Thieves, Bandits and Overall Creeps

[FrozenFire]

I know I haven't been on but there's a good chance I'll be back soon.

Anyway that's not the point at hand. I wanted to ask several questions, and discuss the 'Creep' type of characters. These characters are the type who would do anything for a quick buck, who rob and loot and murder, and are general problems to the community. (IC community) Now there's the Nuetral Evil, Evil alignment thing, and most of these characters could fit this description. I wanted to know, what would make a really good bandit-thug type of character and how would they fit into certain settings? Is there a good enough variety of players that a character like this could thrive In-Character? (Thieves - Fences, Hitmen - Clients, Gamblers - Loan Sharks )


I also want to hear from people who role-play characters similiar. (Tobala plays a good 'shady' character) How you carry yourself to avoid getting caught but still carry on your shifty agenda. And I'd like to know do people like role-playing with these types? I like variety alot and playing an antagonist could be alot of fun. Is there any critically important information I should know about playing one? You know - the kind of information that could keep me from getting stomped on by a guard or jailed? ( I know a bit about jail now )

[Nevena]

I haven't had the chance to play my "shady" character I have planned for here, but in the past I've had the most luck with "villains" who are just darn fun to be around. You know - be brash, be charming, be funny, just don't be a jerk. You don't have to be a bully to be a thug. Save the muscle for when it's hired, yeah?

Though to be honest, a good number of my favorite RP villains (I'll admit, that includes a couple of my own), few people actually realized that they WERE villains. Most people only saw the side that amused them or gave them fun, and it didn't occur to them that seedy stuff ever went on.

Anyway, I think if you want to have a criminal that will be different and accessible to people, think of what kind of person you think you'd have fun RPing around. Then RP that person. S/he just also happens to know fifty ways to kill somebody without making a sound. Doing dirty deeds without getting caught -- gosh I don't know how to give a How-To on that. But if you're already popular as a life of the party, it's a HECK of a lot easier to get away with it.

In fact, maybe I should dust off that character idea (inspired by Bolshe), and see how many people would enjoy playing along with her group. There's the Steamweedle Cartel (heaven help me if I spelled THAT wrong) folks and I liked how Drantha came across. I haven't had the chance to RP with any others, but if you see someone with that guild tag up, they might be able to give you pointers.

Hee, I also have a friend who may be bringing over just the character type I have in mind. If he does, I'll try to get you to meet him for an example.

Best of luck! <3

[Bolshe]

I am the resident expert of all criminal roleplays on here. Any and all questions can go to me.

[Sersay]

To get official word on this topic, however, GM's are the people to look to.

Edit: And Siv, he's teh rawks.

[MrWeasel]

Um... this is actually a good question. Very good topic for discussion. Though as Sersay just said, For answers to specific questions, please PM a GM. Or Siv as she said. I consider him one of the best criminal type rpers on the Server.

[Mikain]

Not to mention Siv is a former GM, so he'd likely know about stuff.

[HavocPwnsAll]

I haven't been on the server yet, as this is my first post. However, on retail W.o.W my character is overall neutral chaotic :twisted:

At first he seems like an obnoxious arse, who can't keep his trap shut. That's usually just because he likes to see the reactions of others. He deliberately puts on an act to make him seem like a complete act out of no other emotion than boredom. My characters dreads boredom, infact he'll do mostly anything to cure it. Which leads him into trouble, of course. Loves brawls. Especially likes the feel of blades cleaving into flesh, it gives him a sort of drive to cause trouble.

Can be civil if he tries.

[FrozenFire]

Hm, serial asshole? I want to become less of a forced antagonist. Instead of making people hate me, I'm going for a character that inspires hatred. "Attention isn't attractive in the line of work I will be involved in."

[Karl89]

It's my personal theory that no one should ever be denied to roleplay anything, as cliché as it could be, as long as their roleplay abilities aren't doubtful.

Being a roleplayer who generally appreciates the scoundrel type of characters, here's my point of view on how to roleplay such characters. Take note that I've emphasized on 'my' type of roleplaying. There's limitless ways to roleplay a criminal character and I wouldn't really say there's an "international" chart on how to do so.

For example, a chaotic evil orc would run into town, bash his way through the crowd, possibly killing a few souls on his path and kick into a store. He'd then plunge his axe into the shopkeeper's head, no question asked, THEN grab whatever loot he wanted.

A human child thief, for instance, would make sure to stay in the shadows, avoid all (unnecessary) attention and sneak into the store, wait until the shopkeeper's attention is claimed elsewhere, snatch a reasonable amount of what he likes off the shelves and run out.

Another rogue type of character would come in and impose fear on the shopkeeper, threatening him of death if his demands aren't satisfied. Would grab what he likes, then leave. (Or kill the shopkeeper so he can't testify to the guards!)

There isn't really any specific way to roleplay a criminal character I'd say, it all depends on who you want him/her to be.

However, tips I'd give you to take in consideration while roleplaying a criminal would be; Try to make other players like your character OOC'ly particularly. It's generally not fun to have his character thieves/assaulted by bandits. Yes, this is a roleplaying server. Yes, people should be able to distinguish IC with OOC, but heck, no one can claim they don't grow rather fond of their character and feel somewhat (even if slightly) bothered when an illfortune happens to their character.

What I tend to do is realistically allow the other player to, for instance, decide how much my pickpocket finds in their pockets, regardless of how much there REALLY is. I also generally let my character be caught at least 3 times on 10. It generally results into great fun (fights with the guard, begging for forgiveness, a character growing pity for your character, etc..) and gives the other party the satisfaction to know they were able to capture a criminal.

All this while keeping in mind that there are "no-one-can-catch-them" types of characters and that's perfectly fine, as long as they're well roleplayed; mysterious, hardly ever seen, etc.. Also, another no-no is to try and not bully new characters that come to a game. It's REALLY not fun to have your character robbed, mugged and beaten to near death the first hour of you playing a game. Even though it's an IC occurence, it tends to discourage players and make them leave.

That's all I suppose. I'll see if I edit the reply later on when more inspiration strikes my mind. ^^

[Grakor456]

There are lots of tips on the forums about RPing evil characters. The only two things I'm going to point out:

1. Nine times out of ten, the moment a bad guy starts thinking of himself as a bad guy, he stops being believable.

2. If you're going to play someone who antagonizes others, come to terms with the fact that this character could die at any time.

That said, I'm all for players making their own villains. Just try to make them actually work and do stuff, not just sit around and go "Mwahaha! I'm so evil!" around the tavern and not actually do anything about it.

[Karl89]

Oh, another tip I can think of;

Evil isn't always brutal and barbarian. Evil doesn't go around, bashing people in the head for no obvious reasons.

Evil is much more fun when it's dark and sinister. When it trades the bottle of wine in the little girl's basket with a bottle of red poison, then watches as the girl poisons her own father in horror. :twisted:

Creative Evil > Dull Evil