9 minutes ago, GroggyGolem said:Oh that game ended last year, only campaign of mine to actually have a conclusion oddly enough. All others died early on; the murderhobo group stuck with it to the end. ?
While I certainly agree on the concepts of what the Jedi and Sith philosophy is as far as Selflessness and Selfishness, I think it's not quite as simple as that in real life, nor is it as simple in the context of Star Wars. Nobody is entirely selfless or selfish, Everyone has a mix of both aspects. When you go too far to one end, you tend to become imbalanced. One can see this reflected in the characters in the movies. Prequel Jedi were so selfless they gave up a lot of their own agency to be guardians of the Republic, which backed them into a corner when a war began. Even Palpatine, as evil incarnate as he is, still treats Vader like a friend for the most part, up until he's beaten by Luke in their duel.
In the context of the RPG, it gets even more complicated. While a movie can certainly have characters act a certain way at their core, that's usually due to a singular vision. In an RPG, the GM can't really dictate the way a PC acts without removing the agency of the player. Within the rules of the game, it is possible to be a Dark Side character but that doesn't mean you suddenly lose control of your character to some mysterious, corrupting, invisible dark side entity that possesses them. The way I see it, you aren't corrupted by an outside force, you are corrupted by your own desires and the actions you take toward those desires. So with players in an RPG, it really rests on them as to how "dark" they become. Do they flirt with temptations but ultimately overcome them like Luke? Do they give in to the darkness for power for a short time and then return to the light like Ezra? Do they fall hard like Darth Vader? Do they stay dark like Palpatine? Do they redeem themselves like Anakin? These choices are theirs to make, just as their character is theirs to control.
I encourage them to make whatever choices they desire in the game, with the added caveat of there is always consequences to actions. Just like how Jedi are tested in their beliefs and in how far they will go to be guardians of peace and justice, those that align with the dark side should also be tested in similar manner. This next session the dark siders will be tested to see how far they will take things, the choice is theirs on that matter, just as the consequences are theirs for whatever choices they make.
I agree. And that was an awesome summary, made me laugh. I feel that their character is theirs to control but as you said consequences are the issue. The game is set up to let PCs live but murderhobos that live either get very lucky or move around constantly. In my experience they die as a result of their own crimes unless the NPCs are doormats. Easy prey served up by the GM without much chance of the PCs being actually killed. Some people really like that kind of campaign though so that's cool.
