Children Soldiers in T2K

[Gunner]

To directly answer the question you asked, my answer is no.

To answer the implied question, my answer is HELL NO, and any player who attempted to introduce them would be banished from my group. Period. End of story.

Yes, such things happen in real life. So does rape. I have ZERO tolerance for ANY player who wants to explore these issues in MY game. Period. End of story.

I'm refereeing a GAME, not a real world simulation.

[Targan]

I don't hold back at all as a GM. I wouldn't role play WWIII and a semi-apocalypse as some sort of happy boys' own adventure. Total war is a nightmare. A game in that sort of realistic setting should be realistic. There were parts of my last campaign that were quite distressing to run. Frankly if I hadn't found them distressing, I think there'd be something wrong with me.

I think I'd try to stop child soldiers from being a threat by non-lethal means if I could, but if someone is pointing a rifle at you, Big Boys' Rules apply. It would probably haunt me for life, but what are you supposed to do, stand there and get shot?

In-game most PCs are human wreckage anyway. Some might shoot a child solider, feel devastated and be non-functional as a combat asset for some period. Some might just have yet another piece of their soul chipped off and just carry on. I think that anyone who is able to shoot kids and not have it affect them in a negative way is probably clinically insane.

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Originally Posted by Targan

In-game most PCs are human wreckage anyway. Some might shoot a child solider, feel devastated and be non-functional as a combat asset for some period. Some might just have yet another piece of their soul chipped off and just carry on. I think that anyone who is able to shoot kids and not have it affect them in a negative way is probably clinically insane.

I wouldn't say that they are clinically insane, I would think that they would fit more into the sociopathy category - lack of empathy, does not understand other people's emotions, that sort of thing.
Insane implies madness, even to the point of batshit crazy, but it implies that the person doesn't really get the difference between what's real and what's not.