matter of allowing it in the first place.

 

[Mercule]

As a DM, I wouldn't push a situation that I knew/strongly suspected would result in the death of one PC at the hands of another.

That said, if they came to this point through roleplaying, or just because they both think it's a good idea to bash the other in the head, then I'm not going to lose sleep over it. I probably wouldn't even caution against it. If they rush headlong into the match, knowingly and of their own free will, they've got no room to complain.

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

If the DM is forcing the players to fight each other to the death (maybe the characters have been captured and will have to duke it out, arena-style, so that one may escape), I probably would not have done so, unless I thought that both the characters had a chance to escape with their lives.

If one character said "you and me, right now, let's settle this" and the other answered "bring it" and the first one replied "oh it's already been brought" then by all means (but only if that specific dialogue occurs).

So, if it's forced upon them, no. If it's of their own free will, by all means.

AR

 

[ThirdWizard]

Allow? As a DM, that's not my decision to make.

Ditto on that.

I don't "allow" anything. A PC will attempt what the player wants them to. If that is "attack Bob" then I say "roll initiative."

 

[IronWolf]

Are both players willing participants? If so then I wouldn't do anything to tilt the tables or change the situation.

 

[Dareoon Dalandrove]

I would never allow pc's to fight if I thought one person was going to be sore about it. I so allow pc's to battle and kill each other. If it fits the plot or characters then it's fine. I make it perfectly clear that I'll allow it up front and that it's fine if everyone can keep the fight "in game". I wouldn't want a situation in the game to ruin people's fun, lose a player, or a friend. It's not worth it.

 

[Scarbonac]

If the two players want their PCs to go into the arena, cool. Even if they don't, cool; there are countless stories in literature, film, TV, etc, that has friends pitted against one another by meciless Fate.

If they kill each other, though, that's fewer for the DM; where's the fun in that?