We finally made it to Candlekeep!

I’ll be honest, the prep for this one in terms of show notes was relatively easy: I did a search for a bunch of D&D sounding books, added a few titles of my own, and made a chart for how the players could roll to see what they would find. You can find that list here.

And then when we reached the part where they needed books, I promptly threw that roll chart away.

Part of the reason for that was time: we took longer with an unexpected and entertaining PvP scene (I’ll get to that in a second) and were getting up against it, so I decided that in the interest of advancing things that I would curate the list myself.

We’re going to spend some more time with the books they found in the next game, as this is a great opportunity to let them find some information without shoveling it down their throats, but there was one big reveal made at the end of the game that I’ve been teasing for three seasons now…I can’t wait to see how they run with it.

If I’ve learned one thing about being a DM/GM, it’s that you have to be willing to throw all of your prep in the trash at a moment’s notice based on the pulse of the game in that moment. And that you don’t need to let the dice decide everything. In this case, was it the correct choice? I think so, only time will tell.

Let’s get back to that PvP…

…it was hilarious.

Now, most of the time PvP (or player vs player for the uninitiated) is discouraged in games like this. It generally doesn’t make for good gameplay or story, and it can lead to bad feelings between the players themselves.

But! If the PvP is a) in context of the story, b) not malicious, and c) not a regular thing, it can work.

And that’s exactly what happened at the table on Sunday. Dren and Hugon fought. It fit the story. IT fit their characters. It wasn’t malicious.

Had Hugon or Dren attempted to murder each other outright, we would be having a different discussion. This, though, was a case of where the players were able to play the “that is what my character would do” card while keeping a hand on the throttle and not letting it get out of hand.

There are people who will play the “that’s what my character would do” card and just run amok with it, never once reining it back in some. Almost every person who has played any tabletop RPG has run into this player, the one who uses it, frankly, as an excuse to be an asshole at the table. This is toxic behavior.

I can’t begin to delve into why people feel the need to do this to the people they are playing with, ostensibly their friends. What I can say is that if you typically play this card in a way that you know is messing with the other players or the DM, then you need to take a step back and consider a) why are you playing, and b) why are you doing this at the expense of the other people?

I’m fortunate in that both Cluus (Dren) and Gideon (Hugon) are experienced players and know how to keep a light tough on the character throttle; they know when it’s time to pull back on it and let the game continue (which manifests as the characters stopping what they are doing and allowing the group to move forward). I’m also fortunate that they (the players) like each other very much and know that there is no malign intent with what their characters do.