Paul vs Heresy the eternal battle
Today I ran my Dark Ages Inquisitor game, and despite a lot of OC sillyness (a lot caused by me) I had a really quite fun time playing an NPC, the first time I think I've ever really got into character as a particular NPC whilst Gming.
It was a long over due interrogation scene of a renegade monk who the PCs had spent most of the campaign trying to track down, capture and bring back for trial for extreme heresy. (The sort of heresy where you summon daemons to possess yourself so you can better understand the suffering Christ underwent in hell for our sins)
Aside from hunting him down for naughtiness and the obligatory saving the heretics soul (or burning him trying!), they also wanted to question him to ascertain the location of a rather dangerous heretical text.
I expected a long drawn out theological argument/interrogation scene complete with a long-uphill struggle to prove how he was wrong and how he had become damned by embracing this text, or if this failed (likely unless the players (most probably Gemma) made a damn good argument) they'd resort to beating the information out of him.
However after going round a few times arguing about the accuracy and completeness of the bible, the corruption of the Church, and whether it is possible for disobedience against God's Allpowerful and Allknowing Will to be a meaningful concept. Paul in a fit of epic level bluntness stated what they wanted to know and asked the heretic exactly where the text was and then stated how they would obviously going to succeed in retrieving it because they where Right, and so it would be God's Will that they succeed, which he followed up with some truly horrendous ignorant theological statements. (Amusingly turning his flaw which means he has a habit of accidentally blaspheming in front of Church members into an asset)
The combination of Paul and Marcus being piously smug was far too much for the poor heretic to bare and instead he willingly disclosed the location of the text on the grounds that the party swore they'd endevour to be the ones sent to retrieve/destroy it, reasoning that God will obviously cause these ignorant, self-righteous idiots to fail at their task, either revealing to them the error of their ways, or killing them for their insolence. (God does need bless ignorant and smug player parties!)
(As a parting shot however, he did beat them all on the “Smug” roll as they left his cell)
It will make part 2 of the trial (convincing him he's wrong and saving his soul) harder, but hey, they get the plot.
I was slightly thrown by how quickly they “won” the information from the NPC and how they did it, however it was both perfectly in character and a lot of fun. I do like it when games seem a bit less scripted by the GM.
Heh, hope my players are enjoying it as much as I am.
On maybe more important (but less interesting news), I've been flittering between temp jobs for Opus (just keeping my head above water), and although the Philosophy department is awaiting the external examiner, the internal examiners gave my MA Dissertation a Mark of 57, so Whoo! Looks like I passed my MA!
It was a long over due interrogation scene of a renegade monk who the PCs had spent most of the campaign trying to track down, capture and bring back for trial for extreme heresy. (The sort of heresy where you summon daemons to possess yourself so you can better understand the suffering Christ underwent in hell for our sins)
Aside from hunting him down for naughtiness and the obligatory saving the heretics soul (or burning him trying!), they also wanted to question him to ascertain the location of a rather dangerous heretical text.
I expected a long drawn out theological argument/interrogation scene complete with a long-uphill struggle to prove how he was wrong and how he had become damned by embracing this text, or if this failed (likely unless the players (most probably Gemma) made a damn good argument) they'd resort to beating the information out of him.
However after going round a few times arguing about the accuracy and completeness of the bible, the corruption of the Church, and whether it is possible for disobedience against God's Allpowerful and Allknowing Will to be a meaningful concept. Paul in a fit of epic level bluntness stated what they wanted to know and asked the heretic exactly where the text was and then stated how they would obviously going to succeed in retrieving it because they where Right, and so it would be God's Will that they succeed, which he followed up with some truly horrendous ignorant theological statements. (Amusingly turning his flaw which means he has a habit of accidentally blaspheming in front of Church members into an asset)
The combination of Paul and Marcus being piously smug was far too much for the poor heretic to bare and instead he willingly disclosed the location of the text on the grounds that the party swore they'd endevour to be the ones sent to retrieve/destroy it, reasoning that God will obviously cause these ignorant, self-righteous idiots to fail at their task, either revealing to them the error of their ways, or killing them for their insolence. (God does need bless ignorant and smug player parties!)
(As a parting shot however, he did beat them all on the “Smug” roll as they left his cell)
It will make part 2 of the trial (convincing him he's wrong and saving his soul) harder, but hey, they get the plot.
I was slightly thrown by how quickly they “won” the information from the NPC and how they did it, however it was both perfectly in character and a lot of fun. I do like it when games seem a bit less scripted by the GM.
Heh, hope my players are enjoying it as much as I am.
On maybe more important (but less interesting news), I've been flittering between temp jobs for Opus (just keeping my head above water), and although the Philosophy department is awaiting the external examiner, the internal examiners gave my MA Dissertation a Mark of 57, so Whoo! Looks like I passed my MA!