An example:
In an exalted game I was playing a while back, one of the other characters got in big with an NPC dependent character who was entirely at odds with my character. It was entirely IC for my character to believe that this NPC was the agent of doom, servant to the forces inimical to the very existence of creation, for indeed that WAS her mechanical purpose, and my character (alone, out of the entire group) was IC aware of this fact. So, after pleading with the other characters to see the light and ditch this double-agent NPC that was tagging along with us, he made plans.
I was playing a (fairly powerful, but specialized) sorcerer, and we were nearing the end of our campaign, so we were all fairly powerful in our field of expertise. A series of events led to everyone in the party having several avenues of power source opened up to them. The plan was to use a nifty spell that binds the target to your will (very effectively, at that) to eliminate the threat posed by this NPC. This was the most flashy and epic way of accomplishing a goal that could have been unstoppably solved merely by destroying this other character in her sleep with massive overkill, and it would allow the player to continue his relationship with this NPC, but add a layer of complexity in that I could give her certain orders (namely: DON'T BETRAY US). It unfolded like this:
Using other magics, I erect a barrier in her room. I then begin casting my spell (off-screen), telling the GM that I was going to take extra time to cast it, to be careful that I got it right. I also asked the GM to create some reason that the PC involved would wake up or stumble upon me attempting this act. That happened, and the PC ended up saving the NPC from the spell before it was completed. We argued (IC) and the other PC eventually vouched for her safety. My character's essential cold nature (literally, he made everything freeze over in his presence, unconsciously) played out to a satisfactory degree, and the tension between getting what needs to happen done and doing so in a compassionate manner continued in the party, as that had become something of a theme.
How it could have happened:
Erect a barrier so powerful that it would be absolutely impossible of anything short of a major power of the realm to break through it without sorcery, with not much more work. Cast the spell as it is in the RAW, taking two rounds instead of the many allowed for cinematic purposes. Do not warn other player, use other spell to put him to sleep, only breakable by sorcery. Bind NPC, remove NPC element from the party. All of this within the scope of the rules (easily), and very much within the character I was playing, who regularly consorted/bound fell powers to achieve his (otherwise decently noble) goals.
Both scenarios are player conflict.
- The first allowed for an interesting byplay and was resolved without duly impacting either player. I was a bit miffed that I didn't end up finishing the spell (I hoped to have him interrupt and be juuust too late, but made the barrier a bit too weak), but it wasn't a big deal, and I didn't remove part of another character's growing RP with this NPC.
-In the second scenario, I would have directly attacked his character's RP without any IC recourse for that player character. There would be no way for him to know what happened IC, or to break it. I was the only character within the scope of our game that knew the appropriate sorceress to break the enchantment (that he wouldn't even be able to sense), and I wasn't going to teach him.
Do the first, not the second.