Help with shadow?

[AoK]

I'm looking for a little bit of opinion about how to play Shadow from here out. Please vote, and give your "constructive" criticism. Please be serious, and don't tear me down, build up the good parts and give suggestions for the lesser parts. Oh, and remember that I am not that well versed in technology, so please explain those types of things a little bit.

 

[Yangfan]

I'm badly behind in reading the posts, so I'm not ready yet to critique the way you're playing Shadow, James. I have confidence in your roleplaying abilities, however. ^_^

Just in general, I don't think there's anything wrong with having a villain PC. I personally prefer the old-school, classical villains who are just out to get their own ways no matter what, not taking too much effort to do everything with flair, and not going out of his way to do evil just for evil's sake. Don't be afraid to give Shadow emotional vulnerabilites and human qualities either. Just as a heroic PC can still harbor irrational hatred toward someone/something, a villainious PC can still have a soft spot for, say, an old friend or a sibling.

 

[Wes]

There's an "evil" character class in the Macross II RPG (By Palladium Books) that is frequently found among the good guys. That's kind of what I was thinking Shadow might become eventually.

Aberrant- The cliché that there is "No honor among thieves." is false when dealing with the aberrant character. This is a person who is driven to attain his goals through force, power, and intimidation. yet the aberrant person stands apart from the norm, with his own, personal code of ethics (although twisted ethics by the standards of good.) He expects loyalty , punishing disloyalty and treachery with a swift, merciful death, An aberrant person will always keep his word of honor and uphold any bargains. He will define his terms and live by them, whether anyone else likes it or not.

An Aberrant character will...
1) Always keep his word of honor (for he is honorable).
2) Lie and cheat those not worthy of his respect.
3) May or may not kill an unarmed foe.
4) Not kill (may harm, kidnap) an innocent, particularly a child.
6) Does not resort to inhumane treatment of prisoners, but torture although distasteful, is a necessary means of extracting information.
7) Never tortures for pleasure alone (but revenge?).
9) Work with others to attain his goals.
11) Never betrays a friend.

 

[Yangfan]

I'm mostly caught up with the all of posts as of yesterday. I just wanted to say that I think Shadow was a really well-roleplayed villain, as I found myself getting very mad at him. Kudos, James.

As for whether he should gradually become a good guy or stay evil, I leave that completely up to you, James. Whichever way makes you more comfortable.

 

[Zakalwe]

That whole thing about the Abberant is strange. Not because I have seen anything like it before, it's just that it never ceases to confuse me.

On a situation like that, can you tell who is good or evil, is someone who is infact moral, by their own set of rules, actualy a good person? By this very gesture, is anyone evil, because no-one (who is not really psychotic) is touched by human nature, and feels empathy and a shared bond with others, and has the ability to feel tendernes and love, even it's only to his freinds and family.

If everyone is like this to some degree, it is impossible to say who is good or bad, just who deviates the most from the norm and is immoral in someone elses eyes (but then again they might be immoral in the eyes of the deviante). :?

 

[Yangfan]

Thanks to my ethics class, I guess I'm a Kantian/contextualist on this issue now. Here's what I think what morality is (at the time of writing this):

1. Treat other people as ends, not means to your ends. In other words, let others think for themselves instead of manipulating them, and hold them responsible for their decisions.

2. Treat others as others treat you, not how you'd want to be treated. Return kindness with kindness. If someone behaves badly toward you, they probably wouldn't mind if you return the favor.

Not that I'd ever apply these rules in real life, however. It's just what I'm reading about currently.

 

[Zakalwe]

An ethics class? Inresting. The problem of Good and Evil is something thats bothered me for a long time now. I think it's impossible to have such black and white definitions, yet I still think their should be. It's an impossible situation.