So, I'm kind of concerned with the recent actions of the group. Having failed to secure Happs, they immediately rode off to the thorn river camp and after a rough fight (lots of ranged badguys no ranged good guys). They killed the bandits but managed to capture Kressle.
This si problematic given her reputation. Heck, I decided that when they dropped her with a slumber hex adn tried to grapple her after dealing some damage the bandits turned on one another to try and off her, while a few more loyally minded ones turned on them. It was ugly but in the end they managed to stabilize the insane woman and finish the others.
That's when the session ended.
So this, combined with the inquisitor's penchant for torture and execution means for a a rather brutal interrogation. So, should she be belligerent in the face of torture and execution? Or should she cowtow despite a likely inevitable death?
Inquisitor is LG, buuuuutttt not for very long.
I would not punish someone with an alignment shift due to using torture, if the information is vital enough to warrant such an act. In this case, finding information on the Stag Lords fortress is not a race against the clock, it's mostly a convenience for the players. You might want to make that clear for the Inquisitor before he brings out the knives.
Execution is another thing entirely, such is the law and the punishment for banditry. Only a repentant bandit might sway a good character, and Kressle is anything from repentant.
As for Kressle, I played her as a professional. She was a damn good bandit and she knew it, but she wouldn't die for the Stag Lord and had become increasingly disgruntled by the man falling into alcoholism and violent tendencies. Thus she surrendered when they brought her close to death, and were willing to strike a deal with them. Information about the Stag Lord and his operation, in exchange for her freedom. They accepted, but added that she'd have to be a prisoner at Oleg's for a month while they dealt with the bandits and made sure her information was legit.
I'd do the same in this situation, try to strike a deal. If tortured, I suppose she could cave in, but I'd give her some innate bonus to a will save against the torture due to her stubborn/sociopath nature. The way she argued with my players, she'd be more willing to die and not giving them to information out of pure spite, so they'd better cut her a good deal.
To be fair I'm not planning to alignment shift yet. Generally the charcter has thus far been very Lawful just not particularly good. The issue here is that the torture came first, and bloodily, rather than as a last resort. The bandits were repentant, but being worked over with a knife by a psychopath will make anyone beg for forgiveness by any and all gods that are listening. Kressle is looking to get the same treatment.
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She might not be unrepetent but it doesn't mean she can't lie, or play to the player's good graces, play up that she has only known the way banditry from her upbringing. She might recognize the player's as the new up and coming power of the land and she may try and get into this new racket. Yeah, what Gentleman said, have her try and strike a deal.
Ah, I re-read, the inquisitor is going quick to the knife. heh, oh boy. Yeah, I can see that being uh... interesting especially with the LG alignment.
So, I'm kind of concerned with the recent actions of the group. Having failed to secure Happs, they immediately rode off to the thorn river camp and after a rough fight (lots of ranged badguys no ranged good guys). They killed the bandits but managed to capture Kressle.
This si problematic given her reputation. Heck, I decided that when they dropped her with a slumber hex adn tried to grapple her after dealing some damage the bandits turned on one another to try and off her, while a few more loyally minded ones turned on them. It was ugly but in the end they managed to stabilize the insane woman and finish the others.
That's when the session ended.
So this, combined with the inquisitor's penchant for torture and execution means for a a rather brutal interrogation. So, should she be belligerent in the face of torture and execution? Or should she cowtow despite a likely inevitable death?
Inquisitor is LG, buuuuutttt not for very long.
I played Kressle as a complete hard-ass, psychopath b*+@#. Of course, she knew the party included a paladin and was generally good-aligned, so she didn't fear torture. She also didn't fear death, and her last words were: "So are you going to talk me to death or what?" I made her totally irredeemable. Looking through these threads, though, you'll find lots of versions of Kressle. I don't see her capitulating easy, but anything beyond that is fair game.
As for the lawful good torture machine inquisitor you've got, I'd talk to him about alignment shift. It's not a punishment, just an acknowlegement of reality. He doesn't and shouldn't lose any powers from a shift to lawful neutral. If torture is your first or even a favored option, you ain't lawful good.
We've been conditioned by years of Jack Bauer and other TV and movie "heroes" blithely threatening and using torture to extract easy confessions from evil villains who always tell the truth when tortured. Popular culture both enhances our faith in the effectiveness of torture beyond all credibility and makes it seem less dehumanizingly nasty than it really is. I can see a lawful good character occasionally, in extreme situations, being tempted to use force to extract information, if doing so was absolutely necessary to save innocent lives or advance the greater good and there were no other viable options, but as a favored tactic? Not in this boy's world.
Actually, the whole inquisitor class screams lawful neutral at me, rather than lawful good. I think it could be played lawful good, but with greater difficulty.
Bit of an update. They ended up diplomacizing/intimidating kressle. In the end she gave up a surprising amount of info and even more when they promised to allow her to keep her life (but not her freedom(. The inquisitor than had the guards at the outpost build a small stockade adn went to the work of preaching at her. She's listening, kind of. The inquisitor's sexist views are off putting.
In the end she'll hire her services out to the guards. Preferring to work as a trailblazer and huner for them rather than join any chucrch since both faiths in the area are rather sexist.
In the end she'll hire her services out to the guards. Preferring to work as a trailblazer and huner for them rather than join any chucrch since both faiths in the area are rather sexist.
If she's looking for a bit of faith, there's always Gyronna... Perhaps a little recruitment is in order? ;)
Something similar happened in my game. They downed Kressle and some of the bandits, but didn't manage to kill her, so they carted them all back to Oleg's, interrogated them a bit, handed them over to the guards who'd arrived there, then went off exploring. They actually put her in charge of the rest of the bandits, as a work party working to improve the fort.
If you have suggestions, I'm certainly open to them.
Well my players usually forget that there is an option to deal nonlethal damage, so most of the npcs die. Its actually even worse, after the attack on their camp, an Kressels famous last charge that knocked the party summone, the party ranger decided to have some fun and hunt the half dozen thugs that escaped into the forest.
Bad idea to split the party, but it´s really tough to beat an elven ranger specialized on forests at night in a forest.
The torture thing is really kind of distastefull, and it should be the last resort for a LG character, not just a convenient choice. On the other hand the PCs are tasked to put all those lawless criminals to the sword...
Uh, a LG character torturing? That would not fly in my campaigns, not for a second. LN immediately, with LE and forced character removal from player control not far behind if he'd keep it up.