Ralts Bloodthorne
First Post
My game has gone into the primarily role-playing version of epic adventuring. Most of the combats the PC's try to aviod, for fear of property and other collateral damage.
Now, the PC's take dinner with kings, talk with dukes, order around barons, run thier own guilds, and get involved with such messy things as espionage, duels, tracking down criminals, or those who are trying to escape the Final Dawn or otherwise mess up the end of Fifth Age.
Now, to what I was getting too. We've had some interesting encounters between the Epic Level PC's (we stopped counting XP for awhile until the Epic Level Handbook came out. I kept track of it, but didn't hand it out. These guys have done the heroic, greater than life missions, so they have Epic Reputations) and the evil NPC's. Despite the fact that they are foiling the plans of being of immense power who are trying to survive the Final Dawn, they still take immense pleasure in the role-playing aspects of court and high church politcs.
Here are some examples of last nights role-playing....
"You have pillaged farms on my dominion, slaughtered my peasants, and burned crops. I demand reperations!" The Paladin to a rival baron, in the King's Courtroom.
(Villian Bows) "As per our custom, I fully agree to pay the value of the damage I have done to your reputation and the worth of your holdings." (Hands the PC a copper piece)
(PC waves his hand) "I accept you offer, but refuse thine coinage, knowing you can ill afford to lose such a vast sum, your admittance of your crime is enough for me." (Let the battle begin!)
"I see you are still in exstatic bondage to your sluttish goddess." (Evil Cleric that hates the female PC, who is a High Cleric of the Goddess of Love, Lust and Fertility)
"Your God does not seem to mind my Goddess predetations, he seems to enjoy her company, as we saw above the city last Spring Solstice." (The PC, in reference to the God of Slaughter and Carnage copulating with the Goddess of Love, Lust and Fertility in the night sky, above the city at the hiegth of the Rite of Fertility)
"Ahh, Drago, the bastard offspring of a human tavern whore and a drunken orcish mercenary." (The childhood enemy of the Half-orc barbarian)
"Ahh, Crucius. Tell me, outcast and defiled one, still angry over being born only half of what normal men are? I find it amusing that your birth foreshadowed the fact that you are less than others in all things." (In reference to Crucius being born with only one testicle) "Tell me, Crucius, did you ever discover who hired that male prostitute to seduce you and steal thy tusks while you laid sated from thy drunken debauchery?" (Pointing out the fact that the rival was missing his tusks, and casting speculation on the fact that despite being married, and having concubines, the rival had never fathered children, while the PC had 12 sons)
"Your armor, tell me, miLady, did you pay for that rusting collection of tin plates and rotted leather?" A noble whom the PC War Machine hates with a passion, and vice versa.
"Why no, miLord, it was a gift from your father, and I felt it would be rude not to wear a gift that so financilly strapped thy family, when I knew thou wouldt be in the presence of this august court, like a ragged beggar hoping for castoffs from a bakery." (Making reference to the fact that after the NPC's mother had died, the PC had briefly dallied with the father)
"As I suspected, my father rewarded his concubine with clothing that befit her bedroom skills, and as it is the best you own, you wore it to this court function, hoping to impress those who would otherwise not notice you." (PC, making reference to the fact that the infamous Blackguard, the Ebon-Duke, had burned down her manor and put everything and everyone to the sword.
"I chose not to shame you, by stealing the rags from a leper to wear, since they would fit more comfortably, and be more fashionable than this steel, but I did not wish to show up the cut and material of the dress of your entourage and yourself." (Making reference to the fact that the noble is wearing last years fashion)
"Your attempts at raising others opinions of yourself by emulating a warrior's fashions are pitiable, is there not a serving wench you could borrow proper dresses from?"
"Mayhaps you could lend me some of the clothing you wear for your friends? I believe that those clothings should be properly ladylike, even if they are horribly behind the times in the rural countryside?"
Do other DM's have players who take conversations and functions of the court and church as just as deadly battles as facing down dragons or Paragon Mummies, fought with words rather than blades?
We've started keeping track of courtly reputation, commoner reputations, and merchant reputations. My players seem more worried about reputation, and take more satisfaction in out-sneering foes than they do about hacking thier way through the minions of evil.
So, are my players weird, or taking "Epic Gaming" seriously?
Now, the PC's take dinner with kings, talk with dukes, order around barons, run thier own guilds, and get involved with such messy things as espionage, duels, tracking down criminals, or those who are trying to escape the Final Dawn or otherwise mess up the end of Fifth Age.
Now, to what I was getting too. We've had some interesting encounters between the Epic Level PC's (we stopped counting XP for awhile until the Epic Level Handbook came out. I kept track of it, but didn't hand it out. These guys have done the heroic, greater than life missions, so they have Epic Reputations) and the evil NPC's. Despite the fact that they are foiling the plans of being of immense power who are trying to survive the Final Dawn, they still take immense pleasure in the role-playing aspects of court and high church politcs.
Here are some examples of last nights role-playing....
"You have pillaged farms on my dominion, slaughtered my peasants, and burned crops. I demand reperations!" The Paladin to a rival baron, in the King's Courtroom.
(Villian Bows) "As per our custom, I fully agree to pay the value of the damage I have done to your reputation and the worth of your holdings." (Hands the PC a copper piece)
(PC waves his hand) "I accept you offer, but refuse thine coinage, knowing you can ill afford to lose such a vast sum, your admittance of your crime is enough for me." (Let the battle begin!)
"I see you are still in exstatic bondage to your sluttish goddess." (Evil Cleric that hates the female PC, who is a High Cleric of the Goddess of Love, Lust and Fertility)
"Your God does not seem to mind my Goddess predetations, he seems to enjoy her company, as we saw above the city last Spring Solstice." (The PC, in reference to the God of Slaughter and Carnage copulating with the Goddess of Love, Lust and Fertility in the night sky, above the city at the hiegth of the Rite of Fertility)
"Ahh, Drago, the bastard offspring of a human tavern whore and a drunken orcish mercenary." (The childhood enemy of the Half-orc barbarian)
"Ahh, Crucius. Tell me, outcast and defiled one, still angry over being born only half of what normal men are? I find it amusing that your birth foreshadowed the fact that you are less than others in all things." (In reference to Crucius being born with only one testicle) "Tell me, Crucius, did you ever discover who hired that male prostitute to seduce you and steal thy tusks while you laid sated from thy drunken debauchery?" (Pointing out the fact that the rival was missing his tusks, and casting speculation on the fact that despite being married, and having concubines, the rival had never fathered children, while the PC had 12 sons)
"Your armor, tell me, miLady, did you pay for that rusting collection of tin plates and rotted leather?" A noble whom the PC War Machine hates with a passion, and vice versa.
"Why no, miLord, it was a gift from your father, and I felt it would be rude not to wear a gift that so financilly strapped thy family, when I knew thou wouldt be in the presence of this august court, like a ragged beggar hoping for castoffs from a bakery." (Making reference to the fact that after the NPC's mother had died, the PC had briefly dallied with the father)
"As I suspected, my father rewarded his concubine with clothing that befit her bedroom skills, and as it is the best you own, you wore it to this court function, hoping to impress those who would otherwise not notice you." (PC, making reference to the fact that the infamous Blackguard, the Ebon-Duke, had burned down her manor and put everything and everyone to the sword.
"I chose not to shame you, by stealing the rags from a leper to wear, since they would fit more comfortably, and be more fashionable than this steel, but I did not wish to show up the cut and material of the dress of your entourage and yourself." (Making reference to the fact that the noble is wearing last years fashion)
"Your attempts at raising others opinions of yourself by emulating a warrior's fashions are pitiable, is there not a serving wench you could borrow proper dresses from?"
"Mayhaps you could lend me some of the clothing you wear for your friends? I believe that those clothings should be properly ladylike, even if they are horribly behind the times in the rural countryside?"
Do other DM's have players who take conversations and functions of the court and church as just as deadly battles as facing down dragons or Paragon Mummies, fought with words rather than blades?
We've started keeping track of courtly reputation, commoner reputations, and merchant reputations. My players seem more worried about reputation, and take more satisfaction in out-sneering foes than they do about hacking thier way through the minions of evil.
So, are my players weird, or taking "Epic Gaming" seriously?
Sounds like a great group - I'm not (too) discontent with mine, but about the best comment I've gotten out of 'em was "c'mere, fat man, and bring it on!" when I introduced the group to fatling (CC) the first time.
)
