Wasteland Knight
Adventurer
I think the reference is because halflings are cannibals in Dark Sun. I don't think that's why, but it's kind of funny
D&D General Who coined the phrase "murder hobo"
- Thread starter der_kluge
- Start date
wingsandsword
Legend
That article tries to claim the term was invented in 2011 on RPG.net.
What are murder hobos and where did the phrase come from?
The discussion was around the use of the traditional 10-foot pole. Early D&D games were full of dungeons traps, and paranoid characters would use a long pole to check for pits, poke treasure chests (in case of mimic beasts) and try to push doors open.www.geeknative.com
I KNOW it had to be before 2011, because there's a gaming group I played with circa 2006 that regularly used the term.
I'm pretty sure the term was in widespread use at least a decade before that.
I think it's become so common that more recent mentions drown out old ones, and old message board mentions are probably lost (like the old WotC forums).
Azzy
ᚳᚣᚾᛖᚹᚢᛚᚠ (He/Him)
They problem comes to actually verifying these earlier attestations, though. Thus far, there is no record of its usage in Dragon magazine (perhaps other TTRPG magazines should also be searched), or on Usenet prior to that date. If its usage were widespread, there should be some sort of footprint to follow. That's not to say that there wasn't earlier usages, or that I don't (or others shouldn't) believe your recollections*, but so far there's nothing that's been added that is actually verifiable.
Also, I believe that prior to the closing of the WotC forums there was an attempt to archive them. I don't know what became of that, but I do know that some ENWorlders participated in that. Perhaps @Morrus would know more about that. Speaking of the WotC forums, there may have been some loss between the original forums and the trasision to Gleemax. Also, there's no telling what's been lost of the email lists of yore (I think there was an official D&D one that I was a part of prior to WotC's forums). Then there's when TSR had a presence on AOL. I have no idea of how much of that has been archived or is still retrievable. I do think that those that want to curate the history of D&D and TTRPGs in general need to look into that before it slips further into the past.
*Though our memories can sometimes be wrong (see False Memories).
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der_kluge
Adventurer
I happen to agree Azzy here. There is zero evidence that this phrase appeared anywhere before 2007. Google agrees with me, though their search only goes to 2004.
-- appears zero times until 2007, when it completely peaks, saw some spotty references in the few years' following, and then only started to kind of trend starting around 2014. One of the peaks here from January, 2010 ONLY shows 34 references. That's hardly universal acceptance and adoption of the phrase.
-- appears zero times until 2007, when it completely peaks, saw some spotty references in the few years' following, and then only started to kind of trend starting around 2014. One of the peaks here from January, 2010 ONLY shows 34 references. That's hardly universal acceptance and adoption of the phrase.
Eltab
Lord of the Hidden Layer
Thank you* for checking into it.All right, I've got my friend within WoTC sufficiently intrigued. He's going to do some digging.
* should be plural?
At the same time, there is no citation given before 2007.
A lot of people seem to remember it from earlier, but the onus is on them to find an earlier written use.
Campbell
Relaxed Intensity
2007 marked a release of a short film titled Hobo With A Shotgun which was part of the Grindhouse anthology. It's the likely catalyst.
Here's a synopsis from the IMDB page:
IMDB said:
Aldarc
Legend
These are the same citations that I am finding on a closer look. It's possible that the "murder hobo" playstyle did not have a coinage until 2007 but that the playstyle was discussed previously.
