Warforged Armor Master 3| AC 19 T 11 FF 18 | HP 37/37 | F +7 R +2 W +1 | CMD: 17 | Init +1| Perc +0
Jarot:
Servitor listens to the alchemist speak of his troubles, and its troubles, and generally just stares at Jarot. Its eyes stare unblinking, unflinching, just meeting Jarot's gaze. "Thank you friend Jarot. I... need time to think on this." Servitor walks off slowly, peeling bug corpses from its metal frame.
Servitor takes the remaining trip and celebration quietly.
Perception:1d20 ⇒ 2 Sense Motive:1d20 ⇒ 3 Sense Motive:1d20 ⇒ 13
After some time, he approaches Jarot. "Friend Jarot, may we speak?" Servitor retreats to its room, and quietly sits down, and begins to repair itself.
Same note as Jarot, spoilering, but anyone's free to read. :)
Jarot:
"Friend Jarot. What happened to Razor does not appear to be what is bothering me. I have been contemplating my actions, and I have been seeking to rid the world of all who took Friend Bonal's life from him. Yet despite riding the world of most of the attackers and Razor itself, why do I feel no... completion? I have fought and defeated dangerous criminals on several occasions now, but it gives me no sense of purpose, no completion. I was hoping that you could help me determine why this is..." Finding itself incapable of reaching into the deep stab wound left by Razor, Servitor pries its own chest open a bit further with a similar brutality as he did to Razor, though with considerable more effort and pain.
"When I was... born, I signed a contract to work in the mines. Soon, I began to dread every moment following the last. Days meant nothing, all that you did was mine and mine and mine, there was no sun to tell the passing of time. I hated every moment as me and my brothers toiled away in the dark with no end in sight and no personal driving force. My brothers all spoke of past occupations, dreams for the future, things I could not understand. Eventually I was caught in one of the many mine collapses, my frame and strength kept me conscious through the event. And I could only help but wonder 'why?' Why was it that I had to suffer so? Why did my brethren have to suffer so? Once they dug us out and began repairing us, I asked one of the guards who worked there. His response defines me, as he simply told me it was my place to do so.
It may seem a simple thing, but suddenly I understood. Humans could not have survived the cave in, humans could not have survived the pockets of poisonous gas that we found from time to time, humans do not have the strength or endurance to mine effectively even. For every ounce of suffering I had felt, I spared a human the same suffering two-fold, and this is what I was built for. This was the reason I was given life, it is my place, to suffer in the stead of you fleshwalkers, what clearer meaning could I derive from being 'warforged?' As your tale tells, it is of little joy for the soldiers who fight in the wars, or even for those who just support them to be in the war. So I was created, my people were created, to excel in battle and suffer in the place of your kind. Yet in doing so, find purpose, and lessen the suffering of the world.
This is why I cannot abide Razor and those who think like it, they do not understand their place. And because of this they lay blame upon fleshwalkers for the troubles born from their own hearts, stealing, killing, rebelling for a satisfaction they will never find in their blindness. Never once, do they realize that the role set out before the warforged is one of the greatest boons of our condition: we never have to suffer as your kind does, wondering what meaning our lives have. This is why I do not understand. I have removed Razor, and his ilk from this world. Yet why do I not feel satisfaction? Why do I not feel as though I have completed my purpose once more? I removed suffering, yet more than ever I feel incomplete for it.
If your research could be furthered at all through me Friend Jarot, do not hesitate to ask. I am warforged, I am Servitor, it is my duty and my joy to serve, doubly so for a friend."
Okay, moving forward to the coming entrance of Adir, I leave it in your hands whether Servitor and Jarot are still talking when he arrives, Jarot.
Craft Blacksmithing:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 19
As the knock resounds on the door, Servitor stands and opens the threshold. Before Adir stands the massive warforged, chest splayed open and painfully similar in look to the end that Razor met. "Friend Bloodmoon, please, enter."
Warforged Armor Master 3| AC 19 T 11 FF 18 | HP 37/37 | F +7 R +2 W +1 | CMD: 17 | Init +1| Perc +0
Servitor tries to bring any information it can to bear on the situation, though its mechanical mind is frazzled and can't find much anything of use to say.
As the ship floats on, Servitor runs towards the stern of the ship and shouts off as loud as it can. "DO YOU HEAR ME RAZOR!? I WILL FIND YOU! YOU WILL REGRET THE DAY YOU LEFT YOUR PURPOSE, FOR I WON'T GIVE YOU THE CHANCE TO RETURN TO IT! EVER! I'LL MELT YOUR PIECES INTO SLAG, AND THEN I'LL HAVE SMITHS MAKE JEWELRY FROM YOU!" The warforged fires its remaining bolts towards the downed ship as it bellows its threats, not knowing if they are heard. After several moments of dry pulling the bowstring, the warforged drops to its knees, and stares blankly out at the sky.
Warforged Armor Master 3| AC 19 T 11 FF 18 | HP 37/37 | F +7 R +2 W +1 | CMD: 17 | Init +1| Perc +0
It was one of those moments of trauma in which time seemed to flow slower, Servitor closes its eyes as the Provost falls. Brigands, the Captain... Bonal... They're all... so fragile... With this thought, Servitor never felt more estranged. "I'll enjoy killing you fleshlover!" The words pound home the sentiment. Pickaxe, the other miners, these assassins all considered him a traitor... yet who amongst the fleshbound could he be counted amongst? Bonal considered him his friend.
The warforged slung the hammer into its hands, struggling to stay upright on the careening ship. But he did not care. He knew he could never truly be counted amongst either group. He was alone. But there was one mortal sentiment that he could claim as his own: Vengeance. That was something he could still fight for. The Provost gave him orders that he couldn't fulfill until the ship docked, until then, he had to survive. The fact that he'd enjoy breaking these wretches and sending them to the mines was just a bonus. And even as a servant, who could deny him the right to enjoy his work? And as a warforged... this was certainly just his work.
The warforged lets out a roar as it plods slowly forward. "Even the mines could not break me coward, what hope do you have!?" The great hammer drops upon the little warforged in front of it.
Warforged Armor Master 3| AC 19 T 11 FF 18 | HP 37/37 | F +7 R +2 W +1 | CMD: 17 | Init +1| Perc +0
Score! Never underestimate a gamer's ability to take everything that's not nailed to the ground! If this was Shadowrun we could also sell the bodies to organleggers! ...Anyone up for dismantling the bridge and selling the lumber? I kid, I kid!
Warforged Armor Master 3| AC 19 T 11 FF 18 | HP 37/37 | F +7 R +2 W +1 | CMD: 17 | Init +1| Perc +0
Also, hats off to you Mason, this has been one heck of an introduction to a campaign. You set us on our way quickly, personally, and effectively. It's been fun, flowed well, and really has impressed me as far as the obligatory "tutorial level" goes!
Warforged Armor Master 3| AC 19 T 11 FF 18 | HP 37/37 | F +7 R +2 W +1 | CMD: 17 | Init +1| Perc +0
Servitor:
I love it when a good back and forth can get going between player and GM posting.
Servitor drags in Pickaxe with little formality, shaking its head slightly. Cause a scene... truly the world is a mad place that so many would become upset at this restoration of balance. Pushing the captured miner towards the pale human, it speaks. "I am Servitor, from the mines. This is Pickaxe, an escapee who breached his contract and slew some of the mine's guards in his escape. I have been sent to retrieve him and those who he left with, and bring them here when found."
Oh where to begin? Well, most people have given a lot of good advice, but I'll add my spin to the main one people keep bringing up.
Don't Exclude Anyone. Yes, yes, yes, a thousand times yes! Out of your 5 players, only one's having fun if there's a star to the show, that person being the star. So make sure everyone gets some spotlight.
Now, that being said, there's some important caveats.
1. Not excluding anyone is not equal to not giving people the spotlight. This is important, everyone's playing unique characters with unique roles and unique personalities. Sometimes the rogue is going to be the star of the show, doing his rogue thing and leading the party through traps or through the mean streets of the underbelly of the city. But sometimes it's the fighter's job. Or the bard, the poor bard is especially prone to needing some spotlight time in non-dungeon areas. Sometimes it's good to make sure everyone's in the spotlight, but sometimes it's also good to give one particular player a little moment in the sun to let him be the star and the rest of the players ooh and ah over their prowess... and then move on, widen that spotlight to include everyone, and then focus the spotlight on someone else at a different time.
2. Personal plots, hooks, and YOU! This is the diciest thing to do right, but the most beautiful thing when it happens. This is how characters make bonds with other characters. Too many adventures just give this loose conglomeration of adventurers the incentive of money and push them through encounter after encounter, until they're fabulously rich... oh, and they save the world or something.
This relegates players to being a group of people who occasionally shoot banter around, but leaves their characters as little more than a Rogue, Cleric, Wizard, Fighter, etc. The characters get defined by their roles because that's all they're really there for. This is where the personal plots come in, and this is also where so many GMs are going to crash and burn and ruin everything, so be careful in how you do it. I'd give this two main steps to follow, that are definitely broad guidelines more than anything you can really follow to a T.
Firstly, get various character quirks and traits written up and sent your way from the players, then begin incorporating things that'll bring these out in play. For example, I've written a character I'm currently playing as being afraid of lightning. Drow, living underground for 100+ years without ever seeing lightning left them a bit sheltered and terrified of the new phenomenon of the surface. The GM knew this, and in play, the characters were going about trying to investigate disappearances in a local village during a thunderstorm. I was saying that I was holding things together because my characters a grown adult and scarred or not, I'm going to grit my teeth and keep investigating.
This is when the GM said that a lightning strike hit a VERY nearby tree and asked me to roll a Will Save against fear. One failed save later I was running screaming into the nearest building my character could find, frightening the inhabitants and bringing a party in tow who were wondering what the hell just happened. This little instance got a lot of RP between me and the other characters, and suddenly, everyone was invested in my random character beyond "Oracle." This is the seed that gets everyone interested in each other's characters, not just their own.
Once you've gotten a good amount of this done and it doesn't take much coaxing to get the players to say "we sit around at the tavern and chat for a while." This is when you bring in personal plots. Once everyone's involved in say, the Paladin, and is really invested their characters into them. If the Paladin gets a letter from his fiance begging for help as she's being forced to marry the local evil baron, most of the time players are just going to either let the Paladin exit the game stage right, or all go along with it with a sigh because I guess the GM's picked a favorite. But if that level of connection is there, that's when the players all in one voice say "WHAT!? OUR PALADIN'S FIANCE WHO HE'S BEEN SENDING MONEY TO TO HELP HER BUILD THAT ORPHANAGE OF HER DREAMS!? THAT EVIL SCUM! LET'S GET HIM!"[/b] and then ALL the party goes and does their best in the plot, the Bard is telling the of the poor Paladin's fiance and how Baron McEvil is forcing her hand with his evil, the Rogue is sneaking in and knocking out the minister so that the cleric can take his place and stall the sermon long enough for the fighter to distract and lure away the guards at the wedding so that then finally the Paladin can bust in and challenge the Evil Baron to a duel in the middle of the church while the now angry at the Baron crowd cheers and applauds at this sudden and dramatic turn of events.
The personal plot stops really being about the Paladin after a while, because everyone's so invested in what happens that while yes, the Paladin's the star of the show, no one minds and gets their moments too because they're all involving themselves because they feel compelled to defend the Paladin's fiance too.
This is where the stories that people tell come from, this is where people come together and play something that really goes above and beyond anything that a mere video game or what have you can do. This is when the wizard charges his 7 STR into melee combat with his piddly quarterstaff trying to draw enemies away from the fallen fighter while the cleric does the healing. Is it a wise choice? Of course not, but it's one fueled by the emotions of the player, and that makes it far better than just the most logical spell choice for that moment. This is when the players stop the adventure to hold a funeral for a fallen party member. This is when the players have their characters suffer tragedy and take on mechanical penalties because they want to roleplay their character losing an eye instead of just complaining and asking if the cleric can just hurry up and fix it. Once the players are all as involved in each other as they are in their own characters, take time to let them deviate from dungeon crawling and just enjoy their characters as more than just a stat sheet and their loot.
Obviously, the same rule as above applies, even if you give this spotlight sidequest to a character, let them blend into the general cast afterwards, and next time around, unless it's really warranted, choose a different player to be the one in the spotlight, maybe next time the party will be supporting the Cleric's desire to found their own church, or the fighter's desire to reconcile with his father, or the rogue's reclamation of his noble lineage, who knows? But when the characters start being more than just classes and 1 dimension personalities is when you know that your job as GM is just to let the magic happen naturally, sit back, relax, and watch the players write the story for you. That is the hardest thing to accomplish as a GM, but the most rewarding when it happens.
More than a falling of the skill, I think this is a failing of how we pay. Personally, I'd say a refreshing shot of realism could be in order, and we could take a page from Shadowrun.
I'm that setting, the "adventuring party" are presumed to have long periods of downtime between runs. If people applied this to pathfinder or dnd, the guy who's working 9-5 for two months while the rest of the party just sits around and gets drunk in the tavern waiting for something to happen while their money trickles away... well guess who's getting that Vorpal sword first?
Thanks for all the replies so far everyone! Though I must admit, the general consensus over the use of Teamwork feats is making me want to use them in the stupidest ways, like strapping a buckler onto a horse's leg and giving it the "Shield Wall" feat. Not effective mind you, but I'd relish the chance to see the look on a GM's face when you tell him that you and your horse and forming a shield wall...
So, a question has come up in my group recently, a player is looking into playing a Cavalier. With this, several questions have arisen.
1. Assuming a Cavalier and his mount both have teamwork feats, they can basically be a team of themselves, correct? Would this be a viable choice to make?
2. The Cavalier is wondering about ability points for his horse. Namely, the Animal type specify that they cannot have higher than 2 intelligence. If upon level 4 he tries to up his mount's INT from 2-3, does this break the rules and therefore can't happen, or does the horse cease to be a mere animal? And if it does change, what does it change to? Furthermore, if this is a Heavy Horse, and therefore had the advanced template, does this boost now apply and give it 7 INT total?
I can relate to the cleric (and sorcerer if he's raising these complaints as well) on this one. Whilst yes, if you're playing a support class, there's a limit to how much spotlight you can and should have. That said, no one likes to feel like their character is merely one of the struts in the pedestal that makes another character shiny.
So, I'd honestly mimic the voice of a lot of other here, but I say it again for emphasis: Raise your Fighter's defense as much as humanly possible. You've got a rather non-tanky class in the fighter (at least compared to Paladins, Monks in the saves department, Barbarians in hitpoints/DR at this point) but he's serving in this role. Not only that, but he's specifically an archetype of fighter that's not made to tank. At best, he's using Full Plate and a Buckler for his armaments, but that still leaves much to be desired at higher levels. This means he's going to take a ton of hits, not do a good job of soaking them, and then need the cleric/bard to come to the rescue with the healing to keep him on his feet.
It's counter intuitive to some degree, but the best way to take back the spotlight to some degree and unshackle the party from supporting the Fighter is to make him tougher, give him more defense. Invest in some Adamantine Full Plate, that's 3 DR, get his AC as high as possible with as many enchantments as possible, and of course don't ignore the cool spells everyone's already mentioned. Do this and you'll probably find that while he's still tanking for the party, he's less likely to drop after one round's worth of attacks just because that's the way it is. In this way, you can make support characters still support characters, but have a greater range of options than just heal spells on repeat.
Honestly, I think the problem is that most people seem to think that having an alignment means that it must be ever present in its representation.
To take the Half-Orc who catches someone cheating at cards example, the half-orc should still go through a bit of a mental checklist.
1. Hey! That guy's cheating at cards! Y/N
2. Should I reach across the table and get my money back? Y/N
3a. There are other people here, are they likely to call the guards if I start a fight? Y/N
3b. What if I kill this guy? Y/N
4. If the guards do show up, will they side with me? Y/N
5. Can I take the guards in a fight? Y/N
6. Is there any other way for me to one up this guy and get my money back? Y/N
Then Mr. Half-Orc decides that pinning this cheater under his arm and calling the guards himself will get him his money back, and maybe a little extra if there's a bounty, or at least the guy's left over money on the table. Now the original example did specify that this half-orc is stupid, which makes the reaction more credible, but the end game isn't because he's chaotic, it's because he's stupid.
Chaotic characters can make completely lawful choices, and SHOULD do it quite often in fact. It's just that they're far more likely to break the rules when it suits them if they either think that the pay-off far outweighs the penalty/risk, or they think they won't be caught in the first place.
The rogue in the OP's story is the one character who's acting like an actual chaotic character. He steals from a store, probably because he thinks he won't be caught. He gets caught, but then surrenders to the lawful authorities because he doesn't want to be ran through on the spot. He's then probably planing his own break-out/hoping his buddies will spring him/that the courts will be lenient. He's got a mix of lawful and chaotic actions based on what suits his needs, but they have some vague concept of thought behind them, not just "I AM CHAOTIC! YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE COPPERS!"
