William Ronald
Explorer
Or a character could decide not to torture an enemy and kill him swiftly. The character may have decided not to become like one of his enemies. (In the case of a paladin, the character should perhaps be congratulated by his peers for holding true to his beliefs despite strong temptations to abandon tham.) Or his actions may leave people guessing on why he did something.
In Full Metal Jacket, Joker kills a Viet Cong operative who is paralyzed. She is responsible for the death of a friend. The other soldiers wish to let her remain paralyzed; it is certain that the rats will devour her. Joker shoots her. We are never told if he is avenging the death of a friend in anger, or acting mercifully.
Lost Soul, I agree that too much description can ruin the tone of a game. Also, it can get monotonous after a while.
A good question about using unsettling details or behavior is, "What purpose do they serve in the game or to reveal something about the nature of a character."
For example, a PC can discover that someone he thought admirable is a truly vile person, a serial murderer. In this instance, a description of the killing may help to show what someone is like underneath their civilized veneer.
As for how far a character can go, I think one of the last scenes for Nicholas Cage's character in the film 8 mm was disturbing but important in showing how far the character had gone in dealing with a killer. It is disturbing but it reaveals much about the central character.
However, constant descriptions of body parts and disturbing acts may offend players, bore them, or simply distract from an otherwise enjoyable role playing session.
So, in short, the question of how to portray "evil" and "vile" seems to boil down to what works in your campaign.
In Full Metal Jacket, Joker kills a Viet Cong operative who is paralyzed. She is responsible for the death of a friend. The other soldiers wish to let her remain paralyzed; it is certain that the rats will devour her. Joker shoots her. We are never told if he is avenging the death of a friend in anger, or acting mercifully.
Lost Soul, I agree that too much description can ruin the tone of a game. Also, it can get monotonous after a while.
A good question about using unsettling details or behavior is, "What purpose do they serve in the game or to reveal something about the nature of a character."
For example, a PC can discover that someone he thought admirable is a truly vile person, a serial murderer. In this instance, a description of the killing may help to show what someone is like underneath their civilized veneer.
As for how far a character can go, I think one of the last scenes for Nicholas Cage's character in the film 8 mm was disturbing but important in showing how far the character had gone in dealing with a killer. It is disturbing but it reaveals much about the central character.
However, constant descriptions of body parts and disturbing acts may offend players, bore them, or simply distract from an otherwise enjoyable role playing session.
So, in short, the question of how to portray "evil" and "vile" seems to boil down to what works in your campaign.
