Gentlemen, (I use that term lightly, as we were not all acting like gentlemen today) I fear for our game on Fridays. I fear that if we cannot find common ground and agree on certain basic rules of etiquette, that we will loose some of our players. If you haven't noticed, we have already lost some. We can't afford to loose any more. I will be blunt, though I would prefer not to have to do this. I believe the role of the the DM is not to referee fights among players, but to keep the story going. You can fight on you own time. Unfortunately, if I don't do something about this soon, I'm afraid we won't have any players left to referee. Alex represents what was the majority decision of the party to place loot into a common "bag" to be distributed fairly to the members who can make best use of it. He spent a lot of his own personal free time organizing the loot. A thankless job, because someone will always be unhappy and blame it on him, though he never made the decision himself. He would merely organize and publish the loot, then let the party vote on who gets what. When there were but a few magic weapons that had been found he didn't even suggest that he should have one. He took a magic book instead. Even though he uses a maul and a magic one was found. He suggested that it go to Rook. This system of fair distribution based on the common good of the party was approved by the party as a whole since the first time you found loot. But every week there is a discussion about it as if it had never happened. Ivan represents the minority of the party who want to "rage loot," to steal a term from Critical Role. I understand the allure of loot and the fun of discovering and keeping something, but D&D is a social game and if we have a "me first" attitude about loot or what the party is going to do, then there will be problems between players. When there are problems between players, someone stops having fun. Sometimes it can even affect the whole group, ruining the fun of several people. If everyone in the party had voted to keep what ever loot they personally found and then trade with others, then the system of Ivan would be fine. I'm sure there are groups who play this way without any problems. Unfortunately, this group voted on the previous system of loot division. Therefore I fear that we will continue to loose players if this issue is not resolved. The next player we will loose if this behavior continues will surely be Alex. And if Alex leaves, so will Stefanos. The go together like bread and butter. Then Ivan will only have Mike to play with. When I say that Ivan represents the minority opinion, I don't mean he is alone. The are others who might be fine with this style of play. The problem is that our fellowship has already been weakened. Boromir tried to take the ring from Frodo. Frodo has gone off with Sam, while the little Dwarven legs of Gimli try to keep up with Legolas and Aragorn. If we are left with one or two players because of this infighting, we will no longer have a Friday game. While Stefanos might be able to play a "me first" type of game, I know that Alex will not do it for long. And the truth is that I don't want to place more players in this group if everyone is fighting for what they can get. It is hard enough for someone new to come into a group and get a feel for the dynamic of the group and then find his place in it. They often feel left out and cause a revolving door of players who don't stay because they feel excluded. Add to that struggle the problem of a group with infighting and we will never be able to maintain a steady group of players. The problems between you have extended to things besides the loot. Today Ivan wanted to go see the Banshee Agatha. It was the next quest on the list and it was a quick and easy one. No fighting, just role play. A puzzle or riddle or chance to get something outside of combat. Information can be as valuable as a +3 sword. I understand Ivan's desire to go. I even think it was the best choice, but it is not my place as DM to tell the PC's where to go. (Unless I simply don't have that area or dungeon prepared yet.) The party as a whole, by majority vote decided to go to the hill country and find Wyvern tor. While this may not have been the optimal choice, nor the best for Role play, it was the choice of the majority. I feel that one person, Ivan in this case, should not be able to railroad the party into a decision if the majority are against it. Even though I personally wanted the party to go see Agatha. I understand that Ivan's character wanted to complete the task given to her by the Sister and I appreciate that kind of dedication to the story. I love your role play Ivan and I enjoy playing with you in character, but when you become stubborn and your character refuses the will of the majority it is uncomfortable and everyone stops having fun. You did eventually concede, but highjacking the wagon and basically daring anyone to oppose you is not the way to make friends and motivate the party. I hope that we can all stay together as a group, but I feel that will only happen if the group commits to abide by the same rules that the group itself agrees on. Please don't take this the wrong way, I'm not appointing Alex to be the Party Leader. I don't think any one person should make the decision about where the party goes or what they do. I also don't feel that it is correct that one person just because they are "braver" in character should be able to say "I grab all the good loot and the sentient sword and I keep it all. Oh, and by the way, I steal the bag of platinum in front of their face. And if anybody wants some they have to give me something. We have players who struggle to to find a voice for their characters. If any one person can run roughshod over the group, then these players who are more timid with be placed at a disadvantage. I firmly believe that loot should be distributed to who can get the most benefit for the party from it. I sometimes design a magic item for a certain party member based on their character and their play style and anything they posted in the Wish list. It would bother me that all my work went for nothing because that person was too timid to fight with an overpowering player for their item. In conclusion, if the party now wants to change the paradigm of loot distribution to a system based more on Chaotic principles, then the party needs to vote and then be honorable and stick to the new paradigm. If on the other hand, the party votes to continue dividing loot as we have been since the beginning, then those who oppose should be honorable and abide by the democratically decided opinion of the majority. We should all also be considerate of others and try not to ruin the fun of others just to get our own way. This goes both ways. I hope I still have a Friday group after this rant :) Andy
