First I'd like to say hello to everyone! Ok so here is my situation, I have a player group of 5 people. They are all good friends and their characters are developing well. The issue is they are all level 1 and one character in particular likes to get a little rowdy whenever his character is insulted or takes a compliment the wrong way. The character is a half orc barbarian with an intellect of 8 so it makes for some good role play. What is the best way for me to deal with his antics ( ie assaulting someone in a town or city like a guard or shopkeeper). We have had one session so far and he already attacked an npc guide for telling him what to do in his current situation ( they had to cross a river and the guide was giving him suggestions). My main worry is if he assaults the wrong person, bad things will happen to him. The positive of this situation is that there are no out of game issues between the player and me since we have been in different campaigns previously. I just want to have a way of making him deal with the consequences of his actions. Thanks everyone and sorry if my post is long.
Speak with the player.
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Hi welcome,
Since there are no out of game issues, I'd let the character hang himself with his own rope. If he goes around attacking NPCs for something so trivial as the example, he deserves the consequences. Night in jail for fighting, or put on trial for homicide, if he takes it that far. I'd say have a caster or townfolk take matters into their own hands by playing pranks on him, however, I feel like that might just drive him to murder. Stick to whatever you feel a fantasy society would consider fair, which is clearly a moving target person to person. Until you decide though, there is no boundary.
At first I will take the approach of not purposely trying to egg him on, but if he continues to be a fuse ready to be lit by the smallest thing, he may get hurt. Thank you all for the advice. I like the idea of towns members getting involved and handling it themselves because that doesn't even have to involve the law.
The advice so far is all good.
I've had characters in campaigns like this (and heck, I may have even played them) where if they are getting laughs from the group or otherwise encouraging some fun RP scenes, it can encourage more of the same.
Which can be fun, honestly, but it needs to align with the tone of the campaign, and it can't derail the rest of the plot. It sounds like you expect a certain consistency in how your world reacts to these sorts of things, so you're better off injecting that realistic response early, so everyone is aware of the expectations.
Given the lack of OOC issues, I'd probably start sending some IC signals that the character is risking his freedom/etc if he continues acting like a jerk. Maybe next time they're in town, the local sheriff/whatever can come by and even put hoim on notice that they are watching him, and won't tolerate illegal behaviour.
That way, when the consequences come down, he has been well-advised of the consequences. And if you feel the behaviour is getting disruptive, you can always have him tossed in jail for a short period, where the character can cool down a bit, and perhaps make the player a bit more cautious the next time around.