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Message: <blockquote data-quote="clark411" data-source="post: 898092" data-attributes="member: 4768">It's evil alright, but as a player I'd consider it heavy handed and perhaps a little out of tune with my sense of logic.Considering it Heavy Handeda) Firstly, blatting families is usually pretty poor form if it's done in an instant.  Instant changes, except for when the party realizes they're surrounded by werewolves, vampires, or illusioned rakshasa, aren't necessarily exciting.  Most off camera stuff isn't.b) Blatting a player character's family also victimizes that player character.  Go ahead and say the NPC is "helping" her gain power, but push comes to shove, the NPC probably could tell the princess was kind hearted and wouldn't respond well to having her family slain.  Furthermore, I consider victimization to occur when the PC has absolutely no say in something, no way to see it coming and no way to possibly intervene.c) Killing a PC family with an NPC badguy enforces the relationship with the NPC at the expense of ending numerous other relationships that could have been just as meaningful.  Especially in a court intrigue session.  Wiping them all out to make things interesting can ultimately undermine the campaign.Sense of Logica) My father, being father to a princess, is probably pretty powerful.  He likely got that way through a degree of skill or simply luck.  Either way, he's been in that position and alive long enough to not be killed, and have me, his daughter, "the princess."b) This person who the princess let go was caught.  If he was caught by the skill of the PCs, then there is reason to believe that the PCs are more skilled than him or got the drop on him.  If it's the former, then it is likely that a man of power and princesses has the resources necessary to garner similarly skilled people to his side / in his employ on a regular basis and wouldn't be offed so readily.  If the case is the latter, the NPC in question has set a precedent of being less than fully competant.  He has not been shown to be capable of escaping a party of PC's with limited resources save the mercy / naivete of a single member... and if he can't do that, no way he's offing a royal family.Alternativesa) I'd have the bad guy be far less direct about it.  Let him work his magic in subtle ways- maybe killing off someone here or there but not bringing down the entire family.  Leaving the Princess as sole survivor will not make her powerful - it'll leave her extremely vulnerable to political adversaries.</blockquote>

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