Thoughts Please

Saigo · Post by **Saigo** » Tue Nov 13, 2001 10:20 am

We don't. We turn him in or string him up. I hope none of our players' characters are that stupid. Could be an interesting side quest, though -- the hunt for the traitor, and the quest to redeem the guild's tarnished reputation. Hell, think how much fun it could be to play the hunted character!

I'm afraid too many players are too concerned with having the game go perfectly, exactly the way they've planned it. Difficulties, surprises, and imperfections should be part of the game. No character is perfect, and no character is played perfectly. We should stumble some along the way. We should have to work to recover from our mistakes. Paladins especially, since living by the dictates of his god is the hardest thing a man can do. Look at the Bible. In a whole book about holy men, how many of God's chosen were able to live perfect lives?

Sorry for the sermon, these are all thoughts I had this morning. I'm probably going to play a paladin for my second Argyle character, just so I can role-play the spiritual struggle. The holy man who wants to know, "Lord, why me? Why is it so hard to do what you tell me?" I want him to live by my belief that he should do the best he can, err on the side of good when necessary, and atone for his inevitable mistakes.

Nippy · Post by **Nippy** » Tue Nov 13, 2001 1:49 pm

You may be right, I suppose I am being very metagamy about this...

Saigo · Post by **Saigo** » Tue Nov 13, 2001 3:31 pm

Originally posted by Nippy:
<STRONG>You may be right, I suppose I am being very metagamy about this... </STRONG>

I don't know about that.

You have an ideal in your head, and you think your character should live by that ideal. You're right, he should.

But, IMHO, you, as a player, should know from the start that the "world" may not make it easy for him. You shouldn't try to protect him from the world, he should have to protect himself. An odd distiction, I know, but an important one.

And, from another viewpoint...in literature, the most interesting characters are the ones that have to overcome internal and external conflict. I want my character to be as interesting to play as the ones I enjoy reading about, so I will set him up with a complex, sometimes contradictory, personality.

BTW, are we the only two interested in this topic?

[ 11-13-2001: Message edited by: Saigo ]

Nippy · Post by **Nippy** » Tue Nov 13, 2001 3:43 pm

I think it may well be us only!

I think sometimes people, I know I do, forget that your character is exactly that. A character. It is designed as a seperate entity to you and does things differently, that's what makes me love RPG's.

average joe · Post by **average joe** » Tue Nov 13, 2001 4:17 pm

No sirs. I'm very much interested in this topic, and have followed it very closely, seeing as it is an important decision for the guild. I'm just letting you two speak your minds.

The decision i've come to for myself is that our guild should be a force of good. It should also be open to all alignments. However, as our characters don't technically "know" alignments in game, if we discover the evil intent of one of the Banshees, our catch him in the act, then we should work to stop him, using whatever means necessary. If we discover an evil alignment, that is no reason to persecute our brothers, however, unless they act accordingly to it. A paladin must come to terms with how he interacts with an evil-hearted Banshee on his own. My character, a traveling friar, will associate with evil characters, but not criminals. In fact, he will work to thwart criminal activity if he believes it is his place to do so, and that includes against his own Banshee brothers.

My mind is made up. Everyone should think on it, and then we should make our collective decision.

Tamerlane · Post by **Tamerlane** » Wed Nov 14, 2001 12:19 am

OK, good/neutral guild.

It doesn't affect me (True Neutral) however we won't be forced to change other members alignments.

EDIT- However one must remember that there are more good guilds then evil ones. Having that neutral element would make us stand out.

[ 11-14-2001: Message edited by: Tamerlane ]

Xyx · Post by **Xyx** » Wed Nov 14, 2001 12:11 pm

Damn! I posted some huge and incredibly wise and insightful reply to this very interesting thread yesterday... Or, at least I thought so. It obviously didn't make it.

I'll just repeat myself for a bit then.

Me, as my character, I plan to keep bugging each Paladin in the guild until I'm told exactly who is Evil and who isn't.

Too paranoid (or too much common sense, depending how you look at it) to give this up.

(One of the nicer things about those Paladins; at least you know they don't lie to you.

)

My character won't sleep quietly before all Evil has been driven from the guild, and is innately wary of all "rogueish" types.

I'll play a special brand of True Neutral myself. Always try to do what I (that is, my character) consider to be the "right" thing, which may or may not (quite) be what others consider "right". Nice to animals, but pretty vicious to those deserving enough.

As player, I won't mind a bit of Evil in the guild. Keeps things interesting. As long as things don't get too disruptive to the guild's coherence, that is. Argyle is a dangerous enough land with plenty of Evil already.

Saigo · Post by **Saigo** » Wed Nov 14, 2001 3:47 pm

Originally posted by Xyx:
<STRONG>As player, I won't mind a bit of Evil in the guild. Keeps things interesting. As long as things don't get too disruptive to the guild's coherence, that is. Argyle is a dangerous enough land with plenty of Evil already.</STRONG>

That's a good attitude for a player to have. I believe that well played good characters will take care of any trouble!

And well played evil characters will avoid calling unwanted attention to themselves.

I saw your reply to the paladin discussion in the Snakepit, BTW. Very insightful.

Thanks fo getting that info into the topic -- it was one of the things I hoped to see when I started it.