1) Rise of the Runelords (anniversary ed.) GM Brandon
2) Wrath of the Righteous GM Jason
We played WotR yesterday after about 2 months off. Was hard to schedule a game post holidays. Yesterday's session gave me a, if not new, very rare role playing experience.
*I will be omitting minutiae so as to avoid spoilers*
I am playing a paladin... yes, I play a paladin in both games (both very different). Reluctantly he is in charge of a company of knights doing battle with abyssal minions and we have a mission. With him is the rest of the group:
1) dwarven cleric of Caiden Cailen named Brother Overhult
2) half orc barbarian that is smarter than usual named Kol
3) half elf sorceress named Kali
4) ... and for the record I play a human Paladin named Captain Aaron Marcovina
First, as is the trope, a sorceress, a barbarian, and priest of Caiden are all knee-deep in the chaos spectrum or leaning towards that. They are all good. Aaron is obviously chin-deep in the law and good spectrum. As I think it is weak role playing to play a Stick in the Mud Paladin I do not play Aaron as such. HE'S got a code HE must follow. He will not force others to do so though. As is the dogma of both his patron deity and his code his purity of heart is rated in action he takes and not prostelization. As long as the companions do not step into the realm of evil (devaluing life, not offering mercy to those that ask, not helping those that seek help or cannot help themselves, etc.) than he has no problem with actions they take.
These are the incorruptible, the charitable, the fearless. These are the paladins.
-Anonymus
I may have mentioned before, the other paladin trope in most D&D/PF/Fantasy D20 gaming is that paladins are dicks. It's like the "lawful good" part is not looked at by the player of the paladin or other players. Most play them like dicks and other players groan and treat the paladin like they are a dick. I disagree with this 100%. Lawful evil and that whole spectrum is "the dick". Paladins are gifted and bound by code to "not be a dick". If you're some farmer with a family and you've got an issue and are scared... it's awesome when a paladin shows up. THEY WILL NOT FUCK YOU OVER unless you're killing babies or something. Because paladins are designed to fight evil things it is awesome if you are some evil fighting group up against evil to have a paladin. On top of that, the paladin will not mess with you unless you are ... well, killing babies and eating puppies or something horrendous like that. Play your paladin like you're someone people like. One of your main stats is charisma... high charisma means you are personable and people listen to you. (...off subject, no wonder it is the main dump-stat... another discussion though).
The role playing situation at hand:
We had uncovered an agent of The Abyss in our own ranks. The NPC was undermining morality of the company (of over 100 soldiers and knights) with drugs and also admitted to leading some of our knights to their deaths and exposed a plan to assassinate the queen. We got full admission and, on top of that, a request for execution by the traitor.
Captain Marcovina, as is his duty, decided to have a trial in the morning in front of the company and have an execution of the traitor. They are a forward deployed unit effectively in enemy territory. The actions of the traitor has lead to deaths of soldiers and knights. For the most part all was said and done - but Captain Marcovina is not a dick!
He asked the "cabinet" (other PCs/Players) what they thought, as he also asked for a consensus from other NPCs in leadership positions. Two of these (Brother Overhult and an NPC cleric) cast augury spells to confide in their respective patron Deities and got answers that boiled down to:
"You can execute the traitor and no weal or woe will take place, but if you redeem the traitor it will be frikkin awesome!!"
Captain Marcovina was humbled and did an immediate about-face. He was reminded of how this Abyss/good and evil/souls/yadda yadda thing works. Of course the traitor wants to die, in the dynamic of this game and the 'verse we play in there is reward for one to corrupt their soul and sell it off to demons. It still is not nice but it's a known reality. (Not starting a real religious debate) In the real world there is doubt that this dynamic exists. In this fictitious world, Golarian, there is no doubt. Those demons we cannot see in the real world are trying to stab you with a poisoned dagger and steal your character's soul in the fantasy world.
A rift did emerge in the group, another red flag that the powers of the Abyss are being served. Captain Marcovina wanted the traitor set free. Not fully left to be autonomous, but given food, clothing, and peaceful tools to aid our company. The traitor will be protected and allowed to show us, if they chose to do so, that they were willing to change their ways. If they had chose to not try the way of redemption than we will defend ourselves as best we can, as we have proven we can do so.
Some demanded, understandably (and where Captain Marcovina was initially), execution. Others wanted the traitor marked and under guard if to be left living. Others wanted the traitor maimed as punishment.
In role playing some of us explore character traits and personalities we do not possess. In real life, some guy in my "combat unit" betrays us and leads a few dozen of my soldiers to their deaths purposefully? They get executed. It's not about vengeance but about morale and ease of facilitation and mission safety. This scenario allowed me to explore that in a world of fantasy where "souls" are a tangible thing and divine entities are an absolute you gain tangible benefits from. Executing the traitor would send their soul into the Abyss and into the hands of Infernal Lords, a commodity they could use at their whim against us and our allies. Leaving her alive with a choice of redemption is the "goodly" thing to do but also allows freedom to make a choice against us. Maiming or forcing is just "not a good thing to do" and we represent good in a tangible aspect.
After soliciting feedback from The Cabinet and a few NPCs Captain Marcovina judged that the traitor be given some autonomy but be watched. Their fate is their choice and we offer the freedom to make that choice.
Jason, the GM, then told us there was a "redemption mechanic". Haha! I knew it!!
Here here to more of this "quantified role playing" and more to come!!
No comments:
Post a Comment