Player Betraying Player

 

Players betraying one another - dramatic turns or a recipe for disaster?

Players turning against each other doesn't ALWAYS need to end up being bad. Sometimes players with alternate goals (maybe against the rest of the party) can lead to a lot of enjoyable hijinx. However, sometimes, certain players may enjoy a goal or motivation that may only result in a loss of progress for the rest of the party, or would only result in harm or death for a PC. These cases should be handled carefully, especially if the player in question has been a problem in the past for whatever reason.

I guess the answer depends on many things, some of which we'll cover in today's post.

What causes players betraying one another?

Players often have personal motivations for their characer's background, and often these motivations are made before they've chatted to their fellow players. For example, a Rogue's motivation may be to steal from those who hurt his friends, while a Paladin may seek to bring righteousness to the realm. These two goals are contrary to each other and would (if the players decide to stick to their guns) result in some form of PvP. If it doesn't result in that though, you may find someone in this example may opt to 'agree' with the other, then actively work behind their back to meet their own goals. This can often result in a confrontation later on.

Other times, it can be the result of an event in your game that two players have differing opinions about. Similar to the above, this may be confronted via RP when the problem arises, or may become a brewing betrayal. 

Sometimes, these betrayals can be a result of the GMs interference. Maybe a caster took control of the PC's actions to attack their friends, or maybe the GM has specifically worked towards having conflicting PCs at a later point. Conflicting characters aren't something I plan from the start (it just means more work for me, and the players make up their own reasons to betray each other!), but I have seen that done at games I have been involved in.

It's important to think about how these situations affect the 'betraying' party and those who are to be betrayed. Betraying can be an interesting drama for the table but it's worth observing how, and in what tone, the betrayal has came around to ensure people don't walk away feeling hurt.

Why do GMs introduce the ability for players to betray each other?

As touched on, a GM may plant a betrayal via magical means into a game. Whether it's a delayed mind control, or that the player becomes possessed by an NPCs will by whatever means, it can happen. These are often very simply resolved, and I don't think I have ever seen this cause pain between the two players - maybe against the GM if it was a forced, unpleasant action though. In most cases though, if the buy-ini and tone for your game is stated clearly that's one thing, but if you intend to have betrayal elements, then it could be worth flagging this up early. 

GMs sometimes introduce conflicting character elements right from character creation. This could be an awesome way to have grand reveals and revelations later in a campaign but should be handled carefully if the reveal is intended to happen very far down the line of a campaign. Otherwise, a treacherous reveal may result in PVP, and the loser has the pleasure of losing a (possibly) well-loved character be killed as a result of a, potentially, shoehorned story hook.

For example, maybe one character works for a dark cabal of assassins who seek out to kill parasitic Nobles in a fancy city. The other player character has lost their parents to an assassin who murdered them with no real motives behind it. This could spiral into an adventure where the assassin PC doesn't realise the connection to their organisation, and the Noble PC investigates their parents deaths to uncover a sprawling conspiracy of high council corruption. Pretty cool, and eventually the apex of the mystery is discovered by both players at the same time that th assassin character's organisation done the murders AND that the nobles parents were evil. This could be a fun side-shoot from a main campaign, but also introduces a potentially challenging PC face-off.

Regardless of the reason, if it's introduced, it should be handled with care if there's a chance it results in fatal consequences for any PC party.

How could you handle it?

A simple answer really, and something you've maybe already seen on the blog. I think there's nothing wrong with introducing or allowing betraying players, but if it will result in loss of character, or arguing amongst players then betrayals should be cautiously proceeded with.

If players often bicker and moan at each other, and make it uncomfortable for other players, you should probably step in to ask for things to lighten up. I've had to do this to stop two players taking up significant game time by arguing with each other.

If a player asks to do some actions that will result in proper conflict at the table (and it could result in PC death), then I would either recommend a different course for that player privately, or if you have already communicated to your players at the 'buy in' stage that things like this could happen, then allow it to proceed. You'll know best how your players will handle this. I have multiple groups I run games for, but one team in particular are all very close friends. This is the group I am most comfortable allowing to do their desired activities no matter how controversial. So far at least, no one has fell out in that group!

Lastly, if you intend to introduce betrayal at a character creation stage, all I would say is make sure you cover betrayal as a topic or theme when 'selling' the game to your players. If you're unsure if feelings would be hurt, then introduce NPCs to betray players and see how they handle it. Now when you do it for 'real' - your players will be a little more resistant to offence caused by betrayals, hopefully.

Ultimately, it's your game to run, and in almost every group I play the players are all friends. I don't tend to signpost themes of games too strongly (other than a core theme or two), and I've never ran into an issue with betrayal (or nothing big at least). If you're really unsure and uncomfortable, don't include it. However, if you're in any other camp and would like to add betrayals to your games - proceed (but with caution!). If it goes well then you've added a great, unique sequence for your players. If anyone gets offended, learn from what went wrong by talking to the players after the game and work on improving it in the future.

Thanks for reading this post - do you have any thoughts? Let us know if you can! While I'm a long-term GM, I'm always learning by engaging in TTRPGs with friends and others online who always have great stories to share about these topics. 

Until the next blog post, take care and good gaming!

-KJ