 moral relativity, slip-slidin' down the slope |
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 May 22 2007, 03:14 AM
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#101
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Great Dragon  Group: Members Posts: 7,116 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 1,449  |
I think if you introduce elements such as racism, wife-beating, etc., then it can be difficult to not have such characters instantly fall into the "bad guy" category as far as everyone else is concerned. I think the only way to do it is to let the group categorize someone as a "good guy" or a "bad guy", then spring the twist. Like have an NPC sammie who is genial and easygoing, a pro, very reliable, a stand-up guy... then some of the PCs go to his house one night, and there's a screaming row that ends with him smacking his wife around. Or maybe one of the bad guys berates one of his underlings who is about to shoot a street kid, and tosses the kid a credstick instead.
It's harder to do for a PC, and most players probably wouldn't want to - if you are playing for escapism, you will play flawed characters, sure, but they will be "cool", larger-than-life flaws. Even if you are like mfb, and are a bit tired of run-of-the-mill heroes and antiheroes, it is still hard to pull off. It's easy to play an action hero, but it's harder to play someone with genuinely repulsive flaws in such a way that the character is still sympathetic. I have seen it done - the Comedian in Watchmen, Sergeant Bothari in Lois M. Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan saga, and a few others - but it is hard to pull off. |
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May 22 2007, 04:38 PM
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#102
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Immortal Elf Group: Members Posts: 11,410 Joined: 1-October 03 From: Pittsburgh Member No.: 5,670 |
yeah, i definitely don't think this is going to be easy. i'm still working on exactly how to pull it off. but the challenge is part of the attraction, really.
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May 23 2007, 06:39 PM
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#103
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 693 Joined: 26-March 03 Member No.: 4,335 |
The funny thing is that some people would see the permissive sexual mores presented _as_ a dystopian future. "What is the world coming to? There are no morals anymore." "God will soon judge us, and I fear for that day..." "It's pretty obvious that we are in the End times." - I've heard that one at work, circa 2002. |
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May 31 2007, 07:22 AM
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#104
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 7,116 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 1,449 |
Ironically, the character I am playing on one of the forum games is kind of like that. We are playing enforcers for an anti-awakened policlub, and I have made this guy, Null, messed up in a number of other ways, too. So it should be interesting to see how sympathetic, or not, that he winds up being.
I think Shadowrun is kind of both - more immoral and more judgemental. More immoral, because there is no sense of community (other than the warped version offered within the corporations), and thus, no community standards. More judgemental, because people have fragmented into policlubs and factions, and are less and less tolerant of anything or anyone different. So you will have a big mass of burnt-out wageslaves and Barrens rats who could care less who's sleeping with who or what (unless it's the exploits of their favorite sim celebrity), and at the same time you will have fanatics who will set people on fire for wearing skirts that are too short. |
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