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A PC who wont kill

My current Call of Cthulhu character is a college dropout who took to life in a a Buddhist nunnery. She left the nunnery to return home upon hearing if her father's death. She has a strict vow against killing (though she is not afaraid to enter combat with her bare hands to protect herself, friends, or loved ones).

The rest of the party thinks she's pretty weird- moreso for her shaved head, barefeet, begging, vegetarianism, meditation, etc. than her unwillingness to kill.

Chad
 

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Back in the Mid-90's on the east coast (I met them at DexCon in New Jersey) there was an RPGA group who called themselves the White Doves. These folks got together to play convention RPGA games, and NEVER RAISED A WEAPON.

The entire party never killed anyone. And yet they completed more adventures successfully than most of the other "traditional" groups. It was quite a site to watch.
 

exile said:
My current Call of Cthulhu character....has a strict vow against killing ...

That just means you have a vow against killing things that you probably couldn't kill anyways ;)

And please tell me this chick isn't going to let some deep one or ghoul go free if she had the chance to kill it.
 


Again, I have seen this best in RuneQuest. the Chalana Arroy healers are "nonviolent", but are allowed a staff to defend themselves. They have a unique spell (for them / rule system) the puts their opponents asleep. There are a number of other hampering spells that can pile enough penalties on opponents where their foes might choose to run away.

An important point about these healers is that they are duty-bound to heal all who ask for it, even their foes. Implicit in this is that those who are healed or put into magical sleep by the healers are under their protection. So, it is expressly forbidden to kill those that the healers incapacitate. As the healers are the easiest to procure magical healing from, and the only* people who can raise the dead, most adventurers are smart enough to follow their dictates.

Naturally, minions of Chaos are exempt, and should be exterminated.

* Ok, the Lunars can do it too, but they're the enemy...
 

Forgot the D&D relevant section.

I tried playing a non-lethal illusionist once, in 2e. The DM took, I feel, a perverse pleasure in thwarting my plans, so my opponents often made their saves or we came across a lot of undead and constructs. I agree that a monk or appropriately tuned wizard would be the best choices for such a PC.
 

A fighter with the appropriate feats would do well as a submission wrestler...

Improved Unarmed Strike
Improved Grapple
Weapon Focus: Unarmed
Weapon Spec: Unarmed
Close Quarters Fighting

Things like that.
 

No Player I have ever had ever gimped themselves with the comic book code.

I wonder why...

The worlds D&D takes place in have a place for mercy, but utter refusal to kill is a mental sickness of the modern world that has little place in a world ruled by strenght of sword and spell.

Ah. Question answered. Very few players wish to set themselves up to be punished by their DMs.
 

What would I do if I was playing a non-killing character and the rogue just aimlessly killed someone I had subdued?

I'd either 1) Smack the rogue's player upside the head for attacking the already subdued opponent instead of one of the STILL DANGEROUS ones, or 2) Smack the rogue's player upside the head for making one of those incredibly irritating "LOL CHAOTIC MEANS I DO WHATEVER I WANT" characters.

If your characters are just aimlessly murdering things for no given reason while not even bothering to talk to the party, the problem runs a lot deeper then the guy who doesn't like to kill.

As for characters that don't kill, I made a giant spider that didn't kill humanoids because he found them cute. And neat. And besides, he didn't NEED to kill them with his attribute-destroying poisons.
 


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