Rumour thread questions
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you'd trust a -bard- to keep a secret 8O 8O 8O
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What about the slandering of a town? like say… Norwick?
and could you discretly pay a bard to do it for you?
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thanks for all the input, really good info posted here
i think in regards to slandering a pc it would probably be a wise thing to go via DMs. as stated it would help the pc slandered track down the offender AND help keep it IG!!! i still think that slandering a PC could get nasty as people get personally attached to their characters and could be upset as a player by slanders…having said that, i think if your going to say, run for a public office or hold a public office then you would naturally be a target for slurs and such like...
in regards to consequences...of course there would be some if the effected people were annoyed by what was said, and again i would think if your going to be vocal about an issue then you could become a target for reprisals...and low charisma characters may well get attacked by the angry mob their trying to incite...
ALL of which would naturally be IC and about the characters NOT about players or taken OOC.
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@6f177ca44e=EodenValmer:
… So you have the cha of a dead fish ....
Thanks for the line EO, speaking of dead fish…. Im going to share with everyone one of the Iron Chain Clan actions. A good exemple of a sucessfull (or not, depending on the side you watch it) slandering attempt was a great mini-event DMed by DM-Moob and that happend in Oscura .
Basicaly the Iron Chain Clan was contacted (and agreed) to do a simple job that consisted in the kidnap of a Kua Toa in Oscura but it just so happend that, allegedly, this Kua Toa was possessed by a/the spirit of Mystra, and this Koa Toa was beeing guarded/ under the protection of a group of PCs.
The Iron Chain Clan halfers fulfilled their job and sucessfully kidnaped the Koa Toa right in the face of the PCs that were guarding it. This of course lead to great RP and inevitably a great deal of slander, false statements and false rumor attempts, that at some point, one or two members of the group of PCs that was guarding/protecting the Koa Toa and that are members of Norwick Militia and Norwick Militia Scouts, began to spread a false rumor that basically consisted in making others belive that the Koa Toa Kidnap did not took place in Oscura but in Norwick. They´ve done that to probabbly try and do some legal action against the ICC, under the protection of Norwick´s Law (bann, arrest, trial, etc etc )
The ICC was not arrested nor was it banned for that kidnap (i belive that the attempt to spread the rumor failed miserably), but the fact is few days later the ICC halfers lost a contract with Norwick and of corse beeing the ICC mercenaries, they also lost money with the contract cessation. I absolutely loved all this event that took at least 1 RL week from start to end... (or is it over...? those gotta pay for tying such a low blow on the ICC! :twisted:
)As you can see Strontium, with my exemple above, there is no limit to what your PC can say or state IG, but remember.... just as easy as your PC can start slandering other PCs, like so, others can also start their own slandering attempts on your PC.
But there is one important thing you -have- to keep in mind.... whatever you wish to say -has-to-be-said-In Character.
-IF- you start a slander/calumny/defamation attempt, via OOC (irc, tells PMs, etc etc) you can get in trouble for that, and a big can of worms might be opened.
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Additionally, when it starts getting with a PC it gets tricky as suddenly its not just the DM needing to know how to have things respond, but the PC's. How did you spread the slander? Who did you tell it too? What, if any, actions did you take to conseal the action? How believable is it?
When its a lie or misrepresentation of an event, or an NPC, or an over the top rumor that is told in a way that's meant to be that people don't really believe it its not a lot of problem. Any follow up anyone would be doing would likely be coming from an NPC and thus a DM.
But when it is about a PC, that PC is going to want to follow up. They're going to want to search out where the rumor started, who started it, etc. They may have friends in places that would alert them that the slandering PC would never know about, etc. Because of this, letting a DM know first can help to smooth the situation that is undoubtably going to come about.
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The problem I have with slander etc is it has oft been done or started by characters with 0% chance to do so due to their social stats. That is why it is best to speak with a DM, after all slander relies on the word being spread just like a rumour. So you have the cha of a dead fish, dont go thinking the rest of the bar/festhall/fighting pit would bat an eye at you let alone listen to a word you say.
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@1a834fdc0c=Zyphlin:
Yes, they can be outright lies but you are spot on with just out and out slandering of PC's. Something like that I'd suggest talking to a DM first.
I agree on this. I think lies, and even slander are certainly acceptable in rumor threads, as we all know rumors tend to be skewed and even completely untrue at times. I would imagine it even adds some flavor to the rumor threads.
On the issue of slandering PCs, well if Zyphlin or others think it should be something that requires DM consultation, I would disagree there. I only disagree because I think slander fits nicely into a rumor thread and if it is (as it should be) only IC towards a PC, then it should be able to be taken as and kept IC, and nothing more personal.
However, the disclaimer there is that some people have a hard time keeping the line drawn between their character's feelings and their own.
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Yes, they can be outright lies but you are spot on with just out and out slandering of PC's. Something like that I'd suggest talking to a DM first.
In regards to charisma, if you'd like to make it public there's nothing wrong with posting it in your posts. Another thought though is to simply try to RP it correctly. If you only have an 8 or 10 charisma I wouldn't be getting up RPing your character giving some awe inspiring, long, flowing oratory. But putting your charisma there to let people get a bit of an indication isn't a bad thing.
As a DM I always take it into consideration, taking an amassing of how the character is RPed and how they player has presented the PC in regards to all the different things Charisma encompasses. A good bit of RP will get you a bonus in my mind, but a 10 charisma PC is not going to suddenly become a master manipulator any more than a 10 str character is suddenly going to be hitting things with a +4
So in regards to forum posts, if a NPC reaction is needed, I'll usually ask for Charisma and Charisma related skills
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Nonsense, Eoden!
Your socially repellent Cha 6 dwarf can make tremendous speeches which excel in rousing the audience to disgust, contempt and indifference.
Not that I have any interest in this issue. cough
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The issue with charisma is it takes it to actually rp it, if you want to try and make a winning speech/rant and you are unsure your own skills at oratory are not up to what your characters would be, sure leave an ooc note at the bottom of the post stating their Cha stat and related skills used. Of course the opposite is true too, don’t give some rousing speech with your cha 6 dwarf …
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Charisma is a tricky trait, as it can relate to a number of different things, like physical appearance, leadership abilities, all-around likability etc, etc. The best advice I can think of is simply to play to your character - use the sort of language he would use, portray him the same as you do IG, and if he has high or low charisma, good skills in persuasion, bluff or whatever, you can let that shine through further with adding descriptions of how he delivers his speech/rant. For instance, a charismatic person might be described as having a warm, winning smile as he turns to the audience, or a confident posture, a smooth, persuasive voice or a passionate tone as he rants about his subject. I don't think it's necessary to note these things in the post, but it can add credibility like Black Rider said.
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I belive that a combination of Charisma, Persuade and Bluff can be a powerfull mix to add credibility to a lie or false rummor that your PC is trying to spread.
One thing you´ve got to keep in mind though… the target person or group of your lie/ false rummor migth want to settle the score later...
So you gotta ask yourself one thing... is it worth the trouble?As you may have already guessed.... the person or group target of your lie, might turn the table, and the situation might back fire on you... and the once allied force (that was induced by a lie) can quickly turn against your PC, and your PC could get in some real trouble... and hell will have to be paid... :twisted:
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karnivor, i absolutely agree
there is a difference in a char 8 character ranting or even talking thana cha 18 bard
so, should the charisma of the speaker be noted in the post if they're trying to influence opinions?
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An important point to remember is that as a player, you don't control the NPC reactions, that's the DM's perogative. In other words, you write the rant up as your character would deliver it, but how commoners, merchants and other non-players react is up to the DM to decide.
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very good point re charisma hadn't thought of that before
when posting rumours or rants…should i make a note of the chars charisma, as that would i imagine be reflected in how well it would be recieved/delivered...i have done a rant but my char does have low charisma
(should i do an edit?)
though even a low charisma char could get a lucky roll, possibly being reflective of their passion on the subject...
perhaps i'll put some points in persuasion 8D
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Remember.
Tick someone powerful off they might come looking for you. If they have the power/wealth/means they can possibly track the original rumor person down.
And what EO said
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Certainly complete lies could be spread, yet you have to look at the source. Is that source charismatic enough to start the rumour is there enough basis in existing prejudice to mean that the rumour would be believed?
If your character is a 8 Cha fighter power build then I would think that the subtle art of undermining a political enemy through carefully placed slander may not by your way.
