The Rules

I know there are a lot of different ways to approach the concept of pacifism in game. People suggest only healing, or only killing mobs that are machines or ghosts. And that outlook has a lot of appeal, considering that it wouldn't hamstring me very much. But this is an exercise in overcoming limits not simply getting around them. So this is the concept of pacifism as applied to the character Qepxexl.

1. No killing at all. Subdue and Capture are often used as flavor text for killing, so if I have to beat something down to that point, then it's no go. Trapping and Fishing are also out. Qepxexl will only wear fabrics fashioned from roots or metal.

2. However, it might happen that a quest that does have me capture or subdue registers as a kill, such as the sparring partner on the island, or the capture the rumblers. If this happens I'll blame the mechanic and write an explanation for that kill. In this case, neither of those quests registered as kills, so no problems yet. But I was afraid it might happen in the future.

3. No proxies. There will be no support for violent players from this character. Qepxexl will not purchase items gained from kills. Nor will she have someone else do the killing in order to loot a drop quest. Nor will she participate in a group that plans to kill anything. However, if she finds a drop quest left abandoned with no one around she is free to loot and use it, because it was going to waste anyway, and the person that did the deed will not benefit from the action.

Please keep in mind that this is purely a character concept not a reflection of my personal beliefs.

First day level 7

The first day was a bit of a challenge. I recreated several times trying to get something relatively ideal but ideal seems to be unachievable. Gameplay wise, a Coercer or Illusionist would probably be best, but the truth is: I suck with pets and coercer didn't really seem to fit the bill for a pacifist. There is a distinct difference in character between someone that manipulates others through coercion and a pacifist. Monk or Troubadour seemed to be the best bet, and I was thinking that the sneaking and tracking ability would probably be the most helpful, perhaps that was not the best idea.

As I go I'll update this file pacifist quest index. It's not quite up to the standard of the ultimate quest index, but it might be useful for any future players that might choose to follow the path of pacifism in game. Currently it will only list quests that I've personally completed. So it is actually smaller than the quest list in my journal.

It begins

A very long time ago I was seriously considering making a pacifist character for EQ2 just for kicks, I thought it might be an original idea and wanted to give it a try, just to see how far someone could go with it. Well, then Gorhauth pointed out Zerokills and the whole idea lost a lot of its luster. Why should I go through all that trouble if it wouldn't be original, at least that is what I was thinking. So I put it completely on the backburner and then when I went on my fourth EQ2 hiatus the concept seemed to be completely tabled.

Now that I'm back--again--and actively playing EQ2, the idea started looking good again because even if the idea isn't original, my method apparently will be. Zerokills is an alt of Quester and one thing all those people at the top of the quest list had in common was using friends or alts as proxies. For example, friend or alt kills a mob over and over until a drop-quest spawns, then he comes over and opens the chest and accesses the drop quest. On the other hand, I won't be using proxies or other methods to get around the game mechanic. Instead, I'll work within the game mechanic and just see how far I can go with it.