For heading back, you can take the quicker route (straight NE) or the longer route from how you came.
DRA - I implore you not to pick that Shuriken guy for your other homebrew. Seriously, go read some of his posts. He is creepy and plays the same character in every game: Japanese 10-year-old schoolgirl. He posts things like this and this is the kind of things he posts in-character.
I've updated the loot sheet (link in my profile) and brought over the masterwork items from the previous battle since they fit in the split now. Since we haven't appraised any of the art items I haven't added values to those. I did add those 6 horses though as hopefully we'll be able to bring them back and sell them real good.
Zander doesn't really need any of the new loot, but would take the Masterwork Chain Shirt if no one else wants it. It's a pretty minor upgrade for me though (only improving my armor check) so if anyone else has any interest in it, I'll drop my claim.
Add 6 more silver Stag Lord amulets to the list, one from each of the defeated bandits.
I should add that Jemini's "explanation" is her opinion, based on my reading of the player's guide. It's as good as any and at least satisfy the conspiracy theorist in me.
Nothing needed for Jemini from the loot list.
Added the extra stag amulets. I can't really see us needing more than 6 for subterfuge purposes so I put the 5 others we found in the selling pot.
A note on the spreadsheet, Barcas said they sold for 20 gold each if I recall so I have the amount for each of them loaded as 40 gold each since the spreadsheet halves the value loaded, I'll be loading double the selling cost of art items and jewels and the like so don't be confused by that and think I'm trying to cheat :)
If I end up getting the MW Shirt, you can have my old one for 50 gp.
Another thing, Jemini should Detect Evil on that crying bandit guy before we execute him. He seems possibly redeemable?
Berrin will take a mwk handaxe an trade in a normal one. I still think we should hold on to the medalions for now, if only to wave them in the Stag Lords face when we find him.
Berrin will take a mwk handaxe an trade in a normal one. I still think we should hold on to the medalions for now, if only to wave them in the Stag Lords face when we find him.
Sounds good. You can sell your regular handaxe directly to Oleg. He'll give you 3 gp for it.
Another thing, Jemini should Detect Evil on that crying bandit guy before we execute him. He seems possibly redeemable?
Won't work: see page 266 in Core rules (the Detect table). Humans of level 5 or lower show no aura on the detect spells. The aura is just too weak. The exception (noted on the table as well) are strongly aligned classes like paladins and clerics which register from level 1 onwards.
I think she's telling the truth. Verik's right, it makes sense with the Lord Mayor being really specific about the date. Basically what this means for us is that we can't count on Restov, at least not the government, like we thought. This also however means that we aren't going to be getting Kressel up to Restov for jailtime since her boss runs the place. Our immediate options for dealing with her are:
A: Kill her. This would go against our word as I'd say this info is both likely reliable and pretty good stuff.
B: Let her go. This seems like a bad idea as she's clearly a terrible person and would just go back to banditry.
C: Jail her at Oleg's? This may be our best bet... we'd basically have to build a jail or something.
What do you guys think?
Taisper never said he wouldn't kill her. Quite the opposite, in fact. You can all keep your word, and he can do his job.
Taisper would also like to kill the other bandit, FYI. I'll try to sneak that into the IC thread. I'm gonna be in rehearsals for a couple hours, but if you want to have Taisper kill her, just assume it gets done. As far as he's concerned, he's just waiting 'til y'all are out of the line of sight so he can do it without muddying anyone's conscience.
Zander will have no problem if she dies, it's just your cousin you'll have to deal with mostly. For simplicity sake I'd say killing the other bandit works best too, but we'll see how that plays out.
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Verik is a man of his word and Jemini has to be a woman of her word being a Paladin. Unless the party can be hugely persuasive Verik's going to want her to stay alive, and that would include regarding her killing as murder. Taisper may not have sworn but he knows Verik did and he should also know how important that would be to a cleric of Abadar.
As to what to do with her, well that's a pickle and no mistake... On the other hand we are probably going to need a jail again at some point so we might as well figure something out. Maybe convert a storeroom for the moment, those Restov blokes don't seem to be in on the Lord Mayor's plot so they can be conscripted for guard duty - I hope.
Kesten's reaction to the news, if we choose to share it with him, is going to be of pivotal importance, we need those guards onside. I would say we need to sound him out carefully and tell him what's going on fairly swiftly - otherwise he'll hear it from the Bandit B~*!& just to mess with us.
Taisper may not have sworn but he knows Verik did and he should also know how important that would be to a cleric of Abadar.
Right. But does Verik know how important it is to Taisper that Taisper Judged these people and now he might not be allowed to kill them? I'm not trying to be contrary or anything, I'm honestly asking. Part of why Taisper is so conflicted right now is these two (Kressle and the Schmuck) have been Judged and now must die, so his devotion to his faith and his duty is warring with his love for his family (Verik) and for keeping peace in what he views as his nascent community (the group).
He's in a very bad spot right now.
It's totally cool if Verik wouldn't know any of this, it'll definitely add a twist to the RP between the cousins. :-)
Weird, it ate one of my posts, although it's not relevant to our campaign. It's actually for downrightamazed's other campaign.
Weird, it ate one of my posts, although it's not relevant to our campaign. It's actually for downrightamazed's other campaign.
** spoiler omitted **
I confess I was a bit alarmed when I saw that one of his other aliases was the "Loremistress Nox" character who had something about being so fascinated by arcane power it was 'like a sexual turn-on' in the description, which when I saw that I was like "really dude? really?" But I was willing to give 'em the benefit of the doubt, you know. Maybe I shouldn't have. Oh and also the "little sister in place of mount" thing struck me as odd as well.
It's kind of a bummer, dude looked like he put in some effort. If you've got pointers on any of the others, feel free to share, obviously. I greatly appreciate the warning.
Sorry to butt in,
He's volunteering for alot for a lot of games with wildly innapropriate characters, always girls in school uniforms, like a ninja in an Eberron campaign.
I don't think anyone could feel comfortable gaming with that.
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Taisper may not have sworn but he knows Verik did and he should also know how important that would be to a cleric of Abadar.Right. But does Verik know how important it is to Taisper that Taisper Judged these people and now he might not be allowed to kill them? I'm not trying to be contrary or anything, I'm honestly asking. Part of why Taisper is so conflicted right now is these two (Kressle and the Schmuck) have been Judged and now must die, so his devotion to his faith and his duty is warring with his love for his family (Verik) and for keeping peace in what he views as his nascent community (the group).
He's in a very bad spot right now.
It's totally cool if Verik wouldn't know any of this, it'll definitely add a twist to the RP between the cousins. :-)
Ah, now I've got to admit I don't really know too much about Inquisitors - the last APG class I can say that for - I'm not sure the same would be true of Verik though. Hmmm. I had not actualyy realized Judgment was anything other than a combat mechanic, but of course it makes sense that it would be.
And also eeeeewwwwww, I must admit I am happily steering clear of the link that would make me want to apply bleach to the brain, but still creeeepy!
Ah, now I've got to admit I don't really know too much about Inquisitors - the last APG class I can say that for - I'm not sure the same would be true of Verik though. Hmmm. I had not actualyy realized Judgment was anything other than a combat mechanic, but of course it makes sense that it would be.
I'm not aware myself of any obligation being attached to the judgments. A cursory glance doesn't show anything in the class write-up that would suggest that.
Yeah looked over it to, though I can see it as a reasonable RP extension.
Within limits - I'd say a paladin's smite is linked more definitely with the death of the smite target than a judgement that covers the entire set of foes.
They answer to their deity and their own sense of justice alone, and are willing to take extreme measures to meet their goals.
I'd say that sounds like what Taisper's doing. His own sense of justice pretty much means that criminals must die. He is lawful-neutral remember and wouldn't have a problem so broadly enforcing a death penalty. I'm not sure exactly if he only kills murderers or what his line is for executable offenses, but I'm imagining Taisper has some idea of what that is (though it probably wouldn't hurt to lay it out so the rest of us know.)
Anyway! Back to our regularly scheduled program.
They answer to their deity and their own sense of justice alone, and are willing to take extreme measures to meet their goals.I'd say that sounds like what Taisper's doing.
Bingo. Here's the short (grossly oversimplified) answer: Taisper is a sociopath who hides that fact from himself.
But so but here's the thing. He is hiding his own pathology from himself. He knows what he is but doesn't want to admit what he is, so bits of his brain busy themselves hiding this fact from other bits of his brain. He really does deeply love family and community, or thinks he does, but the part of his brain responsible for empathy is hopelessly broken, so his love is this strange, cold, objective thing, based more on observation of others than real emotional ties.
In Taisper's background, in his profile, the factory owner I wrote about that helped his family did not do so out of altruism or love of community, though that is the story Taisper was fed. The factory owner, a wealthy man with strong ties to the church, saw in Taisper exactly the kind of naive, oblivious empty vessel that the church could shape into whatever it wanted. Always seeking to stay in good favor with the church higher-ups so they would turn a blind eye to some of his more...suspect business practices, the factory owner arranged for Taisper's drafting into "Hunting School" in exchange for further favors to be named.
So, while he was learning to be an inquisitor, the hunters and priests and other teachers broke down whatever empathy Taisper might have had and focused on his admittedly surprisingly strong connection to the divine (Magic Talent trait, mechanically), his broad combat skills (good STR and good DEX), unshakable power of will and focus (Iron Will feat), and his desire to get along with people and be friends (Charming trait, high CHA). They took him from his family and never let him make any other connections, essentially breaking him. This is part of why the jokes and desire to keep a community together; lacking any real understanding of how to form bonds, he tries to keep people around and make them smile and laugh, using these external cues (togetherness, humor) as stand-ins for the internal cues he doesn't have.
So, in Taisper's mind, killing those who have been Judged is a very straightforward and obvious thing. He sees it as the literal Word of God, though I must emphasize he is not a zealot. He just believes that that's from whence come his instructions. To him, and this is maybe the big key; he thinks he's not making the decision to kill -- Abadar is, and the church worked very hard to keep things that way.
Now, however, he is out in the world, meeting people, and already his love of family and devotion to his faith are in conflict. His abbot in Alkenstar tried to keep him from leaving, but a greater authority overrode him. Why this is, is not known. Whether the church saw in him a superior killer who would better enforce their will in the stolen lands, or if someone more kindly saw here a chance for Taisper to have a more normal life, or if it's a way to get rid of him, or just a silly coincidence, who knows. But here he is.
In short, he's really hard for me to RP, so I do apologize if I ever go over-the-top and don't hesitate to lemee know OOC if I do. Trying to keep him on voice is a pretty huge challenge. He really doesn't believe he's a killer, but that's what Hunting School groomed him to be.
As I see it, Taisper is sort of tragic in that he could have just been a dad in a poor neighborhood in Alkenstar City, and he probably would have been a pretty good dad. A little distant, but caring in his own way. But instead he got plucked out of that and now he is a man racking up a HUGE psychic and karmic debt, and when the universe comes to collect, he is gonna be effed.
Stuff
Have you watched much Dexter? I'm drawing a lot of parallels between them in the whole sociopath dedicated to killing evildoers thing. If you're not familiar with the show, I'd strongly recommend it as character research (plus it's an amazing show.) Taisper is basically Dexter with religion and with a greater desire to connect with people through his jokes and the like.
I'm really enjoying Taisper's character, especially given your additional information on his background, and am pretty super interested in seeing how you explore it and how his forming of bonds with the other party members ends up affecting his outlook on things. I'm really liking how psychologically broken most of the members of this party are.
That's a pretty good spoiler. Just a word of caution - roleplaying this will almost inevitably lead him to become evil.
That's a pretty good spoiler. Just a word of caution - roleplaying this will almost inevitably lead him to become evil.
I don't think that's inevitable. I could see it actually going the opposite way if he's able to actually form a connection with other human (and elf) beings and channel his sociopathic tendencies in the right directions.
EDIT: Though I do admit it will be interesting for a Paladin to deal with!
Roleplaying a continuing spiral into merciless would likely become evil, though true evil is characterised by selfishness, so I think Taispar has a longer fall time.
I also think part of the crux of the character is the ability to change and be redeemed by the very bonds he so desperately tries to mimic and strenghten.
It's very interesting to read the pathologies of the various characters here because this is a highly character driven PBP.
Is anyone familiar with the Myers-Briggs personality types? Be interesting to see where you'd place your characters, and how that might be a resource for better roleplaying and beleivability.
That's a pretty good spoiler. Just a word of caution - roleplaying this will almost inevitably lead him to become evil.
"Those who hunt monsters must take care not to become monsters." That sort of thing, yes?
I believe I understand what you're getting at, and though I kind of hesitate to say this as a kind of 'ultimate spoiler', if Taisper looked around at some future junction and found that he had taken the wrong fork down the evil/good crossroads, I wouldn't be surprised if he were to take his own life.
But that can wait. Things that happen between now and then may mitigate that. I'm not sure what would be cooler or harder to RP; him offing himself, or him giving in and becoming LE. :-p
Have you watched much Dexter? I'm drawing a lot of parallels between them in the whole sociopath dedicated to killing evildoers thing.
I haven't actually. A couple guys at one of my jobs are really into it so I've heard of it and heard them discussing it, but I didn't know that was what it's about. Ha! I ripped off a TV show without knowing it. Hee hee. Maybe my co-workers can loan me a DVD or something, or I can Netflix it. Maybe it would help me keep the character lined up right.
I'm really enjoying Taisper's character, especially given your additional information on his background,
Thanks so much! As difficult as he is, it's still insanely fun to RP him, but a lot of that comes from being in this group. With a different bunch of players, I don't know how well it would have worked...
I'm really liking how psychologically broken most of the members of this party are.
I agree! It's so rad. Taisper's appreciation of, and efforts to help with, Zander's burns and mask are highly, highly symbolic you realize. The part of him engaged in self-deception identifies a little too closely with having to wear a mask to get by, you see...:-)
Really I think Berrin's reaction of Taisper as cold-hearted is probably the most sensible and common one from most people, but also the one Taisper would most want to avoid.
I haven't actually. A couple guys at one of my jobs are really into it so I've heard of it and heard them discussing it, but I didn't know that was what it's about. Ha! I ripped off a TV show without knowing it. Hee hee. Maybe my co-workers can loan me a DVD or something, or I can Netflix it. Maybe it would help me keep the character lined up right.
It's totally on Netflix Instant Play :)
Really I think Berrin's reaction of Taisper as cold-hearted is probably the most sensible and common one from most people, but also the one Taisper would most want to avoid.
I'm noticing that Berrin is really good at seeing things like that and calling people out on them in really matter-of-fact ways. I'm thinking this will also be interesting to see progressing.
As for Zander and Taisper, I think Zander understands Taisper's actions thus-far and has no problem with killing people who deserve it; having lived the life he has, he's both pretty thick skinned and generally thinks pretty lowly of most people. However, when he does see good in people he is willing to put himself on the line to fight for them and defend their rights. I think if they ever get much of a chance to talk, they'll find a lot of common ground, but both of them have quite a ways to go before they're willing to open up to someone like that. I think the only thing that could really drive a wedge between them is if Taisper were to start killing people who didn't deserve it, which I don't really see happening as he has a pretty clear code from what I'm understanding.
Is anyone familiar with the Myers-Briggs personality types? Be interesting to see where you'd place your characters, and how that might be a resource for better roleplaying and beleivability.
Just took one of these for Zander, he is a:
very expressed introvert
moderately expressed intuitive personality
slightly expressed thinking personality
moderately expressed judging personality
I used this test.
As for Zander and Taisper, I think Zander understands Taisper's actions thus-far and has no problem with killing people who deserve it; having lived the life he has, he's both pretty thick skinned and generally thinks pretty lowly of most people. However, when he does see good in people he is willing to put himself on the line to fight for them and defend their rights. I think if they ever get much of a chance to talk, they'll find a lot of common ground, but both of them have quite a ways to go before they're willing to open up to someone like that. I think the only thing that could really drive a wedge between them is if Taisper were to start killing people who didn't deserve it, which I don't really see happening as he has a pretty clear code from what I'm understanding.
Yup, this is all on the money. It's going to be super cool to see how this plays out. Taisper can definitely sense some kind of kindred spirit in Zander, but is not sure what, and being emotionally stunted he's not entirely sure what to do.
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Hah, great link Zander it got Verik to a t!
# moderately expressed introvert
# distinctively expressed intuitive personality
# slightly expressed thinking personality
# very expressed judging personality
I to am a huge Dexter fan, and I to was thinking Dexter as soon as I read that spoiler - which was great by the way. It interesting because Verik really does not see Taisper that way, or he does but in a kind of oddly slanted way... I think Dexter is why I can easily see Taisper not ever necessarily sliding towards evil, I would argue that Dexter is LN with NG tendencies. I'll admit I watch Dexter illegally, I have FX - which shows Dexter in the U.K - but its so far behind the states, on Showtime.com I can watch it for free the day after its shown in the U.S - and heck I'm not Verik.
Verik thinks that Taisper is, how to put this, always certain. He thinks Taisper is often wrong, but Taisper seems to him to do everything with 100% of himself behind it. While Verik is always guilt wracked and doubting himself. And he is at once jealous and troubled by his cousin.
This group is brilliant, I am really looking forward to interacting with Berrin and Zander more, by far my best PBP. So kudos to all! :)
Try this test, which also has a more in depth follow-up.
Then compare your result with These Page
Its a bit of a spectrum, but your result should be fairly dead on, especially as fictional characters are less fiddly than real people!
I feel a little dirty roleplaying Kressle. Squicky, squicky!
I feel a little dirty roleplaying Kressle. Squicky, squicky!
Hahaa. She is a salty lass.
Taisper is a bit nonplussed by her advances, especially since it's like being hit on by a corpse as far as he's concerned.
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type ideal real type behavior
I -3 6 quiet, private, few friends
E 2 -3 outgoing, expressive, many friends
N -2 -2 random, mysterious, non linear
S 10 4 sequential, factual, practical
F 0 -1 emotional, passionate, selfless
T 3 3 willful, stoic, self reliant
J 9 10 planned, regimented, orderly
P -5 -6 spontaneous, playful, fun
Verik did not seem to match any of the archetypes listed on the other link well.
Dexter stuff
Nothing wrong with watching shows ilegally in my book ;)
I'm almost drawing parallels to Verik and Deb with the whole family member who doesn't know the secret angle. The difference I guess being that Verik is totally aware of what Taisper is doing, but still isn't fully aware of his motivations and what's going on in his head. But then again, killing people is a lot more accepted in Golarion so I don't see that as being too different given the setting.
Myers-Briggs stuff
I'll have to check that test out when I get some time here today. Those things are always good times.
Kressle stuff
I'd say you've been doing a good job of getting across her personality and her sense of everything being over for her, but wanting to go out with a bang (no pun intended) sensibility without it getting weird. I think it helps that none of the party members are that interested in her advances though, heh.
@Taisper:
This is just my take on it, but, psychologically speaking I would be surprised to find him slipping into a LE-alignment - he's in many ways already LE, so going even more so is not really all that likely (unless he finds employ at a temple to Asmodeus).
Rather, I think his tragedy might be more likely when he starts slipping from lawfulness. The strict regimen, family ties and religious codex he abides to gives his sociopathy the home in which it can dwell. If that foundation drops out from under him for whatever reason, then going LN to N to NE would be a natural progression for him.
I think if things came to a crunch - it would be Verik, not Jemini, that would end Taisper's life.
I definitely wouldn't say Taisper is LE at current. What exactly would you say is evil about him?