What comes to mind when you think of criminal or villainous roleplay?
Do you think of the men in long coats or urchins shuffled in corners?
Or do you think of the rich, tidy niches where corruption commonly thrives?
Perhaps – more unsavouribly perhaps – you consider villainous roleplay heedless, causeless and sometimes just cringe-worthy actions enacted by multitudes. It is a common misconception that all ‘good’ criminal roleplay is hard to find, absent even.
It is simply not the case; it isn’t that good criminal roleplay is absent, it’s that everyone has their own varying standards to how a criminal should be played. I’ve found that many will try to force their actions upon you, and that others, perhaps similar to myself follow the mantra of “consensual roleplay” as opposed to spontaneous and in some cases, “unconsensual roleplay.”
Both forms are valid as far as all roleplayers are concerned and while it is true that roleplay is mostly a consensual process, I can also see the appeal of enacting it spontaneously, it adds a certain thrill! A thrill, I will admit, I often seek out. But as a criminal roleplayer of varying standards, I’ve often found other criminal roleplayers not to my liking. This could be because they use different methods or entirely different concepts, some of which I might not agree with.
An example? Master Assassins.
It is, I would argue, common consensus that ‘Master Assassins’ are played badly. While on the whole this may be considered true, there are very well a select few who can and do the role well and the reason because they do a good job is because…
…assassins are sneaky; I don’t think you could be one without this on your CV or resumé. It’s all about subtlety.
Subtlety in villain or criminal roleplay is the key to success, especially when you roleplay cultists, assassins, murderers, and any other sinister and secretive cliché you can contemplate. Unfortunately, if you’re so subtle, it becomes invariably hard to achieve criminality in your roleplay… due to the fact that nobody knows you’re a criminal! You’ve become so ensconced in the fact that as an assassin you must always hide behind a veil and never creep out. That’s a pit. And I hate pits. Having a cultist character, I’ve fallen into many of these traps and it is only through planning and co-ordination with others villains do I manage to clamber out. (Yep. There are other villains out there!)
EVERYONE (mostly) LOVES A PLOT-TWIST!
Indeed! It is fun to find that Jimmy the Gravedigger was bad all along, it makes it all the more thrilling, which is where I think the idea of spontaneous RP holds best. It’s great to have Jimmy as a bad guy when nobody expects it… even greater for everyone thought it would have been Tom the Slave-Driver. Nobody sees it coming! One person, whom will remain anonymous, did this so well that he built bridges for a year before finally outing himself as a villainous cultist in line with EVIL, and it surprised everyone!
At present we have all seen a resurgence of criminal roleplay; mostly in the guise of urchin criminality, pretty low-brow. But this is good, it’s a thriving basis. Places like Westfall and Old Town are prime areas lorewise for themes such as these. The urchins, or homeless, participate in as many interesting and fun things as they can, which in turn more and more criminal behaviour – bad… but good! For example, there’s a new project operating in Westfall that is attempting to catpure the essence of ‘Western roleplay’, with all the nitty-gritty, lawless parts thrown in. For criminal roleplayers, this concept offers a whole new perspective on what they might traditionally try to play.
So where in this rambling, incoherent, string of letters and vague words do I actually construct a valid argument? Well! Villain, or criminal, roleplay is of varying standards – some you might like, some you might not. There is, ultimately, no ‘wrong’ way to do it. Due to this standards, however, I find that the most thrilling and alluring villain is secretive, subtle and sometimes, the last person you would ever suspect. For all spectrums of villain/criminal roleplay, it is also a vital to find the balance between consent and spontaneous continuity for the sake of enjoyment from criminal and justice-seeking parties.
There is a great deal of potential concepts out there, those both tried and tested, while others only being unearthed now: cultist/murderer/assassin/thug/urchin/warlock/politician (Although, really… politicians… that’d require a whole new bloody topic!)
What do you think about criminal roleplay? Have you had positive or negative experiences? Let me know below!
The Hozen Throne 