WWYCD 101:A question of faith

[nexus]

Your character and his team have been on a series of rollicking interdimensional adventures. You've faced the evil dopplegangers, Nazi worlds, classic heroes and villains from the comics, all the good stuff. Now you have been temporarily stranded in what seems to be peaceful agrarian version of Earth ruled by a nature worshipping cult of pesudo pagans. Technolgy is 18th century at best. The land is fertile, the people healthy and happy, all seems well and its actually turning into quite a nice break for your harried heroes.

 

That is until you learn the price for this prosperity. Every year at the height of spring each village must sacrifice one its youth, a healthy male or female virgin in a bloody rite to ensure fertility for the next year. This has gone on for generations and almost no objects. Now, no one has documented proof of dire results from not performing the sacrifice, but there's certainly a great deal of faith and tradition behind it. The chosen sacrifice is treated like King or Queen for the year leading up to their death and can, without physical restraint, chose to leave their village and thus be spared. The sacrifice must be willing but the societal preasure is huge and the shame of fleeing would be immense.

 

The sacrfice is in one week. Your PCs have been asked to be guests. Would they interfere in this society or not? In any event, physically there would be very little threat even to "weak" supers in stopping the rituals (Well trained normals with swords and clubs).

 

I actually used this scenario with a PC group once. It lead to some entertaining debate. I hope it does the same here.

[OddHat]

Re: WWYCD 101:A question of faith

 

Style - "We can't interfere in this. What are we going to do, threaten and beat peaceful people trying to follow their own traditions? It's a colorful folk-way. Yes, it's horrible. That's people for you."

 

Flesh Gordon "Hello beautiful. I'm Flesh. I really like your tan. You have incredible weather out here." Doesn't notice sacrifice until it actually begins. "Say, she looks really good! I've got to learn how to do that dance. Let's see, drop, drop, hips hips hips ... she has a knife! I need a knife. What?! Football tackle! No need to thank me. Hey, why are you crying? Everyone is yelling at me. Whoa. It's like Cannes all over again."

 

AnimeGai - Not programmed to deal with this. There is no violence or obvious threat of violence. Floats quietly throughout debate. Stops actual sacrifice unless specifically ordered not to. Not sure how to deal with ensuing riot.

[Chuckg]

Re: WWYCD 101:A question of faith

 

Every character I have would stop it, and let the chips fall where they may.

[nexus]

Re: WWYCD 101:A question of faith

 

Every character I have would stop it' date=' and let the chips fall where they may.[/quote']

 

It caused quite a debate among my PCs, let me tell you. The more "justice not law" types like Null and Void, were all for for stopping it, while the team leader Protector, the mystic Wytch and ironically the team's Christian Ninja Shade, were more for non interference since no force was involved and it was an act of faith (that seemed to have genuine benefits). Good points were made all around and it was quite a fun session with abosolutely no combat. In the end it wasn't fully resolved since their "ride" showed up and they had to hop dimensions again.

[Metaphysician]

Re: WWYCD 101:A question of faith

 

Microman II would first and foremost, ask the team magic people if they can sense what is happening "behind the scenes," so to speak. Absent any detectable elements, he would probably act to stop the sacrifices. Or, more accurately, since he personally can hardly stop a worldwide action, would try stopping one sacrifice, and then recording the ( presumed ) absence of negative consequences.

 

And if there are horrible consequences despite a continued absence of detectable magic, then Microman isn't the only one who would be baffled. . .

[Wormhole]

Re: WWYCD 101:A question of faith

 

Wormhole: Leave as soon as his Gatemaster Belt is working again. And should one of those pretty virgin girls decide she doesn't really want to be the next sacrifice, Bradley will more than gladly take her with him.

[Blue]

Re: WWYCD 101:A question of faith

 

Anthem is Catholic, and while she's not predisposed to lecture anyone on their faith, she'd find the idea of human sacrifice abhorrent. She'd go to the person secretly and try to appeal to their sense of survival. In the end, she would likely have to be restrained from interfering in the ceremony.

 

Uncle Slam would go to the elders of the village and try to find out everything he can about how this practice came about. He'd like to have every bit of information possible so he can make a case against the person sacrificing themselves. But if it all failed, he'd fly in and abduct him/her on the day of the ceremony.

[Crackerjacker]

Re: WWYCD 101:A question of faith

 

Blockbuster, the Boy Behemoth: Would most likely follow his impulse, interefere, and when everyone is shouting at him in shock and horror would probably flip out and turn into his godzilla type form. One destroyed village, and hopefully no deaths, later he will of decided to never so lightly interefere with other cultures again.

 

The Pulse would observe from a distance, and use his lifesign sense to detect notable increased perspiration/heart rate of the sacrifice as to detect if they are unwilling (or slowed to detect being drugged). If all seems fine he would let it happen. He's a reformed theif, but not a humanitarian by any sense.

 

Captain Amazing would rocket in, rescue the sacrifice amidst to her own protests, and then promise to protect them from any consequences of not performing the sacrfice.

[farik]

Re: WWYCD 101:A question of faith

 

Husky would hurrt off hiding his discomfort at the conundrum and change into Kenneth. Kenneth would consider the problem very straightforward and consider the obvious course of action be to let the ceremony take place and change back into Husky. Husky will accept his own decision but not without trepidation he'd finally end up watching the ceremony from the maximum distance that would still allow him to swoop in to the rescue and save the sacrifice if they changed their mind at the last minute. If the sacirifce acted without hesitation Husky would turn away at the last moment and go off somewhere secluded and change into Kenneth to escape his deep discomfort. Kenneth knowing how uncomfortable he feels as Husky will avoid changing back into Husky until Husky will have some immediate action to deal with.

[caris]

Re: WWYCD 101:A question of faith

 

Adonis, would interfere. He would find the whole thing so disturbing that he might actually becoming irrational.

 

As a side note, asking now as a player. How is the sacrifice selected? Are they volunteers?

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: WWYCD 101:A question of faith

 

Lessee here now ...

 

Fortunately, having only one character to work with right now ...

Blues would ask the resident magical types to see if anything really is going on 'behind the scenes', as Metaphysician suggested. If not, well then, he'd definitely be saving the sacrifice. Now, if some way to 'fake' the death could be developped, then he'd be all over that. Two weeks later, reveal the alive-dead sacrifice and say, "See? The sun still shines, the crops still grow, your god still loves you." Which is nicer than saying what he's REALLY thinking, which was "How in the world did you bunch of yokel dip%$*@s EVER buy into any of this bull$*(@?"

[nexus]

Re: WWYCD 101:A question of faith

 

Wondering if any opinions have changed on this one

[incrdbil]

Re: WWYCD 101:A question of faith

 

Ranger wouldn't interfere. Anyone dumb enough to go along with that isn't exactly improving the gene pool, in his very cynical line of thought. Their world, not his..and no one is being forced, though he wouldn't hesitiate in pointing out his doubts of the sacrifices usefulness.

 

Blaze..well, heck, they'll go back to it when he leaves. He'd not care to stay long enough to successfully uproot the basic beliefs of an entire society.

 

Hornet, conscious of that respect for culture effects, firmly believes in the power of logic and science, and would want to make sure the people knew, withoout doubt, that not holding rhe sacrifice would change a thing, hoping to at least spark a few people to embrace reason over a mind numbing cult of superstition. He might even research locla crop patterns, talk with elders, and see if he can find a natural reason for crop abundance, or find proof of bad times even when the sacrifices were done. And they can still find their stupid willing sacrifice after they left--but only after he left behind methods and forms of crop enhancement even their technology could handle that would really help, as opposed to their primitive mumbo-jumbo. (A healthy refusal to believe in magic or take it seriously has always been a flaw of his, and, even unconsciously, it would have to extend to his opinion of religion. The perils of a 45 INT and pride.)

 

Demon would cheerfully point out from his infernal origins that human sacrifices only empower forces of evil. Negative comeliness, Demonic features and a 45 Presence should help convince someone of that.

 

Shaister would key in on this treated like a King bit, maybe even volunteer if he could think of a way to drain goods, riches, get them off world, then depart, leaving them short a sacrifice, and consider it fair payment for teaching them a lesson. Stupid rubes.

[DEFCON Clown]

Re: WWYCD 101:A question of faith

 

Gregory Cauldron: He would refuse to be their guest for the sacrifice. It would drive a huge wdge between him and these people, but he would not stop it.

 

Weaver: He'd pretend to be completely supportive of their scarifice and at the last second he's whisk himself and the sacrifice away, despite any of their objections. He'd probably also give the priest in charge of the sacrifice a trip to a hell dimension, a short one but he should get the point.

[Trebuchet]

Re: WWYCD 101:A question of faith

 

Zl'f would not permit it to happen; even if she had to die trying to prevent it. As a devout Russian Orthodox, so far as she's concerned the only person who has the right to sacrifice himself to save the world from evil is Jesus Christ. Just because this is prettied up in neo-pagan ritual doesn't make it any more acceptable than Miller's pseudo-Puritans in The Crucible or Aztec blood sacrifices. Objectively speaking, killing an innocent person in order to make others live in a "paradise" is evil in and of itself even if the sacrifice is wholely voluntary and even if it really works. No benevolent diety would demand such a thing.

[McCoy]

Re: WWYCD 101:A question of faith

 

Millennium: Telepathy time. As long as the victim was willing, and no ulterior motive present in those who chose the victim, would not interfere.

 

Cheeta: Would try to work something out with someone with illusions or mind control. Running fast enough to remove the victim from tha alter without being see, while teammate's illusion of an approperate messenger (Or a mind controled high priest) says no further sacrifices are necessary.

 

Iron Will: Will try to detect/analyze any magic in the area, see if retrocog can be pushed far enough to see how this started, if precog will show what would happen if stopped. If no real magic or no consequences of discontinuing the sacrifices, will work with Cheeta to try to change them. If this is real magic, if a voluntary sacrifice is necessary to continue these people's existance, will prevent teammates from interfering.

 

Snow Leopard: "If these people are so peaceful, why do they have swords? And train with them?" More to this than meets the eye, will investigate.

 

Dolphin: Try to talk victim, and all other potential replacements, into unvolunteering. If they did not, would respect their decision.

[Trebuchet]

Re: WWYCD 101:A question of faith

 

As long as the victim was willing' date=' and no ulterior motive present in those who chose the victim, would not interfere.[/quote']How can there not be an ulterior motive in a case like this? "We kill him; we live happily ever after" sounds pretty damned ulterior to me. This is as morally indefensible as justifying killing Grandma because "we'll all be happy once we inherit her estate."

[McCoy]

Re: WWYCD 101:A question of faith

 

How can there not be an ulterior motive in a case like this? "We kill him; we live happily ever after" sounds pretty damned ulterior to me. This is as morally indefensible as justifying killing Grandma because "we'll all be happy once we inherit her estate."

Do you see the difference between "Random selection among the elegible volunteers turned up Farmer Brown's oldest son" and "Farmer Brown has been too much of a freethinker lately, let's sacrifice his son to send a message."

 

Millennium would be looking for if the priest were sincere or manipulating the sacrifice. If sincere, his entire shtick is based on the Hero With a Thousand Faces cycle, which does include The Hero being willing to sacrifice himself the save his family/community/humanity. How can he deny someone else their own chance to live out the cycle?

[Zed-F]

Re: WWYCD 101:A question of faith

 

Soulbarb has the ability to see souls, a hefty background in the occult, and potentially access to insider information regarding what happens to the people who are sacrificed. She can probably figure out what's really going on and make a decision from there.

[DataPacRat]

Re: WWYCD 101:A question of faith

 

One possibility for Bunny would be to ask what method the sacrifice employed - and if it was something her nanites could heal her from (garrotting, chest-knifing, or something else simple), she'd volunteer to /be/ the sacrifice.

 

And then, after all the proper forms were fulfilled and she was officially "dead", she'd get up from the tomb and attempt a little creative myth-making about her being the /last/ sacrifice, based on certain mystery cults from Earth's own past (Osiris, Orpheus, Asclepius, and all those other dead-and-revived fellows)...

[Weldun]

Re: WWYCD 101:A question of faith

 

Leatherback - Beyond praying for the souls of these poor, misguided heathens? Prevent the party from interfering. And only the Stormlord has the power to go through him.

 

The Specter – Would try to see the sacrifice alone long enough to answer one question. “Is this what you want?” If the answer is no, a rescue is required, and damn the consequences. If the answer is yes, then he’d drug the drinks of his fellow team members, and forcibly subdue those who are unaffected. He has little patience for these “young-un’s” and is all too familiar with the effects of cultural imperialism.

 

Whisper – would be lynched after asking is he could have the leftovers.

[incrdbil]

Re: WWYCD 101:A question of faith

 

 

And then, after all the proper forms were fulfilled and she was officially "dead", she'd get up from the tomb and attempt a little creative myth-making about her being the /last/ sacrifice, based on certain mystery cults from Earth's own past (Osiris, Orpheus, Asclepius, and all those other dead-and-revived fellows)...

 

If I was the GM of that situation, the giggles turning into evil maniacal laughter would stop the game for five minutes. I'd hug the player for doing it, then have my fun

[Trebuchet]

Re: WWYCD 101:A question of faith

 

Do you see the difference between "Random selection among the elegible volunteers turned up Farmer Brown's oldest son" and "Farmer Brown has been too much of a freethinker lately' date=' let's sacrifice his son to send a message."?[/quote']Yes, I do. The former is a wrong perpetrated by the cociety as a whole; the latter is a wrong perpetrated by a portion of that society. They're still both wrongs no matter how it gets dressed up in approval by those supposedly benefitting from it. The agreement of the sacrifice is irrelevant. I don't care if it's clad in pilotically correct clothing and somebody quotes the Prime Directive: It's wrong; and it should be stopped.

 

This is selfish and evil behavior by the society in question; and I'd oppose this just as I would societally condoned judicial rape, slavery, or ritual murders of gay people or witches. This is not a neutral issue; failure to oppose evil is evil. It may not always be possible to openly oppose evildoing; but that was explicitly not the case with this WWYCD scenario. The player characters have the ability to stop the sacrifice; so not to do so means they are not acting heroically. Period.

 

I'm honestly appalled at how many players seem to think this would be OK as long as the sacrificial victim is OK with it.

[Weldun]

Re: WWYCD 101:A question of faith

 

I'm honestly appalled at how many players seem to think this would be OK as long as the sacrificial victim is OK with it.

This is what would your characyer do? Using these responses as a measure of a player's morallity goes against the very concept of role-playing. I would personally be appalled, and many of my older characters would intervene. I wouldn't, only because I would have no chance of succeeding in said situation, not possessing the ability to fight off large numbers of armed fanatics. As to my previous responses, I have two relatively jaded characters, and an anti-hero as my current set in play. It's just the mode I'm in right now, when it comes to champions.

 

Please keep in mind, that these are scenarios for a game. If you find yourself having difficulty with that, then I suggest you put your dice and books away until you can.

[McCoy]

Re: WWYCD 101:A question of faith

 

I'm honestly appalled at how many players seem to think this would be OK as long as the sacrificial victim is OK with it.

And that's your opinion, not one shared by my characters Millennium and Dolphin. Closer to the opinions of Cheeta and Iron Will.

 

Personally, I find it a little frightening that you, not only your character, are so willing to prevent by force someone preforming what they consider to be a religious duty/obligation.