What to do in this situation

[Lord Xaviar]

I dont think its an alignment trap either, You have to support the rulling structure (at least at first) and only deal non leathal damage. if it turns out you were wrong... make amends and topple the local goverment.

if honest mistakes are evil, get a new Dm or just slap them around a bit till he/she? wakes up and comes up with some interesting challenges

the? is interesting...anyone ever have a Female DM - Me no, never saw one, lots of players no Dm

 

[orion90000]

The best way is always the simplest.

Go to the local tavern. If it is empty then you know that the locals got tired of the feudal crap. Obviously the heavy drinkers will be the first ones to enlist in a revolt. In which case, move down the road to a more stable town and enjoy the ale.

On the other hand, If people are still drinking, then assume that the guards are fighting legitimate bandits and then feel free to join in. Then go back and enjoy some hard earned ale.

 

[Dandu]

It is possible that the people who are drinking are collaborators, and ill defended ones at that.

 

[kitcik]

Opportunity for a Rogue

Put on yur civilian disguise. Grab a pitchfork.

Go stand next to a guard & scream, "He stabbed me!!"

Apply fake blood and collapse.

In, and after, the ensuing melee - loot copiously.

 

[Senko]

Well if this were assasins creed I'd say kill those lying bandits since patrols of guards have a magical ability to sense assasins just walking by. Since it isn't however maybe try a few spells to determine good/evil/illusions as you're a very caster focused group. Secondly if the guards ARE legitimate town soldiers I'd advise helping them with subduing not killing the townsfolk or you may find renting a boat very difficult. Also again learn the mercernary rule of not getting involved especially with civil unrest unless your being paid very well or have a valid reason to do so. Otherwise sooner or later that curiosity/desire to do good will get you into trouble you can't get out of.

 

[Sorrowdusk]

You're in a town. The party hears fighting going on, checks out the source of the commotion, and see soldiers fighting what appears to be armed civilians. The soldiers cry out for help, saying that the town is under attack by bandits. The armed villagers also scream for aid, saying that they were simply gathering, and are being oppressed by the soldiers.

How do you figure out who's telling the truth?

PS: Preferably without magic. And if you need additional info, please ask.

Burn everything. Burn it to the ground.

This.

If they are bandits, I'd help myself to the bandits on person loot and to whatever the guards had on their person (I call that a Life Boon). If they're revolutionaries, I'd help them with the soldiers...and extract my 'fee' from them too. And the fire?

Well its just fun playing with fire.

Superficially, I beat the DM because this is nothing more than a blind-choice alignment trap. I could pick either side to support for whatever reasons and still be dead wrong. I pick the villagers and ha ha now I'm an evil, murdering outlaw too. I pick the soldiers and fool that I am have joined the ranks of the evil oppressor and his willing lackeys. Take no side and I have no heart, no sympathy, no honor. The situation reeks of the DM trying to play Whack-a-mole with the PC's.

On another level there is insufficient data for a meaningful response. What do I already know about the town and its history? What rumors have I heard lately, if any? What class and alignment is my character and fellow party members? Is this in a dark alley or the steps of Town Hall? Are there any bystanders and are they watching, fleeing, or joining with/against one side or the other? Is anyone carrying holy symbols of deities? What are they saying to each other? What are the villagers armed WITH?

Of course, if I do nothing at all and simply wait for the situation to play out the DM will realize that I'm not biting and unless he intended for me to just watch while he played the game by himself he will HAVE to start providing me with more information to provide me with motivation to get involved - which he should have done in the first place instead of me having to PRY something resembling motivation out of him.

You know, you may be right on all counts.

Hold on a sec. If everyone's fighting each other, isn't this the perfect opportunity to go stealing things?

OMG Dandu, so way ahead of me.

Well you've already made your first mistake getting involved without any reason more than curiosity. In future always remember to PLAN

Payment in advance.
Learn as much as possible about what your getting into.
Arrange escape routes and support in case of a double cross yours or theirs.
Never oppose the established order without a good reason e.g. a direct threat to yourself, your friends or your family or instructions from higher ups e.g as part of an invasion plan or putting down a corrupt noble on behalf of the Emperess.

Now you've already made a number of mistakes as mentioned . . .

1) You should have turned around and walked away from the sounds of combat unless you had a reason to investigate such as being hired by the town to keep order in which case you know which side you need to way in on. Armed peasants assaulting the duly appointed guards sounds like a breach of order to me.

2) If you felt that you did need to know more say in order to determine whether to leave town or merely move further away you should have sent the rogue/theif/ninja/assasin/sneaky sod in to quietly observe what's occuring and then report back hopefully without being seen.

You want to avoid making things worse so recommended actions (several have already been pointed out but I'll restate them here) are . . .

1) History/Local checks to determine what kind of culture/situation the local town has going on.
2) Spot checks to determine are the guards and peasants armed and equipped as you'd expect or does it not match up. If there's a local uniform are all the guards wearing it, if this isn't a warrior society are all the peasants carrying swords/spears/maces/etc.
3) Sense motive checks to determine if either of the pleas for help ring false.
4) Memory checks are any of the people involved familiar to party members e.g. the town farrier or a guard who was on the gate when you came in.


Further advice would depend on your party composition. If you don't mind what does your party consist of, why are you in town and is there any particular reason why you stuck your noses in when you weren't being paid to do so?

Some people are more than mercenaries, some people calle them selves 'selfless' and 'heroes'. They dont need money in advance, if they think its for a 'just cause' and they regularly throw themselves into all sorts of situations. But I like the way you think.