D&D 5E What does "murderhobo" mean to you?

[Azzy]

I must not run in the "right" circles or something. I have been gaming for 30+ years, but until becoming a regular poster on the old WotC forums when 5E released, and then on here when those shut down, I had never heard the term "murderhobo" before.

I'd never heard of the term prior to 3e. Again, from the WotC boards.

 

[JonnyP71]

I first saw it on Reddit 2-3 years ago...

 

[Sadras]

Any adventurer worth his salt is a decent murderhobo

 

[Imaculata]

With the term "Murder hobo", I think of adventurers who kill everything for the loot, even when killing is not the only option, and/or loot is not even guaranteed. I think of the type of players for whom a non-violent solution is not even on their mind. It's all about the killing, exp and gold.

 

[Aldarc]

Voted "something else", in that I see it pretty much as a derogatory term used by an element of the RPG community who like to look down on pure hack'n'slash as an inferior style of play.

Lanefan

Weren't you also upset that you could not play a hack'n'slash approach to the Eberron orcs?

I must not run in the "right" circles or something. I have been gaming for 30+ years, but until becoming a regular poster on the old WotC forums when 5E released, and then on here when those shut down, I had never heard the term "murderhobo" before. I just figured the term migrated from video game RPGs, where anything outside of a town is generally there specifically for the party to kill and loot in mindless repetition as you grind for XP and gold to level up.

So it turns out that mass communication can speed up the transmission of terms.

 

[akr71]

For me, the hobo part is the key, but not at the expense of forgetting the murder aspect. The party wanders about with little to no engagement in the world or NPCs. Peaceful resolutions are rarely sought - all creatures boil down to a bags of XP or quest/clue givers.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[TwoSix]

Both, but slightly more 2 than 1. I think the "hobo" part is probably more important, since it emphasizes that the adventurers are transient, lack roots in the community, and have little concern with social, civilized norms. The murder part is simply that their first, second, and third response to challenges is overwhelming violence.

 

[Celebrim]

I voted for "homeless adventurers that kill orcs and take their stuff".

However, I feel the term is broader than that and that the gap between "homeless adventure that kill orcs and take their stuff" and "bandit that kills peasants" is pretty darn small.

Murderhobo refers to a style of play where the PC's have no real attachment to anything, no real place in the world, and no motivation beyond leveling up and getting loot. Since leveling up and getting loot is usually most easily done by killing things and taking their stuff, the PC's are generally actually motivated to do this and any other motivation for doing that is just an excuse. Thus, it really doesn't matter that the orcs are evil or more particularly whether they've actually done anything worthy of death or vengeance. The point is that they have stuff and are walking XP sacks. The PC's aren't in fact motivated by any sort of noble sentiments and in fact, in the long run they'll evolve whatever mode of play is the most efficient way to gain XP and wealth safely.

At that point, "powerful adventurers that bully commoners" and "killing orcs and taking their stuff" tend to overlap. What tends to happen is the players realize that the quest giver that they previously relied on to point them to the stuff to kill and loot is sending them on increasingly difficult and lethal errands, and that equally good loot and XP is to be had more easily and safely looting the town, robbing the bank, or killing the quest giver. Thus, for example, a party playing 'Village of Homlett' or 'Keep on the Borderlands' might realize all the best loot is in the village or the keep. If you have real murderhobos, and it turns out looting the village or the keep is actually easier than digging equivalent loot out of the dungeon, then the PC's will find themselves an excuse for looting the human village as readily as they looted the orc village.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

[HI][/HI]I mean, both. I picked the homeless option, but IME there is no distinction between the two. Murderhobo PCS do both.

they are “adventurers” whose only motivation are loot and xp. Just as likely to kill a town guard or a merchant to get loot as to take a quest to murder a village of goblins.