Amateur Hour wrote: ↑Mon Aug 28, 2023 1:04 am
The issue I find my character running into - and running into A LOT, which is why I'm asking the question - is this:
A character is outed as a warlock.
Said character claims it was forced.
There is literally no way to prove them right or wrong or investigate further (unlike with the potion example, where you could go around asking if anyone is missing any potions, look for maker's marks, etc.).
You have to take them at their word or decide they're lying (and thus earn the wrath of everyone who goes to bat for the person because "innocent until proven guilty" is hammered into every player's heads from infancy).
It feels like there's really no point to the rule saying that all pacts are voluntary if a character can just consistently say it was involuntary without any consequences.
Oh this is an easy one
If said character said it was forced, work with them to try and 'undo' the pact, do some rp to try and break it - could be a fun way of roleplaying with that character!
Try and talk to them - get to know them - ask other people about them. Get a feeling for who they are. This has the benefit of givign you the advantage of lots of people to roleplay with, lots of new relationships to make, lots of juicy rp to get into!
Watch them. Observe them. If they do seem absolutly 100% pure innocent sweet and good - great. Maybe they were telling the truth? (But then, if they really do seem utterly and completely innocent, with absolutly no evil and 100% good and utterly rejecting of their pact, maybe best to contact the Dms?) Or see if they slip up? Maybe the pact was /genuinly/ coerced in some way, and that's an angle you can rp.
Or maybe your pc gets drawn into the web of power! Maybe they are interested by these new angles. Maybe they're corrupted?
Or maybe their attempts to help the warlock draw the Warlock into the path of redemption, making them realize that they really should be someone better.
Or maybe you spot that they are up to something malavolent, at which point you've some proof of guilt and can bring it to the other pcs.
Or heck, maybe you find nothing and get nowhere and they turn out to be a bad'un later and you can go 'HA! I TOLD YOU!'
Or if none of this appeals - just shrug and move onto something else, as following it up doesn't really seem much fun for anyone?
People tend to think as conflict in binary terms. Either 100% loved and trusted or 'KILL ON SIGHT!' - in truth I don't think the team want either.
We would like to see Warlocks distrusted, feared, and disliked. In the same way I think we'd like to see say, surfacers in the underdark treated like that too - But that doesn't mean we need to see them absolutly eradicated.
You have to take them at their word or decide they're lying (and thus earn the wrath of everyone who goes to bat for the person because "innocent until proven guilty" is hammered into every player's heads from infancy).
So work to prove them guilty. Or make it clear that 'Look, I'm ok not to kill him, but I don't trust him and we need to watch him.' And honestly that's enough.
With a lot of this sort of rp (monsterious races in settlments being the exception) I don't think the team are saying that such classes should be killed on sight. Just that perhaps you shouldn't be asking them to babysit your kids.
This too shall pass.
(I now have a DM Discord (I hope) It's DM GrumpyCat#7185 but please keep in mind I'm very busy IRL so I can't promise how quick I'll get back to you.)