Traits to cover "Ax-Crazy"?

[Phantasm]

Just wondering what traits people would use to represent a character who was certifiably "Ax-Crazy"?

(warning, tvtropes.com link)

[David Johnston2]

OPH: Makes it very obvious that he enjoys inflicting injury and killing.

That is actually the defining characteristic of "Ax-Crazy". They probably have other traits like Bloodlust, Sadist, Bad Temper, Berserk, Obsession, Compulsive Killer and so forth to increase how often they display their OPH but it varies from Ax-Crazy to Ax-Crazy.

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

OPH: Makes it very obvious that he enjoys inflicting injury and killing.

Would you call this a -10 or -15 OPH?

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by Phantasm

Would you call this a -10 or -15 OPH?

Depends on the setting. There are barbarian warrior cultures where it's barely a quirk if you belong to the right social class. In the more civilized parts of the modern world, it may very well be -15, verging as it does on Social Stigma (Monster).

[Bruno]

Depending on the character, it may also be combined with things like Callous, Low Empathy, No Sense of Humour, and various Delusions.

[Johnny1A.2]

Originally Posted by malloyd

Depends on the setting. There are barbarian warrior cultures where it's barely a quirk if you belong to the right social class.

Even there, though, there's a distinction. My take of axe-crazy as a trait is that the 'crazy' part is vital to the definition. Even in those cultures where some social classes can maim or kill with impunity, there are usually official or unofficial rules governing, some people are off-limits, some circumstances you just don't, etc.

The genuine ax-crazy character is violent, but the violence is unpredictable. Just about anything can set it off, and nothing restrains it reliably. It's irrational or a-rational and not even self-interest necessarily restrains it.

A true axe-crazy character can't be reliably counted on not to so something utterly self-destructive, if that gets in the way of doing whatever harm he or she was about to do. He or she is the character who might just slice into you with the axe if you get within reach, even though the cop a few feet away has his gun out and pointed right at the ax man.

He or she is as likely, or almost as likely, to attack an ally as an enemy, and might do so on some provocation imperceptible to all others.

In a realistic setting or campaign, the full-on axe-crazy character usually has a short life span, or else must be protected by something.

[Bruno]

As an example, if you're familiar, Lobo from the DC comics universe. He's deliberately, consciously, and murderously evil.
He killed every member of his species so he'd be special. And/Or because he didn't want people to confuse him for "lesser" people. And/Or he was just getting really into his biology class and creating a mass-murdering plague was fun.
He tends to decapitate people and walk over their bodies rather than push them aside or walk around them.
He's gorily murdered people trying to hire him for desperately needed work because he found their voices annoying, or just was "done talking" and apparently can't end a conversation by walking off or something.
He threatened to kill everyone at a popular vacation resort because stampeding people trampling each other was funny.
He demolishes his favorite restaurant regularly for no damn reason.
Big fan of the chainsaw ballet, which is a cross between ballet and murdering each other and the audience with chainsaws.

The Joker is, sometimes, Ax-Crazy in a complicated high-tech sort of way - guns and bombs and sneakily-deployed toxins. But often even the Joker isn't Ax-Crazy, he's just plain old Crazy.

Cartoonishly high-strung berserkers are a kind of Ax-Crazy - they may not be enthusiastic about it, but they're still murder-y and everyone learns about it real quick like.

I've seen some interpretations of Garou from Werewolf: the Apocalypse as being universally so tightly wound that dropping a plate in the kitchen forces a frenzy check, and Gaia help us all if one gets caught in rush-hour traffic, or someone cuts them off on the commute, or if someone drank the last of the milk and put the empty carton back in the fridge, or...

People who just want you to know that they're mean and don't mess with them aren't Ax-Crazy. You can be fairly sure that if you don't mess with them, you're OK - being near Ax-Crazy people is playing Russian Roulette.

[Draconix]

Bad Temper, Bloodlust, Callous, Sadism, perhaps secret if the ax-crazy person actively tries to hide these traits, On the Edge if they don't care about being exposed. Delusion might be useful if what sets them off is different from what a normal person would be set off by.

[McAllister]

Originally Posted by Johnny1A.2

The genuine ax-crazy character is violent, but the violence is unpredictable. Just about anything can set it off, and nothing restrains it reliably. It's irrational or a-rational and not even self-interest necessarily restrains it.

A true axe-crazy character can't be reliably counted on not to so something utterly self-destructive, if that gets in the way of doing whatever harm he or she was about to do. He or she is the character who might just slice into you with the axe if you get within reach, even though the cop a few feet away has his gun out and pointed right at the ax man.

So what's the difference between Ax-Crazy and Hair-Trigger Temper? I can think of a few things, but I wonder if we're all in agreement.

Ax-Crazy

• Enjoyment of violence and murder
• Disregard for human life (although capable of caring about individuals)
• Hair trigger, which is furthermore triggered by both rational and irrational offenses
• Self-preservation is very low on the to-do list

Does that cover the big points? The first one is Bloodlust (12-) [-10] plus Compulsive Murder (15-) [-10]. I figure Compulsive Murder is worth -20, halved by the relatively easy roll: a roll is triggered by Bad Temper, so a higher self-control number makes the character at least playable.

Disregard for human life is hard. Is it Callous? Seems low-impact compared to what we're going for. Low Empathy? Not everyone who's Axe-Crazy suffers -3 to Sex Appeal, I'll tell you that much! Honestly, it might be an Odious Personal Habit [-10] that reveals itself to people who see your coldness on display, plus maybe a negative Reputation for killing them.

I'm thinking Bad Temper (12-) [15] with the custom +50% enhancement "triggered by arbitrary situations as well as stressful ones" covers the third point.

And the third point sounds like On The Edge (12-) [-15].

How's that?

[Johnny1A.2]

Originally Posted by McAllister

So what's the difference between Ax-Crazy and Hair-Trigger Temper? I can think of a few things, but I wonder if we're all in agreement.

Ax-Crazy

• Enjoyment of violence and murder
• Disregard for human life (although capable of caring about individuals)
• Hair trigger, which is furthermore triggered by both rational and irrational offenses
• Self-preservation is very low on the to-do list

Does that cover the big points? The first one is Bloodlust (12-) [-10] plus Compulsive Murder (15-) [-10]. I figure Compulsive Murder is worth -20, halved by the relatively easy roll: a roll is triggered by Bad Temper, so a higher self-control number makes the character at least playable.

Disregard for human life is hard. Is it Callous? Seems low-impact compared to what we're going for. Low Empathy? Not everyone who's Axe-Crazy suffers -3 to Sex Appeal, I'll tell you that much! Honestly, it might be an Odious Personal Habit [-10] that reveals itself to people who see your coldness on display, plus maybe a negative Reputation for killing them.

I'm thinking Bad Temper (12-) [15] with the custom +50% enhancement "triggered by arbitrary situations as well as stressful ones" covers the third point.

And the third point sounds like On The Edge (12-) [-15].

How's that?

It approximates it. Or at least, one form of it.

But 'hair trigger temper' isn't wide enough. It's one form ax-crazy could take, the character who maims or murders (or tries to) in an explosion of rage over trivial triggers, or no perceptible trigger. The character who is outraged and plunges a knife into someone else because he or she was 2 minutes late for a meeting, say. That would be ax-crazy.

But ax-crazy can also be the character who knifes someone else in a calm, relaxed, casual way, because that person was late. Or because that person was wearing yellow, or because it was Thursday. No temper involved, but those are also examples of ax-crazy.