Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="rmcoen" data-source="post: 7743635" data-attributes="member: 6692404">In the series &quot;The Dragon and the George&quot; (IIRC), the author made a few setting-based comments that have stuck with me for years.&nbsp; Essentially - in the middle ages (the generic background timeframe/setting of most fantastic worlds), people don't travel.&nbsp; &quot;Fare well&quot; is the parting salutation because when a person leaves the confines of the &quot;known world&quot; (i.e. the village), they frequently never return.&nbsp; The world is a dangerous place; death -- through murder, injury, illness, mishap -- lies around every corner.&nbsp; In this &quot;real&quot; and grim world, then, why would your average adventurer - by definition, a traveler, a person who subjects him-/her-self to the dangers of the road -- why would they be a pacifistic hero?&nbsp;&nbsp; Nonviolent folk did travel, but they did it in groups, and often with guards (paid or otherwise).&nbsp; Merely being willing to subject yourself to the dangers of &quot;the wilds&quot; makes you a hero -- rescuing someone lost in the woods is a story-worthy quest.Throw in magic and many of the dangers of travel fall away.&nbsp; Slipping and breaking your leg isn't fatal when you or your buddy can slap some glowing hands on it and &gt;poof&lt; all better!&nbsp; But the bandits -- why go out of your way to capture them and take them to town for a &quot;trial&quot; and &quot;prison&quot; (superhero/modern thoughts)?&nbsp; If you take them back, they're going to be hung - they're bandits!Having said all that, as a GM I always give full value for &quot;defeating&quot; enemies or the enemy's plans (esp. if I hand-wave an escape for a villain I want to reuse).&nbsp; The exception to this: if the &quot;defeat&quot; of the enemy just makes them someone else's problem.&nbsp; &quot;Turn Undead&quot; that just makes them head to some other village may save *this* one, but hasn't addressed the problem (minor reward); intentionally &quot;aiming&quot; the repulsed undead into a camp of bandits or marauding orcs, now that's a full credit reward, possibly for both groups.&nbsp;&nbsp; Convincing the BBEG's minions of the error of their ways is a full-credit reward; paying them to look the other way while you sneak in is a partial reward, as the minions are free to be a problem again.I'll own being inconsistent; I don't object to non-violent solutions, but I have defined the world in my mind as being a violent place.&nbsp; I embrace black-and-white clarity in some circumstances while also subjecting the players to many shades of grey.&nbsp; You *know* the High Priestess is behind all the evils, but you can't prove it - you can't go killing her without significant legal consequences.&nbsp; (Sure, you can probably defeat every guardsman via game mechanics, but the &quot;reality&quot; of being an outlaw is more than killing guards.)&nbsp; On the other hand, the barbarians that slaughter the entire populations of outlying villages, they are fair game -- but dealing with the monsters invading *their* homelands (with or without violence!) might solve the barbarian invasion problem &quot;non-violently&quot;.&nbsp; Many options.I forget where I was going with this!</blockquote>

[QUOTE="rmcoen, post: 7743635, member: 6692404"] In the series "The Dragon and the George" (IIRC), the author made a few setting-based comments that have stuck with me for years. Essentially - in the middle ages (the generic background timeframe/setting of most fantastic worlds), people don't travel. "Fare well" is the parting salutation because when a person leaves the confines of the "known world" (i.e. the village), they frequently never return. The world is a dangerous place; death -- through murder, injury, illness, mishap -- lies around every corner. In this "real" and grim world, then, why would your average adventurer - by definition, a traveler, a person who subjects him-/her-self to the dangers of the road -- why would they be a pacifistic hero? Nonviolent folk did travel, but they did it in groups, and often with guards (paid or otherwise). Merely being willing to subject yourself to the dangers of "the wilds" makes you a hero -- rescuing someone lost in the woods is a story-worthy quest. Throw in magic and many of the dangers of travel fall away. Slipping and breaking your leg isn't fatal when you or your buddy can slap some glowing hands on it and >poof< all better! But the bandits -- why go out of your way to capture them and take them to town for a "trial" and "prison" (superhero/modern thoughts)? If you take them back, they're going to be hung - they're bandits! Having said all that, as a GM I always give full value for "defeating" enemies or the enemy's plans (esp. if I hand-wave an escape for a villain I want to reuse). The exception to this: if the "defeat" of the enemy just makes them someone else's problem. "Turn Undead" that just makes them head to some other village may save *this* one, but hasn't addressed the problem (minor reward); intentionally "aiming" the repulsed undead into a camp of bandits or marauding orcs, now that's a full credit reward, possibly for both groups. Convincing the BBEG's minions of the error of their ways is a full-credit reward; paying them to look the other way while you sneak in is a partial reward, as the minions are free to be a problem again. I'll own being inconsistent; I don't object to non-violent solutions, but I have defined the world in my mind as being a violent place. I embrace black-and-white clarity in some circumstances while also subjecting the players to many shades of grey. You *know* the High Priestess is behind all the evils, but you can't prove it - you can't go killing her without significant legal consequences. (Sure, you can probably defeat every guardsman via game mechanics, but the "reality" of being an outlaw is more than killing guards.) On the other hand, the barbarians that slaughter the entire populations of outlying villages, they are fair game -- but dealing with the monsters invading *their* homelands (with or without violence!) might solve the barbarian invasion problem "non-violently". Many options. I forget where I was going with this! [/QUOTE]

Verification