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Deathwyrm's Zeitgeist Campaign - Clockwork Eclipse
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<blockquote data-quote="Deathwyrm" data-source="post: 7858520" data-attributes="member: 56957"><p>I imagine that the both of you could be surprised by that. I kind of was as well in a few ways, but the party alignment division and their approach can illuminate that.</p><p></p><p>We all enjoy the 3x3 alignment spread, because alignment isn't a character restriction to us but a trait to build the roleplaying decisions off of. It can help the immersion in realizing your character and how they look at the fantasy world they occupy. I'll often check in every couple of levels to ask players about their character development and if they feel that alignment still fits how they've grown.</p><p></p><p>At that moment in time, three characters in the team are Neutral Good, and the other half are Lawful Neutral. If this was a group formed of primarily good aligned spies and detectives, odds are all the midnight oil would have been burned to aid the people around them. But with this kind of division? The ethics of what's the "correct" thing to do often becomes a very heatedly debated topic in this group.</p><p></p><p>Especially with an assignment like this, in which its clear that there's the main mission and other events that come up. The lawful neutral characters (Goodwyne, Dr. Basch, Threm) stick to the argument of <em>"Our mission is clear, to spy on the Obscurati. That's the most important thing, because big things are happening and as distasteful as it is to ignore people in need... our country and the people in it depends us right now, the rest is a distraction we can't afford".</em> The neutral good characters (Mikkel, Dr. Brinolt, Cysgod) refute that with <em>"We got into law enforcement so we could have the ability to help those in need, and these are people in need. We have moral obligation to at least try and accomplish both the mission, and help people." </em></p><p></p><p>Some of the roleplaying on this has been just great. Can get intense, but sometimes gold can come out of it. We always check after and between game to make sure no one out of game gets offended, as we have players who are Christian, atheist, conservative, liberal, brony, etc, and from all kinds of out of game beliefs and backgrounds that can easily become arguments out of game let alone also managing in game beliefs. </p><p></p><p>Actually its kind of funny that despite all our mixed ideologies and spiritual inclinations, we can all agree on dice related superstitions as objective truths... like how d20s obviously start the day with a limited number of 20s that can be rolled, so don't use them all up or something like that. Or green rolls better. Weird.</p><p></p><p>Anyway, as for how this relates to the side missions... it's a tricky matter and one that still resonates to the current day. By the time the party reached Nalaam, they were exhausted, often wounded, being spread in several directions trying to handle several tasks, most of them unrelated to their main assignment.</p><p></p><p>Det. Goodwyne's player explained to me after that while his character originally pledged himself to help Damata, the rapidly escalating amount of crazy on this voyage needs his focus. He considered in his mind whether helping this unfortunate man get out of a bind to a criminal syndicate (a syndicate he recently learned has also been talking to one of his team) is as important as the Obscurati and these "lanterns of mass destruction" agenda. In the end, he saw that there really wasn't an obvious "right" choice to make, so he made one and stuck with it. Needs of the many and all that.</p><p></p><p>As for the rest of the party and how they handled the Elanor/Isobel situation... the original plan was to go to the Nalaam authorities to have her prosecuted for slave trading. However, as they learned that everything in this city has a kind of monetary value to it... they quickly became uncertain and lost confidence that it would work, because slavery may be a totally legal thing there and thus she may not have technically committed any crimes. Once they were able to identify the bidders at the arena, they became certain about how no charge would stick to her. So one of them made the suggestion about possibly killing her. That in itself prompted a discussion about how much that would fix, and how much attention it would bring onto them if something goes wrong. The concern was especially on the worst case scenario that if any of them were caught and revealed, it could spark an international incident that would take away their upper hand.</p><p></p><p>With the clock ticking and too many uncertainties for them to make the stab at it, they reluctantly abstained from direct involvement. Mainly in hiring legal protection for Andrei, because he doesn't seem like someone who would let explosions and pyrecats stop him from his dramatic cause. If they can't save Isobel themselves, they're sure <em>he</em> can.</p><p></p><p>This was a session of heavy choices and everyone brought their best to the table, digging into all the events up to now and how they shaped their character influenced by the lens of alignement. They really enjoyed exploring some of the complexities of their characters and the world, and even accepting their own limitations. They aren't gods, they aren't the heroes of legends from fairy tales, and they certainly aren't perfect. They're just people with badges and skills trying to make what difference they can with whats available to them.</p><p></p><p>So when Det. Goodwyne tells them <em>"We should really get back to the train, we have a job to do"</em>... everyone was more than able to agree.</p><p></p><p>It occurs to me that being a musician, I have like... so much recording equipment in my home studio. If the players consent unanimously, I should put up a couple microphones to hopefully catch them when they're about to start one of these debates of ethics, alignment, and duty. It could make for something worthwhile to look back on or share.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Deathwyrm, post: 7858520, member: 56957"] I imagine that the both of you could be surprised by that. I kind of was as well in a few ways, but the party alignment division and their approach can illuminate that. We all enjoy the 3x3 alignment spread, because alignment isn't a character restriction to us but a trait to build the roleplaying decisions off of. It can help the immersion in realizing your character and how they look at the fantasy world they occupy. I'll often check in every couple of levels to ask players about their character development and if they feel that alignment still fits how they've grown. At that moment in time, three characters in the team are Neutral Good, and the other half are Lawful Neutral. If this was a group formed of primarily good aligned spies and detectives, odds are all the midnight oil would have been burned to aid the people around them. But with this kind of division? The ethics of what's the "correct" thing to do often becomes a very heatedly debated topic in this group. Especially with an assignment like this, in which its clear that there's the main mission and other events that come up. The lawful neutral characters (Goodwyne, Dr. Basch, Threm) stick to the argument of [I]"Our mission is clear, to spy on the Obscurati. That's the most important thing, because big things are happening and as distasteful as it is to ignore people in need... our country and the people in it depends us right now, the rest is a distraction we can't afford".[/I] The neutral good characters (Mikkel, Dr. Brinolt, Cysgod) refute that with [I]"We got into law enforcement so we could have the ability to help those in need, and these are people in need. We have moral obligation to at least try and accomplish both the mission, and help people." [/I] Some of the roleplaying on this has been just great. Can get intense, but sometimes gold can come out of it. We always check after and between game to make sure no one out of game gets offended, as we have players who are Christian, atheist, conservative, liberal, brony, etc, and from all kinds of out of game beliefs and backgrounds that can easily become arguments out of game let alone also managing in game beliefs. Actually its kind of funny that despite all our mixed ideologies and spiritual inclinations, we can all agree on dice related superstitions as objective truths... like how d20s obviously start the day with a limited number of 20s that can be rolled, so don't use them all up or something like that. Or green rolls better. Weird. Anyway, as for how this relates to the side missions... it's a tricky matter and one that still resonates to the current day. By the time the party reached Nalaam, they were exhausted, often wounded, being spread in several directions trying to handle several tasks, most of them unrelated to their main assignment. Det. Goodwyne's player explained to me after that while his character originally pledged himself to help Damata, the rapidly escalating amount of crazy on this voyage needs his focus. He considered in his mind whether helping this unfortunate man get out of a bind to a criminal syndicate (a syndicate he recently learned has also been talking to one of his team) is as important as the Obscurati and these "lanterns of mass destruction" agenda. In the end, he saw that there really wasn't an obvious "right" choice to make, so he made one and stuck with it. Needs of the many and all that. As for the rest of the party and how they handled the Elanor/Isobel situation... the original plan was to go to the Nalaam authorities to have her prosecuted for slave trading. However, as they learned that everything in this city has a kind of monetary value to it... they quickly became uncertain and lost confidence that it would work, because slavery may be a totally legal thing there and thus she may not have technically committed any crimes. Once they were able to identify the bidders at the arena, they became certain about how no charge would stick to her. So one of them made the suggestion about possibly killing her. That in itself prompted a discussion about how much that would fix, and how much attention it would bring onto them if something goes wrong. The concern was especially on the worst case scenario that if any of them were caught and revealed, it could spark an international incident that would take away their upper hand. With the clock ticking and too many uncertainties for them to make the stab at it, they reluctantly abstained from direct involvement. Mainly in hiring legal protection for Andrei, because he doesn't seem like someone who would let explosions and pyrecats stop him from his dramatic cause. If they can't save Isobel themselves, they're sure [I]he[/I] can. This was a session of heavy choices and everyone brought their best to the table, digging into all the events up to now and how they shaped their character influenced by the lens of alignement. They really enjoyed exploring some of the complexities of their characters and the world, and even accepting their own limitations. They aren't gods, they aren't the heroes of legends from fairy tales, and they certainly aren't perfect. They're just people with badges and skills trying to make what difference they can with whats available to them. So when Det. Goodwyne tells them [I]"We should really get back to the train, we have a job to do"[/I]... everyone was more than able to agree. It occurs to me that being a musician, I have like... so much recording equipment in my home studio. If the players consent unanimously, I should put up a couple microphones to hopefully catch them when they're about to start one of these debates of ethics, alignment, and duty. It could make for something worthwhile to look back on or share. [/QUOTE]
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