Jorda75's page

I feel slavery or indentured servitude of any form can never be a "good" act and in almost all circumstances except the most exceptional it is an evil act. Slavery can be a chaotic act but is more likely to be practised with regularity by lawful beings and societies.

I should mention this does not include things like religious or cultural "life debts", these beings are making a choice to follow a certain code which binds them purely by their own morals and beliefs, were as a true slave is help against their will and denied that choice.

No matter how well treated and pampered a slave is still denied basic rights that all sentient beings should be allowed, namely the freedom to choose. In China Mievelle's excellent novel (imo)Perdido Street Station a race of avian humanoids called the Garuda have a unique form of crime, in so that there is only one crime which is commonly called "Choose theft", denying another beings the right to choose their own fate. To the Garuda I think no form of choice theft would be more sever than slavery.

Setting and campaign world can mean a great deal when you're considered if slavery is a purely evil act and not simply an act by those who are strongly lawful, but in the end anyone who would treat another intelligent living thing as property and not as an individual is on a very slippery slope right down into darkest evil.

I'll offer some bullet points of advice ^^

1. Player Motivations: Ask the players what their characters main motivation is an play to that, at least at first. If someone wants gold, offer them gold. If a paladin wants to right wrongs and do good than give him a hook that will allow him to do that. In time they'll all fall into the party mentality and look out for each other, but in the beginning, especially with new players it's good to keep their goals simple and obtainable.

2. The Friend of my Enemy: A common enemy is a very good way to unify a group, someone who has wronged them all gives them a reason to band together, especially if the villain is clearly too much for them to take on single handedly. Don't worry about making him too cliche or "too evil", the first villain is often just a stepping stone to get the party together.

3. "Kid Glove" Rules: While you want to make sure they follow the rules and don't get out of hand try not to discourage player ideas. If they ask "can I throw him up there?" or "Can I use my dagger to pick the lock?" don't dismiss it immediately just because it's not in the rules. If you have just make up a quick house rule, picking a lock with a dagger is a simple Sleight of Hand check, or some such. Make the players feel smart and encourage creativity.

4. Have fun!: The one thing I always strive for in a Pathfinder game, no matter the group, is that everyone have fun. Often what "should" happen or what would happen "realistically" is not what will be the most fun for the group. New players will make mistakes, both with rules but also with role playing, so if they mouth off to the town guard or a high level NPC don't do something like kill them outright. This might seem only logical but you don't want the players to feel they are being punished by you specifically as opposed to the NPC. If they're very new don't pummel them with impossible battles, don't take away all their gear, don't road block them at every turn to fit the story, just have fun with it and make it light enough, even if you're a serious gamer :)

Hope that helps, if you want more advice send me a PM, been doing this for a while ^^

Leadership is only broken if your GM isn't good enough to handle it, I can understand it being "banned" for inexperienced GMs but anyone worth their salt at it will allow it.

@StabbittyDoom - Sounds very similar to a game I ran years ago, I love the concept myself and agree completely that mindless undead who must be given commands to act are no more evil than golems and other mindless constructs. :)

I would assume it has to be on the Witch's spell list, it seems only logical that the same rules would apply for the witch as the wizard.