But why so fighty
Mar. 7th, 2020 04:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccaelizabethI have read the Rise of the Runelords adventure in some detail up through what would have been the first book in the adventure path.
spoilers below the cut.
I like the plot and the characters and how things get revealed layer on layer.
I kind of want to adopt the goblins. Sure they're bitey, but they're hungry. And they're currently evil but isn't changing hearts and minds what a Bard is good for?
I have decided I don't want to be a Roll to Seduce bard, because boring kissing stories, and who has that much time? No, my default approach can be Roll to Recruit, with a promise of sufficient meals and an actual share of the treasure not just a coin to hire them and a bunch of threats to keep them going. Bread and roses, workers rights, why should anyone put up with random chance of being the next sacrifice? You have nothing to lose but your chance of screaming on an altar! If we're all investigating the same things I'm sure we've got much in common!
... yes they're substantially more murder-y, but that's just where they start.
... I also spent part of today listen watching songvids featuring Flash villains. I have existing opinions about villains. They might not be cuddly friends but if they're friends there's so much more you can get done.
Unfortunately, and it's kind of getting me down, the story seems to assume you kill everything in your path. I don't even know how to score the XP if you resolve things non violently. There's plenty written about their tactics, but not so much about their reactions if you ask what they're working on. If a player were to approach some sections of the adventure openly and offer a deal, well, they're going to get a fight anyway. Probably a bigger fight.
There are ways to end up with everything from that section of the adventure in one place. The adventure points out that would be about a CR10 encounter. And the PCs are probably level 3.
So it's perfectly calibrated for killing everyone a room at a time, but if no killing, then not much guidance and some unfortunate options.
Granted there's characters who are not going to be able to make a deal, they just want to burn the world. There are several characters who are described as having been driven mad.
I am very not keen on that justification. Mad needs healing, and possibly being outnumbered in a soft setting for a while. But no, mad here just means they'll fight to the death, no chances.
Also actual terrible things happened to the one lady who is the big bad.
It's not an excuse, because she decided to be terrible things, and other people decide no terrible things should ever happen again.
It's just sad, and it seems like there ought to be a way to reach her.
Also the specific religious mess that got her angry seems to assume that attitudes to women would be exactly the same even without local to Earth religions. It seems weird and unlikely that the goddess of travellers would particularly care about out of wedlock pregnancy. I mean, if you're the goddess of always moving on, and there's rumours about children had with other chaotic good gods, then why would it fuss you? And you can say her church don't agree with her on this one, because a church can get hold of the wrong end of the stick, but again, why? So many religions, so many attitudes. The nearest temple to Calistria is only down the road in Magnimar. Sandpoint's six deities aren't going to agree on everything, but I can't see Desna, Shelyn or Sarenrae condoning treating women that way. The world to work that way has to assume sexism and that male priests of female deities are going to treat women exactly like the worst corners of more familiar patriarchies.
It's bad worldbuilding and really annoying.
Unless she's meant to be a one off exception, and nothing in the story suggests that.
So she's doing terrible things, but it seems like there ought to be a way to reach her and sympathise and suggest possibly fixing the world instead of burning it.
... a tough sell I'll grant. Still.
I'm a bit frustrated with how combat oriented things seem to be. Computers can do the combat parts. People talking to people makes the complicated story stuff happen.
Also the baked in assumption that some things are born evil
is no.
no monsters.
just conflicting needs, lack of understanding, and not learning yet.
... there's an actual goddess of giving birth to monster babies though, the idea of monster babies is pretty thoroughly baked in there.
I shall continue reading
but I'd want to take the story off in whole different directions
make friends and influence people
and I think it pretty much wants pcs to kill them all.
spoilers below the cut.
I like the plot and the characters and how things get revealed layer on layer.
I kind of want to adopt the goblins. Sure they're bitey, but they're hungry. And they're currently evil but isn't changing hearts and minds what a Bard is good for?
I have decided I don't want to be a Roll to Seduce bard, because boring kissing stories, and who has that much time? No, my default approach can be Roll to Recruit, with a promise of sufficient meals and an actual share of the treasure not just a coin to hire them and a bunch of threats to keep them going. Bread and roses, workers rights, why should anyone put up with random chance of being the next sacrifice? You have nothing to lose but your chance of screaming on an altar! If we're all investigating the same things I'm sure we've got much in common!
... yes they're substantially more murder-y, but that's just where they start.
... I also spent part of today listen watching songvids featuring Flash villains. I have existing opinions about villains. They might not be cuddly friends but if they're friends there's so much more you can get done.
Unfortunately, and it's kind of getting me down, the story seems to assume you kill everything in your path. I don't even know how to score the XP if you resolve things non violently. There's plenty written about their tactics, but not so much about their reactions if you ask what they're working on. If a player were to approach some sections of the adventure openly and offer a deal, well, they're going to get a fight anyway. Probably a bigger fight.
There are ways to end up with everything from that section of the adventure in one place. The adventure points out that would be about a CR10 encounter. And the PCs are probably level 3.
So it's perfectly calibrated for killing everyone a room at a time, but if no killing, then not much guidance and some unfortunate options.
Granted there's characters who are not going to be able to make a deal, they just want to burn the world. There are several characters who are described as having been driven mad.
I am very not keen on that justification. Mad needs healing, and possibly being outnumbered in a soft setting for a while. But no, mad here just means they'll fight to the death, no chances.
Also actual terrible things happened to the one lady who is the big bad.
It's not an excuse, because she decided to be terrible things, and other people decide no terrible things should ever happen again.
It's just sad, and it seems like there ought to be a way to reach her.
Also the specific religious mess that got her angry seems to assume that attitudes to women would be exactly the same even without local to Earth religions. It seems weird and unlikely that the goddess of travellers would particularly care about out of wedlock pregnancy. I mean, if you're the goddess of always moving on, and there's rumours about children had with other chaotic good gods, then why would it fuss you? And you can say her church don't agree with her on this one, because a church can get hold of the wrong end of the stick, but again, why? So many religions, so many attitudes. The nearest temple to Calistria is only down the road in Magnimar. Sandpoint's six deities aren't going to agree on everything, but I can't see Desna, Shelyn or Sarenrae condoning treating women that way. The world to work that way has to assume sexism and that male priests of female deities are going to treat women exactly like the worst corners of more familiar patriarchies.
It's bad worldbuilding and really annoying.
Unless she's meant to be a one off exception, and nothing in the story suggests that.
So she's doing terrible things, but it seems like there ought to be a way to reach her and sympathise and suggest possibly fixing the world instead of burning it.
... a tough sell I'll grant. Still.
I'm a bit frustrated with how combat oriented things seem to be. Computers can do the combat parts. People talking to people makes the complicated story stuff happen.
Also the baked in assumption that some things are born evil
is no.
no monsters.
just conflicting needs, lack of understanding, and not learning yet.
... there's an actual goddess of giving birth to monster babies though, the idea of monster babies is pretty thoroughly baked in there.
I shall continue reading
but I'd want to take the story off in whole different directions
make friends and influence people
and I think it pretty much wants pcs to kill them all.