LogFAQs > #911108763

Most PnP RPGs are simply not set up well for PvP. Some classes or builds are way, way better at it. Wizards with some variant of mind control can easily trounce any physical fighter (or just drop a fireball on them from the next town over if they're the aggressor), assuming they get to go first (if they don't, most fighter-types can squish them pretty easily). Builds that are designed to maximize damage on a single target will fare far better than builds designed for mass combat. And God help the poor soul who's playing a cleric if PvP breaks out.

Most PnP games are designed to be cooperative and party-based because every character class serves a role. The tank, the nuker, the mezzer, the healer - you're supposed to be working as a team so you can cover each other's weaknesses. PvP doesn't allow you to do that, unless there's teams on both sides, so the whole combat system starts to show some serious holes that are ripe for abuse by the players.

Not to mention, as PO mentioned, rare is the party that can survive a solid bout of PvP. Feelings get hurt, tempers flare, and I've seen more than one campaign simply *end* after the party turned on itself.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

can destroy friendships in ways that landing on your friend's hotel on Boardwalk in Monopoly simply doesn't.

Honestly, I don't even get mad if I get Boardwalked. If someone manages to get a hotel on Boardwalk, they fucking deserve to win that game. The dark blues are the least valuable, least reliable properties in the entire game - if someone can win off them, that doesn't deserve scorn, that deserves respect.
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