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Dealing With Prisoners
- Thread starter Hussar
- Start date
He was a good guy, just had a really specific game experience in mind for everyone. The opposite would be just as bad ("No prisoners allowed!!"), I'm sure you would agree. Not rrally trying to bash him or disparage his beliefs or anything. Just a bad player/DM mix. Some people dig that sort of thing. Others thought of themselves as actors in a production.. I'm more about Guinness and d6s.
I got ya. I wasn't trying to be accusatory, though, just making an observation.
I've had my share of Theology classes, along with courses in the Bible as a literary source. IME, unless you're talking to a true theologian or bible scholar, most people (and I'm not excluding myself here) are pretty selective or narrowly read in the Good Book.
So I'm not surprised that he may not have been familiar with the Bible's darker side, including OT passages in which killing without remorse, slavery, and a lack of mercy are front & center...and completely at odds with the themes of the New Testament. More familiarity with those passages might have changed his perspective.
It did mine, at least from a role-playing perspective: that dichotomy & distinction is what I routinely bring up in the various Paladin threads that pop up from time to time. IOW, under the guidelines of certain ethical systems, even Paladins can find a justification to be merciless...even to prisoners.
...or merciful to even their direst foes.
I've had my share of Theology classes, along with courses in the Bible as a literary source. IME, unless you're talking to a true theologian or bible scholar, most people (and I'm not excluding myself here) are pretty selective or narrowly read in the Good Book.
So I'm not surprised that he may not have been familiar with the Bible's darker side, including OT passages in which killing without remorse, slavery, and a lack of mercy are front & center...and completely at odds with the themes of the New Testament. More familiarity with those passages might have changed his perspective.
It did mine, at least from a role-playing perspective: that dichotomy & distinction is what I routinely bring up in the various Paladin threads that pop up from time to time. IOW, under the guidelines of certain ethical systems, even Paladins can find a justification to be merciless...even to prisoners.
...or merciful to even their direst foes.
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Rel
Liquid Awesome
I don't consider this to be a "bad" post but I think it's best if we don't go any further down this road.
Thanks
ExploderWizard
Hero
Overall, this is one of topics that I think the DM should make provisions for but not actively encourage or discourage. Let the players decide how to handle captives and be ready to deal with the consequences of their choices.
Leif
Adventurer
I wholeheartedly agree! Huzzah, EW!
Hussar
Legend
Hrm, perhaps encourage wasn't the best word to use in hindsight. I don't mean encourage as in actively tell the players, "You should do this, it would be a good idea", but rather using the carrot approach.
For example, if every single prisoner experience turns into a huge time sink and frustration, ending in massive blowouts over alignment, then, well, that's going to discourage any further taking of prisoners.
OTOH, if taking prisoners is typically rewarded - enemies know that the now rather famous PC's will take prisoners and treat them well, so they surrender faster; enemies will generally lead the PC's somewhere interesting; the DM doesn't have released prisoners come back and steal the PC's stuff while they're sleeping - then the players will be more likely to take prisoners.
Leif
Adventurer
I can easily imagine the pcs getting such a reputation for leniency, and then having their grace abused in the extreme by a few truly dastardly villains who "surrender" at first, only to work extreme mischief as soon as the party's guard is down. Doing this a few times will keep the pcs on their toes for sure.
ExploderWizard
Hero
I can see this kind of reputation working. Much like pirates, the PC's can earn a reputation for fair treatment if no resistance is given and absolutely no mercy to those who resist. Against (more or less) civilized foes this reputation could really work out for them.
Hussar
Legend
Thinking about it, one of the things that I would like to see more of is an emphasis on not simply putting everything to the sword. I think that many games, certainly many of my own, have made "hack off its head" be the best solution to most problems.
Adding in things like prisoner transfers, or, better yet, ransoms makes taking prisoners a much better solution.
Instead of simply whacking the high cultist, you capture him and then ransom him back. The DM doesn't have to place treasure - the bad guys ARE the treasure.
