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Adam Daigle's thread about factions got me thinking. Is anyone playing a character that would be considered in opposition to the concepts of their faction? The most obvious one would probably be a Paladin of Iomedae from the Cheliax faction. Describe him/her and explain how they got wrapped up with said faction. How has your PA progression fared with this inherent challenge?
I'd say BOTH of my characters fit that description, despite one of them being very soundly rooted in the background of the faction. My first character was made before I had a good understanding of the setting. A human cleric of Iomedae in a Taldor faction. When I first read over the setting blurbs, Taldor seemed the only faction that supported "knights", and that was what I was aiming for. He doesn't get many of the Slight of Hand or Knowledge based faction points, but he's exceedingly popular in groups (8 channel energies/day + selective channeling = no party deaths), and makes for a great faceman when dealing with NPCs (high charisma + Charming trait + maxed Diplomacy ranks).
My second character is a "retired" member of the Ulfen guard, also Taldan faction. None of this "sneak around and hide your faction" nonsense, he has a blue and green surcoat with the Taldan coat of arms on it (and I painted the mini to match)! Ulfen/human, he's 1 level of fighter, the rest in "bard", he's a loud, boisterous (some would say "obnoxious") axe-weilding combat monster, a.k.a. "The Bard-barian". He doesn't hurt for the Knowledge skill faction, but anything requiring subtlety is right out!
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Adam Daigle's thread about factions got me thinking. Is anyone playing a character that would be considered in opposition to the concepts of their faction? The most obvious one would probably be a Paladin of Iomedae from the Cheliax faction. Describe him/her and explain how they got wrapped up with said faction. How has your PA progression fared with this inherent challenge?
Crossposted from the other thread--my Neutral Good Cleric of Shelyn (Qadira Faction).
They basically put a lot of spin on their goals, representing themselves as likeminded individuals who follow Sarenrae (sharing an alignment with Shelyn) and use wealth responsibly to be patrons of the arts and commission many fine works of art. They invited her to tour wondrous works of art and architecture in Qadira once she finished her training in Absalom. Impressed with the beautiful Qadiran architecture, which reminded her of the 'gingerbreading' from back home in Whitethrone, she was blinded to some of the shadier aspects of the Qadiran faction, and she agreed to join.
As she has performed missions for the faction, she is beginning to grow worried about the motives of some within the ranks, as some of these missions have been rather unsavory.
Still, two of her three constant companions among the Pathfinders are also Qadirans, and she seeks to help them see the light and overcome their greedier natures. The last of her companions is Andoran, and she is more than willing to help him with his missions when they further the cause of good and aren't too extremely out there in Chaos-land (cough--Murder on the Silken Caravan). She finds Osirioni interesting and will generally help them as well, but she is wary of Chelaxians due to their devilish ways and of Taldans due to the propaganda from Qadirans (I'm leaving her open to seeing past said propaganda, but so far all Taldans she's adventured with have been snooty obnoxious a#~##*~s, so she hasn't had the chance).
So that's how my Neutral Good cleric of Shelyn who doesn't care so much about money wound up in the Qadiran faction.
Lasair has received all faction points except for twice--once from a gotcha Season 0 mission
This is through a combination of good PR on the part of the Qadirans in her backstory as well as having two fellow Qadirans around to help out with missions (I only get a chance to play at Cons and so always play with the same Rogue, Sorcerer, and Barbarian, the former two of which are also Qadiran).
The main thing isn't that the character has been denying Qadira so much as that she is willing to help out other factions besides Taldor and Cheliax with most missions.
She also once helped a Cheliax faction character collect monster brains when an Andoran faction character swore left and right that the Cheliax faction character's family was going to be tortured to death if he didn't complete his missions (so I guess the Cheliax guy there is also playing against grain in a way that still makes it easy to get prestige). Although she didn't trust the Chelaxian, the Andoran Bard managed to sway her, and magic indicated that the Chelaxian was indeed good-aligned, so she reluctantly agreed, telling him that in the future, she would help him safeguard his family but she cannot condone more acts that further Cheliax's power and ambitions, particularly very sketchy and non-beautiful things involving monster brains. Those two characters were just randomly met at the Con, however, and their players play enough that they are probably already way out of her tier, so that plot thread won't progress.
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My Barbarian/Inquisitor of Erastil refused to complete his mission when he was tasked with assassinating a man via poison. The other Quadiran finished the job without blinking an eye. Later the judge described my meeting with the Quadiran handler and how he was going to give me the faction award anyways since the job was done. I punched the handler out and explained that we would not being doing business together again if they dared to treat me like their hired killer ever again.
It was one of those times that I gladly gave up a PA in the name of roleplaying.
Some people, like one of my friends I play PFS with quite often, absolutely refuse to voluntarily lose a PA. To each his own I suppose.
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 16
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I have a Cleric of Desna/Magus from Cheliax. He's the Chaotic Neutral son of a "noble" Chelaxian house. Worships Desna as a god of Travel and (mostly) Luck. Wields a scorpion whip and True Strikes like crazy (that's his "luck"). Kind of an arrogant punk, but fun and effective.
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I have a Cleric of Desna/Magus from Cheliax. He's the Chaotic Neutral son of a "noble" Chelaxian house. Worships Desna as a god of Travel and (mostly) Luck. Wields a scorpion whip and True Strikes like crazy (that's his "luck"). Kind of an arrogant punk, but fun and effective.
A cleric of a Chaotic deity? Yikes! Given the opinion of them in Cheliax (executed on sight to the best of my knowledge), I bet sparks really fly with the paracountess behind the scenes.
I think you win the thread for being against the grain.