To be fair Tom's character was a killer/thief in his past and he's trying to redeem himself. He never claimed to be Superman, none of us have. Our characters are more akin to Watchmen. We are going to use the quickest and most effective means to thwart an enemy. If that means killing a villain in self-defense, then yeah we'll do it. Chirop does struggle with this later and realizes even in self-defense, he's still committing murder, so he begins to reel in his strength. In game terms, he changes his hard dice to wiggle dice. I don't think Tom as a player realized just how strong he was making his character when we first made our characters. Heck, I had to continually change something with The Martyr just to iron out the kinks of learning a new system.
It does make more sense to approach the situations with the idea that Chirop was an ex-convict. From what I heard in the first episode of the series, Finn/Chirop is a criminal with an at least decade long rap sheet. This tracks when he gleefuly kills people with industrail air conditioing units or by using them as human cannon balls. It also applies when he steps into make moral decisions for other people, while ignoring his own actions. One of the reoccuring themes of lifelong criminals is that they can't take responsibilty for their situations and readily condemn others who make the same decisions.
The fact that you guys play games without Superman characters is why I love listening to you guys. RPPR is an adult gaming group that isn't afraid to play in adult situations, where right and wrong aren't black and white. This isn't the part that rubs me the wrong way. In Watchmen, the characters were human with consistent idealogies. To the point where one of them becomes a megalomaniacal villian, and another dies for his inability to compromise his beliefs. Those situations are awesome. Watchmen would have been jarringly different if after Night Owl and Silk Specter kicked some hooligan ass, Silk Specter stops Night Owl from kicking down the doors of the Psychiatric Detention Facility because some orderlies might get hurt or it was against the law.
Tom did know he had the ability to pull his punch and spare the spellcaster's life. He specifically refused to spare the man's life, stating he didn't want the man to live because he feared for his life. That's a valid argument. The spellcaster was trying to death spell Chirop to death. The issue I'm seeing is Chirop's schizophrenic logic in similar situations. The situation where Chirop stopped Caleb from neutralizing a mad surgeon's ability to harm him and others in the future, without so much a thought to what a decision like that could make for future victims. Now there's the issue. I know I'm hanging my hat on that situation repeatedly for the Heroes of New Arcadia, but it's a reoccuring trait in Tom's character's (Vashyk).
At least Cody would stand up and play the devil's advocate. He would probe further than the face of a situation before making a decision. In a situation where a man who lead a good life or a baby with an uncertain future should be spared, Tom an Aaron would instantly pitch their votes for the baby and then condemn anyone who thought otherwise. Cody, on the other hand, slowed everyone down to weigh the situation before casting his vote. Caleb's similar to Cody in his decision making, but still does so with his own personal flare.
All in all, thank you guys for being an awesome group of gamers. I might have my gripes, but it's like talking about an episode of a good drama series.
