Super Squirrel Posted November 28, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2006 Re: Would You Assassinate the King? "Very impressive, you have constructed your own lightsaber. Your training is now complete." --Darth Vader. You have talent, kiddo. I admire your evil. Its too bad I can't sit in on one of your games. That just makes me want to peak even more. Whee need a smiley that shows the smiley banging its head into a wall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted November 28, 2006 Report Share Posted November 28, 2006 Re: Would You Assassinate the King? "Very impressive, you have constructed your own lightsaber. Your training is now complete." --Darth Vader. You have talent, kiddo. I admire your evil. Its too bad I can't sit in on one of your games. I do believe that's the best compliment I've ever gotten. Thank you. ^ v ^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vondy Posted November 28, 2006 Report Share Posted November 28, 2006 Re: Would You Assassinate the King? Now mind you everyone that just because the Creator is writing a book' date=' I don't know this. All I know is that the creator wants good stories. He doesn't care who gets hurt.[/quote'] Dare the Oracle start your tutelage with the mystery of black fire - an allegory for writing. The fire no one can make, except the creator who puts pen to paper. Pure thought given finite form in letters on parchment. He who reads it a prophet - especially if he managed to get his hands on an advanced copy of the manuscript... Or maybe the shock and awe effect is called for: Vonda Monn: [puts hand on male PCs head and pushes it up so he's looking at her stunning, bemused, and smiling face instead of her amazing, magnetic bosom; thinking inwardly, "this one needs cliff's notes..."]: "Hi sweetheart - up here. Now, listen up: the creator is writing a book." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supreme Serpent Posted November 28, 2006 Report Share Posted November 28, 2006 Re: Would You Assassinate the King? Alternately' date=' arrange for the King to die a noble, heroic death. (Ie--you do the heroic thing, then slit his throat afterwards and blame it on the bad guy.)[/quote'] Exactly. If you can't arrange for the prince to confront him directly and win the throne with some direct legitimacy, then off the king and make it look like the Order did it. Of course, in some good stories the fact that you did so would come out at a critical time, but not always... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgrandjean Posted November 28, 2006 Report Share Posted November 28, 2006 Re: Would You Assassinate the King? Actually with all the forces arrayed, you forgot a critical element. You need the plucky comic relief. Oh... And a dwarven fighter (or the equilivant) so that they can die and pass on some words of wisdom to the prince. You might consider picking up a tavern wench, a lousy pickpocket, or a bard. Also consider the wonders a small dog or a pig could do for your party. You will probably need to locate the 'Shiney Sword' tm to pass onto the Prince. I'd suggest looking around for forbidding forests, active volcanoes, or ancient shrines. In any case, the king will have to die at some point. Narrative history demands it. The only question is whether you will try and fail and be forgotten or whether you will succeed. (pun intended ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted November 28, 2006 Report Share Posted November 28, 2006 Re: Would You Assassinate the King? They have a bard. Two of them, actually. One of them lost her memory, but she should be getting it back again any day now. Lina is arguably the comedy relief. She's definitely plucky. ^ v ^ "Shiney Sword" can definitely be worked in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinecone Posted November 28, 2006 Report Share Posted November 28, 2006 Re: Would You Assassinate the King? Death to the Aristos! Ahem. Always my first response. Bastards. No, it's a terrible story if you assassinate the king. The prince has to confront him and come into his destiny, overthrowing and possibly killing his evil father himself, and then leading the kingdom. That's a good old story, positively mythic. Having some damn outsider come in and do the killing and then put the prince on the throne? Heck, the universe won't allow it. Thats an Exelent cover story! My advice was to have a ready made patsy to take the "credit"...but your way ahead of me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
incrdbil Posted November 28, 2006 Report Share Posted November 28, 2006 Re: Would You Assassinate the King? All I know is that the creator wants good stories. He doesn't care who gets hurt. Hmm, well if you feel your character wouldnt know how to craft a good story, find the kingdoms best storyteller, give him a story that uses the current elements, just vaguley disguised with other names, and see what he comes up with. Its like contracting out to a specialist for your heroic plan. Ah, the future of heroic work--subcontract out all the yucky stuff, and just save the glamourous and profitable part for yourself! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost-angel Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: Would You Assassinate the King? "Shiney Sword" can definitely be worked in. Pick up Nobles, Knights, And Necromancers, look up Silvertine. Go forth and do evil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: Would You Assassinate the King? So, Josh (squirrel, whatever) now that you know the universe demands a good story, you can always take advantage of it, by *choosing* your role. You're right. In classic tales (and it doesn't sound like the Creator is one for complicated ground-breaking fiction) the king is not going to get offed by a nobody. A stone block will probably fall out of the ceiling and kill you (off stage) if you try. However - kings get killed all the time by evil advisers who banish the king's son on some trumped-up excuse. If you "assume" that archetype, maybe the universe will help you become the King's adviser (you probably already know enough to make a good start). It might help speed things up, once the King is dead, if you try and seduce the banished prince's sweetheart - if he has one . Of course the son will inevitably return and kill you, but that should unite all the different factions in a satisfactory fashion and you can probably get a great dying speech. My advice is prepare it in advance and practice.... Alternatively, if you can arrange for the King and his son to become estranged - preferrably violently - then nature (or plot) could take its course. In that case you "assume" the role of plucky assistant to the Prince. The one thing it doesn't seem you need to worry about is morality - since the Creator obviously no more (and no less) annointed the king than they have you. cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OddHat Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: Would You Assassinate the King? See if you can get the creator to go for a bawdy French or Italian period sex-farce. Much less dangerous then Action-Fantasy, and you'll probably be able to get rid of the king through an absurd sequence of events that starts with your character dressing as a chambermaid. Better hope he's not influenced by modern Anime or crappy American porn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: Would You Assassinate the King? Pick up Nobles' date=' Knights, And Necromancers[/b'], look up Silvertine. Go forth and do evil. Actually, I'm coming up with some evil intentions for the Shiney Sword pretty well already. This is what I have so far (forgive the vagueness, but I'm still fleshing it out). Once again, Josh, no peeking. Once upon a time, the first hero, Aveliel, killed Piercylwin. What he didn't know was that Piercylwin had been dabbling in necromancy, and provided for the contingency that he might be killed. The one being who did notice that Piercylwin wasn't gone for good was banished back to the Heavenly Realm, never to return to Via until he was reborn as a human. The party knows him as Father Salem, and they thought he was evil for the first half-dozen sessions. I had fun setting THAT one up. Anyway, so I figure the key to Piercylwin's current immortality is inside Aveliel's sword. He'd triggered a spell which would tie a piece of his soul to whatever was used to kill him, anchoring him to this world. So long as that sword exists, he can't be killed for good. The sword itself is strongly enchanted, I haven't yet decided how. But with Al (the reincarnation of Aveliel) in Piercylwin's custody, he's trying to make Al recover his memories through a series of extraordinarily painful spells, so that he can recover the sword and see to it that it's never destroyed. It then becomes a race to find the sword first (though Piercylwin, being the evilly manipulative sort, may just lead them to it letting them think it's just a cool sword then try to steal it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: Would You Assassinate the King? See if you can get the creator to go for a bawdy French or Italian period sex-farce. Much less dangerous then Action-Fantasy, and you'll probably be able to get rid of the king through an absurd sequence of events that starts with your character dressing as a chambermaid. Better hope he's not influenced by modern Anime or crappy American porn. Heh. Too late. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
incrdbil Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: Would You Assassinate the King? See if you can get the creator to go for a bawdy French or Italian period sex-farce. Much less dangerous then Action-Fantasy, and you'll probably be able to get rid of the king through an absurd sequence of events that starts with your character dressing as a chambermaid. Work in a Benny Hill chase sequence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Squirrel Posted November 29, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: Would You Assassinate the King? I wonder if the OP is allowed to continue reading his own thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: Would You Assassinate the King? Yes. Just not the spoilery bits. ^ v ^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manic Typist Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: Would You Assassinate the King? I thought that the "author" of Via was not actually writing it anymore. That he went to bed each night (perhaps drunk), and woke up the next day to find that new chapters had been written. Although confused, he doesn't question his good fortune because he now has a reliable income. I thought I remembered reading that at one point. On the homepage. Was I crazy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: Would You Assassinate the King? You're not crazy. That is, indeed what's going on. However, the characters do have to take care that their god doesn't take an interest in their activities enough to prompt them into doing things that will sell more books. So far, Michael (the son) has managed to distract his father every time he considers intervening in the story, but the party does have to take care that they don't take steps which prompt him to plunk a new obstacle in their paths. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdamnhero Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: Would You Assassinate the King? So let's recap. The King is: Evil. Standing in the way of your saving the world. Standing in the way of a good story (ie - opposing the will of the universe). Decisions, decisions... One question tho: how confident are you that the Royal Knights will be on your side (or the Prince's side) after you've killed their liege? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Squirrel Posted November 29, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Re: Would You Assassinate the King? I have to say, that thanks to feedback from posters, I do have a decision. Prince Valentine Alaric Quentin and Father Danaecus are sitting down and having a private chat about what needs to happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arcady Posted November 30, 2006 Report Share Posted November 30, 2006 Re: Would You Assassinate the King? Kings, Queens, and Emperors are generally seen as ruling by divine right. So most people won't act against them even when they know that the ruler is utterly insane. Thus why it often took so long even after such excess for Roman emperors to be dethroned. Though they were dethroned more often than is normal... If a civilation can tolerate Calligula and Nero, even one that only a few generations before had believed for centuries that no man should hold such power, then in a civilization with a long tradition of royalty, committing regecide won't come easy. Now, the character here in question is in a unique position. He is insane and he knows it... He knows the world only exists as the imaginings of a 'has-been writer' in some other world who merely wants to write 'entertaining stories. This is an utterly insane belief... even if true... he is likely to wonder at his sanity for believing it... and he will have a hard time convincing anyone else of it. even with proof. Galileo had proof, and it didn't help him. Darwin had proof, and it still hasn't helped him. Gore has proof, and it isn't getting him all that far... Being able to prove you are correct isn't much, because the truth doesn't set anybody free. Framing does, belief does. Belief outweighs truth everytime. So, your character might be convinced of his truth, he might even be able to prove it, but he is not going to be able to convince anyone. And therefore he's going to run smack up against the divine right of kings. Even if he manages to kill off the king, he will likely end up with his head on the end of a pole. And it may very well be his own friends who put him there. All the characters are -probably- born and raised in a society that believes in the divine right of kings. Shaking that kind of belief doesn't come easy, and something as small as friendship loyalty isn't usually going to do it. The British still can't shake it, and they've got the cast of a Jerry Springer episode on their throne... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manic Typist Posted November 30, 2006 Report Share Posted November 30, 2006 Re: Would You Assassinate the King? Being able to prove you are correct isn't much, because the truth doesn't set anybody free. Framing does, belief does. Belief outweighs truth everytime. Except when the gun really IS loaded.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
incrdbil Posted November 30, 2006 Report Share Posted November 30, 2006 Re: Would You Assassinate the King? Prince Valentine Alaric Quentin and Father Danaecus are sitting down and having a private chat about what needs to happen. yes--finding a saxophone player, and a horde of scantily dressed ladies for the chase sequence will take some doing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted November 30, 2006 Report Share Posted November 30, 2006 Re: Would You Assassinate the King? yes--finding a saxophone player' date=' and a horde of scantily dressed ladies for the chase sequence will take some doing [/quote'] In Via? Actually, the saxophone may be a bit of a challenge . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thehentaiwizard Posted November 30, 2006 Report Share Posted November 30, 2006 Re: Would You Assassinate the King? The king i would say is better serving his country dead. Well the PC group in our campain could get away with it because at this point we could serve sephiroth his head in a bag. It all depends on how much changes for the kingdom are needed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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