Ah! What Edition to use?

[MichaelSomething]

In this seemingly strife-full time-frame, It's time for me to continue my ongoing series where I present a strange situation and ask you what edition of D&D would be best for using it in!

This time I'll describe it in 3.5 terms.

Your "party" consists of yourself who is a high level sorceresses, a high level (female) artificer, and a (female) high level bard (with a splash of druid), and oddly enough, a (male) low level expert with low charisma but usually high wisdom.

Now the expert wasn't always part of the "party." The expert scored a wish do being a mistreated nice guy and he wished for himself and the bard to be together forever! Now the bard is suck hanging out some low level guy and due to "never split the party" you and the artificer are stuck too!

Luckily, it turns out things aren't too bad. The expert isn't really that bad of a guy and it turns out that he and bard are actually a great couple! However, due to their natures, their relationship level is at "kindergarten" and is progressing very, very, very slowly.

You want to change that! Surely you can't find some way to speed them along? Too bad the artificer has the exact opposite idea and is trying to destroy the relationship! This looks like war, and every war has tactics.

Tactics use by you and the artificer include but not limited to...

-Mind controlling the expert
-Love potions
-Threatening the expert (to either pursue or not pursue)
-Using a golem to threaten the expert (to not pursue)
-giving love adice
-going on trips in hopes romance will bloom
-using magic to support the expert in his attempts to woo the bard
-using magic to mess with the expert
-etc.

Now what edition to use? 4th Edition and it's jack of all trades skill challenge? Or the endless options and spells of 3rd Edition? Or maybe the make it up as you go along joy ride of 2nd or 1st Edition?

 

[bobhayes]

You resolve all of this with roleplaying, which you can do whatever system you're in.

The system is for resolving combat, establishing economic ground rules, providing consistent monster stats, and other crunchy nitty-gritty stuff.

The roleplaying part uses the rules modules that come preloaded in between each players' ears.

This is roleplaying. System is irrelevant.

 

[Keefe the Thief]

I'd say either pure roleplaying or 4e style skill challenge. DON'T use anything that needs only one roll (or, gawd forbid, no roll at all like a (no save) spell!).

 

[Dice4Hire]

Most fun: Systemless role-playing
Second: Skill challenge, with a lot of improvisation
Least fun: Casting spells to do it.

 

[GreyLord]

Most fun: Systemless role-playing
Second: Skill challenge, with a lot of improvisation
Least fun: Casting spells to do it.

If I'm lawful evil...can I kill the expert without getting myself killed. I care that the bard might die in the process sending them both to whereever...but can I end this torment by simply killing the guy?

 

[Lanefan]

In 3e and 4e such a scenario can all too easliy be reduced to rolling dice; where roleplaying through it is probably the better way to go. Given this, any of 0-1-2e will do.

That said, if this situation is truly make-or-break for the party why do I want to do anything to the couple at all? The artificer is my enemy here, so my goal should be to interpose myself between she and the couple in order to reduce or eliminate her unwelcome influence. If I can keep the artificer occupied, the couple's relationship will happily develop at whatever rate it likes; and all will live happily ever after. Well, except the artificer...

Lan-"interposing with violence"-efan

 

[CleverNickName]

I went with 3rd Edition/Pathfinder, but that's just because it's the one I always use. The romantic sub-plot would be fun to play out in any edition, really. In fact, the fewer dice you use, the better.

IMO, of course.

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

You resolve all of this with roleplaying, which you can do whatever system you're in.

The system is for resolving combat, establishing economic ground rules, providing consistent monster stats, and other crunchy nitty-gritty stuff.

The roleplaying part uses the rules modules that come preloaded in between each players' ears.

This is roleplaying. System is irrelevant.

What he said.

 

[Nifft]

This time I'll describe it in 3.5 terms.

Your "party" consists of yourself who is a high level sorceresses, a high level (female) artificer, and a (female) high level bard (with a splash of druid), and oddly enough, a (male) low level expert with low charisma but usually high wisdom.

If the people involved can only be described with the words "Sorceress", "Artificer" and "Expert", then your system is chosen for you: you must use 3.x, since no other system has Sorcerer, Artificer and Expert. In other words, if you want the mechanical implications of tactical flexibility vs. strategic flexibility (which is what you get with a Sorcerer's spell-slots vs. an Artificer's wealth-conversion), then your system is chosen based on those mechanical implications.

If the Sorceress and Artificer can be replaced by Magic-User and Magic-User (respectively), then you can use any darn system. In 4e, the Sorceress and Artificer will use rather similar mechanics -- and (IMHO) mechanics which were not really intended to be used for PvP. Still, there's some fun to be had in using rules as they were not intended.

- - -

IMHO, the most mechanically supported devious back-stabbing would occur using 3.5e rules, since every spell and effect is well defined when used on your friends, and since there are a lot of flexible spells which both sides can abuse. Also, you might get to see two PCs both cast shapechange and go at each other, and holy cow is that fun to watch.

Cheers, -- N

 

[MichaelSomething]

Most fun: Systemless role-playing
Second: Skill challenge, with a lot of improvisation
Least fun: Casting spells to do it.

It seems like a lot of people are suggesting that the use of formal rules would be less then ideal? Could someone explain this in more detail?

If I'm lawful evil...can I kill the expert without getting myself killed. I care that the bard might die in the process sending them both to whereever...but can I end this torment by simply killing the guy?

Well, this would be a break from the situation's source material, but aren't Roleplaying Games all about the unexpected? Chance are you could kill the expert if you wanted to. The problem would be making sure you didn't get caught. The Bard really does care about the expert and will go to great lengths to protect him, and even though the bard doesn't do much, she is quite well optimized, and 3.5 can turn any class into a monster with enough splat.