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OK this is a bit of a complex issue. I play a NG Taldan Cleric of Shelyn. He is a proud member of the Taldan faction but at the same time he's a bit, well, fluffy.
This past weekend I was at Paizocon UK (great con Dave by the way :)) and I played this character. I took one look at the faction mission, went "nope! Not doing that!" and instantly gave the faction mission back to the GM. Basically the mission was distasteful to the character and there was no way he was doing it.
At no point in the scenario did I attempt this mission and only because there was another Taldan on the table was the mission completed. I refused the prestige award (although the other Taldan got his award) and everyone was happy.
This isn't the first time I have refused to do a faction mission on moral grounds and I actually find it one of the best parts of playing the character, a conflict of Taldor as it is vs. Taldor as it should be.
That said it has occurred to me that this attitude towards faction missions could end up costing the Taldor faction in the long run.
What is your opinion? Should I be allowed to refuse my faction mission on moral grounds or should I try as much as possible to complete the faction mission regardless of whether it is totally out of character for my character to do so?
Thoughts?
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Absolutely. Whether a character attempts a faction mission or not, for whatever reasons they may be (moral, superstitious, squeamish, etc), is completely up to the character/player.
But yeah, if you refuse to try the mission for whatever reasons, it will negatively affect your faction. And it should.
RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 8
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What is your opinion? Should I be allowed to refuse my faction mission on moral grounds or should I try as much as possible to complete the faction mission regardless of whether it is totally out of character for my character to do so?
Thoughts?
You can refuse any mission given to you. The only penalty is the lack of prestige. Does it hurt your faction in the long run? Possibly, but doesn't representing a different faction hurt them more?
So what, Taldor missed out on 1 prestige this time, but they can get more from your character in the future. If you're a different faction, they can't. So why complain? Other Taldan players might flip you crap, but hey, at least you're role-playing.
So let me be the first to say thank you for playing your character. How refreshing :)
Regional Venture-Coordinator, Mediterranean
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Personally I'd say continue to play that way. Prestige gained doesn't really impact on the faction at present so players achieving faction missions or not only benefits the individual characters.
In the future, faction missions may have more of an impact on the meta-plot but if that is the case they should also better reflect the aims of the faction itself. If you find that your character's way of thinking does fall further from that of the faction then it may be time to consider a faction change.
But at present, Taldor isn't suffering from your refusal to accept the mission.
Incidentally, I've seen this come about with other factions too. Andoran in the main.
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To echo Eric, I've seen this quite a bit at tables I've run. I think I have a competitive streak or something, I don't know, but I almost always do the missions, even when squeemish about it. And I actually feel guilty about it later (I mean a sort of gamer guilt, not something I lose sleep over).
I think the BEST choice is to maintain character integrity--faction be damned.
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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I try to gravitate my characters goals to the faction.
Rey: Protecting pathfinders from being casually expended. (shadow lodge)
Mayim: Wanting to see Taldor rise to crush Qadria. Also hoping that a woman takes the throne. (Taldor)
Talyn: See the Society help contain the worst of the relics out there. (Grand Lodge) In fact, Talyn almost didn't complete a faction mission because the target was described as a Taldan general. (He's from Taldor) That changed when said target tried to kill him.
I *want* grey on grey missions. Andorans poisoning a slaver's associates as a warning. Cheliax helping orphans for PR. Grand Lodge members covering up for the lodge. Shadow Lodge knifing rogues who left their friends to die, etc etc.
My only concern with the missions isn't the occasional objection to Taldor/Cheliax/Andoran/Osirion/Qadria/Grand Lodge/Shadow Lodge/Lantern Lodge. My concern is the Silver Crusade. To keep them 'equal' in the chance to earn prestige game, they should have some ethically questionable missions, but how do you do that with a goody goody faction?
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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I can understand refusing a faction mission. I don't think you can refuse the Fame points, though.
And it matters. I know of a least one boon that only works for PCs who haven't reached a particular Fame thresh-hold. If a PC could refuse Fame points, that boon would never expire.
RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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I'll say this, though: Choosing a faction can be a bit sticky for good-aligned PCs. Silver Crusade missions can sometimes make you feel embarassed at how goody-twoshoes they can be, but even the "nicest" of the other factions will occasionally order assassinations or other things that a hero might find unseemly.
The gap between Disney and Batman is a large one, and a lot of good-aligned PCs will find themselves making tough decisions when picking a faction if they fall into that range.
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So play your character as you wish, though if you start seeing a lot of future missions that go against you PC's believes then you would have a good in game reason to change factions.
There is one thing to think about though. When there are more then one of you in the same faction in your group many times those in the same faction will work together to get their mission done, and if a mission came up that you had the ability to do but others of the same faction in your group did not they may get a little upset with you In character and out if you refused to do it.
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OK this is a bit of a complex issue. I play a NG Taldan Cleric of Shelyn. He is a proud member of the Taldan faction but at the same time he's a bit, well, fluffy.
This past weekend I was at Paizocon UK (great con Dave by the way :)) and I played this character. I took one look at the faction mission, went "nope! Not doing that!" and instantly gave the faction mission back to the GM. Basically the mission was distasteful to the character and there was no way he was doing it.
At no point in the scenario did I attempt this mission and only because there was another Taldan on the table was the mission completed. I refused the prestige award (although the other Taldan got his award) and everyone was happy.
This isn't the first time I have refused to do a faction mission on moral grounds and I actually find it one of the best parts of playing the character, a conflict of Taldor as it is vs. Taldor as it should be.
That said it has occurred to me that this attitude towards faction missions could end up costing the Taldor faction in the long run.
What is your opinion? Should I be allowed to refuse my faction mission on moral grounds or should I try as much as possible to complete the faction mission regardless of whether it is totally out of character for my character to do so?
Thoughts?
Non-issue.
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Venture-Captain, California—San Francisco Bay Area South & West
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I can understand refusing a faction mission. I don't think you can refuse the Fame points, though.
And it matters. I know of a least one boon that only works for PCs who haven't reached a particular Fame thresh-hold. If a PC could refuse Fame points, that boon would never expire.
They'll still get fame points for completing the main mission, though. So at most they're delaying the inevitable.
And, in any case, I don't see anything wrong with refusing a Fame point for not participating in a faction mission. If you give the character the faction point because there just happened to be other characters from the same faction in the party, why stop there? Give the Silver Crusader Fame points for Cheliax, too - after all, there were Cheliax players in the group, and they achieved their faction objective!
If refusing a fame point has negative consequences for the faction, I see that as a good thing - it shows that the leadership of the faction is out of touch with the rank and file. Maybe that would be an acceptable state of affairs in an authoritarian faction, but it was exactly this sort of thing that brought the (revised) Shadow Lodge into existence.
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What is your opinion? Should I be allowed to refuse my faction mission on moral grounds or should I try as much as possible to complete the faction mission regardless of whether it is totally out of character for my character to do so?
Thoughts?
Continue as normal. The worst thing you could do is play out of character imo. If Taldor fails because of insubordination and/or conflicting views, it fails.
Doesn't really matter. I have this bad feeling Taldor is getting the axe anyway, despite the results from this year. I have a feeling that a faction or two is getting the axe in season 4.
Venture-Captain, California—San Francisco Bay Area South & West
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I have been in the situation where I have had to refuse a faction mission. My goody six shoes Cavalier/Cleric is Silver Crusade and was playing an older module and therefore the mission was an Andoran one. There is no way Merisa is going to assasinate anyone unless they are known to be evil (not just doing nasty things).
There was an Andoran in the group and they finished the mission. I didn't refuse the prestige because I did not realize that was an option (very new player at the time) but will, if it happens in the future. I am glad that Silver Crusade was created bacause a truly good character would have a major problem picking one of the original 5 factions IMO.
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man I hope Taldor does not get the axe. The "Fallen Empire trying to rebuild" is too classic to cut out of the mix. Besides Lady Morilla's rise makes for a great parallel to the upcoming ascension of Princess Eutropia in Taldor.
Of course, the death of the Crown Prince and the strong possibility of civil war within Taldor when that occurs could be a lead in for Taldor's exit from the Society.
Or Cheliax could make a move to ally itself with those behind the events at the Grand Convocation, seeking to spread Infernal influence to additional planes through an existing organization.
Or the Silver Crusade could finally have enough of all the back stabbing and plotting of the other factions and break away on moral grounds.
Or ...
As to the OP's question, play your character as the concept you set out dictates. If your PC would find the mission going against his or her beliefs, then don't do it.
Director of Brand Strategy
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When designing and developing faction missions, we can't always predict every possible PC and her particular moral hangups. That means there will always be someone who may have a problem with a given mission when trying to stay true to her PC's character. Going forward, however, the ability for players to improvise missions that complement the faction's season-long goals should allow PCs with objections to assigned missions to make up that missing prestige with a creative solution.
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The "Fallen Empire trying to rebuild" is too classic to cut out of the mix.You mean Osirion? ;)
Nah, different flavor entirely. Taldor has more of the "Rome in decline" flavor with a good dash of pre-revolution France to it.
Osirion, while similar in some ways, just does not have that feel ... more of a "help, I've fallen and I can't get up". ;)
Seriously though, Osirion has always had more of a "Rebuild through rediscovering that which was lost in ages past" flavor, which is nice (most of my characters are either Taldor or Osirion faction), but it really isn't the same.
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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.. I didn't refuse the prestige because I did not realize that was an option (very new player at the time) but will, if it happens in the future.
Again, I don't think you can refuse prestige, Wendy-Ann, any more than you can refuse XP. You can decide to never use the prestige, but I don't think you have the option to refuse the Fame, for reasons I explained above.
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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I agree with Chris,
Think about it from this POV, the factions don't really care who actually did the work. They care that the MacGuffin got found. So it's not so much "Bill did all the work. Don't give Ted credit" as "Bill and Ted went out and got us the plot ball."