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Sociology of the murderhobo
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<blockquote data-quote="Iron Sky" data-source="post: 6910707" data-attributes="member: 60965"><p>My thoughts on what really sets PCs apart from most NPCs in games (especially Hack-and-Slash, combat focused ones like D&D) are: </p><p></p><p>a) PCs will leap to violence as a solution at the drop of a hat with little to no thought of the outcome. Sociopathic or self-moralizing.</p><p>b) They will fight while outnumbered, injured, in a terrifying, dangerous environment with no hesitation - in fact, these things are often claimed to make the fights "more interesting". Bad-ass or crazy (or both).</p><p> c) They fear almost nothing - demons, undead, dragons, giants, abominations, gore, pestilence, sorcery... they take it all in stride with nary a flinch. Stupid, delusions of immortality, fanaticism, or a combination.</p><p>d) They will suddenly commit 100% with no hesitation to all manner of absurd, dangerous actions: leaping chasms, swinging on ropes, chases through heavy traffic on untamed beasts, starting duels, lighting things on fire, tinkering with unknown and/or unstable contraptions, wading through sewers, hunting down man-killing beasts... the list goes on and on. Adrenaline junkies.</p><p></p><p>Put it together and you have sociopathic, fearless, fanatical adrenaline junkies. And these are (usually) the good guys.</p><p></p><p>In my campaigns, the world reacts to PC because of these qualities instead of the default assumption that these are normal traits or people somehow don't notice these tendencies.</p><p></p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I'll have NPCs run when injured and retreat when they see the fights going against them. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Survivors of PCs' arbitrary violence (or their friends, kin, or organizations) return to make the PCs' lives harder in the future, while people they show mercy on or help will return to aid them. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">People are shocked, terrified, inspired, or intimidated by the PCs' willingness to kill or die trying right here, right now at the drop of a pot helm. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Tales quickly spread of the PCs always running towards the scary, dangerous stuff that every sane person is running away from. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">They are feared (or used) by the establishment for their willingness to suffer and put themselves in harms reach for what they believe (or whatever gives them a rush). </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">They attract groupies who see them as heroes, outlaws, symbols, or rebels, drawn to their lack of fear and inhibition and willingness to act boldly now rather than cautiously plan and deliberate. </li> </ul><p></p><p>I figure this behavior boils down to each player's knowledge that no matter how attached to their character, no matter what their time investment or how much they like whomever they are playing now, if that character dies they can just "roll up a new toon" that they'll probably enjoy just as much and who - in the interests of game balance - will be just as powerful or sometimes <em>more</em> powerful due to the ability to play builds that only become optimal at higher levels.</p><p></p><p>Witness the vast disparity in player behavior in the FPS Counter-Strike where players only get one life per minutes-long round versus most other FPS where death is a three-second wait. In CS - especially in newer players - you see cowardice, panic, hesitation, freezing, and other tactics of self-preservation that almost never arise in their consequence-less kin.</p><p></p><p>Compare that to FPS where players charge heedlessly to their deaths like war-lemmings and I think you have the kernel of where murder-hoboism originates.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Iron Sky, post: 6910707, member: 60965"] My thoughts on what really sets PCs apart from most NPCs in games (especially Hack-and-Slash, combat focused ones like D&D) are: a) PCs will leap to violence as a solution at the drop of a hat with little to no thought of the outcome. Sociopathic or self-moralizing. b) They will fight while outnumbered, injured, in a terrifying, dangerous environment with no hesitation - in fact, these things are often claimed to make the fights "more interesting". Bad-ass or crazy (or both). c) They fear almost nothing - demons, undead, dragons, giants, abominations, gore, pestilence, sorcery... they take it all in stride with nary a flinch. Stupid, delusions of immortality, fanaticism, or a combination. d) They will suddenly commit 100% with no hesitation to all manner of absurd, dangerous actions: leaping chasms, swinging on ropes, chases through heavy traffic on untamed beasts, starting duels, lighting things on fire, tinkering with unknown and/or unstable contraptions, wading through sewers, hunting down man-killing beasts... the list goes on and on. Adrenaline junkies. Put it together and you have sociopathic, fearless, fanatical adrenaline junkies. And these are (usually) the good guys. In my campaigns, the world reacts to PC because of these qualities instead of the default assumption that these are normal traits or people somehow don't notice these tendencies. [LIST] [*]I'll have NPCs run when injured and retreat when they see the fights going against them. [*]Survivors of PCs' arbitrary violence (or their friends, kin, or organizations) return to make the PCs' lives harder in the future, while people they show mercy on or help will return to aid them. [*]People are shocked, terrified, inspired, or intimidated by the PCs' willingness to kill or die trying right here, right now at the drop of a pot helm. [*]Tales quickly spread of the PCs always running towards the scary, dangerous stuff that every sane person is running away from. [*]They are feared (or used) by the establishment for their willingness to suffer and put themselves in harms reach for what they believe (or whatever gives them a rush). [*]They attract groupies who see them as heroes, outlaws, symbols, or rebels, drawn to their lack of fear and inhibition and willingness to act boldly now rather than cautiously plan and deliberate. [/LIST] I figure this behavior boils down to each player's knowledge that no matter how attached to their character, no matter what their time investment or how much they like whomever they are playing now, if that character dies they can just "roll up a new toon" that they'll probably enjoy just as much and who - in the interests of game balance - will be just as powerful or sometimes [I]more[/I] powerful due to the ability to play builds that only become optimal at higher levels. Witness the vast disparity in player behavior in the FPS Counter-Strike where players only get one life per minutes-long round versus most other FPS where death is a three-second wait. In CS - especially in newer players - you see cowardice, panic, hesitation, freezing, and other tactics of self-preservation that almost never arise in their consequence-less kin. Compare that to FPS where players charge heedlessly to their deaths like war-lemmings and I think you have the kernel of where murder-hoboism originates. [/QUOTE]
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