|
An incident came up in the private campaign I'm playing in, in which a party PC attempted an unarmed strike against my PC - they missed. Their reason was that they didn't like the way I was interacting with a NPC, claiming I was being disrespectful and too conniving. Considering I'm a SotB Druid spec'd for melee with a Leopard companion, I was surprised they'd even consider such an action. Especially since we're all level 2 and the party member attempting the strike is a Wizard with nothing more powerful than magic missile and a marginal AC even with their Mage Armor cast.
Without going into too much detail, the NPC who I was interacting with had disrespected and made an unsolicited and inappropriate proposition to my PC in an earlier encounter, so it wasn't like my approach was unwarranted. I'm also a neutrally aligned worshiper of Gozreh, so it also wasn't really acting OOC.
The player is young and fairly new to PF, so my approach was to let it slide. That was a bit tricky with my companion though, as I had to fudge things a bit around it not noticing the attempted strike. My leopard is weapon finessing with a very good attack, so it's unlikely it would have wiffed. I did explain to the player it was a foolish move and that it could have had bigger consequences than they thought. I'm not a 100% they really heard me out though. My PC is also the only healer in the party, so there's the potential consequences of that too.
Well I'm receptive to feedback on how I play and open to constructive criticism, I'm not planning on making big changes to my play style in this campaign, as I don't feel I'm really playing my Druid OOC and other players aren't having a problem with my style. I really haven't been confronted with a party member acting like this in years, so it was a bit of a curve ball tossed my way. I'm wondering how others would have handled this situation; avoid the retaliatory attacks as I did, or retaliate with your PC and companion?
Next time this happens, encourage said young person to, "Use your words! You can do it." If nothing else it'll really encourage them to hit you ;)
Arguably it could be the start of an roleplay hook, though discussing it briefly out-of-character might help. Your characters being at odds could be something that worsens over time, or perhaps adventuring together will help cement a bond of trust.
Was the player aware of your earlier interaction with the NPC? If so, his actions appear questionable - he should be sticking up for you, not the NPC. Ask him what is he possibly thinking and does he ever want another Cure spell during the rest of his career?
If not aware of your history with this NPC, make him aware of those earlier interactions and explain to the player you acted like that towards the NPC for very good reasons. And to butt out. Unless, once again, he doesn't feel he'll ever need a Cure spell again.
Tell him outright that you don't expect him to pull this again, and if he does, you fully expect the rest of the party to rally to your defense. Make sure you have buy-in from your fellow players on this, before playing the card.
If he persists, go full murder hobo on his character. Or, perhaps just carry through with your threat to not heal him.
Of course, the best thing to likely do is coach this "young and fairly new player to PF" about some of the basic, unwritten rules of party interaction - for most groups Player vs Player conflict is frowned upon (or outright banned). Then go full murder hobo on his character.
:-)
Warn him not to do it again, or next time you'll poke him back.
Next time he does something beyond the pale, hit him with nonlethal damage or a debilitating (but not permanently damaging) spell, and tell him the third time will be lethal.
Sounds like you got bopped in the back of the head.
Roll with it. Work it out in character. This isn't anything serious.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
The wizard made a non-lethal attack that, if it had hit, would have done minimal damage, correct? This wasn't him going PVP on you, this was a way to get you to stop acting in a way he didn't want. Granted, it might be inappropriate, behavior for his character, but it wasn't like he was trying to take you out.
If, in such a situation, your leopard would normally respond to that kind of attack with lethal force, then it probably shouldn't be with you in any kind of social venue or in contact with the public. The chances of it killing an innocent, and landing you in serious trouble are just too high.
I have, on occasion, in my real life said something untoward and been mildly slapped or had a shoe thrown at me. Never did I consider that the other person shouldn't have done that because I could probably murder them if I tried. Neither they nor I even considered that I would react so disproportionately.
Yeah, assuming stereotypical physical types, even a successful unarmed attack from a squishy wizard probably needn't have prompted more than a growl and maybe bared fangs from the leopard. I agree with Dave Justus, if your leopard has any kind of hair trigger, it shouldn't be around people.
Even so, I think it's entirely appropriate for your character to warn against taking such actions in the future, especially given that the cat has no ranks in Sense Motive and could overreact to this sort of thing at any time.
I (and by extension many of my characters) have a tendency to escalate. It's often not productive of me, but my stubborn sensibility is that I don't start trouble; if someone else starts trouble with me, I want to shut it down as quickly as possible by convincing them it would not be wise to continue.
On my best behavior, my likely response in your Druid's situation would be --
1st offense: "Dude, what the hell?!?"
2nd offense: Screw it. Punch his character right back.
3rd offense: Damage him a bit, kitty. (As the only healer available, I'd be obliged to heal him afterward, but not *immediately* afterward, unless he was below 0.)
Your best behavior could easily be better than mine.
|
|
Have the Leopard grapple him and growl in his face, if nothing else, the half hour pause in the game whilst everyone checks what the damn grapple rules are give you enough time to figure out what to do next :)
Lol & ouch! :-p
Many thanks to everyone for the feedback. Your comments and suggestions have been great food for thought.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Step 1: Buy any one of these fine textbooks on social etiquette and conduct.
Step 2: Play Pathfinder
Step 3: The next time your problem player does something that is inappropriate to his friends and fellow players, tell him to make a Reflex save against Social Etiquette.
Step 4: When he reaches down and picks up his dice to roll, whip out the book you bought and throw it at his head.
Step 5: If your problem player survives the concussive force of your attack, he'll likely think twice about being a jerk. Or sue you.
Teach this youngster that it's not alright to hit your companions/friends/family/anything that's not full of loot. It may not be worth killing his character over, but you could make him squeal like a B**** for thinking he can punk on you like that.
Assert your dominance.
An incident came up in the private campaign I'm playing in, in which a party PC attempted an unarmed strike against my PC - they missed. Their reason was that they didn't like the way I was interacting with a NPC, claiming I was being disrespectful and too conniving. Considering I'm a SotB Druid spec'd for melee with a Leopard companion, I was surprised they'd even consider such an action. Especially since we're all level 2 and the party member attempting the strike is a Wizard with nothing more powerful than magic missile and a marginal AC even with their Mage Armor cast.
Advice? None really. What you describe is IMHO a "realistic" situation in a group of powerful individuals whose lives contain a great deal of violence and stress. I have been the agressor in games I have pllayed in, where my warrior took a swing at another character whose PC's mouth was runing and pissing me off. Sometimes PCs are mean to each other, and people whose have taken many lives don't repsond to it in the same way as the rets of us. It made sense (to me) for my character to do. It has happened twice in 25+ years, so not a lot. Each time the response to my unarmed attack was a weapon or spell attack. So, obviosuly that says something about either the player or character, but that is another discussion.