Some bits of EoA seem a little... ...sanitized.

[Timespike]

Spoiler:

The queen's evil. Korvosa leans evil. So why on earth isn't Trinia given the Guy Fawkes treatment and the crucified instead of just being hauled in front of a headsman? A beheading is an AWFULLY merciful punishment for regicide, especially from a monarch that's supposed to be as bad as Ileosa. Furthermore, her capture/escape seems a little bit tame as well. It wouldn't strain believability at all for me to have Hellknights just butcher their way to her, and then burn down the entire neighborhood she was hiding in (taking care to minimize escapes) in order to send a message. If Ileosa is going to be the villain of this AP, she and anyone working for her need to be worse than Gaedren in terms of sheer malevolence. Right now she's poisoned someone and ordered a beheading. Gaedren feeds living children to an alligator. Slowly. Huh?!

[James Keegan]

Well, I guess I'll get in the spoiler action...

Spoiler:

The thing about Ileosa is that she may be trying to establish herself as a palatable monarch that can get the job done in order to quell dissent quickly. A quick beheading may send the message that "Okay, it's taken care of. There's your killer. Get back to work." Also, just because she's evil and willing to kill for what she wants that doesn't mean that she's a sadist. She's greedy, selfish and indolent willing to sleep and kill her way to the top; but it's the luxuries of the station that attract her, not the acts themselves. Gaedran on the other hand is a petty, disgusting old man that preys on those weaker than himself; he likely has a pathological need to feel powerful before his victims die, leading to the gruesome deaths of orphans.

Not every evil character is a giggling maniac or ogre mig-mug-tug enthusiast.

[Timespike]

James Keegan wrote:

Well, I guess I'll get in the spoiler action...

** spoiler omitted **

Spoiler:

I'd have an easier time taking that logic if Trinia wasn't accused of regicide. I don't think there was a single medieval society where that particular crime didn't come with a huge amount of torture as part of the sentence. She doesn't need to be a sadist herself or do it for its own sake, but she should be presenting herself as so supremely furious and/or out for justice that harsh punishment is required to balance the scales. She could even leave, not wanting to punish herself by watching the "distatsteful business." And I still think the Hellknights could have killed a few dozen people and burned down a neighborhood as part of the manhunt for her. If they're being set up as incredibly ruthless, fearsome and dangerous, you need to have an atrocity now & again or it's all just rumor & tough talk. Nothing says "Don't [CENSORED]with the queen" like knowing that if someone does, they and everyone within a mile of them when they're caught is dead.

[James Jacobs]

Since everyone's into the spoiler tag in this thread...

Spoiler:

The thing to keep in mind is that Korvosa is Lawful NEUTRAL, not lawful EVIL. Same goes for the Hellknights. Outward displays of evil are not tolerated in Korvosa, so if the queen were to simply crucify or butcher Trinia without any sort of preamble of a trial (as much of a sham it may be), the city would revolt against her. The city's already in a delicate situation as it is, and the queen knows that. She knows she can't take big steps or anything yet; she has to keep up her facade of non-evil for a while as she eases the city into shape for what she wants to do to it. Trust me, as each adventure progresses, public displays of Queen Ileosa's evil will be appearing frequently...

It's also worth noting that Pathfinder, and D&D in general, isn't actually "medieval." It's also got a lot of inspiration from the ancient world, and frankly, a lot of inspiration from the modern world. Pathfinder's not in the business of depicting a solely "medieval" society, as much as it is an overall fantastical society that has some medieval elements to it.

[Nicolas Logue]

I can't tell you how happy this thread topic makes me after Hook Mountain Massacre...I never thought I'd see the day. :-)

Believe me, if James hadn't (wisely) removed Rolth's entourage of seriously f~%@ed up experiments from the Dead Warrens, this topic would read something like "Nick Logue is a Foul Blight on the Universe and Needs to be Erased From the Face of the Planet."

Those sick little puppies will find a home in Blood of the Gorgon. One more reason to sign up for Open Design ya'all! ;-)

[deathsausage]

Spoiler:

But the guide to Korvosa lists the penalty for both murder and treason as torture, death. Bear in mind the lesser penalty is listed first. Also, torture shows up at the high end for lesser crimes too. It seems that Korvosa has kept death above torture as a higher penalty. I'm not feeling particularly squeemish, so in my game there will be an assembly of hooks and rat boxen and red hot metal things before Blackjack makes his appearance. But still, mixed signals.

[Shem]

Nicolas Logue wrote:

I can't tell you how happy this thread topic makes me after Hook Mountain Massacre...I never thought I'd see the day. :-)

Believe me, if James hadn't (wisely) removed Rolth's entourage of seriously f%@!ed up experiments from the Dead Warrens, this topic would read something like "Nick Logue is a Foul Blight on the Universe and Needs to be Erased From the Face of the Planet."

Those sick little puppies will find a home in Blood of the Gorgon. One more reason to sign up for Open Design ya'all! ;-)

Nick,

Wish I could get my hand on those experiments. I would love to throw them back into the mix...

[Cheddar Bearer]

Right let the spoilering commence

Spoiler:

While the execution may seem a bit tame Korvosa struck me as the sort of place where acts of sadism such as public torture would be frowned upon even if they were within the law. I think the guide to Korvosa even mentions that the last public torture took place a while ago and was only used on a (I may be wrong as I don't have the book to hand) pretty nasty serial killer.

Also the way the execution seems to be staged as a social afffair for the cities nobles makes me think they wouldn't want public torture. Nothing ruins a good upper-class social event like having to watch
someone go through hours of agonizing torture. With the notable exception of the Arkona I don't imagine any of the nobles would really have the stomach for it. Also I don't think that it would really be the first impression Ileosa wanted, she already has a reputation as an evil b*tch the last thing she'd want is her first act to be the public torture of someone. Again these are just my impression/personal take on Korvosa

[DedmeetDM]

Spoiler:

Also keep in mind that in medieval times a hanging or beheading was not always a quick or painless death. More often than not the headsman or hangman would take a payment from the family of the accused to make the death quick (by sharpening his axe or placing the rope so that it would snap the neck as opposed to choking). If the accused had nothing to pay the executioner with, he may work with a dull axe or a rope placed to choke instead of snap necks. So losing your head might involve more than one chop.

[Kruelaid]

Nicolas Logue wrote:

...Nick Logue is a Foul Blight on the Universe and Needs to be Erased From the Face of the Planet...

You said it, brother.

[vikingson]

Spoiler:

Also, let's keep in mind, that the queen wants to be an accepted ruler, not a petty tyrant. And as far I read it, she has the lynching mobs all whipped up, aiming for a less direct, but no less final fatality on Triana's part.

Aoh, and there might even be evil tyrants and villains who can be merciful about putting someone to death, even without a shred of compunction. Does anyone consider murdering off an innocent scapegoat any less vile without publicly torturing her first ? It is murder, which pretty hard to top as a crime....

And besides - why should"evil" always automatically mean sadist, ruthless and pitiless ? I mean, even a certain 1930ies evil megalomaniac loved his dog (very kindly), was a doting uncle and a vegetarian for reasons of conscience.... the same guy in fact who had millions of innocent civillians gassed, starved and worked to death.
Now, do his "likable" aspects make him any less evil overall ? Villainy can hide pretty well behind acts of kindess and appearant mercy, generosity and benevolence.

I am actually pretty enticed by the queen as a major villain, since she offers many possibilities to really keep the issue of "who is the BBEG" open for a long time...

[Ke'ale]

James Keegan wrote:

Well, I guess I'll get in the spoiler action...

** spoiler omitted **

Spoiler:

James Keegan is right--the Queen wants the whole regicide thingy cleaned up quick and tidy while seeming to be a capable, get- the-job-done kind of girl. IMC my PCs haven't even realized the queen's hand in the king's death; they still think the senshal did it!

[vikingson]

Ke'ale wrote:

James Keegan wrote:

Well, I guess I'll get in the spoiler action...

** spoiler omitted **

** spoiler omitted **

besides the BBEG is probably smart enough to realize that a public torture and execution (think "braveheart" )of a not universally hated convict, even less so a probably likable woman, will only create a martyr for all those harbouring any doubts.

[roguerouge]

Nicolas Logue wrote:

I can't tell you how happy this thread topic makes me after Hook Mountain Massacre...I never thought I'd see the day. :-)

Believe me, if James hadn't (wisely) removed Rolth's entourage of seriously f@~#ed up experiments from the Dead Warrens, this topic would read something like "Nick Logue is a Foul Blight on the Universe and Needs to be Erased From the Face of the Planet."

Those sick little puppies will find a home in Blood of the Gorgon. One more reason to sign up for Open Design ya'all! ;-)

What is this Open Design of which you speak? Link?

[KaeYoss]

I think he was held back by ten oxen, otherwise he would have invented something that had made the Wheel look like a mere stern admonishment.

[Norgerber]

Open design refers to the Pathfinder version of 3.5 that they've begun to roll out to the public for feedback.

http://paizo.com/store/downloads/pathfinderRPG/v5748btpy8253

[Cpt_kirstov]

Norgerber wrote:

Open design refers to the Pathfinder version of 3.5 that they've begun to roll out to the public for feedback.

Nope - Open design is a pig adventure Nick's doing through another board... basically

1)you buy in to have access to the board and a copy when the adventure is done,
2)A Designer posts a topic that will be included in the adventure
3)You give your feedback
4)your feedback gets used when writing that actual adventure.

I beleive this is how it works.... the price was a little too much for me to handle at the tiem

[Nicolas Logue]

roguerouge wrote:

Nicolas Logue wrote:

I can't tell you how happy this thread topic makes me after Hook Mountain Massacre...I never thought I'd see the day. :-)

Believe me, if James hadn't (wisely) removed Rolth's entourage of seriously f@~#ed up experiments from the Dead Warrens, this topic would read something like "Nick Logue is a Foul Blight on the Universe and Needs to be Erased From the Face of the Planet."

Those sick little puppies will find a home in Blood of the Gorgon. One more reason to sign up for Open Design ya'all! ;-)

What is this Open Design of which you speak? Link?

Open Design!

Good times!

[Dark_Mistress]

Nicolas Logue wrote:

Open Design!

Good times!

The link goes to a page that only has ... Service Unavailable ... on it. Not sure if this is a temp thing cause of the time of night/morning it is or not. But I thought I would mention it.

[Cpt_kirstov]

Dark_Mistress wrote:

Nicolas Logue wrote:

Open Design!

Good times!

The link goes to a page that only has ... Service Unavailable ... on it. Not sure if this is a temp thing cause of the time of night/morning it is or not. But I thought I would mention it.

it works right now

[KaeYoss]

Don't know. I can be quite patronising without paying money.