Two of my players don’t get on… Any advice? /u/throwthatawaydnd DnD: Roll for Initiative!

Throwaway account and keeping it vague in the hopes of staying anonymous to avoid awkwardness.

My campaign has been going on for over a year. I was friends with all the players beforehand but some are from different social groups and didn’t know each other well.

Two of my players simply don’t get on and it’s starting to put a dampener on the campaign. It’s been getting worse in recent sessions to the point where I feel I can’t ignore it. Recently I politely asked each of them about it privately because another player had raised concerns.

Player 1 says they don’t have an issue with player 2 and simply insists that their character doesn’t like the other player’s character (player 1 plays a no-nonsense, focused character who just wants to get the job done while player 2 plays a chaotic adventurer who enjoys partying and getting into trouble) but I’m not buying it because player 1 previously had another character who died, and whilst tensions weren’t quite as high back then, they still didn’t seem to fully get on. Player 1 even offered to come up with a new character but I’m unconvinced that would actually help.

Player 2 openly admitted to not liking player 1 but stated it was literally just because of snarky comments and jabs in sessions and if it wasn’t for that, they might not be best friends but player 2 would have no serious issue.

I don’t know who started it. There were some jokes from player 1 in the early sessions that didn’t really land and seem to have rubbed player 2 the wrong way, and player 2 made some decisions in the early sessions that put the party in danger, derailed the quest and rubbed player 1 the wrong way, and it just seems to have escalated from there.

As DM, I feel relatively confident shutting down any squabbling in game and in character because in session I’m the DM and I’m in charge and in control. But when it spills over outside the sessions, I’m not the boss of them.

I don’t want to kick anyone out of the campaign but equally I can’t see this resolving itself naturally, it feels like eventually someone will snap. Should I just make them talk it out like adults? Another player suggested this but I know them pretty well and can’t really see it resolving anything. I take player 1 up on their offer and ask them to play as a different character who is more laid back, but I think it’s pretty clear the players don’t get on, though I don’t really know why.

Any suggestions? What would you do in this situation?

Throwaway account and keeping it vague in the hopes of staying anonymous to avoid awkwardness.

My campaign has been going on for over a year. I was friends with all the players beforehand but some are from different social groups and didn’t know each other well.

Two of my players simply don’t get on and it’s starting to put a dampener on the campaign. It’s been getting worse in recent sessions to the point where I feel I can’t ignore it. Recently I politely asked each of them about it privately because another player had raised concerns.

Player 1 says they don’t have an issue with player 2 and simply insists that their character doesn’t like the other player’s character (player 1 plays a no-nonsense, focused character who just wants to get the job done while player 2 plays a chaotic adventurer who enjoys partying and getting into trouble) but I’m not buying it because player 1 previously had another character who died, and whilst tensions weren’t quite as high back then, they still didn’t seem to fully get on. Player 1 even offered to come up with a new character but I’m unconvinced that would actually help.

Player 2 openly admitted to not liking player 1 but stated it was literally just because of snarky comments and jabs in sessions and if it wasn’t for that, they might not be best friends but player 2 would have no serious issue.

I don’t know who started it. There were some jokes from player 1 in the early sessions that didn’t really land and seem to have rubbed player 2 the wrong way, and player 2 made some decisions in the early sessions that put the party in danger, derailed the quest and rubbed player 1 the wrong way, and it just seems to have escalated from there.

As DM, I feel relatively confident shutting down any squabbling in game and in character because in session I’m the DM and I’m in charge and in control. But when it spills over outside the sessions, I’m not the boss of them.

I don’t want to kick anyone out of the campaign but equally I can’t see this resolving itself naturally, it feels like eventually someone will snap. Should I just make them talk it out like adults? Another player suggested this but I know them pretty well and can’t really see it resolving anything. I take player 1 up on their offer and ask them to play as a different character who is more laid back, but I think it’s pretty clear the players don’t get on, though I don’t really know why.

Any suggestions? What would you do in this situation?