Monster PCs, PvP and FD. Confessions of a Noob.

[Portal Rat]

You're an awfully sweet person for thinking this way, but you did absolutely nothing wrong. It's okay to feel that kind of sympathy for your fellow humans, but remember that these were not humans, but monsters who deserve no sympathy.

[eliff]

Completely know how you feel Ranek. I hate havign to FD anyone just because I feel guilty for ruining the time and effort they put into the PC or app.  But I guess if a pair of monsters decide they want to go on and attack you then on their heads be it.

[Equinox]

Monsters are monsters, you'd slaughter your way through hoardes of them on a quest. Just because they are being played by a pc doesn't mean that you should change your pc's actions.

Admittedly it might suck to loose your monster pc. But thats half the fun, being hunted and hunting people. IMO people to need to kill pc monsters more. not less.

[Barehander]

The priority should always be to advance the story in interesting ways, not to stay blindly IC. Giving them a chance is not only nice, but it's generally also productive to further storyline.

Of course, sometimes it's too OOC to let them go. And all stories need an ending, too. But ideally, every ending should be meaningful, and the interests of staying IC and telling a story would coexist without much conflict. Can't always be done in reality, alas.

[scrappayeti]

Personally, unless there is a strong time pressure or survival pressure that makes an immediate FD of a character nessessary, I believe it is better for to stun any character first.

This isnt a rule, obviously, its just for fun. Firstly it gives you a chance to emote the player to death. What do you say over your defeated foe? Do they beg or spit on your boots? How do you actually do the deed, with gusto or revulsion? This is that characters last moments, give them a chance to emote it up with style.

Secondly, you never know what they might say. Sure, you kill all lizardmen, but how about the one that tells you it knows what happened to your disappeared father, while it lies bleeding on the floor? Do you stop to torture it? Do you take it somewhere for questioning? Does the encounter evolve into something more interesting??

None of this happens if you reach for the kill button too soon.

[Capricious]

I have to be honest, I agree with Scrappayeti here. I think it's only fair to extend out their death, and allow some roleplay in there at least to make their death fun if possible. Sure they're monsters, and I don't think anything was wrong with killing them. However you'll wind up with a far more memorable bit of RP if you do this instead of just FDing them before anyone gets any real chance to respond to anything.

[Mannykins]

I had an Orc Pc jump me when I was in the farmlands. When I'd beat him to the floor I hit him FD till he died, apologised and moved on, but it struck me later that I could've hit him once doing what effectively would be stabbing him once in the chest, assuming he had died, and walking off.

I would've preffered to have hit him lightly in Fd mode and left it to chance and that's probably what I shall do next time I encounter a early levels PC monster.

It's all well and good to say "You wouldn't not kill a npc Orc, so why treat a pc different?". You probably wouldn't hit an Orc, that you'd knock to the ground, repeatedly until you were sure it was dead, you'd stab it in a vital area and move on.

[derfo]

I think that Barehander put it ideally, it should be kept in mind that ultimately that shit is done for the fun of others along with yourself

[Mort]

It's up to the monster. Having played numerous monster PCs in the past, I know there are a number of ways to try and attempt others to give you an out.

One of my monster lied and told that he poisoned someone and was the only one with the cure and so if you killed him, that person would die. The others were cool enough to roleplay it and I managed to get away.

Another of my monster said he had captured hostages in a cave nearby blocked by a rock. If you let him live, he'll lead you to them and you can be a hero. This didnt work and I was killed.

etc...

If the monster PC is low level and you had basically no fun or trouble in bringing him down and might not want to FD him right away. Just try to play along with the story he might give you. Your character can be 'purposely' incompetent one time. I dont know how many times my NPCs have 'tripped' or started an argument together while letting the PC prisoners run away. You can do this for your fellow players too.

By all means, you have the 'right' to FD but finding clever alternative that make SENSE for your character (i.e. trying to save hostages) to it are always excellent in my book. Gets you major point from the player of the monster PC, and builds trust for future encounters... i.e. the player know that you dont have a MUST WIN attitude and it just makes everything else awesome and more chill.

Hope these idea help.

[Barehander]

Oh yes, good points. Everyone who's DMed D&D (NWN or otherwise) knows it's sometimes best to make the NPC trip. It applies to DMing, but it rightfully should apply to playing as well: if your interest is the story for everyone, not your personal success, you can suck it up and play dumb a time or too. But just like when DMing, don't overdo it: letting players get out of jail free, time and again, takes away the risk and immersion.

Balance in everything, I guess. Thus spake Captain Obvious.

[TheMacPanther]

Personally as someone who has been playing a monster PC as my main for 3 months now (wow, just had a realization on where my last 3 months have been), the possibility of getting permad is just around the corner every single time I log on.
 With Grommet I quickly found his little "niche" in the game, and he has been far more fun for myself and I believe others for being conniving and intelligent. Yes there have been many times that he has been jumped walking around the colony for being what he is without the RP thought of "the kobold is here and the guards are pissed, but not attacking him... something must be keeping the thing legal." However I do not hold it against anyone who has just plainly gone after him, so long as their was some attempt at roleplay or some thought behind the matter.

In short I think that if you are in the woods and monsters jump you and pretend to be monsters, you have all right to pretend they are monsters and kill them quickly or slowly to suit your desires.

And for the monsters, werewolves are intelligent, starting conversation to catch them off guard or assess their strength while your companions move into position is not far from difficult for me to imagine. I hate to go against other monsters but it seems that this was sorta your fault by attacking and expecting ooc courtesy because you have a floating name over your head.

[Drakill Tannan]

Mort's suggestions are awsome. I'll add another.

If the Monster PC says he is a slave of some patrician and you will be charged with 2000 gold,  he might have a chance to escape.

"I've hidden a great fortune, somewhere, if you spare me, i'll give it to you, if you kill me, you'll never have it"

"help me, a witch cast a spell on me and i was truned into a monster... i can barely controll myself, please save me"

Or simple beg for your life. Rual was allowed to be enslaved because he, unlike other orcs, begged, and people saw he was weak and easy to manipulate.

[Portal Rat]

One of my monster lied and told that he poisoned someone and was the only one with the cure and so if you killed him, that person would die. The others were cool enough to roleplay it and I managed to get away.

Another of my monster said he had captured hostages in a cave nearby blocked by a rock. If you let him live, he'll lead you to them and you can be a hero. This didnt work and I was killed.

Man, I miss Mort PCs.

[djspectre]

I was also there for this ambush/FD event.

Few comments, we did nothing wrong server-wise. Monster PC's are meant to be pursued and/or engaged with the same ferocity that we would NPC monsters.

However, I share your remorse for not having done more on the RP side. With NPC's it seems silly to RP with them since they dont respond, but with PC's its more fun, you get to interact with them.

There is no server rule about this, so its, of course, its an OOC courtesy, but the Monster PC's that were attacking should have also considered RPing before they attacked.

It was unfortunate for them that we were all walking in a line, so they probably only thought that there was one person there to attack and then the rest of us showed up a few moments later, one at a time.

But nothing was against server rules , but hey, we all learned from this and will handle it more creatively and colorfully next time! :-)