A PC who wont kill

[That One Guy]

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.

That is such an adorably cute concept.

On topic, I've seen a pacifist cleric in 3e work fine. I think in 4e 'not killing' is really easily, while 'non-violence' is pretty tough. No physical violence could be okay if it was a wizard w/ the illusionist spells. Or, a person who just intimidated/used diplomacy to get people to give up.

However, nonviolence codes only really work (IMO) with people who are not evil. A person who is evil will say, "Okay, you're not raising your weapon? Do I care? No." And then they will kill you. While I'm not certain I'd refer to a resistance towards murder a mental illness, I would say that refusing the possibility of killing for any reason is something I disagree with. I think life is too precious to favour evil with mercy.

(Naked Empire?)

I agree with MLund. Please try and remove RW religion from discussions of morality/ethics (unless a game's morality/ethics is specifically being modeled after a RW religious structure... I feel like that should go without saying, but...).

 

[Ethalias]

I once had a non-violent thief/wizard in a 2e game that refused to kill anyone, but he didn’t start out that way. As the campaign developed and the character gained levels the philosophy slowly evolved. It was a high level game and the character became a Time Sorcerer and after that point he wouldn’t kill anyone, no matter how evil they were. He would just regress them back to infancy and have them raised properly.

Can't say fairer than that! Just hit reset..

 

[Umbran]

Real world religion will be dropped immediately from this discussion. Next person to bring it up can expect a ban.

And if you want to continue calling others sick, mentally ill, or otherwise deficient in the head, you can expect the same.

 

[mattdm]

Real world religion will be dropped immediately from this discussion. Next person to bring it up can expect a ban.

Can I bring up something as a matter of history rather than as a matter of theology/religion per-se? It's relevant from a world/setting point of view and I think could add to the discussion in a positive way.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

What's a town want with an orc brigand? They'd probably just execute it.

"Uh, thanks, sir Granitebottom for arresting this mind flayer and bringing it all the way to town."

"A trial? For an orc? Just bash his brains out."



In general, I preferred not to kill if I had the option, but if something's actively trying to kill me, I'm not going to pull my punches. After all, they presumably made a reasoned choice to engage in that lifestyle, I'm not going to save them from the consequences of their decision.

Brad

 

[Umbran]

Can I bring up something as a matter of history rather than as a matter of theology/religion per-se? It's relevant from a world/setting point of view and I think could add to the discussion in a positive way.

If you have questions about moderation, or what might be appropriate, we ask you to take it to e-mail. There, you can give the full context, and we could make a more full determination.

Any mod will do - our e-mails are in a post stickied to the top of the Meta forum.

 

[The Grumpy Celt]

But have you ever DMed for or played with, or played as a character who refused to kill Anyone.

No. Though I think the problem usually runs the otherway, i.e. trying to kill everyone and everything, PCs, NCS, monsters, gods, furniture....