Social Commentary

[Numion]

A while a go I bought the d20 Cthulhu, and I somewhere read about making the 9/11 part of the plot. Somehow that it was to prevent some bigger Old One horror, or it was caused by them. It would've been cool if the campaign had ended with PCs on the plane that hit.

Probably this kind of RL / RPG mix is better reserved for modern campaigns. It adds to the believability of the game, which enhances the experience.

 

[Pielorinho]

In Pennsylvania right now, there are several miners trapped in a shaft that's been flooded. They may be dead by now: they inadvertantly drilled through to an old, abandoned mine that was full of water.

Now, of course I hope they're rescued, and I hope they've been able to hold out against hypothermia all this time, and in no way do I wish them harm.

At the same time, I can't help but wonder how this would translate into a D&D scenario.

When the Russian nuclear sub sank, everyone on board, I started thinking about CoC scenarios. When divers went down to explore the sunken sub, it kicked my gaming imagination into overdrive.

Daniel
rat bastard, but hopefully not heartless bastard

 

[CrusaderX]

I've included some social commentary in past games, I suppose. The Lawful Good Church in our world is...Lawful Good. We don't have much use for moral relativism, or an overly cynical view of goodness and righteousness. The Church stands against evil and her knights are the greatest heroes of the land. This pretty much reflects our world views anyway.

 

[King_Stannis]

..These are my Paladins. They are no one's Rubes.

I used to subscribe to the lawful good paladin ideal when I ran my games. I must say, after reading Martin and listening to some of Gary’s (Gygax) takes on what is acceptable behavior for a paladin (ie killing a helpless infidel is perfectly okay), I have had a change of heart. No one has played a paladin since in my campaign, but I would subscribe to your ideal of a paladin T-Bill. You can’t read something like A Song of Ice and Fire and believe that there are many truly “lawful good” knights – even if they are on the “right” side (whatever that is!).

Man, I can only imagine what it would be like if T-Bill, SHARK and I were in the same group. I know one thing, it would be a helluva good time! I’ll bring the Rolling Rock (sorry T-B – for you a nice Glenlivit(sp?)).

 

[Zappo]

When the Russian nuclear sub sank, everyone on board, I started thinking about CoC scenarios. When divers went down to explore the sunken sub, it kicked my gaming imagination into overdrive.

IIRC, I read right on these boards many months ago about someone who had a CoC adventure where the players were Russian officers on a sub, and they didn't bother to ask the sub's name - "Kursk" - until they were on board. At which point the players, though not the characters (yet), became a little bit worried.

 

[Teflon Billy]

...You can’t read something like A Song of Ice and Fire and believe that there are many truly “lawful good” knights – even if they are on the “right” side (whatever that is!).

Barristan "The Bold" Selmy, maybe. A case could be made for Brienne of Tarth. Even Ser Brynden the Blackfish if you hold to the idea that "following your own code" (rather than the law of the land) is Lawful behaviour.

Other than that, I can't think of too many. 3 out of hundreds

Man, I can only imagine what it would be like if T-Bill, SHARK and I were in the same group. I know one thing, it would be a helluva good time! I’ll bring the Rolling Rock (sorry T-B – for you a nice Glenlivit(sp?)).

There's a terrific quote about Glenlivet from the Larry Sander's Show, From Artie (Rip Torn)...

Artie (Drinkin Glennlivet): "When you die and go to heaven to stand before you maker , this is what you're going to smell on his breath!!!)

 

[Zerovoid]

Oft times, when they answer some kind of need in a community, they "clean up" extraneous issues they come across as well...often things that the locals weren't particularly up in arms about (Prostitution, Treasonous speech, poor child-rearing).

They enforce a "lawful alignment", but it's a law all their own. It doesn't answer to secular authorities and it doesn't apologize for stepping on toes. They have power's beyond those of normal men for a reason, and if they stop doing "right" (in their view) those powers go away. It's the only yardstick with which they measure their actions.

These are my Paladins. They are no one's Rubes.

How do your players react to all this? Do most their adventure plots revolve around trying to stop the paladins? I tend to run lots of supposedly "good" organizations like this, but this is usually only in preparation for for them to be revealed as one of the primary antagonists in a campaign.

Even if I didn't run things this way, I think my players would spend alot of time trying to put these "paladins" in their place. I guess their PC's are just a rather chaotic bunch though.

 

[Teflon Billy]

How do your players react to all this? Do most their adventure plots revolve around trying to stop the paladins? I tend to run lots of supposedly "good" organizations like this, but this is usually only in preparation for for them to be revealed as one of the primary antagonists in a campaign.

Even if I didn't run things this way, I think my players would spend alot of time trying to put these "paladins" in their place. I guess their PC's are just a rather chaotic bunch though.

The PC's react pretty poorly as a rule. The Paladins don't care (remeber their "Detect Malice" ability...they are convinced what they are doing is right, and the opinions of a bunch of itinerant sell-swords means very little to them in the grand scheme of things)

Player's attempting to put these Paladin's "in their Place" would be a battle for the ages. They have the numbers, they have the organizaion, they have the magic items, and they have the sheer ability to enforce their beliefs.

To their credit, they don't usually act until they are reasonably sure that they are taking the correct actions. Their leaders are generally wise, canny old knights who have no interest in expending the lives of their brethren as currency (Raise Dead magics are rather hard to come by in my campaign). I don't want to portray them as tyrants.

well, actually, I want to portray them as mostly benign Tyrants

LIke I said beofre, they are not City Watch or Castle Guards....you will neverhave 2 paladins answering a disturbance by knocking on the door and asking "what's going on here?". If they show up to deal with something, they already know what's going on, and there will be as many of them as the Order can muster in the time necessary.

And they don't knock.

Keep in mind, when the PC's called in the Paladins to deal with the aforementioned "Good Church" and it's pedophile tendencies, it was done with some trepidation. The PC's are not exactly sterling members of the community

But the Paladins prioritized. The fact that they brought the "large scale badness" to the attention of the Order mitigated the fact that they were a group of sell-swords (not exactly upstanding citizens), and they were simply told to "live their lives better" (the PC's were very aware that they could have been run out of town as well).

If you've read the A Song of Ice and Fire series, you know what I mean by "The Jedi Knights as led by Stannis Baratheon" ...it's as close as I can get with a one-sentence description

 

[mmadsen]

What are "Rubes?"

From m-w.com:

Main Entry: rube
Pronunciation: 'rüb
Function: noun
Etymology: Rube, nickname for Reuben
Date: 1896
: an awkward unsophisticated person : RUSTIC

 

[Teflon Billy]

From m-w.com:

Main Entry: rube
Pronunciation: 'rüb
Function: noun
Etymology: Rube, nickname for Reuben
Date: 1896
: an awkward unsophisticated person : RUSTIC

Awkward and Unsophisticated is good. I would add (for purposes of my use of the term here) trusting suckers.