Evil actions against NPC's

[OzmaDarkheart]

Is there a game mechanic by which player characters can rob, assault, murder NPC's. I'm curious due to the nature of certain villains. When confronted with a population of high-powered adventurers to what does the discerning thief/murderer/bully turn? The common people, be they merchants, sailors, random children, or given sufficient time, planning and power even city guards and such.

I would like to know if there is way for a character to be say, an arsonist? To go about setting fire to people's houses in the night and it have an in-game effect, even if the effect is only seen in the forums.(I'm not asking DM's to code a burning building or anything )

P.S. And which, if any, of these prior actions is within the PG-13 rating for the server?

Any feedback on this would be appreciated.

[Multiplicity]

I think first and foremost, you'll have to inform a DM of the action, and see if they will agree with it occuring. It can get a little out of hand if a bunch of folks keep doing things like this without at least some moderation to it. And as a careful reminder, just do things like that intelligably so that you won't get caught easy. It's not a surprise to see people do these things in the middle of broad daylight with more witnesses you can shake a stick at.

[Ichbin]

I think first and foremost, you'll have to inform a DM of the action, and see if they will agree with it occuring. It can get a little out of hand if a bunch of folks keep doing things like this without at least some moderation to it. And as a careful reminder, just do things like that intelligably so that you won't get caught easy. It's not a surprise to see people do these things in the middle of broad daylight with more witnesses you can shake a stick at.

The problem with that is the awesome powers of metagaming. Not many can escape its alluring grasps. If someone's been wronged (Whether they are "Knocked out" or not) they are going to find ways to know who did what. They are either going to ignore the fact that their character didnt see anything, or just send word from a friend of a friend of a friend.
Its hard to be evil, because being evil hurts others feelings, lol. You dont know how many complaints I get (OOC)whenever I play Ichbin, but when I play anyone else...Im the life of the party, lol.

[Multiplicity]

I was speaking in the context of what the OP asked regarding evil actions vs NPC's. When it involves other players, of course that opens a whole can of worms. And the other point concerns people who don't go about these actions the right way. I've DM'ed before and I can assure you, no matter how hard you try to foster good role players, there will always be those who don't think ahead before they act. Sad, but true. I am not arguing your point for I agree, but I talk in a different context.

[Tratz]

The problem with that is the awesome powers of metagaming. Not many can escape its alluring grasps. If someone's been wronged (Whether they are "Knocked out" or not) they are going to find ways to know who did what. They are either going to ignore the fact that their character didnt see anything, or just send word from a friend of a friend of a friend.
Its hard to be evil, because being evil hurts others feelings, lol. You dont know how many complaints I get (OOC)whenever I play Ichbin, but when I play anyone else...Im the life of the party, lol.

Could not have put it better buddy. As it stands too, in order to do *anything* evil to another player there is a set of rules and restrictions on how you may go about it also. The latest being pick pocketing. For me this really restricts the limits where you can play your character because in most scenarios you *have* to alert your victims OOC and ahead of time to your intentions. Things would be so much simpler if people didn't abuse their priviledges in the past and grief other players because the more mature players out there could have the benefit of their anonymity and the RP community could better appreciate the shock of a *real* villian.

Let's face it, it's hard to be a villain and really contribute as such to the community as it is. And it's only going to get harder by the looks of it.

Whereas do-gooder players have the enjoyment of full, unrestricted behavior with their characters, evil ones do not. Nobody minds it if a do-gooder messes up, either. In fact, it makes for good RP when it does happen. My sorcerer (Genji) is a very attractive choice for me because I can explore every aspect of his behavior, his character and share it with others without being bound to these guidelines or fear of punishment if I make a poor judgement call. My evil character however, totally different story.