Need Help Characterizing Former Child Soldiers Turned Villains

[Leliel]

Well, for my "Cyberpunk D&D game" (do not tell me about Shadowrun, I already know), the main series of villains are the cybernetic soliders called the Vulcan Hunters, which sounds fairly routine, until you realize that ritual to create one requires the future Vulcan has to be at least 5th level in an adventuring class...at the age of 15 or below.

Basically, each and every one is a former child soldier.

So, how do I characterize this particular aspect of theirs? I already have their individual personalities down pat, I just want to know your suggestions for giving an aspect that reflects their shared history.

[Telonius]

... it really depends on how far down into the "realistic" path you want to take this. What happens to real-world child soldiers is usually pretty horrendous, and wouldn't be appropriate for a "PG-13" campaign - and might even be stretching it for "R."

[Leliel]

... it really depends on how far down into the "realistic" path you want to take this. What happens to real-world child soldiers is usually pretty horrendous, and wouldn't be appropriate for a "PG-13" campaign - and might even be stretching it for "R."

On a scale of 1-to-10, with 1 being "fanciful" and 10 being "more real than reality", I want an 8: The Vulcans are not a happy group of killers. More like "tragic villains that attack others to relive the pain."

[Duke of URL]

Ender's Game might be a good place to glean some ideas, although not necessarily a blatant rip-off.

Think prodigies (physical or mental) augmented by cybernetics, steeped in ideology before they have developed critical thinking skills (insert joke about public school system here), and sent off to fight as specialists, not as regular "troops".

War over, now what? These specialists bond together out of necessity -- they are outcasts, but highly gifted outcasts, who were trained for one thing, and one thing only... and now it's no longer necessary.

[Indon]

Think prodigies (physical or mental) augmented by cybernetics, steeped in ideology before they have developed critical thinking skills (insert joke about public school system here), and sent off to fight as specialists, not as regular "troops".

War over, now what? These specialists bond together out of necessity -- they are outcasts, but highly gifted outcasts, who were trained for one thing, and one thing only... and now it's no longer necessary.

Ender's Game is honestly about a 5 on that 1-10 scale, with the 10 being what happens to actual child soldiers.

War is psychologically harmful. In its' weakest forms, this harm can manifest in Post-traumatic stress disorder - a twitchiness and sense of unease that can last for your entire life. And this is what happens to adults.

You might want to look up the full effects of war on child soldiers on something like Wikipedia, because I'll not go into any depth here.

[Tengu]

Ender's Game, Metal Gear Solid, Full Metal Panic all have (former) child soldiers both as protagonists and antagonists. I don't think if we need to approach the thread in such a careful manner.

[GolemsVoice]

Child soldiers usualy do not learn that violence is bad. They learn that they are there to kill as soon as they can hold and fire a gun. SO they will seek to achieve everything by violence, that's the way their world works. They may be phisicaly weak, and mentaly inferior, but they know that they can, and should, shoot anybody who doesn't think their way. At least that's what I heard and imagine.

[kirbsys]

First I would imagine they are very close to one another. No one else is society will accept them either because of what they have done, or simply because they are unable to function in society due to the scarring of being a child soldier.

Secondly, they might be willing to do whatever is necessary to win in combat. If the PCs run in a crowded street, rather than simply trying to find the PCs they might prefer just to open fire on the crowds and force the PCs to come out and fight or let the innocent people die.

PTSD would be a major problem, and they might have flash-backs or simply violent mood-swings when exposed to things that remind them of their child-hood.

This is a basic idea, you could go further, but beyond video games (MGS as has been mentioned) and a few movies I know very little about child soldiers.

[Telonius]

Normally children are forced into service when the warring sides start to run out of adults. Unless you're in a culture where this is supposed to happen often, they might be abducted from the fields while playing; or maybe their door's kicked in and they're dragged away from their mother (who is quite possibly raped in the process). Definitely beaten if they misbehave. Sexual abuse by the commanding officer is common. Show of emotion means weakness means bad soldier means punishment. The idea is to desensitize them to all violence; make the unit their only family; and make the commander the only source of authority. Initiation rites are used to achieve this. Forcing the child soldier to torture, rape, mutliate, or execte a prisoner are common methods; so is punishment of a fellow child soldier. They may be sent out to abduct other child soldiers as well.

[Emperor Tippy]

It really depends on where they are from and why child soldiers were needed. There is a vast difference between some starving kid grabbed off the street, told he will get an MRE per day, and handed an AK before being thrown into a battle in the streets of some African city and a genetically engineered prodigy created by the government and trained for a specific purpose literally since he was born (think Dark Angel here).

[hamishspence]

Depend if they are playing a high realism game: maybe using real world setting. Nobody geneticially engineers child soldiers, that we know of, yet. so, a "realistic" child soldier will draw from the real world versions.

[Emperor Tippy]

Depend if they are playing a high realism game: maybe using real world setting. Nobody geneticially engineers child soldiers, that we know of, yet. so, a "realistic" child soldier will draw from the real world versions.

That we know of being the big point. The OP mentions cybernetic enhancement which implies a future setting, in which case genetic engineering is almost a given. Hell, it's doable today. Risky but doable.

Dark Angel may be a bit out there as far as the extent of the genetic engineering and transgenics goes but not by much.

And this is assuming that one doesn't just start with fairly prime kids who aren't engineered. With the right diet, drugs, and training regime you could make some very deadly 15 year old soldiers.

As I said, it depends entirely on how the people became child soldiers and why child soldiers were needed.

[snoopy13a]

Normally children are forced into service when the warring sides start to run out of adults. Unless you're in a culture where this is supposed to happen often, they might be abducted from the fields while playing; or maybe their door's kicked in and they're dragged away from their mother (who is quite possibly raped in the process). Definitely beaten if they misbehave. Sexual abuse by the commanding officer is common. Show of emotion means weakness means bad soldier means punishment. The idea is to desensitize them to all violence; make the unit their only family; and make the commander the only source of authority. Initiation rites are used to achieve this. Forcing the child soldier to torture, rape, mutliate, or execte a prisoner are common methods; so is punishment of a fellow child soldier. They may be sent out to abduct other child soldiers as well.

I think I've also read that the leaders will give the children drugs and then exploit their addictions to control them.

Overall, it is very sad.

[xPANCAKEx]

i guess it all boils down to their motivation - what are their goals beyond "kill stuff"? and whats the background to this vulcan process

and are you going from a "raised into the roll" perspective, where they've been brought up to be what they are, or are they more more "whipe their memories, build from the ground up" types?

[nagora]

Try watching "Blood Diamond" with Leo DiCaprio if you really want to know about this sort of thing. The child soldiers' stories in it are based on well documented techniques in use today.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0450259/

[Telonius]

And this is assuming that one doesn't just start with fairly prime kids who aren't engineered. With the right diet, drugs, and training regime you could make some very deadly 15 year old soldiers.

Even in the real world, this happens. Think of it like ROTC on steroids. During WW2 the Germans tried to do this with the Hitler Youth. A few years ago I ready a book by Stephen Ambrose, "Citizen Soldiers." A few of the interviews were with occupying Allied soldiers who kept running into bands of them after they'd beaten back the regular army. A running theme was that some of the soldiers kept worrying they went through the whole invasion just to be sniped off by some fanatic kid. (I read this a few years back, so I'm probably getting the details wrong).