Amen!
Dealing With Prisoners
- Thread starter Hussar
- Start date
Amen!
I've played in a lot of spelljammer/nautical campaigns and we would always maroon prisoners or leave them on somewhat disabled vessels, after we helped ourselves to the loot of course. The same was done to us from time to time.
In the current 4e D&D game I'm playing I play a somewhat egotistical dragonborn warlord and I love to leave my defeated enemies alive. I won't go out of my way to make non lethal attacks, but I always accept surrender and I don't chase after enemies that run away. I enthusiastically run them off and roar my name at them so they know who beat them and can spread the word of my deeds!
(as a little bit of metagaming note, there is an unlimited supply of enemies for us to face, so if we are going to face more enemies as the campaign progresses, I enjoy it when it's a fallen enemy coming back for revenge!)
In the current 4e D&D game I'm playing I play a somewhat egotistical dragonborn warlord and I love to leave my defeated enemies alive. I won't go out of my way to make non lethal attacks, but I always accept surrender and I don't chase after enemies that run away. I enthusiastically run them off and roar my name at them so they know who beat them and can spread the word of my deeds!
(as a little bit of metagaming note, there is an unlimited supply of enemies for us to face, so if we are going to face more enemies as the campaign progresses, I enjoy it when it's a fallen enemy coming back for revenge!)
Klaus
First Post
Y'know, there's a campaign element just waiting to happen:
Adventurers and the Law
Every sanctioned adventuring party in "X" won't delve into a dungeon without securing the services of a frontier magistrate, a wandering judge with the authority to hold trials and pass sentences in remote locations.
New Background:
Frontier Magistrate: you have the authority to pass judgement on enemies on behalf of your liege or church.
Associated Skills: History, Insight.
Adventurers and the Law
Every sanctioned adventuring party in "X" won't delve into a dungeon without securing the services of a frontier magistrate, a wandering judge with the authority to hold trials and pass sentences in remote locations.
New Background:
Frontier Magistrate: you have the authority to pass judgement on enemies on behalf of your liege or church.
Associated Skills: History, Insight.
ExploderWizard
Hero
Roy Bean, the prestige class.
He'll be your huckleberry.
In my OD&D Castle Greyhawk dungeon crawl game, we take no prisoners unless we need a "trapfinder." It's more of a classic explore, don't set off traps and avoid the evil monsters (if possible) while looking for the Big Score game. Simple and fun.
Back when I played 4E in a pre-planned story-arc type game, our group took prisoners whenever enemies surrendered and we treated them humanely. Our DM mandated it.
Back when I played 4E in a pre-planned story-arc type game, our group took prisoners whenever enemies surrendered and we treated them humanely. Our DM mandated it.
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Leif
Adventurer
I guess I come from the School of Maximum Carnage. I have never had a DM who mandated or expected the pcs to take prisoners, unless we were on a specific mission to apprehend someone, but I don't ever recall that happening, truthfully. We always just lined 'em up and cut 'em to shreds!
Hussar
Legend
To be honest, this is my experience as well.
I've never seen a DM actually mandate taking prisoners. That's going a bit far IMO.
However, an entire world of "deathbeforedishonor" enemies is boring as all get out to me as well.
Guess you haven't seen it all, then. My DM was a devout Christian running a game for "good and heroic" PCs. If a bad guy surrendered and we'd killed him, the DM would have probably taken his ball and gone home. I played because I was desperate and left when I found something that suited me better.
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Hussar
Legend
Yeesh. That's brutal. Life is too short for bad gaming. While I'm certainly not above a bit of DM railroad and whatnot from time to time, that's WAY too much for my taste.
