Typical Player Behavior, or Bad Roleplaying?

[ptolemy18]

Okay, okay -- I WON'T USE THE PLANAR ALLY!!! You're right, that would be too annoying.

I *will* have the PC get plagued by dreams "donate the magic items to the dead PC's church", though.

- Have the old PC die, and spill his guts via Speak With Dead (without alignments, how would you determine who gets a saving throw?). Can this hurt the PCs? Hopefully. Actions have consequences.

- Have some NPCs save the PC, then all the other NPCs talk about what a good bunch of heroes they are.

Both of these sound like good ideas. Maybe I'll use one of 'em....

Jason

 

[ptolemy18]

There was also no expectations when the PC got the magical gifts, so why would good clerics take the gifts away for not helping?

The magic items were originally given to the old PC by the good clerics. If you bought a nice new car for a friend, and then they gave it to someone they just met two hours ago, who drove away leaving your friend to be arrested by the cops on trumped-up charges, wouldn't you be vaguely pissed at the person who took the car? (As well as your friend, of course... but let's say your friend wasn't in their right mind...)

Jason

 

[Andor]

So.... As far as you all are concerned, preventing a PC from disposing of their personal property as they see fit is just fine, but having an in game consequence for a betrayal of trust on the part of a PC towards an NPC is going to far?

Both actions are metagaming. But one you feel should be flat disallowed, whereas the other should be consequence free...

I don't get it, it seems like a double standard to me. The new PC owes a trememdous debt towards the old PC, and both are clerics, supernatural intervention makes perfect sense to me.

Although I might let the old PC die in the stocks and haunt the new PC until her items are buried with her.

 

[xnosipjpqmhd]

...the old PC...was involved with a fight with some government troops a few sessions ago, and throw her in prison.

Maybe I don't know all the facts, but it sounds like justice has prevailed. The old PC is repaying a debt to society for breaking the law. ;-)

Now, since there are no alignments, I can't *force* or railroad the players into having their characters act a certain way.

I don't think alignment has anything to do with it. Railroading is railroading. Instead, just let actions have rational consequences. (I particularly like LostSoul's first three options. Very logical and appropriate.)

Worrying about the magic items and trying to retreive them seems petty, as if you are assigning a monetary value to what you perceive as an immoral action. If you want to show that abandoning a friend is wrong, then it shouldn't matter if the friend was generous or not.

That's what I think, anyway.

ironregime

 

[Eloi]

If twenty-eight days (or one lunar cycle in your game world) has gone by, and no action has been taken to free the ex-PC Cleric, there's this 35th level Priestess of Loviatar who happens to need to keep this series of oases stocked with caretakers, and has the cash and Charisma to make things happen... and torturers tend to mention their special charges when they pray. Loviatar notices such things.

The ex-PC Cleric is purchased from the local authorities, and "conveniently vanishes" from their records. A few thousand gold pieces change hands, the torturers are ecstatic about the personal visit from "Her Holiness" and reverently caress their new masterwork torture equipment, and the local magistrate looks noticably younger and more spry.

And then, someday, perhaps the PCs will come across the oasis in the desert that this ex-PC Cleric is Geased to maintain.

 

[EdL]

("Those items are the property of the temple of Isis!" BLAM!)

Is this the same pacifistic Isis who poisoned her daddy Ra?

 

[Herobizkit]

Have the previous PC killed and return as an undead (possibly a Revenant) who cannot rest until he regains all his previous possessions in life. Then leave it up to the PCs if they want to give up their stuff or deal with the Revenant on a daily/weekly basis.

I like the idea of an *intelligent* Circle of Blasting. Seems it should want to be on the head of its former owner... even if said owner is a Revenant. *LOL*

More to the point, Supreme Priests of Good do whatever is best, according to their God(dess?). If they decide not to rescue the old PC turned NPC, then have the logical resolution follow through; the bad guys learn of the PCs and dispatch agents to deal with them. This places the PCs in direct confrontation with the corrupt government... which is what the God/dess probably wants... The Greatest Good, according to Him/Her.

So, if the death of their NPC directs the PCs to confront the Greatest Evil, it's all good acc'd to your Supreme Good deity.

 

[Rasyr]

Now, since there are no alignments, I can't *force* or railroad the players into having their characters act a certain way. But I thought it would be more in-character for the Priestess of the Supreme God of Good to at least *try* to convince the other PCs to rescue the hapless prisoner. (Instead, she had this complicated excuse where she said she didn't want to interfere with the complicated political situation and possibly kill innocent guards, and she hoped that maybe the temple of the former-PC's religion would be able to help the former PC, etc.) Out of character, I think the player of the former PC is just tired of having to deal with the old PC and wants to put the situation behind him. But since THE FORMER PC GAVE ALL HER MAGIC ITEMS TO THE GUY'S NEW PC I THINK THAT THE NEW PC WOULD BE SLIGHTLY MORE WILLING TO GO OUT ON A LIMB TO HELP HER!!!

Yeah, a couple of mistakes here.
1) Letting the player play both characters at the same time. The first one should have become an NPC (controlled by you) before the second one showed up (or at the time it happened).

2) Allowing one PC to give ALL of its magic items to the other was another boo-boo. More realistically, the retiring PC should have donated them to her church.

Now as for the new PC refusing to rescue the old PC. Oopsey! If she doesn't want to do it, then let it flow that direction. However, being the cleric of a god of good, she just blew the tenets of her faith. Nothing to do with alignments here. By allowing the other PC to suffer that fate, especially after that other PC gifted her with several magical items, is quite likely not going to be considered a good act by her god. So, whatever power/ability that the god has given her, he should likely take away until she has atoned for it (loss of that spontaneous casting of Domain lists).

As I said above, this is not actually related to alignments. First off, each culture will have its own interpretations of good versus evil, and interpretation that has no bearing on alignments at all. If her actions are against the interpretation as defined by her culture and religion, then she is going to be punished by her goddess, plain and simple.

 

[Rasyr]

I like the idea of an *intelligent* Circle of Blasting. Seems it should want to be on the head of its former owner... even if said owner is a Revenant. *LOL*

GM: Hearing the sudden noise you turn around and stare as the Revenant comes into sight. Suddenly, from the circlet around your forehead you hear a tiny voice distinctly yell, "Poppa!!"

 

[Coredump]

Sorry, but I am joining in with the "stop the railroading* chorus.

You are planning on penalizing them for not following your plot hooks, the way you want them followed. Such is the life of a DM.

By having the planar ally, or even the 'dreams' plague the new cleric, it is 'punishment' for them not following your plan. It basically says 'learn to do what I want, or I will make it difficult for you.'

So, you are made because a lawful good cleric is not going to try and have a jailbreak for a cleric arrested for attacking city guards....?? And there is an entire church trying to help out the 'criminal', but a 5th level priest will be able to save the day?

Let it go. At least let the magic items go. I like the idea of the character dying (torture?) and spilling his guts. *that* is a consequence, bad dreams is a punishment.