Only 6 posts today? Weird.
Back to work, RP minions! I sit back and eat popcorn while you provide excellent drama.
Just kidding. We all need a break now and then from our usual feverish pace.
How old are the PCs?
I know Tandlara is 224 and Taisper is 19. How old are the others? And when is everyone's birthday. Feel free to roll a d12, then a d28-d31 for the corresponding month.
Calistril 11th; Jemini is 24.
Yesterday I was gone gaming all day long :)
Something from much earlier; Jemini asked Svetlana to give her a list of people in the region - particularly people that had suffered from the bandit raids. If possible, Jemini still needs something like that to plan out her charity events.
Erastus 29. Berrin is 24.
24 = a good age ;)
224, Tandlara can't remember her exact birthday. I like the idea of it being somewhat meaningless to elves, another wierdness compared to humans. Because they measure and see time so differently. Rather she was born in autumn, and has a preference for that season.
I'm looking forward to Taispar's response! Should be interesting.
Oh, and if what she said to Taispar seems a little at odds with herself, its because she's trying to get everyone working together, she actually disagrees with his outlook, but thinks everyone else will be a good influence.
soooo.. XP?
It seems incongruous to me that Jemini and Verik -- who were so mad at Taisper for denying Orlivanch a trial -- are now sitting around a fire calmly discussing under what circumstances they're gonna frag Taisper, with no trial. Granted Jemini is talking about still sending her letter, but it seems hand-wave-y.
I'm biased, of course, but in re-reading the thread it feels like folks overreacted to Taisper's CDG. I mean, suddenly Verik is threatening to kill him? Openly?
I think there is a difference in basic reality that we're playing under. Some people play the game as a fantastical fantasy setting with little real-world psychology. By that I mean that genocide of a goblin village is par for the course and that killing everybody that does not offer quests, rewards, trade, information or distraction can potentially be killed with little repercussion other than what the GM may feel like.
Personally I play the game with a real-world state of mind. Our job from Jemini's perspective was to gather information and if necessary subdue Orlivanch. Executing someone who just happened to be conveniently helpless, in real-world terms, is a very heinous crime; and DM Barcas mentioned the use of lethal - or even excessive - force in a policing context. Even if the guy in question is a bad guy. There is no post-justification of action.
Now, in game terms: the trial for Taisper has effectively already happened, from Jemini's perspective. He's still alive because of his baffling inability to understand the meaning of his actions. This is not the first time he's been called on his actions and he's been told in very certain terms what will happen when he transgresses again. This is in itself a trial by fire.
...if he's lucky enough to lose but survive the encounter (the process of apprehending and subduing the criminal), he'll find himself before a make-shift jury out in the wild; so that the traditional process of justice can take its course.
Crazy times.
Tandlara and Berrin can level up. I'll post exact XP totals tonight once you guys finish up the current set of conversations and we go to the next in-game day.
Fighter lvl 2
BAB +1
Fort +1
Bravery +1
Bonus Feat; Power Attack
FC Bonus; Hit Point
HP +9 (Average 6 + 2 con + 1 FC)
Skills; Climb +1, Knowledge (Engeneering) +1, Profession (Soldier) +1, Survival +1.
A side note, I don't know how things will turn out - we're only at 1100+ posts - but I would appreciate if it was possible that we roughly make a level every 1000 posts or so. If we were to keep up the insane 1-to-1000 posting we'd then finish Kingmaker in about 18 months. Realistically I expect us to slow down a bit and only finish in 24 months - but it would still be a mammoth accomplishment. Do you think this is possible?
I mention this, as in theory the same amount of effort is required to go from one level to the next (i.e. 20 CR-appropriate encounters and story rewards) - and that measured out to about 1000 posts as we played now. In the long run I'd expect that to be about 6 weeks per level. For me that is a relative sweet spot as it keeps the character and story progressing at a good pace while still being slow enough to savor the time.
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I don't think its an over reaction at all. If this was any real world civilized army or police force, Taisper would be incarcerated pending trail and an almost certain prison sentence.
Verik is threatening to kill him because not only is Taisper killing people without trial, he is doing so after having received aide from Verik - Orlivanch would not have been out there without Verik - and doing so in the name of Verik's god. And by doing so as far as Verik is concerned he is spitting on everything Abadar stands for.
And Verik is more worried by Taisper's delusional reasoning than by his action alone, and Taisper shows no remorse, etc.
Nice level up Berrin :) - I feel safer already knowing that there's potentially a lot of damage that you can deal. I probably missed it earlier, but where are you planning to go with the build?
He'll be as versitile as I can make him, hopefully.
So far What I have planed is;
3rd; Blood of Heroes
4th; Weapon Specialization (Longsword)
5th; Cleave
6th; ?
7th; ?
8th; Improved Critical (Longsword)
9th; Critiacl Focus
10th; ?
?
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Athletic, Dodge to Whirlwind attack, Endurance-Diehard? Combat Reflexes.... I dunno...
Ya your stats are pretty open ended - there's little that you cannot do if you want to. Consider the Step-Up, Following-Step, Step-Up-And-Strike feat chain (along with combat reflexes). You could finish that by level 6.
*sigh*
Ya your stats are pretty open ended - there's little that you cannot do if you want to. Consider the Step-Up, Following-Step, Step-Up-And-Strike feat chain (along with combat reflexes). You could finish that by level 6.
Yup, they were open ended for a reason. So I can go any direction feels right to the campaign. I might even go for mounted combat if it feels appropriate.
...Yeah, sorry. I'm running on no sleep and we're about to drive into a blizzard, so I'm in no frame of mind to be posting, I should know better.
np mate :)
@Taisper:
a roleplaying game is meaningless if you don't take your roles somewhat seriously. That's why Jemini and Verik are having such a hard time with Taisper's actions. It doesn't matter whether Taisper is *useful* to be with, its about whether he's *right* to be with. That's what it means to have LG party members. What do you expect them to do when they are confronted with a delusional killer?
Well, we need to figure a way to keep the party together. Conflict is okay, though we don't want to break apart.
Well, we need to figure a way to keep the party together. Conflict is okay, though we don't want to break apart.
agreed
hp:
Took: ward hex, sleep, identify and entangle spells.
I'd prefer if Verik and Jemini would consider retribution a little bit longer, Tandlara is all for it.
Excellent hp roll Tandlara.
I'd prefer if Verik and Jemini would consider retribution a little bit longer, Tandlara is all for it.
I'm not sure what that is supposed to mean. You *want* Verik and Jemini to go postal on Taisper? :p
Appealing to Taisper's sense of community might help. He might be amenable to waiting if he feels he is fulfilling the will of the "people".
@Taisper:
a roleplaying game is meaningless if you don't take your roles somewhat seriously.
What's that meant to mean? 'Cos I'm inferring that you're chiding me here. I hope I'm wrong.
That's why Jemini and Verik are having such a hard time with Taisper's actions. It doesn't matter whether Taisper is *useful* to be with, its about whether he's *right* to be with. That's what it means to have LG party members. What do you expect them to do when they are confronted with a delusional killer?
Taisper has not killed anyone who didn't attack him or his "community" first.
I guess what I'm having the hardest time with is the two LG characters literally cry over the body of a man who was trying to kill them, then go sit at a fire together and calmly discuss how they're going to work together to murder the companion who ended the threat the next time he kills a dying enemy. Is that "right?" Or "useful?"
I'm also frustrated with this because I never intended Taisper to be a raving psycho lunatic, just a "dirty work" guy who didn't think of himself as such, and I feel now he's been pegged as like this rabid dog and I'm not gonna have a chance to make it work.
Verik's certainly not planning any retribution at the moment, what he fears is that Taisper will continue to do the same, and worse, in the future.
0.o
Last Taisper heard, Verik called him a f!*+ and said he fight him to the death if he did another CDG on a dying enemy.
That's...that's not retribution?
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No it is not. Retribution is seeking revenge for an act performed, Verik is saying if Taisper does it again. And though he did say one of them would die, that was more of an in the heat of the moment thing. As far as Verik is concerned Taisper is using his god as an excuse to commit heinous acts. He also almost certainly would not really kill Taisper - assuming he could - but knock him out and try and figure out a proper punishment/solution.
To my mind there is a big difference between seeking retribution and saying if you do that again. For Verik this has been something like being savaged by a squirrel, part of his horror is from the sheer incongruity of it.
For the record OOC, I found it pretty darn convenient that Orlivanch was killed - even before we found the obvious justification.
How else would you get his loot?
@Taisper:
a roleplaying game is meaningless if you don't take your roles somewhat seriously.What's that meant to mean? 'Cos I'm inferring that you're chiding me here. I hope I'm wrong.
That's me talking about how Jemini and Verik act; we have LG characters, that requires a bit of LG-ness.
That's why Jemini and Verik are having such a hard time with Taisper's actions. It doesn't matter whether Taisper is *useful* to be with, its about whether he's *right* to be with. That's what it means to have LG party members. What do you expect them to do when they are confronted with a delusional killer?
Taisper has not killed anyone who didn't attack him or his "community" first.
I guess what I'm having the hardest time with is the two LG characters literally cry over the body of a man who was trying to kill them, then go sit at a fire together and calmly discuss how they're going to work together to murder the companion who ended the threat the next time he kills a dying enemy. Is that "right?" Or "useful?"
In character he only attacked first because we provoked him. There is a difference in killing someone, and defending yourself. And its a whole new ball game when you execute someone.
Because we are LG, we need to cry over the man who tried to kill us. What part of LG makes it hard to understand? You seem to think that trying to kill us automatically condemns that person; that is not the case.
Secondly, Jemini and Verik are not plotting to murder Taisper. We're going to make justice happen if Taisper transgresses certain boundaries. You make it sound like its a definite thing - but if Taisper simply responds to the outrage and does not kill people at the earliest convenience then Verik and Jemini will find no reason to go after him.
Thirdly, there is no "ending the threat" when you kill an unconscious enemy. The threat is already over by that stage. However, Taisper did deny the group the opportunity to roleplay out the trial and sentencing of Orlivanch. We never got to hear whatever DM Barcas had prepared for the character.
I'm also frustrated with this because I never intended Taisper to be a raving psycho lunatic, just a "dirty work" guy who didn't think of himself as such, and I feel now he's been pegged as like this rabid dog and I'm not gonna have a chance to make it work.
I think you're backpedaling a bit here, possibly because you didn't expect such an outbreak - and I don't blame you. I like Taisper's character's presentation - but Jemini cannot abide by some of his actions. Somethings got to give. As I said above, Taisper can simply chose to learn from this experience and decide to keep his morningstar in check a little bit more. Maybe wait for Verik to speak an "official" word of judgment. Taisper can even just do it to humor the LG characters.
But keep in mind that Taisper got lucky that Orlivanch turned out to be a genuine psycho. The story could well have turned out very different and he might have killed an essentially innocent frightened old man trying to protect his wife, daughter and wee doggy too. The end does not justify the means.
For the record OOC, I found it pretty darn convenient that Orlivanch was killed - even before we found the obvious justification.
I disagree. Since this isn't real life, there is no real inconvenience with looking after a prisoner. Who knows what we missed out on? For all we know we might have gotten him to reveal the location of a hidden cache of loot. His sudden death brought to a halt a promising avenue for roleplaying interactions. Orlivanch would do his darnedest to keep the cellar hidden from us, and when we found it we'd have some trial and execution - complete with Taisper's Celestial death rites (which I personally enjoy each time I see them).
Actually the in-game reason he started shooting was the ghost sound and his general sadistic nature. I didn't have much planned for him. I generally just roll things.
We are a group, a party. Let's not let RP issues get between the RL group. Let's figure a good way to get everyone on the same page OOC, then RP it out in the thread. I think that Taisper would be amenable to the idea of waiting for the judgment of the community, now that he knows their objection.
+1 ...this is all just in-character issues. No bearing on real-world feelings. As I said, I like Taisper's character representation.
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+1 yes, one of the downsides of having committed RPers is that they are committed to acting as their character's personality dictates. But we need to steer things in such a way that everyone can maintain their character vision with as little compromise as possible and yet the group can still work.
IC I think letting the night pass and tempers cool will prove useful.
Sigh... Dealing with an actual murder right now. Blood member. Talk about actual evil.
I did not mean retribution! I meant reconcilliation! Big whoops there! I'm all for serious RP, and disagreements IC, but I think the main point of the game, even above and beyond the story and RP is that everyone has fun and shares that. Its a team game first to me.
I've had a busy weekend and haven't really had a chance to check the threads, but I fully agree with Barcas that we need to stick together as an OOC group and not let IC drama stir things up.
That said, just as Zander is supporting Taisper IC, I'm pretty much feeling the same way OOC. It makes sense with the characters of Verik and Jemini overreacting because of who they are, but I do think they overreacted basically. I don't have a problem with the way things turned out though as I think it gave us some interesting roleplay material as it was. I do definitely think that I would have a problem if two party members actually threw down and rolled initiative against each other though so as long as we can keep the mindset OOC that we aren't going to let that happen IC, we'll be fine. My mindset on roleplaying is basically it's totally cool to let the character develop in their own way and play out according to their true personality, but there sometimes comes a point when you have to step back and make an OOC override for that personality that keeps the party together or moving in a good direction or whatever. That's my personal outlook at least.
Anyway, tomorrow is probably going to be a low-posting day for me too since I'm off work for the Holiday, but I'll try to get something IC typed up tonight and keep up as best I can tomorrow. Let's keep having fun guys :)
Also, Zander is 22 and his birthday is Gozran 5th.
Sorry for the recent lull in posts. This week has been brutal. I've been rubbing up against 16 hours a day, every day. That homicide took all night. Now I'm headed to that interview, and I've got to be up early tomorrow morning for more work. Delightful.
I'll be able to pick back up soon.
To Verik ...many words...
What a great post!
To Verik ...many words...What a great post!
Thanks. I'm trying really hard to not backpedal, as you called me on earlier, but still come up with a way to make this work in a fun RP way and avoid what originally was looking like an inevitable PvP.
I'm trying to depict that Taisper, even though he's somewhat brainwashed, really believes on his own that the Inquisition Branch can do No Wrong and is blind to the obvious corruptions of the teachings of Abadar that they are perpetrating. Wrongs that other party members could see plainly but someone as naive as Taisper couldn't. Basically attempting to work in various explanations everyone's put forth -- from DM Barcas' Judge Dredd explanation to Verik's dubiousness of how an Inquisition Branch as I've depicted it could even exist -- and not take the easy way out of dealing with mental illness.
So yeah. Here goes.
All of us *want* it work out, so I think it'll be fine. :)
All of us *want* it work out, so I think it'll be fine. :)
Heh. Yeah, there is that.
Good post, good post! Are y'all gonna spend the day de-trapping the hex?
The interview went well. Hopefully I'll get the assignment!
Good to hear! Aye, my vote is for de-trapping.
Good post, good post! Are y'all gonna spend the day de-trapping the hex?
The interview went well. Hopefully I'll get the assignment!
Thanks, and congrats! Feels good to nail an interview, for sure. Hope you get it!
Taisper will go along with what the group wants to do w/r/t exploring versus de-trapping.
+1 Taisper!
I'm cool with de-traping. Berrin will think it's a bother but a necesary bother. So be warned! He might grumble ;)