(from a thread on RPG.net)
How do you handle the Nuremberg Defense? You know it. You’ve seen it. It’s been used on you. You’ve used it.
It goes something like this…
Jerk Player (after killing/robbing/screwing over another player’s character): “Sorry, I’m only playing my character!”
This selfish asswipe thinks his fun is more important than anyone else’s fun and he’s justifying it by saying “That’s what my character would do!” ignoring all other factors. Usually, Jerk-off’s character gains something from the exchange. He picks another character’s pocket or he steals something from the combined loot or some other act of complete dickery.
That’s fine. That’s fine. GMs and players, I have a solution for this.
When it happens at my table, I give the Jerk-off a kind smile and say, “A bolt of blue lightning strikes down and kills your character dead-dead-dead. He’s a little blob of quivering jelly.”
Then, I pause. And I say, “Sorry, I’m only being the GM.”
Dickery goes both ways, pal.