Advice on a "Cruel" character

[farinal]

One of my PCs have some troubles with his Shadow points. The character is an Elf of Mirkwood and currently he is in the stage 3 of his shadow-weakness and he has the Cruel trait.

I have some problems on how to project this to the game and also how to advice him to play his character. I am afraid that it could lead to some kind of unnecessary and unwanted troubles for the PC between the party or with the outside world. The one thing I despise in RPGs are the in party fights... so I would really like to avoid this. So how would you handle a character with all the 3 shadow traits and not make it a provocative for stupid fights?

[Wbweather]

My first thought is that the cruel flaw should only come into affect during a bout of madness, and at that point, you as the LM would take control of the PC and do something "cruel", then return him to the player's control to deal with the consequences.

[Angelalex242]

Eh. In my opinion, a character with 3 flaws is pretty much going to Anakin Skywalker ville. Fortunately, the character's an elf, so the other thing you might play up is the Sea Longing of the elves (assuming he's not a call of Mirkwood type). With 3 flaws, he's seriously considering Valinor, more every day.

Also, cruel is a curse of vengeance flaw. That means he's a slayer. Which means he can be cruel to whatever he's a slayer of.

"You really didn't have to torture that orc to death..."

[Deadmanwalking]

Yeah, he doesn't need to be cruel to everyone all the time, and most especially not to his friends. His cruelty should probably be directed at those he feels 'deserve it'...the torturing orcs example is perfect. That'll perhaps cause as bit of conflict, but not the kind that wrecks groups or anything.

Additionally, with three Flaws, he might well want to consider retiring at some point in the near future...that's more than half the character's lifespan in many ways, after all. So...this might or might not be a temporary problem.

[poosticks7]

There are many ways to be cruel without resorting to torture and violence (although that does make sense in regards to his slayer foe).

Words can cut deeply.

Point out other's mistakes, flaws, weaknesses, fears etc

Take delight in causing pain with a cutting tongue, it doesn't have to resort to violence.

[Glorelendil]

There are many ways to be cruel without resorting to torture and violence (although that does make sense in regards to his slayer foe).

Words can cut deeply.

Point out other's mistakes, flaws, weaknesses, fears etc

Take delight in causing pain with a cutting tongue, it doesn't have to resort to violence.

This, mostly. Although I disagree about torture and Slayer calling. That's sadism, not cruelty, and in any game I play in would result in multiple Shadow. Yes, even against Orcs.

[Deadmanwalking]

This, mostly. Although I disagree about torture and Slayer calling. That's sadism, not cruelty, and in any game I play in would result in multiple Shadow. Yes, even against Orcs.

Well, there's not a huge difference between sadism and cruelty. The former implies more enjoyment in the process, but they're effectively synonyms otherwise (at least in this context).

And of course torturing orcs gives you Shadow. That doesn't make it inappropriate behavior for someone with Cruelty any more than stealing from innocent bystanders is inappropriate for Dragon-Sick characters (another act that'll get you Shadow).

[Rocmistro]

To prevent any cross-player hard feelings I would:

1. Advise the player that when "he" instigates the cruelty (in whatever form it takes), it is always directed at enemies of the party.

2. When *you* want the hero to be cruel to either neutral parties (or the other players), then *you* (as Loremaster) should either invoke the negative trait, or, like someone else said, time it to coincide with a bout of madness.

A negative trait, like a good trait, doesn't imply the hero goes around every second of every day acting out that trait. It simply means, when the pressure is on and the conditions are right, they risk taking that path whereas a spiritually stronger character would act "good". A good trait is invoke what, maybe a couple times per session? So it should go with negative ones.

[Angelalex242]

Moreover, degeneration is typically a slippery slope. The more flaws you have, the more likely you are to pick up more shadow and have another bout of madness.

As they say over in Star Wars, 'once you start down the Dark Path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will!'

[Glorelendil]

Rule of thumb: if your negative trait is ruining the fun for the other players, you're doing something wrong.