Dealing with difficult personalities

When a PC has a difficult personality trait (stubborn, rebellious, loner, outsider, etc.) it can create unnecessary tension between the players. The player will want to play his loner personality, but this makes it difficult for the party to bond, and eventually irritates the other players.

A way to solve this is to have a foil - not an enemy, but essentially an NPC that the PC can take out his roleplaying thirst on. This way, the player can act standoffish or boorish towards the NPC, and the party can give him a pat on the back for treating the annoying NPC suitably. The player will probably be satisfied at being able to roleplay his character they way he wants, and cooperate with the plot/campaign/party as a result. This also gives the PC extra motivation to like the party, something that is often hard to naturally come by.

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