A Fistful of Blakros


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Scarab Sages 5/5

O.O!

(crazy thought: Torch married into the Blakros family...)

4/5 *

First, let's not call people's work dumb, 'kay? Your opinion is your own, but namecalling is beneath us.

Nothing is going to get retconned, I'm sure, but remember that we only know what GMT wishes us to know about his actions. Also remember that the faction retirement was decided first, and this scenario was the method they chose to do it - not the other way around. Shadow Lodge had one of the smallest followings and the lowest success rates, and so it was one of the two that got the axe. As a means of wrapping up the storyline, each one got a retirement scenario.

As for why the faction actually went away in the aftermath... why would the Decemvirate allow a group led by a traitor to remain together? Frankly, it's amazing they let all of those folks stay Pathfinders, given the likelihood of at least some remaining loyal to GMT or being sleeper agents on his behalf. By forcing them to disband into other factions, they both break up the coherence of the group, and spread them around so the other faction heads can keep an eye on them.

4/5 *

1 person marked this as a favorite.

And finally: it doesn't really matter what GMT has said in the past about his intentions or beliefs, being loyal to the Society, etc. - he has been lying to everyone since the beginning. Those who joined the Shadow Lodge may ave believed it, but he was just using them to get want he wanted.

Shadow Lodge 4/5

GM Lamplighter wrote:
First, let's not call people's work dumb, 'kay? Your opinion is your own, but namecalling is beneath us.

While it is my opinion, I'm not sure I agree. If something is bad, we call it bad. If something is pretty dumb, we call it pretty dumb. The whole Shadow Lodge thing is pretty dumb. Saying otherwise really doesn't do anyone any service. At the very least, it might help to prevent something that terrible from happening again to something else.

GM Lamplighter wrote:
Nothing is going to get retconned, . . .

It's probably to going to be retconned, but it's a prime example of what really should be. It just makes absolutely no sense.

GM Lamplighter wrote:
. . . I'm sure, but remember that we only know what GMT wishes us to know about his actions.

Acualy, not true. We have many scenarios out there that state, as fact, what his personality and motivations are. And they just don't jive with the Rivalry's End thing. I understand your not a fan, so to peak. I don't really care too much for the man, but I think he's interesting. But, it just doesn't fit.

GM Lamplighter wrote:
Also remember that the faction retirement was decided first, and this scenario was the method they chose to do it - not the other way around.
GM Lamplighter wrote:
Shadow Lodge had one of the smallest followings and the lowest success rates, and so it was one of the two that got the axe. As a means of wrapping up the storyline, each one got a retirement scenario.

Actually, I'm pretty sure that Qadira, Osiron, and very specifically the Sczarni all had much lower numbers, and it was mentioned that this was not the case for choosing the Shadow Lodge.

GM Lamplighter wrote:
As for why the faction actually went away in the aftermath... why would the Decemvirate allow a group led by a traitor to remain together? Frankly, it's amazing they let all of those folks stay Pathfinders, given the likelihood of at least some remaining loyal to GMT or being sleeper agents on his behalf. By forcing them to disband into other factions, they both break up the coherence of the group, and spread them around so the other faction heads can keep an eye on them.

I'm really not any cares how much the Decemvirate wines, or has cheese with it. Well, what few are still even alive at the point this took place. It's nearly a mutually exclusive leap. And yes, I do understand that in the metagame sense the Shadow Lodge was picked to go away. But that actually makes it even worse the way they chose to ignore the huge hole. Going back to the Retcon, it's because it's just that bad. Setting GMT aside completely, as he had only been the Faction head for what, like half of the Faction's existence and had very little to actually do with the Faction's primary point to begin with, why would a single member of that Faction, (all metagaming reasons aside, as they don't matter), A.) "rejoin" the PFS under the Decemvirate, or B.) not just continue being Shadow Lodge Pathfinders, aiming to look out for the little man regardless of what Decemvirate thinks they can tell them to do?

Wait, what, no one else(s) step up to lead? Right. . .
Wait, it just vanishes over night? Uhuh. . .
So, the Decemvirate isn't going to bother looking for the Doppelganger that obviously just appeared as GMT and got their most closely guarded secret? <Rolls eyes>
And the PFS just accepts them back, no questions asked, no hard feelings, yadda, yadda, yadda. . . .

GM Lamplighter wrote:
And finally: it doesn't really matter what GMT has said in the past about his intentions or beliefs, being loyal to the Society, etc. - he has been lying to everyone since the beginning. Those who joined the Shadow Lodge may ave believed it, but he was just using them to get want he wanted.

Your right, what he "said" doesn't. However, what does, are the facts we know in various scenarios that completely contradict both everything before and what little we have after Rivalry's End's very juvenile "face-heel turn".

Scarab Sages 5/5

I'm still Shadow Lodge where it counts....

Grand Lodge 4/5

So, let's see. For those of us who have been playing PFS since Season 0, our introduction to GMT is a bit .... different.

He starts by asking, in a Tier 1-5 scenario, for 6,000 gp for some fairly minor information.

As many know, he also starts out in that pool, and seldom comes out of it. Disrespectful of anyone he is dealing with, IMO.

No respect for holding anything in private, he always has at least two of his Orc bodyguards with him.

And then he hits the PCs up, if they made the right approach, with an option to perform a task for him, but with limitations, and a serious threat. "Oh! One more thing: if my diviner warns me you have crossed me and stolen the contents, there will be repercussions."

Just not a very Pathfinder Society friendly NPC, and his whole involvement with the so-called Shadow Lodge was always confusing to me. The information that you can learn during one of the Season 5 scenarios helps explain, but doesn't excuse, his attitudes and approach.

Eyes of the Ten:
To be honest, I was surprised, when I played this arc, that GMT was not more involved with it, as an active ally of the BBEG in that series. The timing was right, the setting was right, he really should have been involved and implicated in that crap. After all, where else could the BBEG have come up with the information he was using about his targets?

So, having started PFS in Season 0, with GMT's first appearance, cited above, in the second scenario I ever played, and having played Eyes of the Ten, fairly recently, I would say that GMT is definitely not acting out of character at all by betraying, yet again, the Pathfinder Society and anyone, if not everyone in the world, who ever trusted him.


After all, it wouldn't have taken him much money, and he probably had it years ago (his WbL should be around 82k GP, I am sure he wouldn't be on the normal NPC WbL chart), to get the bodies of his companions recovered and raised. Did he do it? Nope. And, as far as any interactions I have seen with him go, his options have always been to further his ends of destroying those of whom he disapproves, rather than recovering from his injuries, recovering his companions bodies, or moving on with his life.

Very negative man. Very negative view of life. Very negative interactions with others.

Rivalry's End:
My party took him out in Rivalry's End because he coldbloodedly murdered a helpless prisoner. Very evil act.

Grand Lodge 4/5 **** Venture-Captain, California—Sacramento

Well, to be fair, that bath is his version of a sick bed. And given where and how he got those burns, it is possible he cannot be healed even by magic.

Also, while you do eventually encounter the bodies of his companions, you also encounter a lot of dead bodies on the way, some of them may have *been* the bodies of people torch sent to recover his friends. And it is possible he tried to bring his friends back, and they didn't want to come back...

On the other hand, in an early scenario,

many fortunes of grand master Torch:
Torch needs you to get him out of a mess he got himself into, so he kills the guy you are trying to get information from so that you will have to buy the information from him so that he can set you and the pathfinder society up to commit a crime so that he won't be blamed for selling shoddy goods.

5/5

DM Beckett wrote:
GM Lamplighter wrote:
Nothing is going to get retconned, . . .
It's probably to going to be retconned, but it's a prime example of what really should be. It just makes absolutely no sense.

As others are trying to say, Rivalry's End makes total sense. It's how easily duped all the Shadow Lodge Pathfinders were for the preceding two years that doesn't make sense.

But then, I didn't play First Steps III until 4 days before it was retired, and I think the GM skipped over his part entirely, since everyone else had already played it. I still don't think I would have bought that rubbish though. He's a snake, and should never have been trusted in the first place.

Those who followed him, trusted him... well, one born every minute right?

Grand Lodge 4/5

Majuba wrote:
DM Beckett wrote:
GM Lamplighter wrote:
Nothing is going to get retconned, . . .
It's probably to going to be retconned, but it's a prime example of what really should be. It just makes absolutely no sense.
As others are trying to say, Rivalry's End makes total sense.

I disagree. What was there for him to gain by deliberately burning bridges like that? The betrayal, sure, that makes sense to me. But the way he went about that betray doesn't.

Shadow Lodge 4/5 Venture-Captain, California—San Francisco Bay Area South & West

Majuba wrote:
DM Beckett wrote:
GM Lamplighter wrote:
Nothing is going to get retconned, . . .
It's probably to going to be retconned, but it's a prime example of what really should be. It just makes absolutely no sense.

As others are trying to say, Rivalry's End makes total sense. It's how easily duped all the Shadow Lodge Pathfinders were for the preceding two years that doesn't make sense.

But then, I didn't play First Steps III until 4 days before it was retired, and I think the GM skipped over his part entirely, since everyone else had already played it. I still don't think I would have bought that rubbish though. He's a snake, and should never have been trusted in the first place.

Those who followed him, trusted him... well, one born every minute right?

It's not the in-game deception by GMT that's the problem; it's the presentation, by the PFS campaign, of the Shadow Lodge faction as a place for the whistle-blowers, fighters for the rights of the 99%, etc.

I don't care too much that my character was deceived by GMT; what leads to a bad taste in my mouth is that I, the player, was misled by Paizo.

Sczarni 5/5

Wait a couple of years. When Torch has removed the toxic Decemvirate elements that so love to waste our lives in fruitless endeavors, we'll see a new golden age of the Pathfinder Society.

Maybe even a little bit of compassion from above. But I'm not holding my breath.

I'd be happy with a bit of recon info. One argument you can't dispute is that Torch-led scenarios had the most a priori information about the things we would need to do.

Various Torch Scenarios:
Go find these four people (with descriptions!). Do the following four tasks (with locations and background info.) Find and capture Ouidda (She's a high level Bard. Be careful and expect traps.) Guard this keg (but remember, it's a trap. the goal is to let it get stolen. Be aware.)

Shadow Lodge 4/5

Majuba wrote:
Those who followed him, trusted him... well, one born every minute right?

O rly?

Grand Lodge 4/5

Borel Bloodbraid wrote:

Wait a couple of years. When Torch has removed the toxic Decemvirate elements that so love to waste our lives in fruitless endeavors, we'll see a new golden age of the Pathfinder Society.

Maybe even a little bit of compassion from above. But I'm not holding my breath.

I'd be happy with a bit of recon info. One argument you can't dispute is that Torch-led scenarios had the most a priori information about the things we would need to do.

** spoiler omitted **

Eyes of the Ten:
Bwhahaha!

GMT:
And "extra" information, which costs him nothing, as he gets a bulk discount on it, is a reason to trust him? Sheeya, right.

Mantis's Prey:
Some additional information here would have been helpful. I mean, the first time I played it, and our party wiped (GM issue), it would have been helpful if he had given us some of that info to begin with, because we would have been better prepared for some of the things we faced. Meh.

5/5

John Francis wrote:
It's not the in-game deception by GMT that's the problem; it's the presentation, by the PFS campaign, of the Shadow Lodge faction as a place for the whistle-blowers, fighters for the rights of the 99%, etc.

Completely agree with you here. There was definitely a place for a faction like that. The Shadow Lodge just was *not* the right one, led by Torch or not. I even assigned one of my character to Shadow Lodge, despite all that, because the character is one who wants to protect his friends first and foremost.

Dark Archive 3/5

Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber
Majuba wrote:
GM Lamplighter wrote:
There was a Blakros-related Quest as part of the Grand Convocation 4712 event at PaizoCon, but it hasn't been released. Too bad, the author is a really great guy! ;)
Yes, the Onyx Assault. N'wah, you could run this not-for-credit between 3rd and 4th season scenarios, if you got a copy of it.

I do indeed. Perhaps I shall! :chinstroke:

The Exchange 3/5

So far I've played

#3-07: Echoes of the Overwatched

(Was a bit disappointed that there were no rewards or special boons for the faction quests. Was hoping for something nice from the Qadira quest.)

#6-02: The Silver Mount Collection

(Other than those damn gearwork, clock-work robot things with the Technic League, which I hate with a passion, it was fun. I'm also just 12 Prestige Points away from being able to take the Marriage to the Balkros Family boon.)

Dark Archive 3/5

The Mechanist pours herself a small glass of wine from what appears to be a sealed pouch, adds a gritty lavender powder of some sort, and stirs it. She then pours the concoction on the floor, stares at it intently while she scribbles in a journal, then looks up. "I'm hoping to see the Silver Mount collection at the museum sometime soon. I'm sure my trip to Blakros will go far more peacefully than others have experienced in the past, but I am told I am something of an optimist, and the Archive seems to be a magnet for trouble. Blakros always seems to have at least one problem every year, but if you've seen how many issues we have down in the Archive on a weekly basis, you'd realize Blakros is amazingly tame by comparison." The halfling sighs. "You never realize just how much space the 5 1/2 quarts of blood in your average human takes up until it's been used to decorate your shared office space, in animate swirls with sinister opinions on self-replication."

She looks back to the wine-puddle on the floor, which has now congealed into a glossy pudding that seems to be trying to learn how to jump. Having missed the transformation, she sighs, stomps on it with a thick-soled leather workboot until it stills, and puts her journal back into her pack. "As for the League, well, let's just say that while I find every member I have ever met to be personally repellent, their field work is academically sound, and there is little I would not do to gain even a tenth of their access. I wholeheartedly support any efforts to eliminate them and liberate their technological and magical treasures. If you have aims on that goal, expect my support as well as that of many others in the Archive. The venture would prove quite profitable, Trade Prince." Seeing the shuddering ooze has now caught fire, The Mechanist grabs her bag, hops off the stool, and says, "I gotta go," before swiftly fleeing the room.

Dark Archive 3/5

Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

I'd planned to run "The Stranger Within" last Sunday, but a local Con snagging all the high-level folk and a rash of new players (including a father-son team and a mom-dad-daughter family team-up) led me to put that aside and let my backup GM run a second "Voice in the Void" table in lieu of my usual high-tier table. Both tables did well, and I sat in to help my step-daughter run through her first Blakros session and handle GM questions and whatnot. I gotta say, sitting between two Blakros tables was pretty exciting.

Both tables did very well, and I plan to hit up the table I wasn't sitting at most of the time for stories. I missed most of 'em. But it might have been the best afternoon of PFS that I wasn't running a table at that I've experienced ever. Some of that might have been the walk over, but either way, it was a blast.

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