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I know there's a lot of hatred for the idea of the "murderhobo" in Pathfinder, but I've always kinda gotten a kick out of the concept.
"Hi, I have no home and never eat anything except trail rations and suspicious substances I find in caves, other caves, and caves that they put dead people in. I lug around a huge bag I never clean out full of random items ranging from the esoteric to the literally useless—I think I actually stuffed a dead rat in here a few weeks ago. Along with a live rat. Oh, and a gnome illusionist partymember—crap, I forgot all about Fizzbottom! Hope the little guy's alright in there. Speaking of which, I have no friends and am only motivated by gold. The few co-workers I have travel with me despite their better judgement and would probably just crack jokes if something terrible were to happen to me, and I would definitely do the same for them. I have a sword, though, and I'm really good with it. Say, you wouldn't happen to have any gold on you, would you?"
Sorry, that turned out long.
Point being, has anyone ever used a "murderhobo"-esque character for a serious PC or NPC concept? It seems to me they'd work great for rival adventuring parties, flavor characters, or even BBEGs. It's always fun to hold up a "mirror" and see how close to the mark it really is.
I mean, if you think about it, almost all PCs are "murdering hobos" to some extent—granted, their victims generally deserve it, but still. People who can kill a dozen human bandits and then sit around cracking jokes while still covered in blood and innards may not have to be evil, but they ain't quite normal, either. ;D
All honesty where I play most PFS players try really hard to get away from the murderhobo frame of mind. Scenarios that should have been bloodbaths ended without a single NPC death due to non-lethal damage being employed vigorously. I've tried to play a vigilante character only to end up in debates with others about whether it's evil to apply corporal punishment to thugs and bandits. We played a season 4 scenario yesterday and ended up spending an hour going over every possible mode of action we could take before we came to the conclusion the only way to complete our mission was to murderhobo.
That being said I think a murderhobo character could be really fun way to introduce conflict in the right party without resorting to anything that harms your fellow players. Though it really depends on your playing environment. Some GMs will go out their way to make things hard for a character who is excessively violent and if you're playing PFS season 5 and 6 scenarios can be very punitive to a stab first ask questions later approach.
If it's something that you know you can make work with where you're playing and if it's something you think you can fun with then I say go for it.
Y'know, it could make a fun GMPC. Just a fairly non-optimized fighter or rogue who kills everything he can find an excuse to kill. See how long the players put up with it. It'd only work in certain groups, of course, but I like GMPCs who become challenges in their own right.
Not that I've done a GMPC in forever.
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As rivals? Yeah sure could be a fun challenge. Unscrupulous adventurers are often very good at keeping a good reputation, because they still want to get many jobs at the end of the day. A party of adventurers waiting at the entrance of a dungeon for the others to come out, exhausted of their resources after fighting the monster inside and stealing all their hard earned loot, is sure to make a memorable encounter for your players.
Can they be fun? Of course! Virtually anything and everything can be fun if that is what the group wants.
But when the expectations don't align, someone is probably going to be irritated.
If the group wants to play a 'realistic,' gritty, angst ridden, dark heavily RP'd campaign; but you bring a murderhobo that starts kicking in doors and killing everything that moves (or doesn't) they will probably be irritated with you ruining their game.
Dot
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I always thought the term murderhobo was a joke based on how most characters acted. Many are essentially homeless vagabonds who wander from town to town, solving problems through violence. Hence, out of game, we tend to call our characters that anyways.
Though I see it's often used as a negative term, similar to how hack-and-slash gameplay was used in the past. Which I can see why, a reference to those who play backstory-less, barely-RPing characters whose only goal in life is killing their way to godhood, or the rough equivalent caused by carrying around more magical loot than an entire empire could afford.
Once we did a quick pickup game, 3d6 play as they fall stats that ended up predictably substandard, with 2 random rolled quirks that ended up being dirty hands and drinking problem..
Made a level 1 rogue with catch off guard, survival and craft skills, picking up trash and finding ways to use it..
Had a lot of fun with that guy, especially since I usually instead play bastions of logic, heroics, and/or nobility..
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What's funny to me is the amount of times my players SAY they want RP, character development and plot, describing what they mean as very nearly an epic novel's worth of story. They take the time to carefully craft a background, a personality and specifically chosen skills and traits to represent their RP potential.
The game gets started and the countryside runs red with the blood of the land.
Seriously, in my games it takes more effort to craft and actually play a real character than it does to roll/stat up a murderhobo and run it. I try to create scenes in my game that have the potential for RP solutions: a talking worg that barks intimidatingly but merely demands parlay; a group of fetchlings approaching cautiously wearing weapons but not brandishing them yet; a guard captain and his cronies catching the party out late at night and demanding to know their business.
As soon as there's a conflict my players roll initiative. They're all VERY good at the rules for combat. Most fights, unless epic, last no more than three rounds. I'm tempted to ask though how a "light-hearted jokester" wizard or "soft-spoken hunter from an elven village" ranger feels about lynching innocents, looting them and leaving their corpses.
The best non-murderhobo PC ever in my game was from a player who was the biggest proponent of that aspect of the genre. He decided to show some range and played a human paladin of Iomedae. He then proceeded to take Skill Focus: Diplomacy, a trait that gave him a +1 and maxed out his ranks in that every level.
He roleplayed this guy VERY well. A group of pixies meant to be nature's guardians of the dead came to raid a mausoleum the PCs were hired to protect. The creatures appear in a surprise round and only the cleric notices them; he beats their initiative and attacks. Pixies return hostilities and monologue about the corpse.
It gets to the paladin in the normal round - he rolls a nat 20 on Diplomacy. The player gives a stirring speech about respect both of the dead and the gods. While the skill isn't supposed to be used in combat I rule that the pixies refuse to attack the paladin. During their fight the corpse animates and flees the mausoleum. The party gives chase and since the paladin makes another Diplomacy with flying colors they virtually skipped the the next challenge in the scenario - a bunch of pixie traps among the graves.
It was really cool to have this character in the game. He made the story around him and his party. The player had to move but I miss that. As a GM I find it really boring to just invent new and interesting people for the party to murder; I miss having a character who wanted something more in the gameworld besides murder, loot and fame.
What's funny to me is the amount of times my players SAY they want RP, character development and plot, describing what they mean as very nearly an epic novel's worth of story. They take the time to carefully craft a background, a personality and specifically chosen skills and traits to represent their RP potential.
The game gets started and the countryside runs red with the blood of the land.
...
I'm tempted to ask though how a "light-hearted jokester" wizard or "soft-spoken hunter from an elven village" ranger feels about lynching innocents, looting them and leaving their corpses.
...
As a GM I find it really boring to just invent new and interesting people for the party to murder; I miss having a character who wanted something more in the gameworld besides murder, loot and fame.
+1
yup
I've been running as GM in my group for a few years straight now with only a couple one-shots on the other side of the screen. I'm dying to play again and have been in negotiations with a new player in the group who seems willing. If it's the right kind of campaign, I'm going to play a halfling ranger.
Said halfling ranger will be highly optimized in the use of slings and in particular the sling-staff. He will begin play with a trained wolf-hound that will morph into a full-on wolf animal companion; the wolf's name is Blitzer.
My slinger/ranger will probably do little damage in combat. As a switch hitter he'll be MAD in his stats. But I don't intend to make him the DPR specialist. The third highest stat I'm going to give him is Cha.
I'm going to take the obvious social skills along with Proffession: Trapper, Survival, and Craft: Leather. First chance he gets he's going to start building a place that's part tavern, part trading post, all adventurer's guild. I never want to have a moment with him when he's not making/doing something.
If he knows he's going on an adventure: gather info on the evil, knowledge: geog for the area, trade pelts (Profession: Trapper to generate Goods Capital from Ultimate Campaign) to purchase extra gear. While he's on the adventure: Survival watching not just for the evil but animals in the area ensuring they're not walking into predator ambushes, chatting in character with the other PCs about how they're using their skills to "read" the environment (reminding other players to use their skills), actively RPing down moments between fights to keep the action alive/fluid. Post adventure/Downtime: hunting, trapping and fishing, skinning and tanning, working with clothiers/armorers in the area, generating unigue leather items for himself and his wolf, buidling his business, networking to find NPCs to work there etc.
I want to be an active, engaged player. Too many "murderhobo" types just sit passively, waiting for the next fight so they can be entertained. That's generally not my cup of tea.