Summary
Dungeons & Dragons, since its inception, has always meant to be played as a cooperative roleplaying game. Some DMs and players, however, will fall into the vile temptation to engage in something known as PvP, or player-versus-player combat. Like so many other good ideas that came before it (eating an entire sleeve of Oreos for one), the decision to try out PvP often has dire consequences.
However, if you’re still lured by PvP’s siren song, look no further than this list. I’m going to try to do my very best to persuade you to avoid PvP at all costs. DMs and players, you’ve been warned.
10Balance Issues
Don’t Upset It
The first and most important reason DMs need to avoid running PvP is because, quite frankly, Dungeons & Dragons is not balanced for PvP in any way, shape, or form. The waydifferent classes interactwith one another in combat can create some very unfair advantages for some and some disadvantages for others.
For example, classes like monks that have stun abilities can often take wizards or bards out of the fight completely with one hit. Plus, obviously, players don’t have things like Legendary Actions or Resistances that can be used to balance these kinds of fights. Overall, if you’re considering running PvP, just know you’re gonnahave to tweak rulesto make the game actually balanced.
9Intraparty Conflict
Fight, Fight, Fight!
When you’re running PvP, whether canonically or non-canonically, it can be very easy for the players to turn on one another. It’s easy to feel like someone’s picking on you in combat, or that somebody else has an advantage thanks to the magic items they have.
When this happens, players can very easily start fighting above the table just as much as they are in-game. This is, obviously, not great for DMs to have to litigate. If you think, as a DM, it’ll be fun to run PvP, just know you’ll more often than not end up having to calm players down.
8Rules Lawyering
Point Of Order
The rules of Dungeons & Dragons are just that: rules. As a DM, you often have the final say in how something works. However, when it comes to a player’s ability to do something against another player, this becomes far harder to litigate. Players in PvP will often start to rule lawyer and advocate for themselves to be able to do something that might make the PvP unfair.
When a player advocates for themselves against an NPC or adversary, the experience is quite different. But when a player is arguing, they should be able to use a spell a certain way against another player; the stakes get a lot higher. This makes the whole table feel tense.
7Player Death
Now What?
This next reason is mainly for non-canonical PvP one-shots. If players are fighting one another in PvP in a canon game, you’re going to have to hope and pray that nobody’s actually trying to kill each other, and this should be avoided at all costs.
However, in a non-canonical one-shot, player death can sometimes be the only way to tell ‘who won.’ However, when a player dies, they’re often left out of the rest of the session. This can prove extremely boring and frustrating as a player, and this adds pressure on the DM to find some other way for them to keep playing.
6Canon Ramifications
There Could Be Dire Consequences
If the PvP is happening in a canon situation, the consequences of PvP can escalate really fast. Players might suffer fatal wounds, lose magic items, and more. This can prove extremely frustrating as a player, especially if you’re not the one escalating or initiating the PvP.
If you’re absolutely hellbent on running PvP, I would highly encourage you to make it a non-canonical one-shot. At least, in this way, if everything goes horribly wrong, at least it’s non-canonical and you can start fresh next session.
5Endless Combat
Are We There Yet?
This next reason goes back to the issue of balance with PvP. Because PvP isn’t balanced correctly in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons, combat between players can often go on forever. Dungeons & Dragons 5e is already plagued by long combat. You don’t need to make it worse with PvP.
Of course, some parties and tables are going to be more into long combat than others. So, for this reason, you can gauge if a long PvP session is actually right for you or not. However, most of the time, a five-hour combat session isn’t going to be conducive to a great DND game.
4Starts To Feel Personal
I Feel Very Attacked Right Now!
Again, regarding balance, martial classes like monks and fighters might soon discover they have an advantage over squishier wizards and other spellcasters. This can lead to PvP starting to feel very personal.
This tip honestly goes for all Dungeons & Dragons games, even ones that don’t include PvP. When things happen in a DND game, it shouldn’t be a personal attack on a player. It should always be about the characters. However, PvP blurs the lines between what’s an attack on a character and what’s an attack on a player, which can lead to a lot of anger and angst.
3Hard To Run
The DM Has A Point Of Exhaustion
Combat is always the trickiest thingfor a DM to runin Dungeons & Dragons. Obviously, as a DM, when it comes to PvP, you don’t have to make any attacks yourself. But that doesn’t mean that PvP isn’t hard to run in its own right.
This is because, more often than not, you’re going to have to break up arguments, litigate complex rules, and much more. Plus, during PvP, players tend to love to privately ask you questions so as not to give away their strategy. This can prove time-consuming and exhaustive to keep track of, especially when it comes to secret strategies that players want to employ in combat.
2Can’t Keep The Party On Task
Often A Distraction
PvP often feels like a distraction, whether it’s canon or not. If the party has a goal they’re avoiding with PvP, that can prove incredibly frustrating for a DM. In a non-canonical setting, it’s often hard to justify why the party is engaging in PvP.
Whether we like it or not, DND is at its best when there’s some kind of narrative element going on. As a DM, it can be hard to narratively justify PvP, which often leaves the session feeling a bit tedious and aimless.
1Supports Targeted
Fun For Some, Not So Much For Others
This last reason goes back to PvP feeling personal and balance issues. It’s easy for support classes to feel like they’re merely there to lift the other players. This never becomes more apparent than in PvP, especially if you’re playing a battle royale scenario.
While paladins can usually make do, clerics and bards can often get the short end of the stick in PvP, particularly clerics. While there’s no reason a cleric build can’t be designed for PvP, most normal clerics often have more of a support build. If you are going to run PvP with a cleric, try to find a way to justify why they might tweak their build to make it more balanced.
