Sins of Our Fathers - 2/10 - Final Update

[Graf]

Sep's pimping pulled me over. Nice story hour.

I like the feeling of the different racial cultures, especially Baden's.
(and also the frequent updates).

Personally, I think that the question of whether it's acceptable to sacrifice something (someone's life, an ideal) for a perceived greater good is one of those classic story elements.
While the sacrifice the characters made in the story was definitely horrible, and the payoff low, I don't think you could really say that it was different from the prices/pay-offs of other games/SHs in any kind of fundimental sense. Killing six people for the opportunity of having a demon return to the material, and hopefully destroy it, isn't a great deal. But the character's motivations are good, there are no other options, time is limited and they are remorseful.

[not to story hop.... but in Seps story hour we see a character sacrificing the possible safety of thousands of people to try to save a single demon. While the payoff's may be different it's hard to say that there is any difference between the two structurally. In both cases you have people of power making choices without the consent of those who will be affected, based on their own worldviews and moral codes. Eadrick just has much better pay-offs to choose between than Baden and co.]

So story on I say.

[edit: P-cat, everyone's favorite SH mod, had a story where people were using babies as human shields.... So long as the heroes of the story don't revile in dark acts I really think you need not worry about the mods.]

 

[WizarDru]

Words of Advice, the first: Always maintain an off-line copy of your work. Then make a copy of the copy. Really. Have you read WizarDru's Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil Story Hour? Not unless you've been around for a long time, you haven't...it went the way of all flesh when the boards died the first time. The boards are great, but don't depend on them as your sole archiving method.

Words of Advice, the second: Don't worry about the story hour, and keep writing. Yours is far from the most controversial story hour on the boards, including the desperate act of the previous installment. LuYangShih was merely pointing out that the nature of the story itself doesn't appeal to him. To be likened to GRRM is a compliment of the highest order. One of my players sent a message to our thread just a few minutes ago concerning the latest installment. His comment? "Destan's story just keeps getting better. Wow."

You won't be able to appeal to everyone with your story hour, so don't try. Just as some folks prefer GRRM, Jordan or Pratchett, so do some prefer (contact)'s story hour, yours, mine or Piratecat's or Sepulchrave's. They're different stories, and different characters and tones.

Keep on keeping on, Destan. Your story hour is one of the best I've read and that I'm glad to share. The frequency of the updates is pure candy on top of it.

 

[handforged]

Put me in with the folks who say keep going, and don't change how you write.

 

[Ithian]

Stop? No way!

Total agreement with the "write on" posts, Destan. I don't see anything in your SH that any mod would think too extreme, and fact is, sometimes players have to do abhorrent stuff in order to do good. A little while back I played in a campaign where we had to slaughter a tribe of Goblins? Orcs? who were constantly raiding a settlement and needed to be dealt with. We killed them all, women, children, etc, because in this world, goblinoid children grow to adult size very quickly, and within about 5 years, the tribe would have threatened the settlement again. Our Dm loved the guilt and remorse that the characters who chased down the non-coms went through, and loved the journals it produced for that session (we routinely write journals for our characters so we can all see the world through each others' eyes.

Anyway, my point is, lots of campaigns have elements similar to yours, and you shouldn't suppress that, or avoid detailing it in your campaign, because I think situations like these help to define your player's characters far more than saving the princess or or slaying the dragon.

Just so you know, I'm a Sep convert as well. Followed the link from someone's post over in his SH, and promptly lost about 2 days worht of productivity at work reading from the first post until the then-current one. Thanks for all your efforts in sharing your campaign with us. I'll bet just about anything that for every person who decides that your SH isn't for them, 10 more are saying, "What the HELL is that guy talking about? This SH is GREAT!"

Write on...

-Kev

PS- Anxioiusly awaiting the next installment...

 

[Greybar]

Definitely keep going. And no, I can't see what anything thus far would cause a moderator pause.

I'm off to recommend this to a friend or two...

John

 

[Avarice]

Stop?! Never!

Honestly Destan, if you put up your pen and leave us hanging after that last update, I for one will never forgive you. While the themes you're dealing with here are decidedly grim, they are good themes, and have helped us see the characters as so much more than the simple stereotypes that they might have appeared to be at first. Only by dragging them through these depths are we seeing what they are truly capable of. So write on, and keep telling your story the way you want to tell it. I know I won't be the only one still reading.

By the way, I'm in total agreement with Wisdom Penalty about that last paragraph: that was brilliantly written. I could almost hear cultists chanting in the distance as I read it...

 

[Cinerarium]

I noticed all of the activity on the thread today and popped in to take a look. Now I'm starting to think Destan payed off the other posters to stir up some controversy and get his page count up

In all seriousness, there's no way a moderator would think of taking the thread down yet. If the story had gone, "Baden and his friends cheered as the Child-Eater came back to wreak havoc on the prime!" then maybe it'd be different. But we just had the previous couple posts' worth of the characters agonizing over their decision, and they still feel unclean.

That's quality storytelling. Personally, sure, I like high fantasy. But I also like compelling drama and thick characters -- which this story has aplenty.

So to add to the pleas, keep writing Destan. It's high quality and a continuous inspiration to my own writing and campaign.

 

[dpdx]

I noticed all of the activity on the thread today and popped in to take a look. Now I'm starting to think Destan payed off the other posters to stir up some controversy and get his page count up

I can't be bought, bro. There isn't enough free product on the planet to make me read a poorly-written SH. Life's too short.

 

[Destan]

Ask a moderator to take a look at the story. I would be astonished if there were any objection at all to it.

I did just that. Sent an email last night to Piratecat and, unfortunately, he let me know that he's gonna have to shut this thread down.

I'm kidding. PC's response was as quick as it was kind.

Originally posted by Seule
I might suggest a disclaimer at the beginning that you deal with adult issues and moral ambiguities.

Good idea - done.

Thanks for the support. And, as always, thanks for reading.

D

 

[Tumakhunter]

KEEP WRITING!!

(In awe at the depth of story)

Dude! Definitely keep on going. I'm on the edge of my seat over here!