How to avoid splitting the party when dealing with a conflict of interests

Question

In the campaign where I'm currently playing, a majority of the PCs worship the same deity and knew each other prior to the start of the campaign.
One player, however, is playing a character who was not part of this.

We did give him a chance to though.

Normally, this is not a problem, however, when the party has a conflict of interests, he often still does what he wants to, splitting the party. This usually ends up wasting time. Next time we play, we are going to come across a temple of the deity most of the PCs worship that has been run over by orcs. My fear is that, while we repair the temple like the devout people we are, he will leave and do his own thing, rather than stay and do it later, splitting the party, and using up more of our DM's precious time.

How can I, as a player, encourage him to not split the party whilst still letting him have fun and do the stuff he wants to?

Answer 1

I can imagine that player is typing a similar question about why his fellow players want to hang around doing stuff of little importance when there is a world to explore.

In any good and varied campaign the differing characters will have various things they want to accomplish. It's important that they get to do that so everyone feels like they are contributing and also having fun.

A conversation with the player may pay off, it may not. Handled poorly, they will think they're retarding everyone else's fun and are being asked to play in a way they find boring to appease the rest of the table. Handled correctly, a chat might find a middle ground where everyone is happy (at least a bit more).

The solution to this may fall on to the DM. They have the ability to craft situations that cater to player's differing expectations.

• Does this character have an interest in archaeology or history? Maybe engravings around the temple hint at what happened there in the past.

• Are they a rogue type? Provide signs of traps having been triggered and let them sniff them out, whether the traps exist or not.

• Maybe the loot from the Orcs requires a short rest to play around with and identify

You get the idea.

It must also be said that the initial setup of the group's backstory was always going to create exactly this type of problem. A situation was crafted, right from the start, in which one player was immediately placed on the outside.

TTRPG is a group experience. If one player isn't having fun or causing the issues you describe everyone bears some responsibility to working to resolve. It's the RP part of TTRPG.

Lastly, as the Web DM crew have said in the past, split the party. It's then that the really cool stuff happens.

Answer 2

Because there are many different dynamics going on here, it is hard to give any definite tips without knowing further information. However, I was thinking: how antagonistic are the two deities involved – the group's deity and the god/dess the "individualist" follows?

Especially if these two deities are on good terms, they might frown on anyone who refuses to help a temple of the other. If they are members of the same pantheon, even somewhat antagonistic deities might cooperate and expect their followers to help each other. The Greek pantheon is a prime example for this.

Saying "I follow another God, so nyah!" can be a bad idea, especially if you then need divine help, for example to remove a curse or for advanced healing and the only temple available that can help you belongs to the God you just spurned - that god might even withhold the help you desperately need.

Without regarding the rest, I can only suggest what I have done in similar situations: have a serious outtime talk with all players - making sure not to point fingers - regarding subjects like:

• we are here to have a good time together
• the values of teamwork
• "that is the way my character is" is a first indication for a jerk player

Also, I would refer my players to some specific videos from The Great GM, especially those regarding teamwork and difficult players.

Answer 3

if I'm reading right, the situation right now is that one of the player characters has a personal agenda that deviates from what the rest of group is doing, and that is creating a divide in the group.

Given the other player is alone in their side of the divide, they're going to sound and act as a loner, and being the rest of you a group united around a theme, they don't have much space to fit their character into it.

Let's face it, they're not going to change what they're doing. You can't forcefully convince the other player to stop pursuing their own goals for the sake of time allocation. But I see your group has another problem, and that's something you can actually fix by changing what you do.

If you can't beat them, join them

Next time the group is separated because you have different goals, side with the loner, make their objectives your own. Send them the message that they're a important part of your team and you are willing to set aside your agenda for them.

A player that feels like their goals and story are important for the group is going to be more willing to collaborate and be a part of that group. Instead of ruling them with reason, thus making them feel more of an outcast, seduce them into being part of the group.

Answer 4

Repairing a temple seems like something just as trivial.

Maybe trying to convince him in a narrative way that doing such a thing is part of the plot, or is somehow important and more than just some weird character trait.

Answer 5

You could ask your DM to include plotlines with mutual interest to everyone, beyond religion. For example, if they want wealth then you could be paid well for this mission, or if they want a fight, the temple could be due to be attacked.

If they refuse to comply after you make missions designed to appeal to their normal desires then you have an issue, but many players don't want to serve a particular deity. That is a common issue.