Brainstorming: Redemption ...

[pennywit]

One of my players wants to explore redeeming an NPC. I could use some thoughts on way to accomplish this both from a story standpoint and from a system standpoint.

Redemption:

In their current political situation, a separate "kingdom," the Protectorate of the Elk's Antlers, set up shop in the Temple of Erastil. The Protectorate's leader, Dame Yeanna, swore fealty to the players' kingdom and is now their vassal.

Meanwhile, within the players' kingdom, Akiros and Dovan are both on the ruling council. Dovan, as spymaster, uncovered Akiros's backstory and informed the Baroness (in a private meeting) that Akiros is a rapist, murderer, and oathbreaker, and that the Temple of Erastil was interested in him.

At last session, the Baroness revealed this info at a PCs only Council meeting, and they confronted Akiros about his past. He spilled most of it -- the murder, the doomed love, and his decision to abandon Erastil's faith.

After some discussion, the group decided to keep Akiros on and not turn him over to Erastil's faithful for justice, given his service to the kingdom. He's still kind of taciturn and bitter about his experiences, but he hasn't run away yet.

In email after the session, the baroness said that she wants to explore ways to redeem Akiros and bring him back, if not to Erastil, then back to goodness. In the second part, she wants to explore ways to get the Church of Erastil to call of its hunt for Akiros.

I like the story arc. I like the ideas. But I could use some input on how to go about these from either a story perspective or a system perspective. I want the arc to be difficult overall, and I want a possibility for failure. But I'm not sure of the best way to do it. Any ideas from the big brains here? What might the involved NPCs' attitude be? And what might Erastil's church seek in terms of justice?

[Andostre]

I don't know that this is the answer, but I would read through Pathfinder's Relationships, Reputation and Fame, and Honor optional rules, and see if any of those inspire some mechanical system for redemption. Knowing the nuts and bolts might then make the story requirements easier.

[Spatula]

D&D isn't the system one would generally go to for a mechanical framework for this sort of thing. Usually you just cast a spell or roll a skill check if you can't rely on DM fiat. That said...

Perhaps you could use the Diplomacy rules, where Akiros is Hostile to the idea of turning himself over to justice. Put a limit on how often the Baroness can make checks, and impose penalties for failed checks (maybe she only gets 3 chances at each attitude to improve it, and a botch counts for 2). When he gets to Helpful, he sees the error of his ways and is willing to atone.

Maybe there are baby-steps along the way, such as gradual alignment changes at each step. And perhaps you can mix it up by requiring different skills at different steps, or require a combination of skills at each step (Sense Motive to learn about where his head is at right now, Diplomacy to change it, Know: religion to deepen his understanding of Erastil, etc.).

Set the rules up and let the dice fall where they may.

[T.A.U.]

Since there’s no set hierarchy for the church of Erastil, a redemption is something concerning more the person directly involved, the local churches and the god himself. There’s no central church for the faith, and so there’s no real top-down direction.

One local church could be searching for him, but another one could simply accept this lost child.

Brainstorming:
- A fanatic inquisitor is searching for A. and both the party and the local church must decide if trust him or confront/oppose him incurring in the consequences.
- A quest comes from the vassal kingdom, where A. should prove that he is worthy of the God and their forgiveness. The PCs could volunteer to help him in this quest. Doing so, and succeeding in it, make the vassal kingdom to ask for annexation to the PCs Kingdom.
- A trial, where a neutral Priest must be the judge in name of Erastil (ie. Jhod Kavken or the high priest of Restov). The original church of A. is trying to prove he is guilty (maybe they send an inquisitor?), the PCs or their local church are trying to prove his innocence.

[BornofHate]

What if several clergy of the Temple of Erastil were murdered and Akiros was given the chance to redeem himself by finding the murderer? He would surely seek the PCs help in his redemption.
This would be a great way to introduce some evil sadistic fey, and if they haven't gone to the keep of the dancing lady then all the better because half of the work is done for you.

It might be fun to build Akiros as a cohort role for this and the potentially future .

Surely the risking of his neck to rid the fey would help to increase his standing within the church. It would also help to foreshadow the entire campaign.

[redcelt32]

One cool think you could do for redemption is require them to be cleansed by a Sin Eater, then make the Sin Eater a Dark Fey. What might he require for his services? What dark paths might the characters have to tread to meet his price?

This would be a great way to show the players exactly how DIFFERENT the value system of Fey are :)