the Jester
Legend
I suppose you'd have to have players you could trust not to do this kind of thing, but that's a great idea. Next time my group lays an ambush, I think I'll try it.
D&D 4E Running player commentary on PCat's 4E Campaign - Heroic tier (finished)
I suppose you'd have to have players you could trust not to do this kind of thing, but that's a great idea. Next time my group lays an ambush, I think I'll try it.
Piratecat
Sesquipedalian
Bring it on. They'll have to come up with a good reason why such a place exists in the city, and how they'll sucker their target to show up there. If they can do that it'd make Snakejaw a more interesting place, and I'd be all for it. If I trust them enough to build the encounter, I trust them to make it fun -- and it would sure as heck be fun to sit on top of a 20' tall pillar while you mire your foe down below.
That's not to say it'd be like shooting fish in a barrel. The lieutenants were chosen for competence. In addition, the PCs are relatively high profile as almost the only non-dragonborn in the city. They may want to weigh anonymity into how public their ambush is. It'll probably be 20' tall pillars and hindering terrain at night.
This brings up a great point. The point of this is to make sure it isn't a fair fight. It'll be a fight where most advantages, except for the opponent, is something that the players can control. You don't want to negate that advantage! PCs have so many fight conditions out of their control that it's fun to give them the other side of the coin once in a while.
I gave the players a choice of which lieutenant to target:
- the guy in charge of recruiting illegal gladiators
- the guy in charge of collecting money
- the guy in charge of procuring and selling illegal stuff
- the guy in charge of buying off politicians
- or the guy in charge of the organization's religious adherence to Morgaire (the God of corrupted authority and villainous bureaucracy)
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AbdulAlhazred
Legend
Totally, any excuse to get the players onto world building is gold. What's the worst case scenario anyway? The GM says "well, its not EXACTLY what you wanted, but you can find a spot like this...". Really if you have players that are just going to try to take advantage of you there's not much point in world building anyway, they're not going to care.
Wow. That's a really specific god.
Also, who is going to consider themselves a villainous bureaucracy enough to worship it tho? Don't most villains not consider themselves villains?
Piratecat
Sesquipedalian
Pfft. Villians don't worship Morgaire. Winners worship Morgaire! And everyone wise pays tribute to him.
Morgaire, God of corrupt power, abused authority, and twisted rules
Alignment: Evil
Symbol: A blood-spattered crown, or occasionally a badge.
Depiction: a handsome but indifferently cruel man, usually just past the youthful fresh blush of early adulthood, but not fully into middle age.
Morgaire is the god of lawyers who bend the law to serve their clients, sheriffs who use their authority to enrich themselves or their patrons, and ultimately Kings who betray their trust to be the guardians of their nation and their people, but instead cruelly oppress and take perverse advantage of their subjects.
Also looked at as the patron of the “powers behind the throne”, those who twist and corrupt the course of power from privileged but out of sight positions near the seat of power. Or who give false advice to their patrons.
Morgaire's worship extends well past the schemers and the power-hungry. Any person in authority who wishes to remain true to their ethics and responsibilities pays him homage to avoid being tempted or led astray. And many with little or no power pay tribute to Morgaire to keep his gaze averted from their leaders, or simply those who hold power over them.
It is an ironic twist on his very nature that those of good heart are compelled to honor him to avoid corruption, but too much honor paid to one so foul can also corrupt.
The study of his worship and influence is often a key part of the training of young Paladins to help them understand the moral and ethical pitfalls they may face.
Alignment: Evil
Symbol: A blood-spattered crown, or occasionally a badge.
Depiction: a handsome but indifferently cruel man, usually just past the youthful fresh blush of early adulthood, but not fully into middle age.
Morgaire is the god of lawyers who bend the law to serve their clients, sheriffs who use their authority to enrich themselves or their patrons, and ultimately Kings who betray their trust to be the guardians of their nation and their people, but instead cruelly oppress and take perverse advantage of their subjects.
Also looked at as the patron of the “powers behind the throne”, those who twist and corrupt the course of power from privileged but out of sight positions near the seat of power. Or who give false advice to their patrons.
Morgaire's worship extends well past the schemers and the power-hungry. Any person in authority who wishes to remain true to their ethics and responsibilities pays him homage to avoid being tempted or led astray. And many with little or no power pay tribute to Morgaire to keep his gaze averted from their leaders, or simply those who hold power over them.
It is an ironic twist on his very nature that those of good heart are compelled to honor him to avoid corruption, but too much honor paid to one so foul can also corrupt.
The study of his worship and influence is often a key part of the training of young Paladins to help them understand the moral and ethical pitfalls they may face.
Blood Jester
First Post
So in other words, the god of politics?
You could say the God of "Put yourself too high up a pedestal, and you simply give him a shorter distance to reach to snatch you up."
Piratecat
Sesquipedalian
[Merchant Prince] In the steam baths? The elderly crime boss's minions, sent by a lieutenant who hoped to curry favor with his boss. The PCs encountered and killed a dragonborn pirate named Karlak the Black on the way to Snakejaw, and entered the harbor towing his ship with his severed head displayed on the yardarm. Karlak turns out to have been the crime boss's son. Killing Karlak was one thing, but flaunting his head apparently was taken as a personal insult. Go figure.
Karlak had originally been exiled for inciting a rebellion, but he helped redeem himself in some peoples' eyes by consistently destroying foreign (ie Caprian) ships before they reached the harbor. It's fair to say that certain anti-Caprian politicians in Snakejaw encouraged him in this, exile or no.
So the PCs have to placate the Inperator and his senior ministers before they can legitimately leave Snakejaw to head north, and they aren't going to get an appointment with the Imperator for weeks if they don't do something to speed things along. As neutral third parties they have plausible deniability; they could act as spies for the city, take down this crime boss without anyone local getting their hands dirty, or something else. Bribes, probably. They could just sneak out of the city if they don't mind burning their diplomatic bridges behind them, and someone is trying to convince them to use the Ridolfi house army to invade and conquer the city themselves. Or I'm sure they could wait for an appointment!
This seems important to me in a partially political game. I want to make sure there isn't one "right" answer for the PCs to achieve their goals. There are a number of approaches they can take, each of which has its own challenges and ramifications, and (hopefully!) each of which is fun. Then the group can decide for themselves.
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