The seed of the text blooming (or not) in play

I'm in this PbP game Chris is running right now. Were at 1.5 sessions, more or less (hard to say in an online environment), and at least one PC is badly wounded and another is at 11:00 right now (all due to PvP). It's crazy.

Ha. In my (7 sessions & running) game, we've had NO harm from PvP, and I think the max harm any PC has been at (not taken all in one shot, but how many boxes they have filled in) is 6:00, maaaybe once 9:00.

No one took harm last session, I don't think.

Here's a question for you, Hans: how strong is your group concept prior to play? Sure, everyone knows each other and are allies, but are they family? All part of a crew? What?

...I think the max harm any PC has been at (not taken all in one shot, but how many boxes they have filled in) is 6:00, maaaybe once 9:00.

Wow. Really? Do you ever have NPCs waving guns around in their face?

yeah. A lot in the beginning. But mostly the Gunlugger would take them on, and he has wicked armor and guns.

yeah. A lot in the beginning. But mostly the Gunlugger would take them on, and he has wicked armor and guns.

Yeah, well, when his brother, the one he loves so much, drinks the water from BloodMuck Pond (it wasn't a great choice, no) and goes rape-tastic on the Chopper's daughter, lets see them band together then. Let him solve that with his gun.

yeah. A lot in the beginning. But mostly the Gunlugger would take them on, and he has wicked armor and guns.

So, let's workshop this situation here.

Chukko is your garden variety brute, and he's got a shotgun. And he's got a major chip on his shoulder, and expects the world to cater to his every whim. The "part" that he follows around is his ego. He goes wavin' his gun around, and then the Gunlugger PC takes him out.

Fine. That absolutely doesn't end the problem. It just mutates it. This is when you decide/realize that Chukko has a girlfriend. What kind of girl would Chukko have as a girlfriend? Probably a needy hot-head who he showers with scavenged jewelry. What does she do when Chukko gets shot by the Gunlugger?

I mean, there's a couple good answers. "Nothing, at first" is a really fun answer. "She starts turning people against the Gunlugger" is another. If you're looking for a more abrupt answer, though, then, "She decides to do some revenge killing."

Now, who's she NOT going to go after? The Gunlugger. He's tough. Instead, she targets someone close to the Gunlugger. This is where the rifts between the PCs start to form. The Gunlugger goes out, kicks ass, and then his buddies pay the price.

If you're really in the first couple sessions, I think the yeast is just starting to work, I don't think you have to push it too much. In my online game we're part way through the second "session" and we've got two characters independently plotting to take over from the NPC hardholder, somebody plotting to murder the NPC who's going to put another PC on the throne, PC's scanning each other's brains and letting their henchmen break each other's fingers. 

I think it'll get shooty soon enough if I keep the heat on.  I'm not sure how it works, but it's amazing how some characters have really been pushed away from each other - two them were explicitly conceived as partners working for the Maestro D', and they've liking each other less and less as the game goes on. It all goes back one of those questions I asked during chargen -- "what did you guys argue about last week?"  Very satisfying to wedge the PC's apart like that.