How frequently do you see in-game friction between PCs successfully and satisfyingly resolved in-game?In non-tabletop fiction, there can be in-universe friction between protagonists. For example, Netflix and Disney+'s Matt Murdock/Daredevil argues with Frank Castle/Punisher over sparing vs. icing bad guys (with further nuance to distinguish common goons and major villains). These stories have the luxury of being written by a relatively unified team of writers. No one writer truly "owns" a specific character, or otherwise has their ego and enjoyment invested in a specific character. The writers generally need not worry about taking sides, showing favoritism, or (deliberately or accidentally) "proving" one character right or wrong.Tabletop RPGs are different. There is no unified team of writers. Each player "owns" one specific character, and tends to have their ego and enjoyment invested in that character. The GM has to worry about taking sides, showing favoritism, or (deliberately or accidentally) "proving" one character right or wrong.In a best-case scenario, the players know one another well, and they can elegantly sort out their PCs' differences in-game through character development and poignant moments, with the GM there to help smooth things along. This does not always happen; players can fiercely butt heads, and the GM has to awkwardly mediate a compromise or take a side, either of which can make at least one player feel like their freedom is being infringed upon.I am in one such situation. I started up a game for two players. After two six-hour long sessions and extensive out-of-game discussion, there is a clear rift. One player wants a game where few antagonists are irredeemably evil, and sparing them is the usually the right thing to do. The other player wants to frequently fight and righteously kill irredeemably evil enemies (note: with a rather edgelordy definition, such that simply opposing the PCs automatically makes an NPC "irredeemably evil").
Never, in nearly 30 years of TRPG. Anyone with a lick of sense will stop trying early in.Don't even bother. If you want satisfying inter-character conflict: write a story where that happens instead.
This type of story is frequently a major aspect in the games I've been in. It doesn't always work out! Sometimes, one PC has to kill another PC, and both players are okay with it because it's a great story that's played for drama.If you can't find a group that's okay with actually telling a collaborative story -- where characters can develop and change over time -- then maybe it's your fault.
>>96854056>If you can't find a group that's okay with actually telling a collaborative storyOh, I'm mistaken then. I thought we were talking about playing a Tabletop Roleplaying Game.OP if you and your duo are collaborative storytellers then just stay the course. You can sit in Discord saying what cool stuff the characters and NPCs do and deciding what should happen moment to moment for the most dramatic effect in any given scenario. Should be fine.
>>96854098How is a Tabletop Roleplaying Game not a kind of collaborative storytelling? Is English your second language?
>>96854189Go ask the OSR guys, I'm sure they'll let you know. I'm not in the mood to elucidate.>Is English your second language?No, it's closer to third or fourth. I presume it's your native and singular one though. Usually monolingual Americans are the only ones who try to insult someone by implying they don't speak the only language they know lol
>>96853845It would help if you remembered the "edgelordy" player repeatedly told you he thought it could be a fun source of in-game friction and he was ready to switch to nonlethal before you made this post.
>>96853845It depends. In our last campaign we had a ton of interpersonal conflicts, but it was a lot of fun and no one took is personally. But in a game I played in several years ago, one of the players was freaking out because my character had secrets that weren't even running counter to the rest of the PCs. He was just convinced >Character is doing stuff the other character don't know about = he is going to fuck us over.So, I dropped that character and made something more obvious. Some people just aren't ever going to be down with it.
If the players know what they're doing they'll usually jump to the chance to either resolve the issue or show another side. Like taking a shot for the other or showing in some other way that there's friendship bellow the squabbles. I recall a one shot where two players kept getting more and more mad at each other to the point the rest left them alone, a monster attack and both attack first, both hit, and it was a pretty badass moment. It can't ever be solved if the players actually dislike each other and are pretending to just be doing what their characters would. Which is by far the most common case.
>>96856137WE HAVE A SURPRISE GUEST IN THE AUDIENCE
>>96853845PVP is anathema to the TTRPG experience.It doesn't matter the circumstances.It doesn't matter if makes sense or if logic dictates friction between characters.It doesn't matter if you consider everyone good sports.PVP always - ALWAYS - leads to hurt feelings and potential drama at the table.NEVER let it happen under your watch. If you must antagonize, do so as an NPC. No other context is without danger to the game's health.
