[LPF] Buyer's Remorse

[perrinmiller]

Borric is not liking what he is hearing at all and replies to Bereen, "Let me get this straight, you and the boy are doomed no matter what, then?"

"You are evading the curse by killing the boy after he has the idol, thus breaking the chain. You are then free. But if you die beforehand then the boy is free of the curse. Is this correct?"

Borric speaks softly for those of his companions nearby to hear, "If what he says is true, Secalli is not going to be rescued regardless of what happens with this old man and his grandson. And if killing Secalli, frees his family of the curse, perhaps the honorable thing is to kill our employer to save his family. From the look on your faces, I am guessing that is not an option."

"However, we need more silver weapons than just one to defeat the hound, assuming we don't run away like scared little girls, that is."

[sblock=OOC]Well, I for one will not be rolling any Diplomacy checks except Aid Another. I was hoping to just role-play this out instead. Most published modules that I have read in 3.5 allow for this instead of just roll-playing things.

Aid Another (1d20-1=12)[/sblock]___________________________

Borric Hawkins

 

[Aldern Foxglove]

Bareen stares at Brân for a long moment,

"I wish I could heed you my Tengu friend, but I am too far gone. I could never redeem myself, I have done too much now, and I would pay, just not bound to that accursed Hound. No, the best thing for everyone, my self included would be for you to be victorious over both me and the Hound. But that is a fantasy."

He turns to Borric,

Warrior, a non silver weapon will likely bite if wielded with enough vigor. Master Secalli might well take your suggestion to heart if he has the courage, would that I had done so before I lost my loved ones.

Please, torment this old wretch no further. Let us get this over with. Men on three, let us settle this matter. One, two...three!"

"Gods that was borrin' so we can stab folks now then can we old timer?" The lean man says irreverently, "you lot near talked me inta me grave, but I ain't so fancy with the words so I'll try to repay the favor the old fashioned way."

OOC: Roll Init!

[sblock=Rollplay and RolePlay]
In point of fact perrinmiller I'm fairly sure they don't . By your logic we should throw away the diplomacy skill entirely. The charisma 6 dwarf's articulate speech should simply move all with its eloquence.

Not every character you play is persuasive, you will always be able to muster basically the same level of personal skill.

What I do do is modify the results of diplomacy checks by the eloquence of the players efforts - so long as they are not blatantly breaking character, which for the record I am certainly not implying has been the case with anyone in this game. By the reasonableness of their suggestions, etc. If they roll without saying anything that's an auto fail - though I'd warn the player first.

It would be very wrong in my opinion if the same speech from Borric and Bran was received in the same way. Bran has literally double Borric's charisma and a diplomacy score that is 8 higher. Imagine you know neither Barrak Obama or Richard Nixon (John Major might be better if you are aware of him, blandest man alive former English PM) and they attempted to convince you with precisely the same argument, one delivered with rich passionate eloquence, one delivered in a monotone lifeless drone. might be being a tad unfair to Nixon there, he did afterall win the debate with Kennedy on the radio, but hopefully you get the idea.

In this case this was planned as a combat encounter and would have required an exceeding high diplomacy check in order to overcome without violence. You would also have lost some fats loots! To be colloquial.[/sblock]

 

[Maidhc O Casain]

Initiative (1d20+1=15)

 

[Aldern Foxglove]

OOC: PC Inits Thaddeus is up! Followed by Sylvain.

 

[perrinmiller]

Borric was a little disappointed that Bareen neglected to answer his last questions before laying down the gauntlet.

"You weren't going to die of boredom skinny, but we'll put you in the grave none the less."

[sblock=OOC]Free Action: Speaking

[MENTION=97308]Aldern Foxglove[/MENTION]; Actually I am not arguing the issue since I have no desire to miss out on the loot.

But to clarify what I am thinking of in several modules I have read, they write something like "succeed a Diplomacy DC check of 15 or if the players role-play well, then they can do/receive <blank>."

I would agree, a Charisma 8 character is not going to change the attitude of a hostile or unfriendly NPC. But instead of rolling any dice I was hoping to appeal to some logic and actually strike a deal based on what the bad guys wanted if possible. I was becoming quite clear that wasn't going to happen. What would have happened if we gave them the idol?

Overall, things went better than could be expected. And I would rather move things along rather than get bogged down in pointless discussion with the NPCs anyway. We did learn a fair amount. Secalli is screwed and so are we. j/k[/sblock]___________________________

Borric Hawkins

 

[Aldern Foxglove]

OOC: Thaddeus is up! Followed by Sylvain.

[sblock=perrinmiller]I'm a bit puzzled by which question you feel he didn't answer? What will happen to the boy maybe? The answer to that is that the boy is not cursed, but if the curse is not broken he will be killed as Davalan's last dear one - so he's not cursed but would be killed as part of his Grandfather's curse.[/sblock]

 

[Ace Cipher Zero]

Thaddeus saw that a fight was brewing, and having been given a relatively clear path of escape by his other two comrades out the door, he took it. His usual tactics of rolling up one flank seemed to be able to work here, so he did what came naturally and hit the rightmost bandit. He dragged his blade through the air for a mighty blow.

OOC: Move to D10, Power attack.

 

[Aldern Foxglove]

But for once his power is not accompanied by accuracy and the blade swishes through the air wide of the mark.

OOC: Sylvain is up! Followed by Brân

 

[Gerald007]

Syl, realizing that a fight was unavoidable right now, drew his light crossbow, and loaded a bolt into same. "Look aware Waltor...might need your help in this scrum."

 

[Aldern Foxglove]

OOC: Brân is up!