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I am playing a Bard that will be going 4 levels of Rogue (Charlatan archetype) and will be using the Rumormonger talent to cause my DM no small amount of delicious roleplay issues... Muahh Ahhh ahhh (the finger pyramid of evil contemplation). This is a powerful ability but I am having trouble trying to decide what rumors to start and how to use my soon to be new found powers...
Game information
- Playing in standard Golarion world setting.
- All PC's are Bards and we started a Dark Rock Band and all the problems/fun that comes with the title.
- We are currently in the country of Mendev starting a inner sea tour in the near future.
*Note: This is the most fun I have had roleplaying in years we are not Opt for anything other then RP and performing. We almost got rolled by 2 teenager rogues (ran from the fight)
The Band: Tears of the Trog
Dhampir male / CN
*Flaws - due to the bands manager I am addicted to zerk (gamemaster rules for drug addiction)and alcohol. I also started my own scribe business.
- Zqwizl Thunderskock - lead lute
Nordic Human male / Bard - 4 / CN
*Flaws - luvs the large ladies, drinks alot. Starting his own brewery.
- Cokey - Band Manager
Gnome male / Bard (Street Performer) - 4 / CN
*Flaws - addicted to multiple drugs and is embezzling from the band funds.
- Shaffer - drums
Human male / CN
*Flaws - moody and keeps to himself, does not socialise.
- Gruff Harybotum - cowbell / roadie / security
Dwarf male / Bard - 1, Barbarian - 3 / CN
- ? unknown (has not played yet) - lead Bass
Aasimar male / Bard - 1, Sorc (Rakshasa Bloodline) - 3 / CG
Teamwork feat - everyone took it.
- Ensemble
Benefit: When you are performing, allies within 20 feet who also have this feat can aid you with your Perform checks (including those made as part of bardic performance) as if they were aiding another as an immediate action. The allies make their aid another rolls before you make your check. No more than four allies can grant you a bonus with aid another. Allies aiding you do not need to use the same category of the Perform skill that you are using in order to aid you.
- are performance checks are already all high 20's and 30's... Were ROCKIN!
- currently level 4
Bard (Demagogue) - 6 / Rogue (Charlatan) - 4 / Mindbender (PRC 3.5 class) - 10
Abilities by level 10
- At 1st level, a celebrity bard may choose a region where he is famous, and within that region, the locals are more likely to react favorably toward the bard. The bard gains a bonus on Diplomacy and Intimidate checks in that area and to influence people from that area.
At 1st level, this region is a settlement or settlements with a total population of 1,000 or fewer people, and the modifier on Diplomacy and Intimidate checks is +1. As the celebrity grows more famous, additional areas learn of him (typically places where he has lived or traveled, or settlements adjacent to those where he is known) and his bonuses apply to even more people. At 5th level, the region is a settlement or settlements with a total population of 5,000 or fewer people, and the modifier on Diplomacy and Intimidate checks is +2.
Incite Violence (Ex) (aka... Mosh Pit!)
- At 6th level, the demagogue can use his performance to fan the fury of a crowd of people he has fascinated. Using this ability does not disrupt the fascinate effect, but does require a standard action to activate (in addition to the free action to continue the fascinate effect). The bard selects a number of targets equal to his level, who must make Will saves (DC 10 + 1/2 the bard’s level + the bard’s Charisma modifier) or be affected by rage for a number of rounds equal to the bard’s level. The bard indicates who is the intended target of violence (either after using this ability or as part of the performance leading to it) and the enraged members of the crowd immediately attack the target if possible. The target does not need to be present (“kill the king” is a suitable choice) and can be an object instead of a person (“destroy the prison!” is likewise appropriate). Other members of the crowd may follow suit, though they do not gain the benefits of rage. This is a sound-based effect and is affected by countersong. If two or more bards are attempting to direct the crowd against different targets, they must make opposed Charisma checks, with the crowd following the directions of the winner.
Natural Born Liar (Ex)
- At 1st level, when a chaatan successfully deceives a creature with a Bluff, that creature takes a –2 penalty on the charlatan’s Bluff checks for the next 24 hours. This ability does not stack with itself.
Grand Hoax (Ex)
- At 3rd level, the charlatan begins to master the art of the grand hoax and learns to create deceptions designed to bestow harm upon her foes. She gains the rumormonger advanced talent, even though she is not yet 10th level.
Rumormonger (Ex)
- A rogue with this talent can attempt to spread a rumor through a small town or larger settlement by making a Bluff check. She can do so a number of times per week equal to her Charisma modifier (minimum 0). The DC is based on the size of the settlement, and it takes a week for the rumor to propagate through the settlement. If the check succeeds, the rumor is practically accepted as fact within the community; succeeding by 5 or more over the DC decreases the time it takes the rumor to propagate by 1d4 days. A failed check means the rumor failed to gain traction, while failing by 5 or more causes the opposite of the rumor or some other competing theory involving the rumor’s subject to take hold.
Convincing Lie (Ex)
- When a rogue with this talent lies, she creates fabrications so convincing that others treat them as truth. When a rogue with this talent successfully uses the Bluff skill to convince someone that what she is saying is true, if that individual is questioned later about the statement or story, that person uses the rogue’s Bluff skill modifier to convince the questioner, rather than his own. If his Bluff skill modifier is better than the rogue’s, the individual can use his own modifier and gain a +2 bonus on any check to convince others of the lie. This effect lasts for a number of days equal to 1/2 the rogue’s level + the rogue’s Charisma modifier.
Honeyed Words (Ex)
- Once per day, the rogue can roll two dice while making a Bluff check, and take the better result. She must choose to use this talent before making the Bluff check.
Need some ideas on how to put my Rumor abilities to good use...
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- Gruff Harybotum - cowbell / roadie / security
Needs more cowbell.
I would work the rumors in your town that you have businesses set up in. Tear down your competition and build up your companies reputations so you can reap all that filthy lucre...
Start a rumour that the queen of mendev is actually a man in drag.
During WWII the British had an entire division devoted to the engineering of false information, the Americans soon followed suit with the help of one Robert Knapp, he wrote a "Manual" if you will on the art of Rumor Engineering that was declassified in 2004.
Enjoy
Otherwise my thoughts:
Criteria for a good rumor.
<> The rumor is easy to remember
<> The rumor plays on the current interests and circumstances of the target
<> The rumor exploits the emotions or beliefs of the target
In other words sometimes rumors are a situational thing, your like the con-man of the early 30's, smooth talking and know what to say and when to say it, but it also means you know who to talk to and when to listen
"The rumor plays on current interests of the target."
Alice Longworth said it best "If you haven't got anything nice to say about anybody, come sit next to me."
Example Rumors [What you wanted from this Thread all along]
Think adventure hooks, it really depends what you want to achieve.
<> The local Tavern-keep has been sprinkling his mead with an exotic spice [Illegal][Addictive][Against Tradition][Sales-"I happen to have a supply of such an elegant tasting spice"]
<> A well on the outside of town is said to grant any women who throws in a sum of jewels youth and beauty...[Monetary] [Entrapment] [Superstitious] [Personal worth "If a lady/lord finds themselves offensive perhaps they have low self esteem, build rumor around this flaw]
<> A famous Painter/Composer has died, his work now worth thousands [Lots of said paintings/sonnets in my wagon]
<> "Did you hear they say another has past the trial of the Star Stone, used to be a [Insert profession], now hes a god, goes by the name of [Insert Name]." {{I have personally used this one, let me tell you its great for character development, the new persona can be anything you want, my character went through a Han Solo style transformation, well, he has yet to marry into royalty}}
Those are just a few I can think of, they may seem trivial, but remember one rumor can just be a strand in an elaborate web of lies.
take leadership for the followers.
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During WWII the British had an entire division devoted to the engineering of false information, the Americans soon followed suit with the help of one Robert Knapp, he wrote a "Manual" if you will on the art of Rumor Engineering that was declassified in 2004.
EnjoyOtherwise my thoughts:
Criteria for a good rumor.
<> The rumor is easy to remember
<> The rumor plays on the current interests and circumstances of the target
<> The rumor exploits the emotions or beliefs of the targetIn other words sometimes rumors are a situational thing, your like the con-man of the early 30's, smooth talking and know what to say and when to say it, but it also means you know who to talk to and when to listen
"The rumor plays on current interests of the target."
Alice Longworth said it best "If you haven't got anything nice to say about anybody, come sit next to me."Example Rumors [What you wanted from this Thread all along]
Think adventure hooks, it really depends what you want to achieve.<> The local Tavern-keep has been sprinkling his mead with an exotic spice [Illegal][Addictive][Against Tradition][Sales-"I happen to have a supply of such an elegant tasting spice"]
<> A well on the outside of town is said to grant any women who throws in a sum of jewels youth and beauty...[Monetary] [Entrapment] [Superstitious] [Personal worth "If a lady/lord finds themselves offensive perhaps they have low self esteem, build rumor around this flaw]
<> A famous Painter/Composer has died, his work now worth thousands [Lots of said paintings/sonnets in my wagon]
<> "Did you hear they say another has past the trial of the Star Stone, used to be a [Insert profession], now hes a god, goes by the name of [Insert Name]." {{I have personally used this one, let me tell you its great for character development, the new persona can be anything you want, my character went through a Han Solo style transformation, well, he has yet to marry into royalty}}
...
All I can say it Outstanding! Great ideas... and thanks for the link. The class ability seem like it could be very powerful but I have no idea how to wield that power to my (and the groups) benefit. The character is "dark natured" self centered and egotistical as well as narcissistic but he is not evil. His goals are Wealth, Fame and Power that comes with all the trappings.
@ Squawk Featherbeak
- Yes sir. I took about every 3.5 leadership feat I could think of.
Class Champion
Improved cohort
Fanatic followers
+ the DM is allowing the Band to gain a large base of minions (huge fan base) using the minion rules out of Exemplars of Evil. Since all of our performances are already off the skill chart in the book already.
oh what would be epic is if you had one of your members take alchemist. you could pot some money for him to create hundreds of simulacrum to further spread your word.
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oh what would be epic is if you had one of your members take alchemist. you could pot some money for him to create hundreds of simulacrum to further spread your word.
Woah... I will have to look into that. I already have an idea forming thanks to Fox-Paw about becoming the head of my own hoax/religion. Having alot of my "avatars" running around would really add to that...
lol. for the alchemist
Strength mutagen= steroids
Dexterity mutagen= meth
Constitution mutagen= viagra
Bombs=molotovs
Actually I just realized just how far certain rumors can spread.
For your listening pleasure
Admittedly though the extent of public reaction to the above event is debated.
As for further inspiration I recommend reading up on famous con-men.
MORE EXAMPLES
<> MON DIEU! The greatest [Insert Profession] of Taldor is coming here to our fair city {Its you by the way} quickly we must prepare our finest wares, who knows perhaps he will buy from us designs/scripts/weapons/armor. {So someone important is coming to town, all the townsfolk try their hardest to be noticed by you your grace, gifting you and your entourage with food, items and arts of the finest craft, either way if you don't like them now return in the night to steal them.}
<> WANTED:DEAD A warrant for the immediate assassination/execution is out for the local LORD/LADY but as a fair individual you will allow them to live, providing they pay half the bounty you would have received, those fops will give anything to keep on living.
<> HOW DECADENT. Boar,Pheasant,Vegetables, no matter from your kitchen they will taste of the divines. {Buy extremely cheap ingredients, kill a pigeon and serve it up in an elegant garden restaurant, strangely enough people will often be fooled by appearance alone, you could be taking farm grown peasant snacks and selling them to the inner seas elite for an inflated price}
Woah... I will have to look into that. I already have an idea forming thanks to Fox-Paw about becoming the head of my own hoax/religion. Having alot of my "avatars" running around would really add to that...
I'm glad I could inspire good sir, be wary however of aiming to big to fast, as con-victims tend to become very upset and unpredictable once they realize they've been had, the problem with founding a new organized or in this case "street fairing doom callers" XD
is that your bound to attract the wrong attention, spread to quickly and become localized in the streets the other religions may think you a cult of Demon worshipers or just evil doers in general. Spread to office with or without the wrong moral sets and suddenly the other religious organizations are declaring a Holy war on you... and they have paladins and clerics and horrible abominations made from canine demon offspring blood.If I have inspired you to take the road to divinity [A road which for some odd reason I seem to inspire a lot of players to take] I recommend reading "Masks of the Living God" Pathfinder Module.
[P.S. The inspired to divinity road, in my case, the track record isn't good, sigh, so many dead bards.]
So do you have any races you want to mess with? Saying things like Kobolds all know the secret of making the best ale and they use 17 secret ingredients that they won't share with anyone?
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So do you have any races you want to mess with? Saying things like Kobolds all know the secret of making the best ale and they use 17 secret ingredients that they won't share with anyone?
From a pure financial standpoint I bet you could use this ability to make alot of gold. Being a Dhampir and chaotic... were having some trouble in Mendev with the Crusaders... I like to mess with them but their a pretty powerful group... lol
So do you have any races you want to mess with? Saying things like Kobolds all know the secret of making the best ale and they use 17 secret ingredients that they won't share with anyone?From a pure financial standpoint I bet you could use this ability to make alot of gold. Being a Dhampir and chaotic... were having some trouble in Mendev with the Crusaders... I like to mess with them but their a pretty powerful group... lol
Gold is the way to go... with enough gold you can purchase anything you need, problems just tend to go away. Crusaders... if they give you enough problems higher Red Mantis assassin to take care of the problem causer.
I try a rumor based on how the band is tied to a prophecy (in the distant future) that will bring about the closing of the world wound. The Crusaders would then get behind you and you could turn a possible enemy to an ally.
I try a rumor based on how the band is tied to a prophecy (in the distant future) that will bring about the closing of the world wound. The Crusaders would then get behind you and you could turn a possible enemy to an ally.
This, this is brilliant.
Gold is the way to go... with enough gold you can purchase anything you need, problems just tend to go away. Crusaders... if they give you enough problems higher Red Mantis assassin to take care of the problem causer.I try a rumor based on how the band is tied to a prophecy (in the distant future) that will bring about the closing of the world wound. The Crusaders would then get behind you and you could turn a possible enemy to an ally.
Wait a second isn't this the plot behind Metalocalypse? ;)
Ok a rumor about the band. I actually used a "recorded music" was a Demon Lord's attempt to destroy bardic music as well as all music in the realms before, you could always use the "We're here to make sure that no evil (or good, you make the call) destroys the power of Music with Rocks in it!"
dot, meet thread. i'm sure you'll get on well together.
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The obvious rumors to spread would be (false) tales of the band's amazing exploits. How in their spare time they slew evil dragons, saved the fair maidens, etc. If people are terrified of you they might be less likely to attack you (and therefore you'll have fewer fights you'll have to run away from, hehe).
Say that at the beginning of the next millenium, a virus will break lose, corrupting all magic to reset their effect to the beginning of the last century, when 1e was far from invention.
Or say that in a few years, the Sargavan calendar ends, predicting the end of the world. Make a stage play musical out of it called 2012.
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The obvious rumors to spread would be (false) tales of the band's amazing exploits. How in their spare time they slew evil dragons, saved the fair maidens, etc. If people are terrified of you they might be less likely to attack you (and therefore you'll have fewer fights you'll have to run away from, hehe).
Now this I like... my PC is very egocentric so having everyone think hes a Big Bad Hero Guy would fit him to a T.
use minor rumours to add weight to an alias that you or a member of your party is working on. EG: *did you hear that a tax inspector's been sent to audit (insert local lord here)* followed up by a visit from a party member with bulk tax-related paperwork (forged), a royal letter of introduction (forged), and a big bag to carry away all of the 'due' taxes. ranks in disguise and bluff are almost certainly somewhere in your party, and combined with glibness (for your anti-lie detection needs) and mislead (so anyone scanning you for alignment thinks you're an upstanding and law-abiding citizen), and you've got a scam going that could get you some good money. follow that up with a rumour that the auditor was robbed and killed on his way back to the local monarch and that his taxes are in the hands of bandits/mercs/opposed group and you might be able to get some serious mobilisation from the guard/millitia against a target of your choice... and then get a gig keeping morale up (for a healthy fee of course. maybe give them a 5% discount as you are supporting óur brave lads' ect. ect.). try not to overdo it, and always give your rumours time to sink in before making them into reality.
you could do worse than to plant rumours of some massive treasure or other near the town, bringing in treasure hunters and adventurers for you to either rob blind or pick up as contacts (preferably both, especially if you plant rumours of something that might concievably be the source of the adventurers' woes EG: chaotic fey and the like).
as you also want power, write anonimous letters to minor nobles and the like with orders for them to carry out and dire threats if they resist. spread good rumours about those that carry out your will and bad rumours about those who defy you. preferably have the letter make several stops before it reaches you, so that it can't be traced.
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use minor rumours to add weight to an alias that you or a member of your party is working on. EG: *did you hear that a tax inspector's been sent to audit (insert local lord here)* followed up by a visit from a party member with bulk tax-related paperwork (forged), a royal letter of introduction (forged), and a big bag to carry away all of the 'due' taxes. ranks in disguise and bluff are almost certainly somewhere in your party, and combined with glibness (for your anti-lie detection needs) and mislead (so anyone scanning you for alignment thinks you're an upstanding and law-abiding citizen), and you've got a scam going that could get you some good money. follow that up with a rumour that the auditor was robbed and killed on his way back to the local monarch and that his taxes are in the hands of bandits/mercs/opposed group and you might be able to get some serious mobilisation from the guard/millitia against a target of your choice... and then get a gig keeping morale up (for a healthy fee of course. maybe give them a 5% discount as you are supporting óur brave lads' ect. ect.). try not to overdo it (Right ;-0), and always give your rumours time to sink in before making them into reality.
Sweet Lord I like that! USO for the troops... nice
as you also want power, write anonimous letters to minor nobles and the like with orders for them to carry out and dire threats if they resist. spread good rumours about those that carry out your will and bad rumours about those who defy you. preferably have the letter make several stops before it reaches you, so that it can't be traced.
Yes I believe you are right the snobbiness of some of the locals could be met with this tactic.
as you also want power, write anonimous letters to minor nobles and the like with orders for them to carry out and dire threats if they resist. spread good rumours about those that carry out your will and bad rumours about those who defy you. preferably have the letter make several stops before it reaches you, so that it can't be traced.Yes I believe you are right the snobbiness of some of the locals could be met with this tactic.
obvious power leaves you a target, and often gets you stuck in a guilded cage. be a puppeteer, use the public as both your stick and carrot, and don't get lazy. if you use this tactic you will be making powerful enemies, and they will be looking for you. best have a fall guy, or maybe several. i'd suggest that you create a second identity as part of the staff of a minor noble, and use your cover to make sure the messages arrive to him safely. once you have him under your thumb, you force him, through your letters, to send letters to another minor noble. once he's under your control anyone tracing the letters will run into him (and his security detail, which will have increased as you ramp up his paranoia), then if they question him instead of shooting first and asking questions never they'll find they have to do the whole letter tracking all over again. this gives you time to respond, turning the public against the investigators or hiring assassins via your backup scapegoat. then if they find your backup and you have the misfortune to be in the house at the time (Hey, everyone slips up once in a while, it could happen!) then you're just Sally the maid, and you don't know nothing about all this, no sir! not your place to ask questions!
in summary: have your entire scam network disposeable and preferably unlinkable to you, and have an out in case the impossible happens. a scroll of teleport enchanted to read as a non-magical laundry list (illusionary script and Magic aura to mask the other enchantments) is probably worth carrying around, assuming you've got enough use magic device ranks to make use of it.
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obvious power leaves you a target, and often gets you stuck in a guilded cage. be a puppeteer, use the public as both your stick and carrot, and don't get lazy. if you use this tactic you will be making powerful enemies, and they will be looking for you. best have a fall guy, or maybe several. i'd suggest that you create a second identity as part of the staff of a minor noble, and use your cover to make sure the messages arrive to him safely. once you have him under your thumb, you force him, through your letters, to send letters to another minor noble. once he's under your control anyone tracing the letters will run into him (and his security detail, which will have increased as you ramp up his paranoia), then if they question him instead of shooting first and asking questions never they'll find they have to do the whole letter tracking all over again. this gives you time to respond, turning the public against the investigators or hiring assassins via your backup scapegoat. then if they find your backup and you have the misfortune to be in the house at the time (Hey, everyone slips up once in a while, it could happen!) then you're just Sally the maid, and you don't know nothing about all this, no sir! not your place to ask questions!
in summary: have your entire scam network disposeable and preferably unlinkable to you, and have an out in case the impossible happens. a scroll of teleport enchanted to read as a non-magical laundry list (illusionary script and Magic aura to mask the other enchantments) is probably worth...
Excellent idea! You have a very devious mind good sir.
Excellent idea! You have a very devious mind good sir.
i live to serve. keep us posted on how it turns out, this sounds like it'll be worth watching.
i've realized that i haven't actually been on topic with my posts, as i've been suggesting ways to use your ability rather than actual rumors. i shall now attempt to atone for my failures.
1) Merchant X (who's shop is affiliated with nobleman A, who's been annoying you recently) is selling sub-standard merchandise. <as a successfully implemented rumor is considered true by the majority of the population, this can kill off a business. rinse and repeat against multiple investments of nobleman A to cripple his income.>
2) Merchant Y (Who you own a share in) is giving the best deals in town.
3) You know all those bent merchants? they were all working for nobleman A, and he's in bed with *insert rival country/citystate/trade hub here*. they're obviously trying to hurt us and soften us up for invasion/trade war/colonization. we have to do something about it before he can cripple our livelihoods and leave us out begging on the streets.
Tell them that a great hero (your name) is coming to town. He is a great entrepeneur and shops at only the finest locations, and expects the best of the best deals. Only a fool would turn down the grace of selling him items at half price or less, because his pockets overflow with coin, and he always remembers a friend.
Return in a week.
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I knew this class feature had potential... but it may well be one of the most powerful abilities in the game (indirectly-non combat).
@ FuelDrop... I am most certainly going to increase my Scribe business and decrease the competition.
@ Shah Jahan The King of Kings... Oh Yeah! I am a Rock Star, I don;t plan on paying for the fluff stuff if I don;t have to. Free Carriages, best rooms and meals + entertainment.
@ Gnomersy... DM gave me the Evil Eye when I mentioned this thought process, much to my enjoyment but i do so luv my character that i think i will give this a pass or wait til I am 20th level. Nice though.
@ Squawk Featherbeak... End of the world prophecy. hmmm will think on that.
@ mbauers... Yeah Baby! I like this... I mean no ones actually seen myself or the band do these amazing things or even talked to someone who has seen them but they all believe that The Princess was saved, the Evil Sorc and his Dragon were defeated and maybe the King owes me a favor for destroying these threats in his kingdom? Muahh ahhh ahhh...
Most excellent people...
Borrowing from Dr. Who: "Don't you think she looks tired?" which... brings down the government and wackiness ensues.
up your disguise skill. in party it means that you can have awesome outfits for your concerts (it's all about putting on a show, after all), while for rumourmongering it'll prevent anyone from working out that you're the one who's been dissing your competition... and may even save you from being lynched by a mob of angry scribes.
it's often worth remembering that if you go around your daily buisness as someone else, then when you get an angry mob after you you'll be able to hide in plain sight by simply losing the false beard and not dropping your voice an octave. just food for thought.
for your scribe business: after ruining their repuation and driving the price down, quietly buy up the competition and allow them to keep their independent names. slowly hire loyal but morally ambigus fans to run and scribe there, and order them to make copies of anything interesting that passes through. soon, you know everything that gets scribed in the city, giving you a massive amount of profitable intel (Even the mundane stuff can be discreetly sold off to the writer's competitors/enemies/cucolded wives. sell the secrets, not the copies, and from an infomation broker identity made specifically for the purpose.)
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for your scribe business: after ruining their repuation and driving the price down, quietly buy up the competition and allow them to keep their independent names. slowly hire loyal but morally ambigus fans to run and scribe there, and order them to make copies of anything interesting that passes through. soon, you know everything that gets scribed in the city, giving you a massive amount of profitable intel (Even the mundane stuff can be discreetly sold off to the writer's competitors/enemies/cucolded wives. sell the secrets, not the copies, and from an infomation broker identity made specifically for the purpose.)
That's an awesome idea. Having knowledge of everything going on in a city will give me opportunities to use rumors to create more wealth and power.
That's an awesome idea. Having knowledge of everything going on in a city will give me opportunities to use rumors to create more wealth and power.
what's the name of the city? i need to know so my characters can avoid it like the plague!
I just noticed something. You're a level 4 rogue. Rumormonger is an advanced talent for level 10 rogues.
I just noticed something. You're a level 4 rogue. Rumormonger is an advanced talent for level 10 rogues.
he's using an archtype to get it early.
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what's the name of the city? i need to know so my characters can avoid it like the plague!
That's an awesome idea. Having knowledge of everything going on in a city will give me opportunities to use rumors to create more wealth and power.
Were in the country of Mendev.
Egede (City)Size - Metropolis
Population - 39,410
The port city of Egede (pronounced eh-GEHD-eh) is located on the banks of the Lake of Mists and Veils, and is the second-largest city in the Theocracy of Mendev.
@ Squawk Featherbeak - The archetype gets it as a class feature earlier... like i said the more i look at it the more broken the power is...
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Alas well don't wait too long after all if you do you'll have to include a situation where the elves crash wagons full of gunpowder/alchemist's fire into the watchtowers! =P Well you can do the same thing with economics if you don't think starting a war would end well.
@ Gnomersy... DM gave me the Evil Eye when I mentioned this thought process, much to my enjoyment but i do so luv my character that i think i will give this a pass or wait til I am 20th level. Nice though.Most excellent people...
DM knows I am going to claim a lot of power as my PC sucks in the physical arena but he pretty much said that if I try to cause a war the game will come to a quick end. He is being pretty generous about letting us go off on crazy self story arcs, I don't want to throw his story completely off the tracks...lol
have you considered using rumours for bait? you know, luring a bunch of heros into assulting dungeon X to get treasure Y, only to have a bunch of bandits waiting in ambush when they stumble out with the magic whatever in their grasp. the bandits being in your employ, of course.
also remember rule of aquisition #37: peace is good for business. starting a war will knock about your customer and fan base, dropping the amount of gold you can milk from them every week. if anything you should be working your arse off to stop any war bigger than a border dispute, as people who're living in fear tend to buy essentials, not scribing and musical tickets. war will hurt your bottom line, and will make it harder to slip those anonimous little notes to the nobility (as with a war on they'll up security to keep out assasins and spys.)
as an aside, this thread is a blast. lets all work to keep it going until it stops being fun.
security first, start a rumor that there is a gold dragon in your midst, then start another one about a black dragon in your midst.
People who hear both will be convinced that there is a dragon in your midst, even if they don't know which one, and the confusion will help you if you do evil and good deeds alike.
you could also spread some rumors of coolness like "they bit the head of a bat once in a show", under normal townsfolk actual information between town is scarce, except in form of rumors.
If you like a chuckle from everyone (and some cash) rumors like "entry fee is tax deducable" might work.
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Fall guys are a good thing. I plan on having several along with alternate personalities/disguises that can be dropped as cut aways.
I think the great thing about a good rumor (if done right) is that you never have to back it up. Someone's always heard it from someone else who... Etc... I admit I have to be careful specially if I go with the divine connection but that the fun of role play never knowing what's happening next.
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If you want the rumour to have life within the game then it's got to be something that gets back to you from time to time. Someone suggested earlier that you say that the queen is really a man in drag; funny stuff, but within the game how is that going to affect things other than background chatter? To screw with the GM the rumour has to be tied to the scenario or to the adventuring party so that the GM is forced to work with it. "Backing it up" is like using corroberating evidence in a bluff to get the +10, it makes it harder for the GM to just ignore the rumour or to have the NPC's figure out the truth.
I think the great thing about a good rumor (if done right) is that you never have to back it up. Someone's always heard it from someone else who... Etc... I admit I have to be careful specially if I go with the divine connection but that the fun of role play never knowing what's happening next.
I think I am following you... I work better with examples. To be honest I have never really used bluff, I am still about 4 levels from my rumor power so I have to do some reading.
So what your saying is keep the rumor believable enough and within my scope of power that if I ever do need to back it up I can?
Dotting. There are some good ideas in here. Good luck!
SGH