Shadowrun Play > Gamemasters' Lounge

Tips for running "bad" or "evil" NPCs?

(1/4) > >>

PingGuy:
Now that I've been running a campaign for a while, I'm starting to identify some of my problem areas.  One that is going to be a problem coming up soon is that I'm too nice.  My NPCs are probably all a little too friendly and accommodating.  My runners are nearing the point where they will be dealing with some bad dudes, borderline evil, and I want them to stand out from the NPCs they have experienced so far.  To give you a better idea, I'd say it would be hard to distinguish an NPC I was roleplaying to be friendly to them, from one that is neutral to them.  Crossing over into a more oppositional role should be more noticeable, but I want to get past noticeable, into memorable.

The group is in the process of taking down a small gang in Redmond, partially by subversion and partially by infiltration.  I've let them find their own paths to each goal.  The leaders of the gang are father and son.  The father is a former MCT exec who would sell out anybody to survive, including his son.  His son is former Yakuza, with a drug habit and no morals to speak of.  He is particularly fond of murder and abuse.

At this point, the runners vaguely know these things.  They know that the son did some bad things to the female protagonist of the plot.  They know these guys started this gang to make money on the backs of disposable gangers.  But I feel like no matter what they end up knowing, if I don't RP the NPCs correctly, it won't be as fun as I want it to be.

Does anybody have suggestions for ways to RP some bad dudes?  Or for ways to flesh them out to make them more bad, especially ways that make them easier to RP them that way?

adzling:
everyone has motivations that drive them, and psychological tendencies/ predilections that define how they react to and interpret the world.

define those two elements and your NPCs will be much more realistic.

while almost anyone can react in an "evil" manner almost no one is just "evil".

the exceptions are folks with real psychological problems that result in them reacting to/ seeing the world completely differently from most people.

example 1: malignant narcissism
read up on wikipedia for how these people see the world very differently from normal people.
or just watch our president.

example 2: psychopath

example 3: megalomaniac

etc.

almost all world leaders whose rule resulted in extreme human suffering had some diagnosable psychological underpinning for their behaviour.

i.e. Hitler: malignant narcissism
Stalin: psychopath with an inferiority complex
Mao: neurotic with an inferiority complex

etc.

PingGuy:
I do try to give each character some kind of motivation.  In this case the father's is greed and a lust for status in the Seattle scene.  He's using the money he's gaining to try to climb the social ladder (his presence in the gang is mostly secret).  The son's motivation is more about power and the ability to throw his weight around.  He's more maniacal and abusive.

I'll definitely read up on those psychological definitions, they may give clues on how to roleplay those mentalities.  Mostly I'm worried about my delivery not matching the picture of the NPC I have in my head.  I just don't have a love for bad guys in any story.  I don't even play bad guys in video games like SW:KOTOR.  Trying to act like a Sith seemed more stressful than fun, so I skipped that side.

Dangit, I'm just too nice.  That's the problem.  Like I could easily have the NPC take bad actions, but I'm not sure I can verbalize bad-guy-speak.  This is going to take some writing ahead of time.  Time to go research villain dialogue...

Reaver:
Ok, This is can be a hard thing for some people to act out. Adzling is correct that generally there is a mental condition that lies behind anti-social behavior.

The trick is how to "show" this to the players. The first and most obvious method is to stage a scene for them where these two leaders do something horrific;
This is where the villain shoots the heroes dog in the movie (John Wick), Burns down the farmstead (Outlaw Josie Wales), or rapes and murders a loved one (The Crow).

Sometimes to can convey their evil through a dialogue interaction, or other speech event... (Hilter's address to Germany),  (Plans to sell contaminate drugs to kids)

And sometimes you can show how evil a villain is through what they don't do... many people find a complete lack of empathy, to be very disquieting....
The Mob boss who complains that the man they are turning into hamburger is crying too loudly...


Since you're the GM, the trick will be to navigate the scene to allow you the time to convey  how evil they are through action, inaction, or dialogue...

Maybe the Players oversee them deal with an rival dealer?
 Maybe they watch them discipline a wayward member?
 Maybe they overhear their plans to burn down a school house full of children? (Or other event)


Sometimes you can convey just how damaged an individual is with just a sentence or two...

"Marty, I want to round up a couple of guys, go down to that walk in clinic on 5th, Spray the place with lead, and toss in a fire bomb for good measure."

"Boss, isn't that the free clinic that helps out the Orks in the area?"

"yea, So? they are refusing to pay protection. Besides, it's not like Orks are people"

adzling:
xclnt stuff reaver!

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page