I am trying to figure out what to do. If I RP my character correctly, she would leave the party. But I don't want to roll another character. So I am trying to figure out how to make this work.
I have a LN (lawful in that she follows her own, personal code) seasinger bard whose long-term goal is to be an information broker in the shackles. To that end, she's been trying to make friends and contacts throughout the Shackles. Being trust worthy is her brand. She's started a small secret society of bards that she calls, "The Deep Water Society" it's a fraternity for pirate bards to share information and look out for each other. It's very, very small... I've only recruited a few. But she hopes one day to grow it and be a power in the Shackles in her own right.
Anyway, the rest of the party isn't acting in a way that's good for making allies and being trustworthy. We were sent by The House of Stolen Kisses to investigate what's going on with Jolis Raffles. We were supposed to get him to go back to what he does (which we interpreted as being getting him back to freeing slaves) or replace him.
My character made friends with Raffles underlings and, in exchange for an audience with Raffles, promised no harm would come to him.
We were invited to a party. It was fun, we were mingling, I ran into some old friends and then, a fight broke out at the party. It was between an NPC friend and an NPC who killed a friend of ours, Rosie Cusswell (who happened to also be a friend of Jolis' first mate). Jolis' first mate joined the fray, and I, who wanted to help my friend and Jolis' first mate, started inspire courage. My GM said that he wouldn't consider it me getting directly involved in the fight, but kind of like I was egging on "my side."
Then Jolis attacked our NPC friend by firing a crossbow at him. Jolis had a wager on the fight and with his first mate and me joining the side he was betting against, he figured he'd even things out so he didn't lose the wager.
Then, for reasons I don't fully understand, our monk did a sneak attack on Jolis and basically killed him with a flurry of blows and a ki point. Our captain laid in the killing blow. Then all hell broke lose and to make a long story short we ended up killing just about everyone in the room... or should I say my party did. I kept inspiring and added haste, but also tried my best to diplomatically end things, especially with the first mate who my character felt was a friend and who was now really angry at the whole party for killing her Captain. I just didn't roll high enough to stop things. My character has been taking hits from the first mate, but won't hit back, she just keeps trying to talk. I am almost dead, but can get out of things if I want. I have an escape plan.
We ended up having to leave the game in the middle of the melee and will pick things up next game. But I am the only character highly damaged and my guess is we will get though this and win the fight. Of course, we would have killed Jolis Raffles and all his guests except the handful of NPC friends we had there who joined our side.
But here is the thing, there is no way my character would stick with her crew after this. It goes against everything she believes, everything she is, and everything she is working for. Of course, I can just ignore it and keep playing, but I really am more of an RPer and story person than stats and such.
What can I do RP-wise to justify staying with the crew?
I am thinking about insisting that the party get Jolis rezzed or she walks. He might be mad at us afterwards, and he was still harmed, but it's the only thing I can think of that my character would accept to make things right.
There is one other hook. My character is searching for her lost uncle and the party has some leads. It would help her to find him by sticking with the party... but I don't know with the way I play her that she would compromise her personal code, even to find her uncle faster.
Also, this is the second time the crew has betrayed someone. I (and my character) wasn't around the first time it happened. My character didn't like it, but since she didn't give "her" word and wasn't there, she overlooked it.
But what if we can't do that? If no one can rez in the town (or if all of Bag Island turns on us for killing their leader and we just have to run)? How can I justify staying with the party/crew? I need some ideas to salvage my character.
Thanks!
That’s rough; I’m sorry you’re working with such a trigger-happy group. Although, that’s kind of the trend you get in this AP. I personally think the NPCs in this setting are a bit too weak for how likely the PCs are to be violent toward them.
I may have missed it, but what exactly is your character’s code?
As an info-broker in a rough and tumble place like the Shackles, you may just need to accept violence and death as an occupational hazard. If Raffles does get rezzed, you could repay him with some of your groups’ secrets for the trouble. Your party might not like that, but it would be a great way to keep to your character, and could maybe make a decent deterrent for them doing something like this again.
You could also look at it like this: with how powerful your group is, and looking at their political inertia, it’s clear that important things are bound to continue to happen around them. As unsavory as it is to stay with them, you know they’re also your best source for valuable info, which you will need plenty of if you ever hope to grow your fraternity to the heights you envision.
Thanks for the ideas. You last sentence is a good concept! Thank you!
It was really weird why my party went nuts. Only the alchemist was as shocked as I was and kept trying to end things (he tried to heal Raffles but couldn't get near him). I am not sure if the other players were getting bored with the social interaction and RP or what (I tend to be the only person who seems to put much stock in things like charisma and associated skills and this whole gaming session was RP, not fighting).
I've never written down my character's code, I just knew of a concept I had and how she would act. But having to write things down, her code is something like this:
Keep her word.
Avoid lies.
Will cheat if necessary (especially against enemies) but prefers not to.
Will not kill an unarmed foe (but will take advantage of one).
Never harm an innocent.
Not use torture unless absolutely necessary.
Never kill for pleasure.
Help those in need so long as the cost isn't too high.
Work with groups, especially if it serves her needs or if it is profitable.
Never betray a friend or family.
Work within the law whenever possible (pirates code and laws of her homeland for her, not other people's laws).
Respect authority, self-discipline, and honor.
Good and evil are two extremes, best not to trust either too much
Most things can be bought for a price, but not everything.
Maybe you should discuss with the players and the GM first, to see if you are all on the same page.
Most RPG problems tends to solve better when you discuss outside the game.
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Thanks again! I sent my group an email about all this. No one replied yet (but that's not unusual). Our GM often tells us to discuss things between sessions so we know what we want to do when we play and they often wait until a few days before the next game.
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Well, the problem solved itself. My character died. We finished up the battle this week and had to escape the city since all the guards and citizens turned on us. My character didn't make it. The problem she had was she was very squishy. I built her as a party buffer, so she didn't do a lot of offensive damage. No one had her back during the fight and she was taken out by someone with an ax that did about 25 points of damage each round. I only had 51 HP.
I have a new character now. A druid. I need to polish her up before the next game.