We are starting a new campaign soon and I was making some NPCs for my players to socialize and become friends with, but then I realized, they’re gonna kill them.

On our old campaign that lasted around 6-7 months,I added an NPC who would help them out from times to times and always be nice and loving, but when they met him, they HATED him so much and I never understood why, they always mocked him, pushed him on the front lines and everything else. When I asked about it, they just said he gave off bad vibes. So I’m not sure what to do, because this new campaign is based off trusting an organization over another, and if they’re just killing both, it won’t work.

So my logic is that, I introduce a new rule, bonds, they can gain bond points when they make a connection with an NPC they like, and they can spend those points to have advantage on a throw. ( Basically inspiration ). But I want to make clear that if they just go around trying to bend the rules and make friends with every arsonist they meet, not only will they not get anything, they’ll get a consequence.

This is my first time DMing and actual campaign ( I had two others but one wasn’t 5E and the other was for 1 month ) and I don’t know how to deal with murderhobos, I’m open to any suggestions or critique on my bond system

Sometimes the "carrot" is simply "not the stick". It's a bit cynical, but the absence of punishment is also a reward of sorts.  

I would have another session zero and have everyone (including the GM) state what each person wants from the campaign. That way, you know what kind of campaign players want to play and they know what kind of campaign you want to run. If there is a huge mismatch in playstyle, then those players can make a more informed decision whether it is worth it to make a compromise and stay or not.

Bond points sound vague and unnatural.  Having to pay for social interaction is all a bit strange.  There's a few ways you can protect NPCs, for one you can make them too valuable to kill "I'll give you the information you seek, but first you need to do a task for me...", depending on who they are, they can have bodyguards (merchants, nobles, shop owners etc), or you can give some clear indications of what would happen to lawbreakers (mention the gallows, the prison, the town guard, posses, the bounty hunters and the inquistion depending on your world).  Murder when scrying and locate person magic is a thing, would be a terrible idea as the law enforcement can hunt you down with very little effort.  Perhaps have them work for the town guard solving a murder, and have the guards highlight their seers ability to hunt anyone down.  When the party is successful they can witness the murderer hung, which should give a pretty clear message.

Of course if you have any good aligned characters you can tell them there alignment slips towards evil, and in the case of a lawful good cleric or paladin you can say their powers stop working as your actions have gone against your gods will.

Simplest way I can think of to discourage them from acting like murderhobos is to create consequences for when they do, and rewards for when they don't. Kill a random NPC? Maybe the authorities arrest them and toss them in jail. Maybe the NPC had a brother who vows to avenge them and sends assassins after the party. Are they nice to a local merchant? Maybe that merchant will offer a discount on future purchases. Maybe that merchant will pass along and rumors he hears that might be relevant to the party's current quest. 

At the end of the day, everyone has their own idea of how to get the most enjoyment from D&D. If your vision of D&D fun doesn't align well with theirs, talk to them about it. Either you come to a consensus, or you have to decide how far from your own idea of fun you're willing to go before you decide it's not the right group for you.

Did you try asking what you did while RPing the NPC that caused the "bad vibes?" Maybe you did something... or maybe they are just generally suspicious.

Quote from Sergeant_Garlic >>

 

On our old campaign that lasted around 6-7 months,I added an NPC who would help them out....

....This is my first time DMing and actual campaign 

 ???

Just let it go and hand out fitting consequences. If they start to kill people, they can get arrested. If they kill the constables, they become outlaws.

If they kill the quest givers or representatives of one or both of your campaign factions, then let them suffer for it. I personally wouldn't want to be hunted by two organizations, your group probably wouldn't want it either.

That being said, you have to give them opportunities for redemption. They can salvage their rep if they do a favor or acquire some resource.

If they keep killing quest givers then ask them what they want to do as all the people asking for help are dead.

Quote from Sergeant_Garlic >>

On our old campaign that lasted around 6-7 months,I added an NPC who would help them out from times to times and always be nice and loving, but when they met him, they HATED him so much and I never understood why, they always mocked him, pushed him on the front lines and everything else. When I asked about it, they just said he gave off bad vibes. So I’m not sure what to do, because this new campaign is based off trusting an organization over another, and if they’re just killing both, it won’t work.

So my logic is that, I introduce a new rule, bonds, they can gain bond points when they make a connection with an NPC they like, and they can spend those points to have advantage on a throw. ( Basically inspiration ). But I want to make clear that if they just go around trying to bend the rules and make friends with every arsonist they meet, not only will they not get anything, they’ll get a consequence.

 Don't ever try to make a character for the PCs to like.  The players will decide which characters they want to like or dislike, trying to make a given NPC fall into either camp nearly guarantees that they will be in the opposite.

Rather than try to force them to trust an organization, give them a reason to not destroy an untrustworthy organization.  I've lost count of the number of computer RPGs I've played where you need to ally with one of two (or more) groups that are all terrible for one reason or another, inevitably destroying the ones you didn't ally with.  Occasionally you'll also destroy the one you allied with as well, but only after they're no longer necessary for you. 

I agree with Lunali that trying to make the players trust an NPC almost always guarantees that they won't.

Players always assume the DM is trying to pull a fast one on them. It's just the nature of the beast. Matt Coleville talked about this at one point... give the players an NPC who is helpful and friendly and is literally exactly what she seems, and they will be instantly and permanently suspicious.

I'm reminded of this:

That’s a good point, but they don’t just kill NPCs, they taunt them and mock them, they just don’t seem able to make a connection. That’s why I wanted to make the bond points, but... I’ll think of something else.

thx!

Perhaps they just want a dungeon crawler?

The DM *is* a collaborator. At least when D&D is played properly. 

But the DM has to *play* all the adversaries, and so it is hard not to view the DM as kind-of an opponent, even though the DM really isn't (or shouldn't be).  It doesn't help that some DMs do act that way, and some players may have had DMs who really did behave more like an opponent.

I think video games RPGs and MMORPG games don't help a lot with this. There is an old saying from the old-school MMO days of early EQ and UO and such: "If it moves, get a quest from it or kill it." The idea of just an NPC who was neither a quest giver nor a target, was non-existent in a lot of the older games, and many players get used to that mind set after a while.

A lot depends on the GM's style also -- if the GM tends not to name or really RP out unimportant NPCs, then the players will learn that anything named/RPed is of some sort of quest significance, and they will be even more inclined to think there is more to the NPC than meets the eye (because in their experience now, there almost always is).

One of the main issues is the DM tends to screw over players and is surprised the players start killing all the NPCs

You know the standard scene in the movie where the Heroes find out that the guy that hired them was the bad guy all along?    They then proceed to kill the bad guy.  That's players like all the time.

Part of it is unreasonable expectations.  Often players expect all the NPCs to know everything.   That tax collector that was bribed to overcharge you taxes does not know the location of the Lich that bribed him.

So how to convince players NOT to kill everyone:

1) Do not only give out XP for killing someone.  I.E.   If the players manage to sneak in and achieve objective while avoiding the guards rather than killing them, give them XP for not killing the guards.

2) Try not to make the players do stupid quests.  Never have Otiluke ask them to sneak into the mages guild to retrieve his McGuffin, then when they show up have him waiting there for him.  If they do a quest let THEM complete the quest and gain something THEY want, not just the McGuffin.   In fact ignore McGuffins entirely, they are lazy and tend to screw up stories.   If you want the players to go to X location, don't tell them what is there.  Instead know the player's existing motivations and have people tell them what they desire in the desired location. 

3) For every a-hole NPC give them a nice one.  EVERY a-hole.   The city guard is a shmuck?  Then the bar tender is a font of information about the city.   The beggars throw poo at them?   Have a street vendor call the shmuck city guard on the beggar and offer them a deal on a set of new boots.

4) Give clear and re-occuring  rewards from the good NPCs.   Bring them back to help out the players later.  That Street Vendor that sold them good boots?  He says he heard about some wyverns  in the area and will pay extra for some good wyvern leather.

Hey the npc could give you a discount on that new castle which was recovered by another party. I am not in favor of giving players dice bonuses for being nice to npc. I am in favor of nice npc giving the party some help out now and then. Hey I just discovered  some pass sale date potions of healing. Taste like raisin oatmeal cookies but I sell them to you at half price.