Tabletop Tales: The Morality of Being a Monster

When you think "monster" you may think of...

Why does the Count look like he just saw something shocking right off-camera?

Or maybe you think more along the lines of...

Or maybe you're completely off the wall and actually think of...

But, whatever your idea of a "monster" is, one thing is for sure: being a monster is HARD. Let me explain...

In my Saturday Amber game, we, the players, were given the opportunity to choose new powers for our characters. Among the normal powers that were already available, four "opposite" versions of the existing powers opened up as well as four new elemental powers.

Me, being the curious-but-still-cautious type that I am, decided to switch from the Shaper power that I already had to its opposite: the Monster power. Now, the "opposite" powers aren't necessarily EVIL per se...they're just based in actions that are oftentimes morally questionable.

To explain, using the Monster power as an example, it seems that the Shaper power works off of cooperation with your environment and yourself. The Monster power, inversely, works off of domination instead of cooperation. This essentially translates to, instead of manipulating the surrounding environment to do what I need, I now eat everything.

I'm not certain, but I think this guy is a Monster

I'm sure you fast-learning readers out there can understand the dilemma this presents when you're attempting to be part of a morally good group of adventurers.

"But wait," the more inquisitive of you may be asking, "Can't you just eat animals and plants and stuff? You don't necessarily have to eat PEOPLE right?"

Well, we think along the same lines. However, I quickly learned from the GM, Pete (as many of you may recall from previous entries), that creatures of intelligence give me more energy to use than things of lesser or no intelligence. So, eating people is far more useful than, say, eating that snail.

But there's the moral dilemma. I, personally, don't WANT to eat people. At least, not innocent people. I've made the declaration to myself and my party-mates that I will refrain from eating people that don't deserve it. So far, I've been doing well, but then the NATURE of the Monster power kicks in.

What is the nature, you say? Well, first and foremost, I'm ALWAYS hungry.

And no, not the kind of hungry that an all-you-can-eat buffet would satisfy. No, I hunger for living things. Things that will give me the aforementioned energy to use my powers. And, as I stated, people "fill" me the most AND give me the most energy.

And therein lies the dilemma. It's a classic case of nature vs. nurture. My nature as a Monster demands that I eat to receive the greatest energy while I, as a person, don't want to harm innocents. Plus, my own teammates would have a problem with it.

So what do I do? I go the route of any "good" vampire cliche and eat only animals and bad people. But the question of whether my hunger will one day overpower me still looms in the forefront of my character's mind, a nagging question of whether my own teammates will have to kill me to save themselves.

It's a hard life, but some monster's gotta do it.