potentially explosive character development

[Camman1984]

As a DM I want to know HONESTLY how you would feel about this situation, I am much happier to be called on it here than to put my dm and party into a messy situation.


background first

my neutral (evil leaning) rogue who has already secretly sworn allegiance to a red Dragon tried to draw out a mole in a city by framing herself as a contact for the mole before we went on a quest. by the time we had come back my plan had cracked and one of the NPC's we were guarding, a pacificlst quaggoth was killed trying to defend himself and strung up outside the walls.

the party are angry at her but accepted it wasn't intentional. she managed to disguise herself and convince the guards that the guilty character has died. She is openly angry about the guards not caring to investigate and not bothering to try and take the NPC alive. she sees it as an uneccesary consequence of her actions and her psyche cannot rationalise it as her own fault. just like siding with the red Dragon and the consequences were also not her fault.

Now the situation
She has become very angry and gas transferred her own guilt into anger at the guards. She wants revenge, she plans on sneaking into the captains house and murdering her in her sleep. This is a clearly evil action and is fine as it works for character development of my character.

however we have a good wizard who dislikes uneccesary violence and has threatened the party on more than one occasion when we wanted to do less savoury actions. we also have a fighter who whilst not evil has an utter hatred for drow and has fallen out with the wizard a lot over his actions so may see it as an oppurtunity to have his pound of flesh.



so... do I do it? I want to, and am more than happy to take the consequences on my character if I get caught, that's how foreplay works. but I would hate to upset the players and cause the party to fall out.

all suggestions and criticism gratefully received.

[Dezea]

Having a character conflicted, with deep psychological conflict and trouble to rationalize what you do is great. If get you concerned by your PC, offer great roleplay opportunity and that's what makes this the game we love.

...As long as, by doing it, you don't ruin someone else fun. If that murder can be done without taking too much spotlight - and time, mostly time - from the other people you play with, and doesn't nullify what they are trying to build RP-Wise, enjoy your fun. If you think you can do it, get caught, and simply share a good laugh with your friend out of "That damn scoundrel murdering rogue !", by all mean, go ! If doing this means that your fellow players will have to spend more playtime dealing with your RP instead of player their character, just don't.

(Also, I'm french, so sorry for my english o/)

[JackPhoenix]

As usual in such situations, talk with your fellow players first to avoid RL drama over IC actions.

[Horatio@Bridge]

Have the conversation happen in character. Let your character get mad and talk to the other characters about how this is the guard's fault and that they should pay. Do your best to convince them of the righteousness of your cause and see if they'll join you on this crusade, or if they find a way to talk you out of it. Maybe they'll have another course of action that will satisfy your rogue's sense of guilt. In this way, you don't just grow your rogue's arc, but also form deeper bonds with the group and further the arc of the party coming together as a team.