>When you hear about the badassery of certain characters, it's
>really a let down to have them resort to what amounts to going
>"Oh look, here's a zero risk free kill on some guy who I don't
>know".

Couple thoughts here.

First, there are all sorts of things that go into badassery. One of them is the ability to find lots of fights like the ones you describe above. I'm game for killing someone (role-play permitting) in a situation where I have an extreme advantage. Maybe guy is convulsing and all I have to is ambush. Etc. And yet beront seems to find way more of these opportunities than I ever do. That's part of why he kills so many people.

Another aspect of badassery is how well a character does in situations where he doesn't have a huge advantage. Like you attack a group of three hoping to kill one guy then just get out alive. Badass succeeds in that goal. Not-so-badass dies or, more frequently, never attacks the group to begin with. Even in these situations I'd say Mharlndarn did pretty well. I didn't interact with Balta so I can't comment there.

Lastly you seem to complain about him killing random guys he didn't know. He was a scion. There absolutely no role-play reason for him not to punk you. Though I do agree that taking gear he didn't need is lame, along with the trademark beront taunting. But the plain fact that he killed you "out of the blue" I have no problem with.