So this is my first time posting so bear with me if I don't know what I'm doing.
To get to the short of it, I am running a homebrew campaign with a mix of different friends that has been going on for about a year now, some people have come and gone and rejoined again. I have this one player }(let's just call him #1) who likes to play the "brooding, borderline-evil" character, even after his first character died, he just basically came up with a similar one with just a different race/class. Now I am all for shenanigans and keeping things open for my players because I want everyone to have fun. Now I have another player (#2) who is a relatively newer addition (she's been playing for about 5 months now), and she plays basically the same character every game (I have played with her in my brother-in-law's games). Now the issue is this: #1's character has done some shifty things in the party's past: trying to kidnap a bear cub to raise for himself, tried to murder an innocent, tried to murder a high-priestess of Bahamut, etc. However, most of the party is quite unaware of his doings, and most of them do not do anything to stop him because the characters remain blissfully unaware. Now #2 has her character basically follow #1's around because "she doesn't trust him" but has absolutely nothing to go on besides he has been questionably shifty but otherwise quiet about his actions. Now #1 is getting upset IRL because it seems like now that #2 has joined, he cannot play the way he wants to because all #2 wants to do is hamper anything he wants to do. (On a side note, #1's character has attacked #2's character in the past). My current solution is for him to roll stealth checks contested by her perception check (they're both rogues), but I feel like that may not be fair, since realistically, her character would not be actively watching his character 24/7. However whenever he says he wants his character to leave or do something away from the party, she wants her character to follow just because, again, "she doesn't trust him."
Now, to give context, I guest star in my brother-in-law's game now and then and I play a different character every time, with different alignments, goals, personalities, etc to stretch my long unused imagination as a PC. Every game, no matter what kind of character I play, #2's character (which there have actually now been two different ones) just follows mine whenever I have him or her do something again simply because "she doesn't trust him/her." For instance, one of my characters was an Aasimar Paladin (cause everyone should play one at some point am I right?), and he was even LG alignment, who helped save a village from a Yeti, and yet her character kept attacking and grappling mine because he was just doing a job he was paid to do and refused to wait around for the rest of their party. This is a persistent issue that even my brother-in-law does not know how to address. This continuing issue in both of our games because it breaks flow, it is causing tension IRL and it does not make for a fun game anymore.
I wanted to reach out into the community for ideas as to what I can do, in game or out of game to fix or even just mitigate this issue, I just want my players to have fun, and I don't want to have to kick people out if I don't have to.
Well, for guest appearance in another game, on one hand it isn't unreasonable to be suspicious of new people hanging around, on the other hand, I doubt they're that suspicious of every new person, just the ones with players attached. One thing you could do in that case is a guest appearance with more than one character.
As for the game with you as DM, is it #1's current character that attacked #2? If so, it is perfectly reasonable for her to be suspicious. If she's not watching him 24/7, stealth vs perception is perfectly reasonable, if she is, its unlikely that he would be able to get away at all.
Out of game it is probably worth talking to player #2 about the consequences and tension caused by PC#2 following people around so often, there is every possibility she has not noticed just how problematic this is starting to become. It also might be worth starting a session with a short discussion of how far they are comfortable with PvP going, but at this point it may be a bit too obvious what you are getting at.
In game since the characters have come to blows previously, a lot of mistrust and tension is entirely expected. However there will be times when PC#1 and PC#2 are not around each other, at these times PC#1 can slip off without any risk of being followed, if Player #2 wants to follow at these times I would disallow it because the character has no reason to suspect anything, and even when they are together I would likely have #1 roll stealth against #2s passive perception (potentially with penalties based on the situation like if #2 is busy with another task or they are far apart in the marching order etc) because #2 presumably has better things to do that hawkishly watch #1 at all times. If #2 starts staying up all night watching #1s room at the inn then #2 will start racking up exhaustion quickly. If a happy medium can be found then this could actually end up being a fun bit of roleplay for everyone, my game currently has a bit of tension over conflicting PC interests that everyone is enjoying.
As a side note there is nothing boarderline about PC#1s evil, attempting to kill innocents puts a character squarely on the evil side of the line, it sounds like he may simply be playing a chaotic evil character half way sensibly rather than going for the all out chaotic stupid stereotype.
It sounds like #2 is meta-gaming to some extent. Is she playing a character who doesn't have anything else to do than follow people around? I work with some people who I wouldn't trust to watch my house or my cats. But I don't follow them around when they leave work.
It also sounds like #1 isn't really playing a character conducive to party unity either. But if you're running a game where you don't want people to be generally working together, that's fine.
Just tell #2 that her behavior is making the game session less enjoyable for player #1. Not for character #1, but for player #1. If the stuff he does hasn't made anyone else enjoy the game less, then clearly her behavior is the problem here. Everyone is there to have fun, not to 'play a character to the hilt regardless of whether we have a good time or not'.
Conversely, if you want to handle it in-game, have her get arrested at some point by the local police, because she's clearly following that guy over there with bad intentions. "We don't take to thieves much around here, miss!" :)
Hey guys,
So this is my first time posting so bear with me if I don't know what I'm doing.
To get to the short of it, I am running a homebrew campaign with a mix of different friends that has been going on for about a year now, some people have come and gone and rejoined again. I have this one player }(let's just call him #1) who likes to play the "brooding, borderline-evil" character, even after his first character died, he just basically came up with a similar one with just a different race/class. Now I am all for shenanigans and keeping things open for my players because I want everyone to have fun. Now I have another player (#2) who is a relatively newer addition (she's been playing for about 5 months now), and she plays basically the same character every game (I have played with her in my brother-in-law's games). Now the issue is this: #1's character has done some shifty things in the party's past: trying to kidnap a bear cub to raise for himself, tried to murder an innocent, tried to murder a high-priestess of Bahamut, etc. However, most of the party is quite unaware of his doings, and most of them do not do anything to stop him because the characters remain blissfully unaware. Now #2 has her character basically follow #1's around because "she doesn't trust him" but has absolutely nothing to go on besides he has been questionably shifty but otherwise quiet about his actions. Now #1 is getting upset IRL because it seems like now that #2 has joined, he cannot play the way he wants to because all #2 wants to do is hamper anything he wants to do. (On a side note, #1's character has attacked #2's character in the past). My current solution is for him to roll stealth checks contested by her perception check (they're both rogues), but I feel like that may not be fair, since realistically, her character would not be actively watching his character 24/7. However whenever he says he wants his character to leave or do something away from the party, she wants her character to follow just because, again, "she doesn't trust him."
Now, to give context, I guest star in my brother-in-law's game now and then and I play a different character every time, with different alignments, goals, personalities, etc to stretch my long unused imagination as a PC. Every game, no matter what kind of character I play, #2's character (which there have actually now been two different ones) just follows mine whenever I have him or her do something again simply because "she doesn't trust him/her." For instance, one of my characters was an Aasimar Paladin (cause everyone should play one at some point am I right?), and he was even LG alignment, who helped save a village from a Yeti, and yet her character kept attacking and grappling mine because he was just doing a job he was paid to do and refused to wait around for the rest of their party. This is a persistent issue that even my brother-in-law does not know how to address. This continuing issue in both of our games because it breaks flow, it is causing tension IRL and it does not make for a fun game anymore.
I wanted to reach out into the community for ideas as to what I can do, in game or out of game to fix or even just mitigate this issue, I just want my players to have fun, and I don't want to have to kick people out if I don't have to.
I look forward to your feedback!!
Well, for guest appearance in another game, on one hand it isn't unreasonable to be suspicious of new people hanging around, on the other hand, I doubt they're that suspicious of every new person, just the ones with players attached. One thing you could do in that case is a guest appearance with more than one character.
As for the game with you as DM, is it #1's current character that attacked #2? If so, it is perfectly reasonable for her to be suspicious. If she's not watching him 24/7, stealth vs perception is perfectly reasonable, if she is, its unlikely that he would be able to get away at all.
Out of game it is probably worth talking to player #2 about the consequences and tension caused by PC#2 following people around so often, there is every possibility she has not noticed just how problematic this is starting to become. It also might be worth starting a session with a short discussion of how far they are comfortable with PvP going, but at this point it may be a bit too obvious what you are getting at.
In game since the characters have come to blows previously, a lot of mistrust and tension is entirely expected. However there will be times when PC#1 and PC#2 are not around each other, at these times PC#1 can slip off without any risk of being followed, if Player #2 wants to follow at these times I would disallow it because the character has no reason to suspect anything, and even when they are together I would likely have #1 roll stealth against #2s passive perception (potentially with penalties based on the situation like if #2 is busy with another task or they are far apart in the marching order etc) because #2 presumably has better things to do that hawkishly watch #1 at all times. If #2 starts staying up all night watching #1s room at the inn then #2 will start racking up exhaustion quickly. If a happy medium can be found then this could actually end up being a fun bit of roleplay for everyone, my game currently has a bit of tension over conflicting PC interests that everyone is enjoying.
As a side note there is nothing boarderline about PC#1s evil, attempting to kill innocents puts a character squarely on the evil side of the line, it sounds like he may simply be playing a chaotic evil character half way sensibly rather than going for the all out chaotic stupid stereotype.
It sounds like #2 is meta-gaming to some extent. Is she playing a character who doesn't have anything else to do than follow people around? I work with some people who I wouldn't trust to watch my house or my cats. But I don't follow them around when they leave work.
It also sounds like #1 isn't really playing a character conducive to party unity either. But if you're running a game where you don't want people to be generally working together, that's fine.
Just tell #2 that her behavior is making the game session less enjoyable for player #1. Not for character #1, but for player #1. If the stuff he does hasn't made anyone else enjoy the game less, then clearly her behavior is the problem here. Everyone is there to have fun, not to 'play a character to the hilt regardless of whether we have a good time or not'.
Conversely, if you want to handle it in-game, have her get arrested at some point by the local police, because she's clearly following that guy over there with bad intentions. "We don't take to thieves much around here, miss!" :)
Looking for new subclasses, spells, magic items, feats, and races? Opinions welcome :)