Discouraging Mass Murder

[Momeeche]

How would you discourage players/the party from killing everyone and everything they could otherwise get away with killing? I mean, they could subdue some monsters and mind-dominated people, or they can kill everyone in the room? How do you get them to kill only when they have to and otherwise avoid turning it all into "Blood Meridian, the RPG"?

The "Blood Meridian RPG" thing, is from a guy I don't like, but if you know the book and how bloody game can turn, as a joke it is not too far off the mark.

The husband and I have been thinking about an XP bonus (+10% is easy to figure) for dealing with monsters and things that do not involve mass murder and burning down everything and looting and scalping the corpses.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

Repercussions and the "there is always a bigger fish" idea. When they murder the wrong people have vengeful family hunt them. Monster slaughter can be more difficult to stop. Most adventures are based around killing dangerous things. What benefit is there o subduing an owlbear? You let it go and it will kill/eat the next poor bloke.

 

[Crothian]

Talk to te players out of game. Don't punish or reward certain behaviors like that just tell the players what you want and see what they want.

 

[InVinoVeritas]

I'd discourage it in the same way it's discouraged in the real world: overwhelming social consequences. If killing the wrong person or thing earns the wrath of a well-oiled police force, if soldiers go after mass murderers, if they can't stop anywhere and rest because a dragon is hunting them down... well, that'll teach most to stop randomly killing stuff really quick.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

How would you discourage players/the party from killing everyone and everything they could otherwise get away with killing? I mean, they could subdue some monsters and mind-dominated people, or they can kill everyone in the room? How do you get them to kill only when they have to and otherwise avoid turning it all into "Blood Meridian, the RPG"?

The "Blood Meridian RPG" thing, is from a guy I don't like, but if you know the book and how bloody game can turn, as a joke it is not too far off the mark.

The husband and I have been thinking about an XP bonus (+10% is easy to figure) for dealing with monsters and things that do not involve mass murder and burning down everything and looting and scalping the corpses.

Are they killing innocent people or dangerous monsters? If it's the first, make them face the "Flaming Fist" (use your own name). They were a group of mercenaries in the Baldur's Gate setting. They had a rep for being dangerous warriors (so, higher level than the PCs), had access to resources like carrier pigeons (for carrying descriptions), mysterious mystery-solving rituals (written in different codes each time; you don't want to hand out that as treasure) and a worldwide network of agents who could use well-guarded sending items to communicate with groups wherever the PCs went. In that setting they seemed to focus only on villainous PCs who went around committing crimes (as lowly as breaking into and looting peoples' homes).

And tell your players if they play evil PCs they have to retire those characters, handing over their character sheets, and start over (or even leave the group).

If they're only killing monsters, punishment won't work, only discussion. Maybe they think every orc is evil or something.

 

[Reynard]

Ask them what they want from the game, and why they are killing everything in sight. Maybe the answer isn't to stop them from killing everything, maybe it is to give them things they are allowed to kill. I don't know what kind of players you have, but maybe they are mostly looking to blow off steam and want to kick in doors and lop off heads. As long as you are willing to run such a game, it could be a lot of fun.

A good old fashioned dungeon crawl, a long term "forward observer" mission in "the Darklands" or a mercenary company campaign could all allow for this kind of play.

 

[delericho]

Firstly, stop giving out XP for monsters slain. As long as your game rewards a particular behaviour, that's what you'll get. Give out XP for completing quests, or recovering treasure, or good roleplaying, or whatever else. (Or even just give out a flat number of XP per session - it all averages out in the long run anyway!)

Then, put them in positions where they're better off not killing everything. Give the monsters overwhelming numbers, so the PCs have to deal with them another way. Apply social consequences for bloody murder. Have them miss out on key treasures/plot points/secrets, because they've killed the person who could have taken them to them.

Or, just talk to your players. They might just change their approach if asked - stranger things have happened!

 

[TheAuldGrump]

If the PCs commit murder then I am a big fan of having them hanged, then their bodies buried in quicklime, at least if they are in a civilized region. While high level PCs might have a much easier time of it in getting away I find that the kinds of idiots who commit murder in large numbers try to get away with it much earlier, so they end up as gallows fruit.

And in some places, such as much of Eberron, killing every orc that you meet is considered murder.

If they are killing cows, chickens, and/or flumphs for the XP then they will be disappointed to find that there isn't any XP for killing a duck....

The Auld Grump, they call me hangin' Johnny!
Hang boys hang.

 

[ExploderWizard]

Find the players (not characters) motivations for this approach to the game and you will have your answer. If slash and burn is simply the way that the group likes to play regardless of in game consequences or rewards then you simply have a large gap in playsyle expectations.

Sometimes these differences can be worked out and sometimes not. In the end just make sure that the game being run is one that largely satisfies everyone in the group.

 

[Zhaleskra]

This gets into why I like some games better than others. I have mentally moved past the idea of races that it's okay to slaughter "because they're monsters".

Set your expectations out up front. Nothing wrong with hack and slash in principle, but a table top RPG will never be able to deliver it as well as a video game.

From what I can tell, this has been going on and you don't like it. I'd go with talking to the players first, possibly finding another group if that doesn't work, and in universe punishment last.