Good guys or bad guys?

danbuter · November 05, 2010, 06:51:40 PM

When you game, do you prefer to be the good guy, all heroic and protecting the people; or the evil bastard, killing the helpless and getting rich off their loot?

Koltar · November 05, 2010, 06:54:29 PM

The Good Guys...or at least a schlub with some gun & survival skills who tends toward being 'reluctant good guy'. (Otherwise he'd be a moody survivalist hermit looking for love)

Obviously I prefer contemporary or Science Fiction roleplaying games.

- Ed C.

Cole · November 05, 2010, 06:55:55 PM

Quote from: danbuter;414504When you game, do you prefer to be the good guy, all heroic and protecting the people; or the evil bastard, killing the helpless and getting rich off their loot?

I prefer neither. I don't really mean that in the sense of an antihero inhabiting a moral gray area; more so I usually prefer a free agent who is pursuing his own goals and meeting his own conflicts, even if his goals are basically just greed and survival.

If I need to pick between the above two, usually "heroic," though. I have played evil characters before but I don't think it's as much fun, especially for extended play.

Cole · November 05, 2010, 06:57:03 PM

Quote from: Koltar;414507The Good Guys...or at least a schlub with some gun & survival skills who tends toward being 'reluctant good guy'. (Otherwise he'd be a moody survivalist hermit looking for love)

Obviously I prefer contemporary or Science Fiction roleplaying games.

- Ed C.

When a hermit finds love, is it a...solitary...lov...never mind, don't tell me.

Insufficient Metal · November 05, 2010, 07:04:59 PM

They don't have to be squeaky-clean, paladin-level good, but playing the evil bastard has zero appeal for me.

Soylent Green · November 05, 2010, 07:06:22 PM

Good guys. If my character is going to engage in violence, bloody violence (which kind of covers most games) I like to think it's for a good cause, not just greed or spite.

For a one off game I can play a bastard and it can be fun, but in the long run its just leaves a nasty after taste.

That's said I do like amoral mad scientists. But I guess the pursuit of science is a good casue even despite the human cost :-)

Benoist · November 05, 2010, 07:08:24 PM

Usually? Good guy. I love when I'm actually back against the wall, surrounded by enemies, and fight a losing battle. I'm the kind of player who can commit sepuku to save the party. I love this sort of stuff.

Simlasa · November 05, 2010, 07:09:45 PM

I don't think I can play 'good' guys... people who think they're 'good' usually turn out to be quite awful (I can play zealots and crackpots just fine however).
I much prefer the guy who marches to his own drummer... has his own ethics. Not concerned with doing the right thing as much as doing the thing he thinks oughtta be done... usually something of a loner who has a bit of friction with the other PCs.

danbuter · November 05, 2010, 07:09:57 PM

I generally go for heroic, myself. I just enjoy it more. Maybe it's because I'm old and cynical, nowadays. Ten years ago, I preferred playing bad guys. Now I just don't like them.

Cole · November 05, 2010, 07:14:06 PM

Quote from: Soylent Green;414519If my character is going to engage in violence, bloody violence (which kind of covers most games) I like to think it's for a good cause, not just greed or spite.

"Greed or spite" might not be good causes but they are often awesome ones

I don't object to having a character who is "a good person;" I just don't necessarily want to be the hero who has to save the realm. I'd rather be the guy with a treasure map and a gleam in his eye.

Koltar · November 05, 2010, 07:14:15 PM

Quote from: Cole;414509When a hermit finds love, is it a...solitary...lov...never mind, don't tell me.

Thats cute , Cole.

Should've said - a Hermit that doesn't want to be one.
The literary cliche of a 'loner' that finds the right person to love - while they're in middle of a running firefight trying to board a just powered-up escape vehicle. (Cue The John Williams music...)

- Ed C.

...and of course she manages to trick him into doing the right thing. She also has three "colleagues"/friends with her along for the ride as backup as they head off to darkest Dangerlandia in the southern Hemisphere of Terra Fantastica. (now cue the Lucasfilm-esque music!!)

Cole · November 05, 2010, 07:18:03 PM

Quote from: Koltar;414524The literary cliche of a 'loner' that finds the right person to love - while they're in middle of a running firefight trying to board a just powered-up escape vehicle. (Cue The John Williams music...)

Haha! So, playing "Han Solo", not "playing Hand Solo."

Sorry, I couldn't resist. I figured that's what you meant originally, but whenever I see "Hermit" I inevitably think of the creepy guy from Quest for Glory who wants you to spend the night in his cave and play cribbage.

flyingmice · November 05, 2010, 07:19:30 PM

Quote from: danbuter;414504When you game, do you prefer to be the good guy, all heroic and protecting the people; or the evil bastard, killing the helpless and getting rich off their loot?

And there's nothing in between?

-clash

winkingbishop · November 05, 2010, 07:27:10 PM

Usually I am the GM, so I'm armies of bad guys. When I do play I usually like to play a good guy.

...

A good guy with a horrible and obvious flaw. Come to think of it, when I play a bad guy, I tend to give him one glowing and obvious redeeming quality. That's how I roll.

Pseudoephedrine · November 05, 2010, 07:28:39 PM

I mostly play morally ambiguous characters that shift between doing good and bad, though so do most people in my group.