TURTLEDOME!: Battle Bone (DM: KenHood, Judge: Lord S.)

[KenHood]

[sblock=Foyer]It's about 4' x 6' in the foyer--just a little space to put up your shoes before coming into the house, like Japanese style architecture.[/sblock]

Marco groans and rubs his cheeks. He looks very tired. "I should have listened to her," he says to himself, "This isn't going to work."

He braces himself and starts after Vaunea. "See? This is what I'm talking about! I don't want you to sleep in the foyer! I just want you to put up your axe before coming into my home! You lot are so...so...damned..." (The cursing causes him obvious discomfort.) "...stubborn, that you'd prefer to do something ridiculous like laying down in a shoe closet, as opposed to giving into a reasonable request from someone who is trying to help you! You're so blasted single-minded and self-centered that you won't even consider what anyone else wants. It's all about what you want and what you can get out of people and damn their feelings or desires! Everything has to be done your way or the highway. Well, not in my home! Now, put up your weapons or get the hells out of my house!"

 

[Atanatotatos]

Hadarai gives a cold look at Marco. He straightens up his tired back and speaks, seriously. You. You don't understand anything. You speak here, in your comfortable home, with a wife and children, and dare to judge us, and call us savages. But you know nothing of wild lands and war fronts. You know nothing, little man, of spear points at your stomach and blades at your throat. You know not the fear of slepping in a camp before a horde of monsters ready to assault the citadel that is the last hope of survival for a peaceful settlement.
You do not know the horror of the betrayal of your comrades.
You. You cannot handle the truth.
And with that, Hadarai walks to the door.
Come, Vaunea. This is not a place for us. he says, turning at the female minotaur.

[sblock=ooc]hm, yeah, I don't know where this came from, but obviously, no RL here! just in-character stuff, maybe a bit extreme p) but, eh! c'mon, it's a game![/sblock]

 

[KenHood]

"Bravo!" says Marco, dripping with sarcasm. He claps his hands. "You've certainly told me, the man who was asking you to put up your weapons so that you can eat dinner at his home."

"You're right! It's completely unreasonable for me to expect you to honor my wishes in my home. Heavens forbid that I should ever expect peace, calm, and quiet in the place I built with my own hands."

"For all your talk about respect and glory, you certainly act in a manner devoid of it. You're the one that was such a coward, he wouldn't fight a one-armed elderly man in HONORABLE bare-fisted combat. You're the one wanting to break down my cousin's door to get his sword. You're the one that held a sword to the throat of a serving woman."

"You're the one that can't handle the truth, Hadarai. And that truth is that you're an ugly-hearted bully."

"And I do know the horror of betrayal by a comrade! I'm experiencing it right now!"

"Take your pompous, self-righteous self-delusion and shove it, Hadarai. You're the one giving me a hard time because I want my family to feel safe in their own home. That's hardly the act of a hero."

"You're right. There is no place for you here. Leave my home."

Marco's wife comes out of the kitchen, wringing a rag in her hands. She comes up behind her husband, looking at him with a sort of awe. She slips her hand into his and stands beside him. "Yes. You need to go."

And you see several small children, boys and girls, of mixed ages, peering around the corner. Their eyes are wide with fear and dismay.

 

[Atanatotatos]

[sblock=ooc]lol! way to become a villain! you almost made me dislike my own character ken! [/sblock]

 

[KenHood]

[sblock=OOC]It's the scared children that are the psychological punch in the crotch.



You could use this as a moment to transform your character's character, thus bonding the group with emotional superglue. All it takes is a single apology...

Or you could strike Marco down and seal your path to the dark side.

Either way is fine with me.[/sblock]

 

[Atanatotatos]

[sblock=ooc]honestly... neither. It's not the kind of character I wanted Hadarai to be. I don't really know how well I've played him, so I'm not sure how much you've figured him out. I wanted him to be cynical, disillusioned and kind of aloof. Somewhat arrogant, a kind of guy that is really smart ('cause he is) but that can't really make his way into the world becase he lacks the social skills to do it. He's not a guy that would apologize, because he obviously feels he brings a way harsher (and more "real") reality with him than Marco. And he doesn't even really treasure much honour, or heroism: he's an elite soldier, not an adventuring knight. He really doesn't care. On the other hand, he is prone to angry fits, so in another situation, he might slit Marco's throat. Since he is not an idiot, anyway, he knows very well that he cannot murder a honest citizen in his own home in Daunton, especially since he's fleeing from where he counted something. So... yeah, I guess he'll just get out. If the rest of the party wants to make up with Marco, that just means he'll be the only one that will fight without a sponsor. Fine with me.[/sblock]

 

[KenHood]

[sblock=Okay, this sucks.]Here's the breakdown of what happened...

• Your party was about to enter a minor skill challenge to get Marco's wife's approval for the TURTLEDOME! expenditure.
• If you had beaten it, the party would have gotten more money for the fight and another 'psychic token' for the final battle. (Part of the Approval-o-meter. Each person with whom you're having an interaction gives you a token you can use in the fight to get a positive effect.)
• Drivan makes the first skill check and fails.
• Vaunea charges up the stairs with an axe and that's the second failure in the challenge.
• Now, everything changes because Marco's wife is terrified, and Marco gets very, very upset.
• Finnian tries to smooth things out. His skill check is okay--one success in a skill challenge to straighten things out.
• Marco is still shaken up and starts acting out. He makes an ultimatum about the weapons.
• Hadarai refuses.
• Finnian complies.
• Vaunea refuses. (Sorry, she still had the axe.)
• Marco gets even more angry.
• Hadarai jumps on Marco.
• Marco gets even more angry and kicks the party out of the house.

Now, some of you may make arguments that you are maintaining the integrity of your character by not putting up the weapons. I understand that.

Character integrity has consequences, otherwise it has no meaning. The consequence here is that you've lost Marco's support.

If there is PC integrity, there is also NPC integrity. You can't make the argument: I choose to make my character act a certain way, so the NPC's should just let my character do that. If your character is a person, an NPC is a person, too. A DM has a responsibility to play his characters in the same manner as the player characters. Make them memorable and give them purpose, so it makes the PC's actions more real and meaningful.

So, here we are. The PC's blew this particular interaction with their patron.

One of y'all wrote me a personal message saying that player felt he had no control over the situation and was participating in "Marco's story". I disagree. Your characters are acting with integrity. My characters are acting with integrity. We've both had significant input over the results, and it's a loss for the PC's, just like losing a fight, except everyone is not dead.

I think the thing that has surprised you guys is Marco showing some backbone and standing up to the party. It makes sense when you consider that he's in his home and perceives himself as defending his family.

The comments Marco made about the criminal behavior was hurtful to you guys. It's something that he shouldn't have said and wouldn't have said, except he's gotten so angry that he's losing self control. If this situation had been defused, he would have apologized profusely for them, because he sees them as mean-spirited on his part. In other words, he would have felt bad for the way he was doing what he was doing, and he would do his damnedst to make it up to you. (See what I'm saying about character integrity? I'm doing it just like you guys.)

Now, there's several things we can do at this point...

• Quit. Because it's a hell of 'buzz kill' as the player who e-mailed me put it.
• Keep going without Marco's provisions for the TURTLEDOME! fight.
• Apologize and patch things up.
• Enact a 'deus ex machina': One of those pieces of rat-paper unfold and shove the party's minds backwards in time to the point where Marco introduces you to his wife. Then, you can re-play the events just like you restored a save in a game.

What do you guys want to do?[/sblock]

 

[Atanatotatos]

[sblock=I don't see]what's the problem. It's not a videogame. We're role-playing and as a result we failed a minor quest. So what? Why should we go back in time or quit the game? I found the whole scene amusing, if not ideal. I really can't see what's the big deal.[/sblock]

 

[KenHood]

[sblock=I understand.]My feelings are similar to yours. However, I have a player that sent a private message stating that he considers quitting as a result of the exchange. I want to place the issue on the table for the rest of the players, determine their opinions, and resolve it.[/sblock]

 

[Atanatotatos]

[sblock=ok...]One thing I absolutely will oppose is "rewriting reality". I really couldn't stand it. Aside from that, I'm open to all perspectives.
Still, I really can't see how this... incident undermines out main mission (the fight in the arena). Oh well...[/sblock]