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<blockquote data-quote="der_kluge" data-source="post: 6765454" data-attributes="member: 945">I tried playing a pacifist character years ago. I think it was some sort of cleric, and probably used the 2nd edition cleric template that Sacrosanct was referencing. It ended up being kind of impossible to play. As I recall, the party was attacked by orcs in the forest, and round after round had me running around trying to avoid damage, and not actually injure any of the orcs. In a party of 3 people, that was pretty spectacularly bad. I'd advise against it. Really. D&amp;D is about killing things and taking their stuff. If you avoid step #1, you'll never get to step #2. Plus you'll be in a party that's all about step #1, and then what kind of pacifist are you, really, if you're in a party that does it all the time?The better approach might be to have an ethos against killing. I'm not familiar with 5th edition rules well enough, but previous editions had a &quot;subdual&quot; damage mechanism.&nbsp; Use a club, or something that will stun.&nbsp; And beat your opponents into submission. Your character could have an aversion to blood, and you could become good at crowd control type effects, as well as things like tripping, stunning, etc. You'd still be able to help every round, but still have a kill count of zero. Then, after the combat, you could role-play your desire to tie up the bandits, instead of slitting their throats, or express your intention of turning them into the proper authorities, or whatever.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="der_kluge, post: 6765454, member: 945"] I tried playing a pacifist character years ago. I think it was some sort of cleric, and probably used the 2nd edition cleric template that Sacrosanct was referencing. It ended up being kind of impossible to play. As I recall, the party was attacked by orcs in the forest, and round after round had me running around trying to avoid damage, and not actually injure any of the orcs. In a party of 3 people, that was pretty spectacularly bad. I'd advise against it. Really. D&D is about killing things and taking their stuff. If you avoid step #1, you'll never get to step #2. Plus you'll be in a party that's all about step #1, and then what kind of pacifist are you, really, if you're in a party that does it all the time? The better approach might be to have an ethos against killing. I'm not familiar with 5th edition rules well enough, but previous editions had a "subdual" damage mechanism. Use a club, or something that will stun. And beat your opponents into submission. Your character could have an aversion to blood, and you could become good at crowd control type effects, as well as things like tripping, stunning, etc. You'd still be able to help every round, but still have a kill count of zero. Then, after the combat, you could role-play your desire to tie up the bandits, instead of slitting their throats, or express your intention of turning them into the proper authorities, or whatever. [/QUOTE]

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