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Old 10-09-2017, 08:11 AM   #4
Michele
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Udine, Italy
Default Re: Advice sought for fleshing out a major villian

Quote:
Originally Posted by whswhs View Post
I'm not sure that I buy that decision as actually unethical. (...)
Indeed! That was the thrust of my attempt. It's what I gathered from the OP's description of the character. I'm not in disagreement with your analysis.

Going back to the House of Cards first scene, I said it was telling about the character's ethics - not the lack thereof. Some would disapprove of that choice, some would say it is defensible. It would be pretty "not sure", as you say, pretty gray.
All viewers certainly gather, however, that this guy is a very cold-blooded SOB. Not afraid of dirtying his own hands, literally. And memorable. This is what I think the OP wanted.


Quote:
How about having evidence that a product they've been working on could have really nasty long-term side effects, and ordering either that the study that found them be suppressed, or that a new study be conducted that's set up to avoid finding the same side effects? Oh, of course eventually it will come out, but by that time the company will have taken its profits, and our man in particular will have cashed out and retired, leaving the shareholders with the costs of any lawsuits? (So he not merely puts corporate gains ahead of service to the customers, but puts personal gains ahead of his duty to the shareholders.)
Sure. But I would expect that the OP's gist is that this sort of thing emerges later, as the PCs get to know more and more about the activities of the NPC. Note the OP doesn't want to "spill the beans up front". The almost casual remark I suggested, or something like that, wouldn't even be considered something worth of being dealt with in secrecy, so it can be dropped within the PCs' hearshot without too much fuss. What you suggest would be kept secret, and the PCs should have to work to find out about it.
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Michele Armellini
GURPS Locations: St. George's Cathedral
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