Lending Stolen Weapons

**GreatWyrmGold** · 2017-06-25, 11:19 PM (ISO 8601)

I had an unusual situation in a game earlier today. The party encountered a crazy guy who (after some talking) stole my character's dagger. Another character disarmed him, and I naturally assumed I'd get the dagger back; however, after some more talking, the other character re-armed the crazy guy with my dagger despite my protests, because he was supposed to help us in the rest of the adventure; I didn't get the weapon back until after the guy turned out to be a wererat and we had to kill him. (At least he didn't actually use the dagger against us, or I would have been even more pissed.) Short of having my character attack either the crazy guy or the PC, I'm not sure what I could have done.

I realize this is kind of a specific situation, but...does anyone have advice on how I should have handled it?

**Vitruviansquid** · 2017-06-25, 11:41 PM (ISO 8601)

1. Don't play with people who are annoying.

Failing that...

2. Don't play with GMs who allow people to annoy each other.

Failing that...

3. Don't play systems where it is easy for people to annoy each other.

**Lvl 2 Expert** · 2017-06-26, 01:45 AM (ISO 8601)

Talk to the player, say you think it isn't cool if he hands out your stuff.

**TheCountAlucard** · 2017-06-26, 02:20 AM (ISO 8601)

It's just a knife, dude, right? Was it your only weapon?

Originally Posted by GreatWyrmGold

Short of having my character attack either the crazy guy or the PC, I'm not sure what I could have done.

Asked for it back? Like, used your words? Explained to the other PC that the guy who took your weapon seemed suspicious and you'd rather he not be armed with a lethal weapon?

**Koo Rehtorb** · 2017-06-26, 03:44 AM (ISO 8601)

1) Let it go. It's a knife. Who actually cares?

2) If you do actually care, talk to the player. If it's bugging you enough to be an OOC issue then resolve it OOC. Don't try to resolve OOC issues with IC solutions.

**weckar** · 2017-06-26, 05:49 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Koo Rehtorb

1) Let it go. It's a knife. Who actually cares?

Could have been a +3 Keen Vorpal knife

**GreatWyrmGold** · 2017-06-26, 08:19 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by TheCountAlucard

It's just a knife, dude, right? Was it your only weapon?

No.

Asked for it back? Like, used your words? Explained to the other PC that the guy who took your weapon seemed suspicious and you'd rather he not be armed with a lethal weapon?

Tried the first couple. Other people had handled the "he's suspicious" as far as I felt necessary at the time.

Originally Posted by Vitruviansquid

1. Don't play with people who are annoying.
Failing that...
2. Don't play with GMs who allow people to annoy each other.

That requires having a breadth of options and knowing which will be annoying ahead of time.

Failing that...
3. Don't play systems where it is easy for people to annoy each other.

Not sure how that applies to this situation.

**goto124** · 2017-06-26, 08:25 AM (ISO 8601)

"No" as in "No, the knife was not just an ordinary knife" or "No, the knife was not my only weapon"?

**Lvl 2 Expert** · 2017-06-26, 08:39 AM (ISO 8601)

Talk to the other player. He probably figures this guy is going to do more good for your team than harm, he figures the guy will be more effective at that when armed and he figured your knife is the weapon the rest of party is least likely to really miss. You think he shouldn't be handing out your stuff, because it is your stuff. You two are playing the game differently. Talk to him about it.

**Jay R** · 2017-06-26, 02:52 PM (ISO 8601)

Say it clearly and unambiguously: "Hold it. That's my knife, not yours. Give away your things, but if you try to give away my things, you're a thief."

Set up a parallel: "As long as we're giving him other people's things, I give him the fighter's helm, the wizard's wand, and the cleric's underpants."

But talk about it. Directly and openly, without threatening violence, but also without budging or allowing others to change the subject.

**dps** · 2017-06-26, 05:48 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Vitruviansquid

3. Don't play systems where it is easy for people to annoy each other.

That's not really possible; annoying people will always find a way.

**Vitruviansquid** · 2017-06-26, 06:07 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by dps

That's not really possible; annoying people will always find a way.

Yes, but in some games, you have to actually try to annoy people, and in other games, taking away a character's knife will be dramatically more annoying than one would think.

**GreatWyrmGold** · 2017-06-26, 07:10 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by goto124

"No" as in "No, the knife was not just an ordinary knife" or "No, the knife was not my only weapon"?

The latter. Didn't realize it was unclear.

Originally Posted by Jay R

Set up a parallel: "As long as we're giving him other people's things, I give him the fighter's helm, the wizard's wand, and the cleric's underpants."

The difference being that I didn't have my character's hands on any of those things at the time. But that is a good thing to say for next time.

**FreddyNoNose** · 2017-06-27, 11:23 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by dps

That's not really possible; annoying people will always find a way.

And there are those who would pretend they are annoyed because they want to control other people.

**Slipperychicken** · 2017-06-27, 11:42 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by GreatWyrmGold

That requires having a breadth of options and knowing which will be annoying ahead of time

Not necessarily. Even if you fail to foresee a group being terrible, you can always just leave. It can help to take measures like meeting people in social contexts other than roleplaying beforehand.

I still hold the opinion that a bad game is worse than no game at all. I've stuck with groups I knew were bad, and I've regretted that terribly. If roleplaying is your only in-person social interaction and there's nothing else nearby, you can try branching out to find friends in other hobbies and spaces.

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