Violence and (Geek) Entertainment

[payn]

Maybe. I wouldn’t claim to “get” King, and have never enjoyed his work. My personal impression is he wallows in misery and the awfulness of humanity without offering any hope.

Sometimes, though other times he nails hope as good as any author. Like Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption.

 

[trappedslider]

My brother plays in an occasional OSR/Stonehell game I run for my niece and nephew (ages around 9 and 11). I don't tend to adjust the way I run the game for the kids (I'm a little more circumspect in some areas, but overall, not a huge difference).

Last session, my niece used a sleep spell on some berserkers. My brother decided they needed to be despatched to prevent later issues. If my players want to murder helpless foes, I'm not going to sugar coat it so, when my nephew's cleric joined in the slaughter, I mentioned the mace caving in heads. My brother thought that was a bit much. I just shrugged -- he's the one one that encouraged this course of action, if he doesn't want his kids involved in this kind of violence, don't suggest that course of action.

To be clear, I don't usually add that level of detail in this particular game, but if you're going to go all murderhobo, you don't get to ignore what that means.

Was there a point to be taught behind describing it that way? Otherwise it comes across as "I didn't like the behavior and this is how I'm going to punish it"

 

[Ulorian - Agent of Chaos]

My brother plays in an occasional OSR/Stonehell game I run for my niece and nephew (ages around 9 and 11). I don't tend to adjust the way I run the game for the kids (I'm a little more circumspect in some areas, but overall, not a huge difference).

Last session, my niece used a sleep spell on some berserkers. My brother decided they needed to be despatched to prevent later issues. If my players want to murder helpless foes, I'm not going to sugar coat it so, when my nephew's cleric joined in the slaughter, I mentioned the mace caving in heads. My brother thought that was a bit much. I just shrugged -- he's the one one that encouraged this course of action, if he doesn't want his kids involved in this kind of violence, don't suggest that course of action.

To be clear, I don't usually add that level of detail in this particular game, but if you're going to go all murderhobo, you don't get to ignore what that means.

I'd suggest discussing this with your brother rather than on this message board. These are children. Leaning into the gore in order to make a point, or set a certain tone, or whatever the objective was here, without working this out with the parent beforehand is not a wise, kind or empathetic road to walk down here.

tldr; a child's welfare comes before 'the way I like to run a game'

 

[Scribe]

I've recently referred to the average tRPG PC as a serial killer - and that's not by mistake or exaggeration. PCs rarely even have the excuse of being forced into it by war.

One of the things I really hate about the modern hobby is the obsession with describing the kill move. If you've dealt with real violence you'd know that's just not entertaining.

We abstract it to 'hit points' not just as an easy mechanic, but because the body horror of this stuff is also otherwise not 'normal' to dwell on.

I don't want to turn my tRPG session into a trauma ward where we examine the after effects of all the violence. But I also am not able to not think about it. It just sticks in my mind and when I'm asked to say "how does it happen" after some move - it's like being dragged through it all.

So I don't want that. But I'm also bothered by the idea that a gang of serial killers just run around taking trophies from their victims like it's normal and the world has no reaction to it or any of the other violence going on.

I do think that this is something that will continue to be explored and thought about. There are reams of text around the evils of various things to the point they cannot be mentioned apparently in certain RPGs, but yet the whole system revolves around violence at a pretty fundamental level.

The fact is most people havent the slightest concept of violence, what it can do, the impact both physical and mental, and how it remains a part of you long long after the fact if not forever. Combine that with the very American portrayal of violence as a 'good' or at the very least acceptable in comparison to other moral issues (sex, drugs, whatever) and yeah, people just brush by it or describe it overly because its not 'real' at all, or so they think, but it sticks, its there in the mind, and there are studies showing that real or not, the mind can make it real.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I do think that this is something that will continue to be explored and thought about. There are reams of text around the evils of various things to the point they cannot be mentioned apparently in certain RPGs, but yet the whole system revolves around violence at a pretty fundamental level.

The fact is most people havent the slightest concept of violence, what it can do, the impact both physical and mental, and how it remains a part of you long long after the fact if not forever. Combine that with the very American portrayal of violence as a 'good' or at the very least acceptable in comparison to other moral issues (sex, drugs, whatever) and yeah, people just brush by it or describe it overly because its not 'real' at all, or so they think, but it sticks, its there in the mind, and there are studies showing that real or not, the mind can make it real.

Part of it really is that adventure fiction is, while not entirely dominated by it, filled with violence, and at least Western RPGs are extremely focused on adventure fiction as a basis.

 

[Scribe]

Part of it really is that adventure fiction is, while not entirely dominated by it, filled with violence, and at least Western RPGs are extremely focused on adventure fiction as a basis.

Yeah I get it. The foundation is the American myth of the Western.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Yeah I get it. The foundation is the American myth of the Western.

I didn't mean the Western as the genre, but as in "RPGs created in Europe and most of the Americas". I was contrasting it with some Asian RPGs I've heard of that are focused on things like sports.

 

[Scribe]

I didn't mean the Western as the genre, but as in "RPGs created in Europe and most of the Americas". I was contrasting it with some Asian RPGs I've heard of that are focused on things like sports.

Yeah, I'm mostly looking at what the majority of us would say is that foundation, D&D.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Yeah, I'm mostly looking at what the majority of us would say is that foundation, D&D.

There's an argument there, but I think that'd be more about the focus on action-adventure fiction as a basis in general, not why violence is so prevelant. Some other forms of fiction are more difficult for group play, which probably doesn't help, but its hard to say what it would be like if the initial major game in the medium had been something else.

 

[SableWyvern]

Was there a point to be taught behind describing it that way? Otherwise it comes across as "I didn't like the behavior and this is how I'm going to punish it"

It was a brief anecdote related to the topic, not a detailed analysis of the situation. It appears I may have made it seem more extreme situation when it was.

While my basic reaction to his response was, "you reap what you sow", I did take his comments on board as a reminder not to go too far.

If it had actually been an ongoing issue, both of us are quite capable of speaking up and hashing it out - - however, it was not an ongoing issue.