this bears some explanation https://www.mmob2c.com/Dungeon-fighter-online/Gold . i didn’t get it either, until i discussed this with some colleagues.“murderhobo” has a precise definition that is silently agreed upon throughout the tabletop rpg community. it doesn’t just refer to treasure-grubbing characters that use kick-in-door methods and work from selfish motives. rather, it refers to players that have an especially childish way of playing. they don’t take the game seriously and act out randomly and disruptively, typically with destructive or murderous behavior.

while they don’t necessarily recognize the nuances of what tabletop rpgs offer them in terms of player agency, they do recognize that it’s essentially a consequence-free zone, and celebrate this by stabbing anything and everything, stealing anything and everything, and seeing just how much they can get away with. from the jokes you’d think this is just a caricature, but yes, people really do play like this sometimes.you can call this the “grand theft auto instinct,” as it reflects a lot of kids’ behavior when they first get their hands on gta and realize they can hit pedestrians with cars practically all day.

like going around randomly crashing DFO Gold. murderhoboing gets boring after a really short time. that goes especially for the dm. it gets dull watching players do the same things all the time and watching every adventure result in the players taking a baseball bat to everything you prepared. you eventually go, “okay, we get it,” and want either players who invest more in their characterization, or you want to see objectives and interactions that are more sophisticated or structured.