How do you roleplay a crazed killer without just being obnoxious, assuming there's a baseline understanding that killing a whole bunch of people is generally considered acceptable (i.e, it's not slated as a diplomacy focused campaign)
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Is the crazed killing a hobby/pasttime or a compulsion?
In either case, make sure the character does someting else and also has a reason to work with others.
This. In general, don't frick over your friends' IC enjoyment. OOC, make sure they're okay with your actions.
Definitely use that craziness as something that can benefit the party. In Jagged Alliance 2, for example, Psycho mercs had a chance to magdump or rush the enemy. Sometimes, that'll wipe an entire enemy platoon in one turn. Sometimes, it gets them shot.
Even if the table's agreed to not let you frick 'em over, you can still have fun and (OOCly) harmless stuff. We had our paladin get his alignment completely reversed to Chaotic Evil, and we picked up on the fact he was doing more heinous shit to our enemies (executing them when they were already down, etc)
just don't be moronic, it's a hobby, a morbid fascination, a titillating experience
you don't need to be some kind of screaming drugged psychopath just because you enjoy beating things to death
being a straight-up bad person is never a good idea outside all-villain groups
it depends on if the GM is running dumb DND bullshit like 'reverse alignment'
Why?
For one reason, it puts other players in an awkward position. Good people don't put up with bad people, so are their characters going to deal with yours somehow, or are they not good?
"Good" people put up with bad people all the fricking time, and you don't need to be a group of villains to be "bad persons".
Many, many characters in my games, including many of my own characters, have been awful, awful people, but we've never played a party of villains. Hell, even my Priest of Shallya was a prostitutemonger and habitual alcoholic, and my very doubleplusgood imperial agent would've tortured heretics at the drop of a hat if he'd gotten the opportunity.
What the frick are you talking about? If you torture, you're not good by any metric I respect.
Luckily I do not play games based on your respect.
Good characters are not always what some other people will call good. All the way back to Achilles, good characters could be douchebags on one or two points. Torture is no more evil than murder, or home invasion or late term abortions (even the really late post birth abortions necessary for some goblinoids).
Hate to break it to you, but if you would torture anyone at the drop of a hat given the chance, you aren't a good person. Period. Your character may have deluded himself into believing that he was doing it for the greater good or whatever, but that's just your typical bad guy justification.
>Hell, even my Priest of Shallya was a prostitutemonger and habitual alcoholic
Those both have nothing to do with Shallya or goodness.
>my very doubleplusgood imperial agent would've tortured heretics
Torture isn't good just because you're doing it to enemies.
You're an idiot.
>Good people don't put up with bad people
What does that make you for hangin' around in this frick of a world, then?
*being a straight-up bad person is never a good idea inside a group that hunts petty bandits and thieving goblins for pocket change
The last time I played a homicidal nutter I placed some fairly specific limitations on him. In his case it was a "disproportionate response" for perceived slights, and an utter disregard for collateral damage.
So yeah, in a Supers Game he was the nutjob with a military-grade flamethrower, pyrokinesis, and demolitions training. He wasn't running around just randomly setting things on fire and killing people, but working towards his own agenda.
Having some set limits or a behavioural framework like that can make the crazed killer a lot easier to integrate into a group.
Killing is an artform and not to be taken lightly. Making the enemy's artery spray just right is your passion.
The biggest thing I enjoy from a DM perspective when people play psychos is ritual. Have your character have several rituals they do related to their killings or insanity and have reasons for why they do it. Real life serial killers tend to even fall into the ritualistic type, for example John Wayne Gacy tricked his targets into handcuffing themselves and afterwards would force them to fellate him while he put out cigarettes on their body.
It’s a dark ritual but it’s still very human to have these rituals and there was probably a reason even someone like Gacy followed these step by step like he did.
1. they should be aware that killing indiscriminately will mean they don't get to kill anymore because they go to jail or get killed
2. they have absolutely no mercy in combat unless forced or otherwise agreed upon
3. they get weird about how much they like murder in combat and sometimes in socialisation... but they don't ever run into the actual Face character's important conversation screaming "hay guise I love to murder can't wait to burn some kids"
to play this up or down they can get antsy if they don't get to do murders or they can do fricked up art of murders in their downtime - these are just examples but you get the idea. One can even be beneficial, if you can find a buyer of fricked up art.
Additionally, there should be an internal logic to their actions, just not one sane people would typically follow.
An obsession or a superstition or an aversion that applies in weird ways.
Maybe they don't like knives, because "cutting lets the soul out"
They don't want that to happen to them so they avoid using knives and avoid people with knives
So they use fire in combat to "cook the soul to perfection" and inside on getting bandages on all their wounds, even the most minor of cuts - so their soul doesn't escape.
If they lose too much blood they could insist on getting blessed by a priest ASAP.
Just play the game like normal but relish in the carnage instead of pretending it's normal.
>How do you roleplay a crazed killer without just being obnoxious
>the party are your very bestest best friends
>you'll do anything for your bestest best friends
> A N Y T H I N G
Have a reason to be good friends with the rest of the party despite your crazy killing shenannigannery. Let them know you aren't a hazard to them. Aim for the "God damn, I'm glad this crazy frick is on our side" kind of crazy.
By making your character in good faith to operate with the party in the world. If your character is a psychopath, they need to be a psychopath that can hang out with the party and get along.
As much as I hate citing it as an example, Borderlands 2 has an excellent example in the form of Krieg. He is incomprehensible, raving, violent and wholly unsuited to anything but the delivery of violence, but he occasionally lapses into lucidity sufficient to speak his (albeit messed up) mind, he completely understands instructions and discussion and he is motivated to cooperate.
Any character idea should be contingent on operating within the game, in the world, with other player characters and being enjoyable to those players.
Relish in the bloodshed, be a hair trigger maniac, but remember not to pull it until the right time.
America is a tune, it must be sung together.
accepting any punishment that might be inflcted on your character instead of whining that you should get away with everything because you are that cool and edgy
First, make a good character, a proactive member of the party that works well with the rest of them, has a backstory, relations with the party members, a functional brain and a triple digit IQ.
Then remove personal and social inhibitions from him.
For a example, a normal party member wouldn't kill a hobo that witnessed a shady deal between the party and a criminal. The character you just made would, not because killing is fun, but because in this case, its practical and more safe.