Creating unsympathetic idealists and lovable monsters, A moral dilemma of some importance Options Track this topic Email this topic Print this topic Download this topic Subscribe to this forum Display Modes Outline Switch to: Standard Switch to: Linear+

[hyzmarca]

So I'm thinking about Dollhouse, which just ended it's 12 episode run, and I've come to an unfortunate conclusion, that the writers of that series made a rather huge mistake when creating the supposedly sympathetic backstory of the protagonist.


Now, the fun thing about illegal political activism is that there is so much that you can do, and most true believer characters will remain sympathetic even if they commit horrible atrocities. An anti-war activist could firebomb military facilities are remain perfectly sympathetic. A hardcore anarchist could blow up government buildings and remain sympathetic. An Islamic militant could nuke Valencia and remain sympathetic in his own way. But people who break into research labs are "free" the white rats, well they just always come off as total idiots.

The most violent radical and zealous devotion to a cause can usually be presented as a good positive thing, with a little spin, but at some point the cause becomes so inconsequential and stupid that it's difficult to feel any sympathy for those who support it, even if they're otherwise nice people.

This is an important consideration when designing NPCs. Depending on a player's perception (and the PC's) an NPC that was meant to be sympathetic can, instead, by worthy of immediate summery execution. At the same time, characters who are responsible for horrific atrocities can be very lovable and sympathetic to the players and the PCs, either by design or by accident, and often by accident.

Given the nature of Shadowrun, it's very easy to see the good sides of even the worst monsters. Given that the PCs themselves tend to be deranged sociopaths of one flavor or another, that even the most moral do things that no sane person would do, either out of desperation or the desire for freedom, it's hard to objectively fault the death camp warden or the pedophilliac serial rapist. Any objective shadowrunner would be able to look at himself and honestly admit to probably doing worse, and any empathetic shadowrunner who took a moment to actually talk to these characters would probably find themselves at the very least understanding their reasons and motivations if not entirely agreeing with them. It also doesn't hurt if the death camp warden is Colonel Klink or Sergeant Schultz.



And these thoughts lead me to a question that is best answered IC.

You are trapped in a room with a member of PETA and a member of NAMBLA. You have no other information about them. You must kill one but cannot kill the other. You are told that when you accomplish the murder you will be released and the survivor will be elected President of the UCAS. Which one do you kill?