Killing characters - please help!

[returner]

So some of my characters are becoming quite powerful. With power comes the ability to decide the fate of other characters.

I've found myself in a situation where my character was going to kill a few other characters due to who they are aligned with. Most of the characters are quite old.

Now I've come to a hurdle.. I feel extreeeeeemely guilty. I mean.. These players have put hours, days, months into their characters! And I'm going to take that away from them? My young character somehow has a right to steal countless hours of work from another dedicated human being.. If my calculations are correct, a man in his fifties has been played for 30 cantr years which is 600 days which is almost two years.. I mean, fuck.. Two years. What right, as a player, do I have in stealing this from them?

I feel too guilty and here is the problem.

Technically, my character would kill them if he was ai or a robot. But my OOC feelings have got in the way and a resolution has been or will be found, though it is out of character slightly.

Should I have killed them? In future, what should I do? How do other players who actually give a shit, deal with this?

I'm almost prepared to quit Cantr to avoid having to face this again...


:/

[EchoMan]

Easy solution: Stop playing pirate/murderer RPG, play society simulator instead. Problem gone.

[returner]

Not the case here. This is a new town leader and the issue is with the characters' values and allegience. Why would you think I'd even consider making a pirate or murderer character after my emotional post??

[SekoETC]

Sometimes even old people need to die, especially if they've done something to deserve it, but if a character is powerful, they might be able to win without having to kill all their opponents. If you managed to lock someone away and then told them "I'm going to let you live upon the condition that you will become like any average 20-year-old, you will possess no keys nor pricey equipment. You'll just be a nobody. And if you whisper to anyone or pass notes, you will be made to disappear." Some people might be too proud and would do anything to restore their old glory, but some might actually be relieved to be given a simple life without objects or status that make others envy you enough to consider murdering you. In a civilized environment you could even address the demoted old person kindly and respectfully, even though they're just a peasant and you're the king. While if you were more of a cruel character, you could crush their spirit and make them a slave. I assume there's a good chance long term players know how to rp, although there are exceptions as well. Before killing a person, it's good to ask yourself why are you doing it. Is it to get the person's possessions or because you know/are afraid they would come back for revenge and take back what you took from them? Letting enemies live can make the game interesting, and it doesn't even automatically lead into them coming back to kill you later. They might speak ill off you or send people hunting for you, but if they know that their life was once in your hands and they could've been killed but were given a chance to survive, they're likely to be more cautious, at least if they're any smart.

[CrashBlizz]

hours, days, months? Hell, I've put years into characters just to have them dragged into rooms and killed by random people that didn't know them just for 'fun'.

Wait till it happens to one of your charries and you'll loose all guilt over doing it to someone elses.

[cantrfan]

Long ago I let someone live and then 10 game years later while I was away on a trade mission I returned to find out he broke into my main building and replaced the lock. I of course found this out after he dragged me in there and then killed me. Truth be told, I barely remembered this person, let alone realized he had a grudge against my character for so long.

I've had many of my old characters killed for either their wealth or for political reasons... and yes, it does suck to have all your hard work gone just like that. But by playing you run the risk of that happening and that is something that I accept, and even something I enjoy having the possibility of happening. I'm sure others take it more personally but that is just my view on it.

As for your problem, I've always just put it from the characters view and try not to think about the fact that there is a player behind the character I am about to ruin. If said character was capable of killing for wealth/power then that is what the character will do. If he isn't then he will find alternative methods such as some of those Seko has mentioned. I've played both of these types of chars and always just got to remember and know what your char is capable of doing.

[Piscator]

I wonder if Yugo could give you some useful tips. <.<

[Doug R.]

Returner, I share many of your sentiments, but there's a difference. While I'm too nice to purposefully play my characters in a way that will result in violence (i.e., I can't play bad characters like pirates, etc,), if my character finds himself in a position where he/she must kill or be killed, I will do so without hesitation or remorse. I don't care if it was a Thomas Hobbes, you try to kill my character (or I think you'll try to kill mine), I'll try to kill yours.

That said, I can count on one hand the number of actual non-newspawn characters I've ever had to kill, and one of them was Rigel's, so it doesn't count.

[YugoStrikesBack]

I wonder if Yugo could give you some useful tips. <.<

[Arenti]

I wonder if Yugo could give you some useful tips. <.<

Do I get two cookies if I join the other side?

[YugoStrikesBack]

What type of question is that?

[returner]

Hahaha, he means if, not of.

But yes. Silly question.

[MikeH]

So some of my characters are becoming quite powerful. With power comes the ability to decide the fate of other characters.

I've found myself in a situation where my character was going to kill a few other characters due to who they are aligned with. Most of the characters are quite old.

Now I've come to a hurdle.. I feel extreeeeeemely guilty. I mean.. These players have put hours, days, months into their characters! And I'm going to take that away from them? My young character somehow has a right to steal countless hours of work from another dedicated human being.. If my calculations are correct, a man in his fifties has been played for 30 cantr years which is 600 days which is almost two years.. I mean, fuck.. Two years. What right, as a player, do I have in stealing this from them?

I feel too guilty and here is the problem.

Technically, my character would kill them if he was ai or a robot. But my OOC feelings have got in the way and a resolution has been or will be found, though it is out of character slightly.

Should I have killed them? In future, what should I do? How do other players who actually give a shit, deal with this?

I'm almost prepared to quit Cantr to avoid having to face this again...


:/

I think it really depends on the RP, actually. If you can RP a reasonable way to let the imprisoned, older character live, do it. If there really isn't any way to RP this that seems true to YOUR character and the situation, then go ahead with the killing, and don't feel overly guilty.

Having been on the other side of this -- being cornered, jailed, and killed more than once -- I can say it's sometimes been EXTREMELY frustrating. But mostly that happens when it's badly RP'd, or it just seems random and quick and unfair. That's when it truly drives me nuts, and I think about quitting.

On the other hand, a little while back I lost my hands-down favorite character to play, and she could have had plenty of life left in her. But she got captured through her (my) own stupidity, the situation of getting caught made sense, the RP was pretty good, and frankly there was no way I could have begged for mercy to save her without totally breaking out of character. So, she's gone, and I miss her and her Kingdom, but I'm not at all mad at the players whose characters led to her death.

So, use your best judgement and if you can't RP a way out of it for this prisoner, then RP the situation as well as you can and don't dwell on having killed the character.

[returner]

Alright, thanks for the replies which assisted in alleviating my guilt. I'm hoping not to kill them, but if I do have to, it will be a role-play bonanza. I'll show as much character and depth as possible and try to make it as enjoyable as possible for them.

[the_antisocial_hermit]

I think when there's a good deal of RP that leads up to the character's death and such, it helps the player behind the character come to terms with the fact it is going to die, so it's easier to let go.

I lost one of my oldest favorite characters due to just being cut down with no RP at all. That sucks. There was no warning, no reasoning, just a death message. It really wasn't a fitting end to her life. If they'd at least RP'd and given me some sort of response time, maybe it would have been more fitting as well as more interesting.

I mean, I don't have a grudge, and the death surprisingly didn't bother me too much, but sometimes I just think about how it wasn't really fitting and how the loss of the RP opportunity sucked.