Variable Experience Options

[nijineko]

argh... what is it with you people and these mental images. =P i don't want to know what ideology the cleric professed to follow.

truthfully, i never thought of that one, even as a kid. i think command: poop was about as close as we ever got. and that could even be passed off as a "cleansing" of the inner self, sort of, thus technically within the moral and ethical range of the more standard ideologies.

the bag of gold comment reminded me of a character in a supers setting. the game mechanics outlined the rules of how powers worked, but left the exact definition of the look and feel of the power up to the player. i defined one character, a new-rich arabian-style princess type, having all of her powers involve servitors and djinn and the like delivering the effects in various ways. her time-delay area effect explosive energy blast power? a servant would hand over a bag of gold, or scatter the gold pieces to the crowd, depending on circumstances....

[Zippee]

Ah it was 2ed days and a cleric of Loki (or somesuch 'trickster' diety). Command being very limited in scope, he needed to stop the spokesman rabble rouser before things escalated, he needed to cut him off at the needs and turn him from a figurehead for violence and rioting. In terms of changing the mood of a mob from ugly and violent to pliable and jocular it was almost an act of genius! It certainly wasn't done for the childish humour...that came later naturally though.

A bag of gold would only have exasperated the situation

[nijineko]

ah, that explanation makes the events more understandable... still, i wonder if there wasn't another way.

command is very limited.

[tesral]

ah, that explanation makes the events more understandable... still, i wonder if there wasn't another way.

command is very limited.

There is always another way, but will that way be either as effective of as humiliatingly funny?

[Zippee]

Indeed Command is very limited - one word only. How would you kick the knees from under the rabble rouser with one word? Bearing in mind that anything that looked like an act of violence or could be taken as an attack would have ignited the situation like a match in a powderkeg.

Besides it's become memorable, a focul point of the party events and very much part of the PCs writing their own story - that's what I want from my players, it's why I DM basically.

There are others, such as the face down with the 'other party' in the bar (lots of posturing and power play but all done without disturbing the locals - very intense), the flying night time chase over the moors, the fighting of trolls from inside a Leomund's Hut, the despairing dive (by the same cleric) to tackle the BBEG before he could smack the held fighter down, the paladin's wedding to the local nobility [and later the price it cost], how Nat became the nine-fingered, the negotiations with the Green Dragon exchanging cattle for land (quite epic at 2nd level), etc, etc. All good stuff for tall tales around a fire and that's what adventures should be IMO.

This was all in our Night Below 2ed campaign that is now sadly over - a virtual TPK against Grell, but we don't talk about that. Half the players still bear a grudge against all grell

[nijineko]

hmmm, the words 'jest', 'prank', 'mime', 'defecate', 'urinate', and other related come to mind. however, i'm certain it was quite humorous in context. however, i doubt that 6 seconds is enough... wait, you said second ed? ah, that would be a minute then, wouldn't it. plenty of time to embarrass and humiliate.

yeah, we've collected quite a few stories and memorable moments too. there is the time the party took on an 120 unit enemy strike force and fought them to a standstill, and finally had to negotiate their way out of it with the surviving members (they had taken out all of the command units, but some of the archery and artillery enemies survived). or the time a 9th level character managed to defeat a fully adult blue dragon in (almost) single-handed combat. (he had protection support from a mage and a cleric, but they couldn't do anything to the dragon.) he got the whole town involved in the preparations. see here, and then here. or the time our party monk (played by a balding, chubby, middle-aged guy) when asked by the dm if his monk qualified as a masterwork weapon (for purposes of a magical effect), loudly proclaimed that his entire body was a masterwork weapon (complete with possibly unconscious gesture at his own body).... that took a while to recover from indeed.

[tesral]

Indeed Command is very limited - one word only. How would you kick the knees from under the rabble rouser with one word? Bearing in mind that anything that looked like an act of violence or could be taken as an attack would have ignited the situation like a match in a powderkeg.

Command was not the only option. Repartee for example, heckle the guy on his talking points and get him twisted around and contradicting himself. The worst thing you can do to a public speaker is get people to laugh at him. With a whole party you have a ready made clique to get the laughter started. Move separately into the rabble start your repartee and the rest of your group cat calls and laughs.

Magic? Create water. The sight of the speaker suddenly soaking wet, especially if followed by some biting repartee could break the whole mood of the gathering. A runaway horse could steal his thunder, anything that pulled the attention of the rabble away from him. At the cusp of a mob anything attention grabing and eithe humorous or titilating would break is momentum. A couple of fishwives having it out in a clothing tearing fight that might bare something could derail him. They just need to be loud and have the possiblity someone will get to see bare tit. Real fishwives not required.

True Story: Back in the 70s at the height of the Star Trek conventions the Klingon Irregulars a group that did security for Trek cons in Klingon costums had a ugly situation building in an over crowded convention center. Peoiple had started chanting "kill the Klingons." even. One of the fellows whipped off his shoe and displayed is purple toe socks (yes, fashion in the '70s) and yelled "Howe can you distrust a Klingon in purple toe socks?" It got a laugh, and that was enough to diffuse the crowd from becomeong a mob. (Yes, I know the principles, not a second or third hand story)

[nijineko]

awesome story.

and since we are wandering afield, so to speak... in most ideologies, abrogating the agency of an individual is usually considered an evil act. thus any form of forcible charm, such as command, is technically an evil act. of course, this is not supported by the rules, and thus would be either houserules or roleplay. but still, something to think about.