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Message: <blockquote data-quote="KenHood" data-source="post: 4845584" data-attributes="member: 4413">[sblock=Okay, this sucks.]Here's the breakdown of what happened...<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Your party was about to enter a minor skill challenge to get Marco's wife's approval for the TURTLEDOME! expenditure. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">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.)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Drivan makes the first skill check and fails.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Vaunea charges up the stairs with an axe and that's the second failure in the challenge. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Now, everything changes because Marco's wife is terrified, and Marco gets very, very upset.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Finnian tries to smooth things out. His skill check is okay--one success in a skill challenge to straighten things out.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Marco is still shaken up and starts acting out. He makes an ultimatum about the weapons.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Hadarai refuses.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Finnian complies.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Vaunea refuses. (Sorry, she still had the axe.)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Marco gets even more angry.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Hadarai jumps on Marco.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Marco gets even more angry and kicks the party out of the house.</li> </ul>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...<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Quit. Because it's a hell of 'buzz kill' as the player who e-mailed me put it.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Keep going without Marco's provisions for the TURTLEDOME! fight.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Apologize and patch things up.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">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.</li> </ul>What do you guys want to do?[/sblock]</blockquote>

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