The fear factor!

[Lilira Lira]

Hi! I've hit a little problem and I'm not sure how to deal with it, hoping we can start a nice discussion or debate on how's best to handle the situation I'm about to dive into!

 

First a little backstory, For those who don't know my character, She is Liliro Liro, A Kind-hearted but crafty and cunning thief, she mugs, robs, burgles, basically anything involving take things which aren't hers, either from person or place.

 

I also love making the RP spontaneous, let's face it, who doesn't love a bit of spontaneity! If I'm going to rob someone, I'll first check if the house is occupied with active Roleplayers who are present and willing to get involved. I don't normally OOCly divulge too much information about what will transpire next as it's more fun to be genuinely shocked about what's happening! 

 

Anywho, so I'll find Roleplayers who are willing and active etc, they are often in various other situations chatting, or once or twice... In the bedroom.. *cough* I let them know OOCly that I'm going to interact with them etc, 9 times out of 10 they love the randomness of it, because You never know when you might get burgled right? 

 

 

I'll go in, they will often be unarmed and completely startled to have a seemingly innocent Lalafell climb in their window or picklock their doors... First thing I will Icly do is check them for weapons, which they then oocly tell me they have or not, again, most people say they don't. Because believe it or not folks, people aren't armed 24/7! ^.^

 

 

Now I never harm other people's characters, I don't like to do that, and if it gets to that situation I ask their OOC permission first, now here is where I have my problem...

 

 

Lets say for example there's a guy sitting on the sofa, reading, unarmed, (This happened btw) and I'd thrown him a satchel and told him to fill it.. (All imagination of course!) Now, he refuses... which is like, okay, refuse thats fine, I mean some characters have a strong back bone. So I then move closer, perhaps put my dagger to his throat and insist he fills it. 

 

 

This is where I'm stuck. He refuses... again? Even though he is unarmed, on his own, with a knife to his throat! And I'm not prepared to God emote him or anything.. But in that situation, My character would infact cause physical harm to him. But I can't do that to someone elses character! I can't just god emote! So... What do I do in this situation? Do I just walk away (Which i ended up doing because I didn't know how to handle it..) Or do I harm him and tell him that it's what happens.. or.. what? I don't know!

 

 

So... Help a Little Mischief out, what would you do? What should I have done? Why was there a lack of fear over life potentially being lost? 

 

 

I mean my character has no problem hurting people if needed. but, I can't just outright... do it.. Right? 

[Warren Castille]

I believe in posting intent, and letting the other person decide how successful that intent is. If I've got a dagger to someone's throat and they refuse to comply, I'd emote something akin to

 

/em takes a deep breath and hardens his steely gaze, then attempts to press the blade in to draw blood.

 

Let the recipient determine what happens next, but be prepared for them to go with it and your character to become a cold-blooded murderer. It's happened before.

[Steel Wolf]

If it's gotten that far, it's really up to what your character would do. If she really wants that money, and she's willing to cut someone for resisting, then she shouldn't be completely afraid to escalate the matter one more step. Push the blade to perhaps draw blood, like Warren suggested. Stab the back cushion near the target's head then put the blade to the neck again to illustrate you mean business.

 

Either way, if things go that far, she'll have to be ready for possible retaliation. If the target does something godmoddy him/herself, say decides to lob a fireball at Mischief, then it'd probably be a good time to break away, as the whole matter could devolve into a pissing contest.

 

It's nerve-wracking, to be sure...but that's how a life of crime goes. You have a mark who thinks they've got guts? Show them your resolve! <3

[Lilira Lira]

If it's gotten that far, it's really up to what your character would do.  If she really wants that money, and she's willing to cut someone for resisting, then she shouldn't be completely afraid to escalate the matter one more step.  Push the blade to perhaps draw blood, like Warren suggested.  Stab the back cushion near the target's head then put the blade to the neck again to illustrate you mean business.

 

Either way, if things go that far, she'll have to be ready for possible retaliation.  If the target does something godmoddy him/herself, say decides to lob a fireball at Mischief, then it'd probably be a good time to break away, as the whole matter could devolve into a pissing contest.

 

It's nerve-wracking, to be sure...but that's how a life of crime goes.  You have a mark who thinks they've got guts?  Show them your resolve! <3

 

See, my character would just cut, loot and run, she really doesn't care for marks at all. Perhaps the drawing blood would be a good idea, but what happens If they then retaliate and resist further, I mean... Should I just leave it, If they are armed I wouldn't complain, as it's a fair fight, but them being unarmed would give me a distinct advantage.. right?

[Warren Castille]

If it's gotten that far, it's really up to what your character would do.  If she really wants that money, and she's willing to cut someone for resisting, then she shouldn't be completely afraid to escalate the matter one more step.  Push the blade to perhaps draw blood, like Warren suggested.  Stab the back cushion near the target's head then put the blade to the neck again to illustrate you mean business.

 

Either way, if things go that far, she'll have to be ready for possible retaliation.  If the target does something godmoddy him/herself, say decides to lob a fireball at Mischief, then it'd probably be a good time to break away, as the whole matter could devolve into a pissing contest.

 

It's nerve-wracking, to be sure...but that's how a life of crime goes.  You have a mark who thinks they've got guts?  Show them your resolve! <3

 

See, my character would just cut, loot and run, she really doesn't care for marks at all. Perhaps the drawing blood would be a good idea, but what happens If they then retaliate and resist further, I mean... Should I just leave it, If they are armed I wouldn't complain, as it's a fair fight, but them being unarmed would give me a distinct advantage.. right?

 

Sort of. Is your character bluffing? Because if she's making big threats and is unwilling to act on them, then that bluff has effectively been called. If she's willing to kill someone over some burgled goods, then don't be afraid to respond in a way that intends that.

 

/em continues pushing the blade against 's throat. If he doesn't stop it, the wound will be fatal!

 

When it comes down to it, if you emote a threat and the person goes "Sure, do it, I don't care" they're quite literally asking for you to hurt them. Don't be afraid to get rough! As long as you're not calling damage, it isn't godmoding. There's a world of difference between

 

/em slits open 's throat

 

and

 

/em attempts to slit open 's throat.

[Lilira Lira]

No no she isn't bluffing, she's killed before and would do so again!

 

I'll give trying to get a little rough a go next time i'm in that situation. As i said, most of the time they just comply! Then OOCly thank me after for spicing up their day :3

[Berrod Armstrong]

Back when I had Berrod mug people outside of Bronze Lake (before the days of housing, alas) I would whisper the character's player and let them know my intentions, assure them that ultimately they were truly in control of what happened to their character, and ask their permission to proceed. That usually worked out well enough! In fact, in one case, the Character turned out to be an off duty Maelstrom officer and asked ME if I was willing to let Berrod get messed up instead. He did, and it was glorious. 

 

Opening communication before the event takes place is verrrryyy important, even if you want things to happen in an organic fashion, so I think you're on the right path. What you may need to do is come up with a course of action in the event of a refusal that suits your character. Were the suggestions that Warren and Wolf gave in line with what your character would do? Or would they chicken out?  Similarly, try to concoct as many scenarios in your head as possible so that if something happens., you more than likely already have a way to respond to it that keeps things flowing smoothly!

[Steel Wolf]

Warren has the right of it--I've seen plenty of em-fights in TOR and some of them were so poorly scripted and written out because people just REALLY wanna lop off another person's hand with their lightsaber I guess I dunno.

 

The point is to display intent without writing the final outcome. This dumbass is playing with his life in your hands--maybe because he doesn't find Lalafell criminals threatening. Remind him that knives can really really hurt. >:3

[Gegenji]

maybe because he doesn't find Lalafell criminals threatening.

 

That's basically what I was wondering. I've had a couple people be pretty dismissive of Chachan because he's a Lala. Despite the fact that he's been smithing since he was, like, five. They didn't know that, of course, but still...

[Steel Wolf]

That's basically what I was wondering. I've had a couple people be pretty dismissive of Chachan because he's a Lala. Despite the fact that he's been smithing since he was, like, five. They didn't know that, of course, but still...

 

As a Roegadyn, I imagine a Lalafell approaching me to mug me would be someone who wonders what it's like to fly at the toe of my boot. Size can matter.

 

That said...if a Lala leapt up and cut the purse from Steel's hip then beat feet, that's definitely something that takes advantage of the height differences. And in the situation that Mischief outlined (at home, unarmed, unarmored on a couch) height has pretty much no bearing in that situation. Especially if I've had the distance closed and a knife against my neck.

 

Ultimately, just because I RP a Roe doesn't make me above a mugging if I'm not careful. :3

[Aduu Avagnar]

See here's the thing. Nako is incredibly hard to get the jump on at his barracks. One, he's essentially ex special forces and extremely paranoid. I'm talking tripwires, traps both aethirial and mundane. Two, he sleeps upon a razors edge. Someone opens the door or window, he wakes up, unless he's drunken himself into a stupor.

 

The other thing to remember, is they may look unarmed, but what if they stash weapons all over the place. Nano has a tome or knife within easy reach of wherever he may be in his room, and a couple of staffs all over.

 

He also is generally unthreatened by most people.

[C'kayah Polaali]

See here's the thing. Nako is incredibly hard to get the jump on at his barracks. One, he's essentially ex special forces and extremely paranoid. I'm talking tripwires, traps both aethirial and mundane. Two, he sleeps upon a razors edge. Someone opens the door or window, he wakes up, unless he's drunken himself into a stupor.

 

The other thing to remember, is they may look unarmed, but what if they stash weapons all over the place. Nano has a tome or knife within easy reach of wherever he may be in his room, and a couple of staffs all over.

 

He also is generally unthreatened by most people.

 

Sure, but that's not the situation Liliro is talking about. It sounds like, if she asked "Mind if I burgle you?", you'd respond "You can try, but there are traps, etc etc". These are people who've initially agreed to it.

 

Lil, what I'd recommend in this case is to push the boundaries a little bit. It's generally acknowledged good form to RP the action and let the other person RP the result, but this is getting pretty close to a guaranteed coup de grace. If Liliro isn't willing to kill the man for refusing to fill his bag, then you're justified in posting that you thwack the guy in the temple with the pommel of your dagger and knock his ass out.

[Delilah Scythewood]

I believe in posting intent, and letting the other person decide how successful that intent is. If I've got a dagger to someone's throat and they refuse to comply, I'd emote something akin to

 

/em takes a deep breath and hardens his steely gaze, then attempts to press the blade in to draw blood.

 

Let the recipient determine what happens next, but be prepared for them to go with it and your character to become a cold-blooded murderer. It's happened before.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^ This.

[Lilira Lira]

Thank you all for your responses! I actually Got to put your suggestion about emoting intent without outcome last night, this person was a hard nut, claiming he didn't care about his life...

 

I put: /em attempts to rest the tip of the dagger on his thigh, slowing increasing pressure

 

The man soon changed his tune! Begun wincing, and complied! Huzzah!

[Steel Wolf]

Yay! See? When it comes to having their character potentially, honestly killed off, most will comply to your mugging wishes. Unless they were looking for an out/reason to re-roll/use a Fantasia. X3

 

Anyways, glad to hear it worked out!!

 

...why am I cheering for a criminal's success though?

[Tiergan]

Because LALA THIEVES ARE THE BEST THIEVES.

[Verad]

What are you talking about, they can't even reach my pockets.

[Aaron]

I had a similar situation! It was so epic and we didn't even OOC consult,  it was so realistic and good we trusted everything to work out and it did!

 

Ok, so like Aaron was out in Coerthas just wandering (I do that when im bored) and I just so happened to walk in a cave where there we people who were apparently bandits and talking about a rob when Aaron just wandered in unknowingly (both IC & OOC I was not expecting that lol)

 

They saw Aaron and one of them (a Roegadyn) told Aaron he had 5 seconds to "Get the f*ck outta here before we slit yer throat." Aaron being the cocky individual he is, told them to try it. At first it was just like Aaron and the Roegadyn with two other people, so it seemed Aaron wouldn't be -that- deep in trouble. 

 

BUT THEN SEVERAL MORE PEOPLE WALKED INTO THE CAVE. so yeah Aaron soon realized he was in trouble, the Roegadyn told Aaron to gtfo one more time because he was feeling nice today and after seeing he was surrounded, Aaron said fine. 

 

As he passed one of the people however (was a Miq'ote) the guy tried to "punk" Aaron by trying to trip him up. Aaron dodged and grabbed his blade about to attack the guy but the Roegadyn reminded Aaron he better leave or he's getting effed up. So Aaron left.

 

I then had a OOC /tell discussion with the guy about how epic that was.

 

Point is, most people who are decent at rp are not "I can do wtf I want because you can't harm me without my consent". Types. A lot of people I know actually LIKE being in danger like that.

[Briggs]

If it's reached the point where I, as a player, am allowing another player's character to teeter their blade along my character's throat, I would assume we've already discussed, or at least brainstormed, what's happening or will happen.

 

To add, if this were some random player and there was little-to-no buildup prior, then no, neither I nor my character will be taking the other player or (player's) character very seriously. It's in a similar vein where if one half-asses a paper and expects their professor to award them a stellar grade for their work.

 

It's one thing to get into a random barfight, which I'm all for, but it's another to expect me to let you seriously maim or even kill my characters. Similarly, I'm not into the whole "you need to be such-and-such level if you seriously think your guy can oppose mine" bandwagon I see on a lot of MMOs. Far as I'm concerned, our characters are both mortal, and both products of our own writing with presumably equal effort behind them, thus they have as much opportunity to engage with mine as any.