Murderiest Hobo?

[sgtcallistan]

Originally Posted by Agemegos

"He" is ambiguous. Who led the invasion of the Shou? Did the "would-be warlord" lead the invasion of the Shou? Did "the Character" lead the invasion of the Shou?

I beg your pardon, I wasn't clear in a different way than I thought!

The result of the negotiations was: 'he' the Warlord launched his invasion using his own non-five-tribes (sometimes exiles, sometimes those who would not bend the knee to their own khan) men without the aid of anyone else of the said tribes.

The fallout of this could be game-world-changing, but more likely will be a historical footnote for the Shou Empire.

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by sgtcallistan

I beg your pardon, I wasn't clear in a different way than I thought!

The result of the negotiations was: 'he' the Warlord launched his invasion using his own non-five-tribes (sometimes exiles, sometimes those who would not bend the knee to their own khan) men without the aid of anyone else of the said tribes.

The fallout of this could be game-world-changing, but more likely will be a historical footnote for the Shou Empire.

Thank you, that's clear now.

[Michele]

Well... who ever counted them? (*)

(*) Which is, I suppose, a truly murderous attitude.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Michele

Well... who ever counted them? (*)

(*) Which is, I suppose, a truly murderous attitude.

Honestly, when I first saw this thread, I thought about what the vast majority of combat soldiers whose autobiography, memoirs or other nonfictional story I've read say about the subject of killing in battle. I can literally only remember one who specifically mentioned that he remembered every man he'd ever killed.*

For the vast majority, they admit freely that they have no idea. Combat is confusing and for the most part, people are shooting at noise and flashes, perhaps the occasional shape, not at individual people. Even when you see someone clearly and even if he drops when you are shooting at him, chances are that others were shooting in that direction too. Even if not, how many people are going to check if their fire simply suppressed the opposition by causing them to dive for cover, if they wounded them or if they killed them?

And while I don't have any conclusive evidence, my unscientific survey of the literature indicates that there is a correlation between those who do not dwell on the most psychologically traumatic events of their service and those who go on to have successful post-war lives. Excessive focus on replaying intense scenes of combat in their mind, self-recriminations, what-if scenarios and so forth seem contra-indicated.

So whenever I create characters with extensive combat experience, especially if they are not primarily defined by psychological trauma which to a greater or lesser degree prevents them from leading healthy and functional lives, they tend to have coping mechanisms that include avoiding a preoccupation with the consequences of their profession.

Kill counts are morbid and unprofessional. Even for scout-snipers or other specialists that engage enemies one by one, success is defined by achieving tactical objectives, not by killing people. I don't think that any of my characters would ever have denied that their profession was one where they had killed, but not a single one of them would ever have counted kills. Counting the members of the OpFor and how many of them remain combat effective, yes, but as long as someone has been rendered no longer a threat, it is irrelevant who did so or how.

*And he, in turn, claimed that remembering their faces was the least he could do, under the circumstances.

[Michele]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Honestly, when I first saw this thread, I thought about what the vast majority of combat soldiers whose autobiography, memoirs or other nonfictional story I've read say about the subject of killing in battle.

Yes, well, I was talking about RPGs and PCs, not reality and real soldiers, instead.

And, indeed, in RPGs it could have been possible for us to count heads, especially back in the day before we turned to GURPS and never looked back. Because at the time, "XP" was mainly killed enemies (well, and treasure too).

But we didn't.
I don't mean that we did not keep count because we were murderous, at least in mindset; we simply did not care that much.
That said, I still maintain that a true, cold-blooded dungeon raider wouldn't waste time counting how many goblins he had killed.

Also, I don't know whether I would compare body counting in large-scale battles with firearms and artillery and air strikes, with doing the same in skirmish-level hand-to-hand combat in a dungeon room.

[Kalzazz]

How do you define kill?

My one character, an elf archer, has 163 kills and 104 assists listed

To her kill is 'I hit it, it stopped moving, and no enemies healed it, and none of my friends touched It'

Assist is 'I hit it and my friends also hit it'

[Michele]

Originally Posted by Kalzazz

How do you define kill?

My one character, an elf archer, has 163 kills and 104 assists listed

To her kill is 'I hit it, it stopped moving, and no enemies healed it, and none of my friends touched It'

Assist is 'I hit it and my friends also hit it'

So you do keep count, and under specific rules for that. May I ask why?

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Michele

So you do keep count, and under specific rules for that. May I ask why?

I have a character who keeps count, because he's a bit insecure about the privileged position he occupies, and wants to reassure himself that he's doing his job adequately.

[Michele]

Originally Posted by johndallman

I have a character who keeps count, because he's a bit insecure about the privileged position he occupies, and wants to reassure himself that he's doing his job adequately.

Thanks! Part of the character concept.

[Anders]

Originally Posted by johndallman

I have a character who keeps count, because he's a bit insecure about the privileged position he occupies, and wants to reassure himself that he's doing his job adequately.

If he kills three people in a row, does he call it a hat-trick and celebrate?