Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 emperorpocky Mar 09, 2009 10:05:43	My adventuring group consists of: Me: Genasi fighter My brother: Genasi swordmage Our captain: Tiefling Warlord A witch I suspect of being a traitor: Tiefling Warlock A greedy wizard: Eladrin Wizard We just got to the end of our second dungeon. A dragon took our ships fuel and we were trying to get it back. While negotiating with the dragon everyone was giving their all except for me and my brother. I sat out of negotiations while my brother taunted the dragon repeatedly and eventually just attacked it to the chagrin of myself and the other party members. Negotiations failed. The wizard wanted the dragon's hoard so attempted to help the swordmage fight. I ran, telling my brother to learn from his own mistakes (he had been acting rashly kicking in doors the entire dungeon... and this was a trap-filled abandoned dwarf fortress). The warlord did his best to hold the dragon off while the other warlock and wizard ran... but before that the warlock and warlord incapacitated my brother. The session ended with me watching my brother being eaten alive by the dragon, then collapsing in a grief-stricken heap. tl;dr Things went poorly with a dragon and my brother is to blame. He was killed by my allies. What do I do? I have no idea what to do in the next session. I have suspected the warlock of being a traitor, and she used a daily and an action point to incapacitate my brother. My character should also feel guilty for abandoning his brother. The warlord insulted my entire race before helping to kill my brother. What would you guys do? PS This isn't my real brother I am talking about but my in game brother. I want to know what to do from a roleplaying standpoint, not a real life standpoint.
#2 disciple_of_juiblex Mar 09, 2009 10:36:01	Id create a new character. Two of your teamates just ganged up and killed your kin, there is no reason to help them anymore unless the sake of the world is at stake. I would swear a blood oath against the party and walk away. Then i hand over my character to the dm, and hope that one day he might bring him back as a foe to the party. However if you want your character to stay in the group... amensia? just block out the last day of activity, its been known to happen in real life. So you keep on asking your group "Hey wheres by bro at?". It puts them in a situation of telling you and risking your characters ire and not telling you and finding out later that they killed him. Hope that helps!
#3 jutter Mar 09, 2009 10:50:25	Well, technically the dragon killed your brother. The others incapacitated him because, let's face it, stopping the fight that way might have been the only possibility of surviving the encounter. There might have been a slim chance that they could talk the dragon out of eating him. The fact that the dragon ate your brother while he was helpless, that would be what I'd be frothing about. If you want to keep this character, go with the blood-oath against the dragon and insist the party helps you to atone for their aid in incapacitating your brother. If you have a nice idea for another character, go with Disciple_of_Juiblex' advise, create a new character, and leave this one to the DM. One thing to keep in mind: it's more important that the entire group has fun, than to roleplay your character like he 'should act' and ruin the atmosphere. So whatever you choose, make sure it's acceptable for everyone at that table. Killing the other characters is probably a no-no. Shrugging and saying 'o well, let's get on with the game' might not be appreciated in a roleplay-heavy group. Good luck, let us know how it worked out.
#4 entropy_judge Mar 09, 2009 11:23:52	How wise and intelligent is your character? Because, uh, you just sort of sat there while your brother insulted a dragon to its face, then high-tailed it rather than help him with his stupidity when he attacked the dragon *or* trying to hold him back and keep the dragon from killing him. I'd say (roughly): Mid-to-high INT, Lowish WIS: Your character, realizing the brother's death can be relatively attributed to your character's inactions and stupidity, is likely to kill himself. High WIS Character: Realizes that the brother's foolish and stupid actions sealed his own death warrant. Regardless of INT, this character is likely to move on after getting over the shock, and is likely to realize that the W&W were trying to save themselves. Lowish WIS and INT: This character is more likely to go out for revenge than other combinations, since he is less likely to realize the impact his brother's and his own actions had on his brother's death. A feud with the dragon is entirely possible, though outright attack is unlikely; if previous evidence existed for a traitor character, your character is probably likely to be convinced that that character 'killed' his brother. Whether an outright attack is warranted by your character depends more on his estimation of survival and will to live. Unless, of course, you don't want that to happen. If your characters weren't particularly close, it's likely to be more of a shock thing (you're adventurers, did you think you'd live forever?), and if you were very close, a suicidal act may be very warranted - whether outright, or 'assisted' by attacking the dragon. But how it goes is, ultimately, your call.
#5 That_Blasted_Somoflange Mar 09, 2009 20:49:43	Well, you could make it a quest to get your brother resurrected. Of course this means you have to get a piece of his body. Either waiting a couple of days and sifting through the feces of a dragon, or killing and gutting said dragon. You character should be grief stricken obviously. This can be portrayed in many a way. Anger, acceptance, pity, etc. etc. Pick one that you want to try. Retire the character after you get the body back, or give it to the GM to use as a villain against the party. As to the high intelligence/wisdom argument, grief and emotions tend to throw monkeywrenches into the machinery. I've seen the smartest people, or the most level headed in most circumstances do incredibly stupid things when emotions come into the mix. While it should play into your character somewhat of course, the heart wants what the heart wants. And it usually has a stronger pull than the brain.
#6 borris Mar 10, 2009 1:28:12	I'm not sure I even understand why the wizard and warlock bothered to incapacitate the dragon. Especially since you say everyone just ran away in the end, your character included. Letting the swordmage fight off the dragon (and likely lose) would actually give them a head start and increase their chance of escaping with their lives. Did they think that by siding with the dragon during the fight, they'd find themselves in its good graces? (This can be a double-edged sword. That show of force may instead tell the dragon that the others didn't believe him capable to defeat the swordmage on its own, and dragons are known to have big egos.) So, how do you interpret their actions? And how does your character? If your character can see that there was no way to save his brother from the dragon, and that siding with the beast was the only to retain of hope of negociations going awry, then your character will undoubtly be bitter about it, but perhaps understand that they did the best thing ther ewas to do. After all, your brother had been acting recklessly throughout the dungeon, despite your warnings, and instead of staying out of the negociations like you did, he put not only himself but everyone else in the party in danger by insulting and even attacking a powerful dragon outright. It's sad to say, but acting like he did shows that he clearly wasn't made of stern enough stuff to be an adventurer. Whether your character will accept it or not is a whole other matter. And even if he accepts his brother's death, his trust in the rest of the party may have been shaken enough that he wouldn't want to adventure and risk his life alongside them anymore. As others have already said, though, don't turn this in another intraparty fight. If your character decides he can't trust the others anymore, and you have another character concept you'd like to try (perhaps a common concept with the player who played your character's brother, but likely not brothers again), then have him abandon them right away (or as soon as you're out of that dungeon if it's not feasible to leave on your own). If he can forgive the party, he'll still be affected by those events, perhaps convincing him to voice his warnings a bit louder (after all, you were right about your brother), and feeling dismayed when others don't follow your advice. Don't be afraid to expose your reasons to believe the warlock may be a traitor or anger at the insults the warlord has said about your race, all in front of the whole party. Better solve those issues sooner than later, and the emotional state your character is in makes it more believable for him to let everything out at this point.
#7 mafdet Mar 10, 2009 19:23:01	I'm sorry to be rather out of synch with the other people offering advice however I have to ask if the incapaciting (and thus killing) of the swordmage by the warlock and warlord doesn't constitute the pc vs pc violence having already begun? Especially if there is any ongoing evidence to support the idea that the warlock has been a traitor in sessions previous to the one being discussed? I also have to wonder how the player of the eaten character is going to play the replacement character if they have to role one up, is the rash behavior normal for that player or just rp'ing and is the player going to play a similar character again or a little more reserved character? I honestly think your group should discuss how things are going to be played out with the DM before the next session. After all, if these series of events are repeated in the current campaign I would have to guess that there may become more fiction within the group than if the underlying issues are resolved now.
#8 aireanna Mar 10, 2009 20:21:57	the campaign im in i also have a sibling in (not rl) a half-brother, my char has vowed to herself to protect him with her life, if he were killed and another party member had a hand in his murder i would avenge him by challenging that member....or simply slaughtering them in their sleep. And then selling all that i had and/or indebting myself for life to get him raised, as he has a kingdom to run.
#9 etarnon Mar 12, 2009 22:09:13	Personally, i'd have a heart to heart talk with the DM, and ask his / her advice as to what they are willing to allow. I don't allow PVP in my games. If this happened, I'd go with the idea that the game was dead anyway, give you a chance to do what you want in the last session. That being said, if you are wondering what your character would feel method acting suggests you imagine a situation where you had great loss, and in the scene, feel it and respond appropriately. It might mean your PC or another PC's death or both / all, whatever. Again, clue in your DM before you do this. you could also go with a plot twist... "Brother? He's not my brother...." "HE was an idiot for attacking the drake...Let's do press on, shall we?" "I vow blood vengeance upon you all...Later, after this mission." "My brother's ghost will haunt you...our family curse..you have no idea...He wanted himself killed, to be rid of his shade / haunt / (whatever undead creepy thing your DM gets off on). Now it will stalk you, his killers." "My thanks. Father will have no choice but to give me the keep now." Etc, etc. Good luck.
#10 cole_caecus Mar 13, 2009 12:05:37	KILL THEM, KILL THEM I SAY!!!! lol, im kidding sort of, but honestly, i dont believe that pvp ruins games, as long as the pvp is in game and has a good reason for it, and the person who dies (Whether it was the instigator of the pvp, or the one who was attacked) keeps it in the game and doesnt get all that upset about it in RL, and as long as they dont make a new character that gets all angry and tries to kill the killer of their old character. PVP happens, and its natural, especially in a party that people arent all the same alignment. If the PVP is the whole 'im killing them in their sleep cause im evil and i want to' type of thing, now that is the thing that ruins games, the Chaotic Stupid stuff. But i think in this case it is completly justified for you to kill at least one of, if not both, of the characters that facilitated in the death of your brother. I've had a member of my family that was murdered, he was mugged. Now, i wasnt close to him or anything, barely new him, but still i was angry and wanted to find out who did it and hurt them, badly. And if it was one of my sisters that died, they would never find the guys body. So id go with the kill one of them, or both, thing. Especially if you have been thinking the Warlock is a traitor. But make sure you let the DM know first ;)
#11 emperorpocky Mar 15, 2009 23:22:41	Well, I talked with everyone and tried to get everything going well. It seemed like it would be ok, but the warlord and the warlock felt no remorse for their actions. The warlock seemed to claim it was "destiny" that my brother was going to die in the dungeon and him killing my brother was just my brothers destiny prematurely coming to pass. The warlord on the other hand blamed my character for the death of his brother, saying that if I hadn't abandoned him that he wouldn't have died. With that, and the fact that my friends absolutely did not want me to kill them (my character is optimized, their characters aren't), I left the party and gave the DM my character sheet. The player who was playing my brother is now playing a dwarf cleric who is more of an instigator than his previous character. I hope the DM and the other players are a bit more prepared for it this time. Rolling a dwarf paladin now, should be pretty fun. He has no relation to the other dwarf of course. Should be a good test of my roleplaying skill as I really have no idea how to play a dwarf.
#12 cole_caecus Mar 15, 2009 23:29:18	Be gruffm stubborn, and drink a lot. Thats pretty much all there is to playing a dwarf. oh, and kill Orcs. Any Orcs. Even in town. i played a dwarf ranger with favored enemy Orc, and pretty much killed orcs, even half orcs, any time i saw them, even in town. Luckily i had a high int and was careful about it all the time. I demolished an entire village over night using hit and run tactics. They couldnt find or track me cause a me being a ranger, and i jsut kept sneaking in, finding a hut, and killing them all in their sleep. Ah, good times.