Thou Shalt Not Kill, Harm, Maim or Poke
Dec 5, 2011 14:39:19 GMT -8
Post by inflatus on Dec 5, 2011 14:39:19 GMT -8
Pacifism is a disadvantage I have taken over the years with my characters. When I first took this disadvantage in GURPS it was to cause angst in the group. They always wanted to dungeon crawl and fight. That adventure can be fun and has its place. It is just not what I wanted to do and being a new player I was not able to voice my opinion effectively. This is truly when I started to realize roleplaying was the way to go. When the adventure requires that you kill a monster roleplaying a pacifist requires some thought.
In GURPS there are five different levels of Pacifism with varying degrees of nonviolence. I have used the Cannot Harm Innocents (-10 points) in a campaign. This one is pretty easy to play. Imagine yourself as a superhero and go from there. More than likely your characters are all heroes anyway so this is not much of a stretch. It is not to difficult to decide what a “foe” is in the setting or combat.
Another disadvantage was Self-Defense Only (-15 points). This one is also pretty easy to play. You can give up your initiative for yourself. You can also play up the “let’s not fight” and “there has to be a better way” stance. When I think of character types here it is the cinematic Monk. He is the one that only fights when he has to and encourages others to follow the path of nonviolence.
With Cannot Kill (-15 points) it is a whole different scene. As a PC you have to be very careful in how much damage you deal if you are fighting. In GURPS if you do kill someone or allow them to die you will suffer a nervous breakdown. Which leads to interesting roleplaying and changes the path of the adventure.
The other two disadvantages of Total Nonviolence (-30 points) and Reluctant Killer (-5 points) are ones that I did not play. I do think that with Total Nonviolence there may be some interesting roleplaying opportunities to be had.
Even though I originally used Pacifism to cause angst it has over time become one of my favorite disadvantages. I have always felt that Pacifism enables you to roleplay more within the game. In a game where combat is inevitable it may be your time to shine.
In GURPS there are five different levels of Pacifism with varying degrees of nonviolence. I have used the Cannot Harm Innocents (-10 points) in a campaign. This one is pretty easy to play. Imagine yourself as a superhero and go from there. More than likely your characters are all heroes anyway so this is not much of a stretch. It is not to difficult to decide what a “foe” is in the setting or combat.
Another disadvantage was Self-Defense Only (-15 points). This one is also pretty easy to play. You can give up your initiative for yourself. You can also play up the “let’s not fight” and “there has to be a better way” stance. When I think of character types here it is the cinematic Monk. He is the one that only fights when he has to and encourages others to follow the path of nonviolence.
With Cannot Kill (-15 points) it is a whole different scene. As a PC you have to be very careful in how much damage you deal if you are fighting. In GURPS if you do kill someone or allow them to die you will suffer a nervous breakdown. Which leads to interesting roleplaying and changes the path of the adventure.
The other two disadvantages of Total Nonviolence (-30 points) and Reluctant Killer (-5 points) are ones that I did not play. I do think that with Total Nonviolence there may be some interesting roleplaying opportunities to be had.
Even though I originally used Pacifism to cause angst it has over time become one of my favorite disadvantages. I have always felt that Pacifism enables you to roleplay more within the game. In a game where combat is inevitable it may be your time to shine.