Destiny Point usage? (can you use them to stop murderous players?)

By Orius, in Star Wars: Edge of the Empire RPG

Ok,

Had our first game and everyone loved it but I do not now if we were using destiny points right...

what we ended up spending them on ALWAYS was stopping our murdererous player from well....indiscriminately murdering EVERYTHING.

Here were the main two uses

Our murderer was questioning a suspicious fellow and knew he was lying about who or what he was or why he was around our ship so he

"I draw my blaster and shoot him in the face"

one of the players says

"I spend a destiny point and your blaster was thankfully on stun."

IS THAT LEGAL?!?!?!

second instance

Some thugs are running through a crowd to get away and take a civilian hostage

murderer - "I throw a frag grenade"

a different player from above - "Destiny point - the blast only hits the one bad guy who trips trying to wrestle the civilian and falls on the grenade."

IS THAT LEGAL?!?!?!

It is, but a better option would be to tell the murder hobo to knock it off or go home.

Our murderer was questioning a suspicious fellow and knew he was lying about who or what he was or why he was around our ship so he

"I draw my blaster and shoot him in the face"

one of the players says

"I spend a destiny point and your blaster was thankfully on stun."

IS THAT LEGAL?!?!?!

Legality of DP usage is always up to the GM.

In this case, I sure hope it would be legal. And I wish we had thought of this kind of thing back when we had a particularly murderous PC in the group. I’d much rather be low on DPs all the time than have so many unnecessary murderous deaths on my characters conscience — even if he is a droid.

Some thugs are running through a crowd to get away and take a civilian hostage

murderer - "I throw a frag grenade"

a different player from above - "Destiny point - the blast only hits the one bad guy who trips trying to wrestle the civilian and falls on the grenade."

IS THAT LEGAL?!?!?!

Again, it’s all up to the GM.

But again, in this case, I certainly hope the GM would go with this one.

IMO, this is supposed to be Star Wars. The way I see it, you’re supposed to feel like your character could be just off camera, or was in that exact same location the day before, or maybe will be the day after.

Yes, Luke and Han and others did kill their fair share, but they didn’t go blindly genocidal on everyone. Only the bad guys did that kind of stuff.

And if someone wants to play Darth Sideous as a PC, I think they’re probably in the wrong game. At least, I certainly wouldn’t want to game with them.

It's fair if the GM says it's fair. Its original intent is not, however, to alter another player's actions. That's a whole different issue to be delt with.

Ok,

Had our first game and everyone loved it but I do not now if we were using destiny points right...

what we ended up spending them on ALWAYS was stopping our murdererous player from well....indiscriminately murdering EVERYTHING.

Here were the main two uses

Our murderer was questioning a suspicious fellow and knew he was lying about who or what he was or why he was around our ship so he

"I draw my blaster and shoot him in the face"

one of the players says

"I spend a destiny point and your blaster was thankfully on stun."

IS THAT LEGAL?!?!?!

second instance

Some thugs are running through a crowd to get away and take a civilian hostage

murderer - "I throw a frag grenade"

a different player from above - "Destiny point - the blast only hits the one bad guy who trips trying to wrestle the civilian and falls on the grenade."

IS THAT LEGAL?!?!?!

Does the PC think he's Brick in Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon's Keep or something?

Use Karma?

He does bad things, bad things immediately happen to him?

His friends do good things and good things immediately happen to them?

The mechanics can't really solve a problem with the players. I wouldn't worry about the legality; try and hash out why he's trying to play a different game to the rest of you.

Talkie hit it exactly right, as did about everyone else. The problem isn't with the DP usage, it is with this player. You shouldn't use the game mechanics to alter the mentality of the player. This really boils down to basic psychology, he is almost being rewarded; definitely not being discouraged from this behavior, other than the team losing a DP. There is basically no consequence for his actions. I say don't let the mechanics alter his actions, let them play out, and then this character can feel the repercussions of his actions. Maybe he is recorded doing these horrendous things and a man hunt ensues.

Really your only option to modify this behavior is to talk with the player. If you keep allowing the DP usage to stop his actions, then nothing will change. A water bottle being shot at him will be more effective. If the player will not change perhaps you may to modify your group, some people just want to watch the world burn and the GM to squirm.

If Murderguy continues his murderous ways, after GM has talked to him that this is not the theme of this Star Wars campaign you play

  1. GM gives him Obligation: Bounty, as he is starting to gain Infamy for being ruthless killer. "Have nice with Boba Fett."
  2. Kick him out off your group.

But like most of here has already said talking to the player is the first thing that should be done.

As others have pointed out, talk with the player.

If that dosent work, have local and regional law-enforcement take care of him, this includes bounty hunters. Make them go after him only, and the others if they resist with him. Don't give him obligation, that punishes the whole group for his actions.

If that doesn't work either and you really have talked with him, stop playing with him if he ruins the fun of the rest of the group.

I think others have addressed the issue of whether the use of the destiny point was in accordance with RAW, so I'll comment on the crux of the issue.

A few months ago, there was a wonderful topic on these forums about being a better player. The topic had some fantastic tips given by a great many skilled players. One of these tips was "Never undo another player's action".

While I applaud OP and his or her group's creative use of destiny points, doing this often could create resentment with the aggressive PC and the rest of the group. If he gets mad and leaves, no one has learned anything. Instead, let the PC do the act, and then the rest of the characters can react and have an awesome roleplay scene. The world will seem that much more real to the player if he or she gets to experience the very real reactions of everyone around him. Normal people, even scummy outlaws typical of EotE do not just murder helpless captives.

If your group is big into roleplay, have the characters talk it out. If your group is not big into roleplay, then I suggest following the advice of others in this thread and talk to the player about it. Everyone should talk about the tone of the adventure and determine if the way they are playing their characters fits the tone that the group is wanting to experience. It may be that the player has a different expectation on what tone is supposed to be.

As others have pointed out, talk with the player.

If that dosent work, have local and regional law-enforcement take care of him, this includes bounty hunters. Make them go after him only, and the others if they resist with him. Don't give him obligation, that punishes the whole group for his actions.

If that doesn't work either and you really have talked with him, stop playing with him if he ruins the fun of the rest of the group.

I think obligation is a great way to square it away - yes, it punishes the whole group to an extent. They're travelling with a psychotic murderer, they aren't exactly going to get invites to the posh dance clubs. If the GM doesn't corral this - and I can't tell for certain from the OP if he IS the GM - then the players also have an obligation to say something. And if he tries the 'that's what my character would do' card, then say 'what our characters would do is leave your ass behind in the starport for the authorities to sort out. Knock it off or reroll'

Our murderer was questioning a suspicious fellow and knew he was lying about who or what he was or why he was around our ship so he

"I draw my blaster and shoot him in the face"

one of the players says

"I spend a destiny point and your blaster was thankfully on stun."

IS THAT LEGAL?!?!?!

I actually LIKE this one. Were I GMing this group I'd totally allow it. Minor tweak to the story, but with a positive outcome that leaves so quality roleplaying options. "Dangit Frato! Quit messing with my weapons when I'm in the shower!"

second instance

Some thugs are running through a crowd to get away and take a civilian hostage

murderer - "I throw a frag grenade"

a different player from above - "Destiny point - the blast only hits the one bad guy who trips trying to wrestle the civilian and falls on the grenade."

IS THAT LEGAL?!?!?!

This I don't like quite as much, if the murder hobo wants to commit murder this bad, let him reap what he sows... Bounty hunters are not fun, especially the disruptor sniper rifle type...

Honestly it just sounds like a "hey guys, pull back a bit on the murders please" would be in order more than trying to sabotage their actions. Get the whole group on the same page, and proceed from there.

Second - while it may be legal to do minor tweaks to the setting via Destiny Points, whats to stop him from flipping the setting back to kill and shooting him in the face again? I would go with long term reprocussions - Mr No-Face has a brother that wants to avenge him. No-Face has - well, had - information that the group needed and now their task is much harder. Someone heard the shot and called the cops - speeder chase time!

You're the GM - you have a much more powerful weapon in your bag of tricks than just destiny points: the ability to dictate the story!

How did the murderer take having his choices veto'ed by the other players?

Could he not flip a destiny point and say that his allied players blaster fire kills an innocent bystander?

Hopefully the GM has prepared a nice selection of bounty hunters for your next session.

I've found that there are two basic player types that have their characters behave this way:

1) The "I'm just playing to my motivations" guy: He sees "scum" somewhere in the description of Edge of the Empire and, like a good "neutral evil Rogue" player, he thinks that he must now attempt to kill anyone that gets in his way and steal stuff.

Talk to this guy about the tone of the game, and the desire for the rest of the group to play characters of a more heroic persuasion. Selfish, perhaps. Ruthless, maybe. Heart of gold is optional. But unchecked murderous tendencies are just not in keeping with the tone of game you wish to run.

2) The "I don't really care; I'm just hanging out with you guys because I have nothing better to do" guy. This guy is almost always a video gamer. Perhaps he's the guy that plays Fable and goes around town killing people, and then killing the endless stream of town guards that follow. Or perhaps he's spent way too much time playing GTA and actively tries to max out his Wanted level. Or any number of other video games that allow for the indiscriminate killing of townsfolk.

Maybe he's just blowing off steam. But this guy needs to be reminded that he's playing the role of a character in the Star Wars universe, along with a bunch of other people who are also playing roles of characters in the Star Wars universe. Ask him to make choices in character, not on the whim of his chaotic, video-game-attuned mind.

Unless, of course, you wish to encourage that sort of behavior from the player. In which case, your players aren't always going to have Destiny Points to spend to keep the dude from going murder-crazy. And when he does, the authorities won't be too far behind, and he'll likely be rolling out another character, perhaps with less murderous tendencies.

Ok wow! I am going to try and reply to everyone questions of I miss you I am sorry there are a ton!

1- I am a player not the gm.

2- This is all our very FIRST edge of the empire game! So we are just getting our barrings

3- he is a murder hobo. He is the secondary power gamer to me in our group but I made a skill monkey guy so I can't stop his shenanigans through force or threats (rp wise) he is a hire gun bodyguard with force sensitivity...our other players are pilots (2 of them) and a doctor.

4 - awayputyurwpns categories - it's a little of both... He is usually a very good role player at the same time being a power gamer who liked to break 3.5 d&d. He is also doing it for fun hanging out with the guys and he thinks it funny and no one has told him differently this far...

5 gm intervention - the gm is getting prepared he is going to use obligation AND send a bounty hunter after him.

6 player intervention - as I said none of us could sat are him down as he could beat us all up with his character BUT he and I have spoken and decided he is going to be my trader characters body guard (he is a body guard after all) and I am going to pay him as well and will be able to control his actions to a degree

7 player motivation - he wants to be a thug female twilek ex slave. We are going to let him do it obviously. He doesn't like liers or bullies. We have also agreed he has to care more about civilian casualties at least.

8 destiny point use - our gm allowed it and likes it. We all thought it was good idea but the rules are so vague I figured I would ask!

Thanks for your time!

Destiny points are pretty much legal for whatever you guys allow. Thats what they're there for.

I used a destiny point to prevent a NPC from dying when he blew himself up so its totally legit to use them to modify an attack or action.

This situation is only going to be resolved by talking to the player and asking him to stop attempting to kill everyone.

Orius, if your character (and it sounds like the other characters in your crew) has a problem with the murder hobo, would they still be hanging out with them? Especially given any violent crimes they commit are ones you'll all be associated with (and suffer the consequences of).

It's an awkward question, I know. You're playing with your mates and nobody wants to dictate what character anybody else can play... but by doing stuff they know the other characters won't approve of they're already stopping you from playing your character your way. (If their character was someone you knew in real life wouldn't you have called the cops on them?)

PCs always get more leeway than NPCs at our table but there have always been context-based limits. In a game of Champions (HERO system) our super-team had to take an archer character to one side and explain to him that we were suspending him from the team after, despite advice and then warnings against it, he repeatedly unleashed his most deadly attacks, boosted to their limits, against minions. He was playing the dark/rebel hero of the team but he needed to know that while Batman-level darkness would be cool, Punisher-level crap would not.

In Edge of the Empire you're likely criminals. What you do and how you do it, however, will dictate the response law enforcement and criminal syndicates use against you. The next person your mate kills without cause may be the nephew of somebody very dangerous. Somebody not above torturing you to get to them.

Edited by Col. Orange

I like what Col. Orange mentioned. As a GM I'd go down this route to a certain degree. I'd secretly feel out if anyone wanted to retire their character or maybe have their character die. Have it be because of the murderous person's actions that this character gets taken out! Boom, guilt trip!

Ok wow! I am going to try and reply to everyone questions of I miss you I am sorry there are a ton!

1- I am a player not the gm.

So?

While the GM might have the most influence over the story, he shouldn't be expected to have the most influence over the players. You're all equals! the GM is not your daddy!!

Oh.. Wait... My GM is my daddy...

Well, I still tell the murder-hobos to cut it out without running to him. Or I used to. They listened and we're all happy now.

Ok wow! I am going to try and reply to everyone questions of I miss you I am sorry there are a ton!

1- I am a player not the gm.

So?

While the GM might have the most influence over the story, he shouldn't be expected to have the most influence over the players. You're all equals! the GM is not your daddy!!

Oh.. Wait... My GM is my daddy...

Well, I still tell the murder-hobos to cut it out without running to him. Or I used to. They listened and we're all happy now.

Yah, the 'knock it off' method is perfectly viable. Reasonable conversations for reasonable people. If the murder hobo is going to be a cone head about it then lie about what night is game night to them......... :P

If the murder hobo is going to be a cone head about it then lie about what night is game night to them......... :P

If he's a good RPer, then perhaps pulling him aside and asking him to knock it off would work. It would make for a good character arc to go from murder hobo to someone who is mean when needs to be but starts showing some restraint.