He Who Fights Monsters
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."

Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, Aphorism 146

Basic Information

He Who Fights Monsters is a character whose mission in life is something that would be considered noble by most people - fighting monsters, criminals, and other bad guys - but he has been so consumed by his mission that he has lost all sense of proportion and doesn't care about collateral damage or who gets hurt in the process. All that matters is that he achieves his goals.

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Game and Story Use

  • PCs often edge into this territory themselves. Encountering a He Who Fights Monsters might serve as a wakeup call - it may warn the PCs of what they could become.
  • The PCs might discover that the BBEG they've been fighting was originally on their own side, but that the fight has corrupted him and twisted his priorities.
  • Or, they might discover that an NPC whom they thought was an ally, or even a Patron, is actually doing dark deeds himself — all brilliantly rationalized, of course.
  • This can be brought on further by the temptation to use highly effective weapons seized from the enemy against other enemies… even when these weapons are inherently corrupting.
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