Another vampire question from my players:
“What is the difference between “vicious” and “ruthless” ? They appear independently as Vampire traumas. In particular, could you ask for an example of an action that would be considered “vicious” but not “ruthless”?
A viscious person causes harm because it is fun. A ruthless person does it because it is the most direct route to what they want
Ruthlesness implies a degree of pragmatism and is goal-oriented, viciousness is more about violent self-expression. “They were in my way.” versus “I’ll cut you and I’ll cut your kittens!”.
Clockwork Orange Alex is vicious. The people who strap him to the chair are ruthless.
Though.
As a GM, that difference does not necessarily matter to you too too much – so long as either applies, the player gets XP.
It’s also not, or at least not primarily, the GM’s job to interpret this stuff. When the player picks their trauma, ask them what it means, how that changes their character from the baseline. They’re usually pretty interested in the trauma option they pick, and player questions at this point may just be them tacitly asking permission to talk about what excites them. If that’s the case, the answer to “What’s the difference between ruthless and vicious?” may best be “Dunno. What do you think it is?”
Vicious = cruelty for its own sake, Ruthless = cruelty used for a purpose.
Ruthlessness doesn’t even necessarily imply cruelty – it’s more, a callousness, not caring who you offend or what you break as long as it gets the job done.
In “Girl Genius”, Baron Wolfenbach is ruthless. In Discworld, Lord Vetinari is – and Granny Weatherwax and Vimes are both damned good at it, too.