The thrilling conclusion to Knights of the Hidden Sun Souls of our Ancestors. Rix finally confronts Director Smythe and must face what he did to her people.

This is the last story episode of this series, the one after, which I plan to post soon, is simply commentary and a brief discussion on what I’m doing next.

If you liked this KoTHS Souls of Our Ancestors or have feedback for it please let me know.

I hope you enjoyed this saga.

Rix and Trove rush to the city of Valderath hot on the trail of Director Smythe. Here they face not only Smythe’s Inner Circle but also the Sword of Murah. Stuck between these two great powers one of them must make the ultimate sacrifice.

Hope you enjoy.

Rix and Trove infiltrate the Hunter Fleet to confront project Chimera God. In the face of terrible slaughter Rix risks everything to help the people of a star system she’s never been to. She asks Trove to carry on her mission of she falls.

Hope you like it.

In this episode Rix makes a desperate deal with the Pirate King. This in turn will lead her hot on the trail of Director Smythe.

Four episodes left.

Hope you enjoy.

In this episode Trove makes a miscalculation and throws himself and Rix into the clutches of the Pirate King of the Black Fleet.

IMO it`s a short but exciting episode.

Next week there will be no show as I will be aiding my significant other in a convention she`s going to. Next next week KoTH Souls of our Ancestors will be back but with only 5 more episodes to go.

After this I may be working on a new Radio Show.

If anyone would like me to tell more stories of the Knights of the Hidden Sun let me know. If not I`ll move onto a new project.

Either way the book will come out so if you`ve enjoyed the setting you can play the game.

It's okay, you don't have to be afraid of his hat.

This man is my definition of Neutral Good.

Wait, I sense a great disturbance on the net, as if millions of gamers suddenly cried foul. I can see where they’re coming from. Heck I remember that Robin Hood was the poster boy of Chaotic Good in good old 2nd Edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons  (that’s AD&D not ADD).; Robin Hood is a thief so obviously he’s chaotic, he also fights tyranny so he’s obviously good. At first glance I agree he would be the prefect example of Chaotic Good but . . .

The Neutral Part

Robin of Locksely only became a thief because King John was being a dick.

So much so that this was in the third row of images when I googled King John.

Since the rule of law had turned into the rule of a greedy, stupid man Locksley did the only sensible thing and fought it. This is a major part of what made him famous. I doubt many would remember Locksely the Lawful who never rocked the boat. However, what we must remember is that as soon as King Richard came back Mr. Hood became Mr. Rogers, a perfect law abiding nobleman who once again took taxes from his people to support the Monarchy.

This is as best a description of Neutral as you can get. Neutral characters will bend to law or chaos in order to strengthen the other part of their alignment. Robin Hood ditched law only as long as necessary. When goodness (lets let charming fable paint over the atrocities of Richard’s Cursades) returned to the land the Bandit of Sherwood turned in his bow to protect the status quo.

The Good Part

The other thing Robin of Locksley was famous for was robbing from the rich to give to the poor. These days this would make him a left wing, pinko, commie, bleeding heart, liberal but in his day this was considered “Thank you sir, my family and I will no longer starve to death.” In fact, as popular legend tells it, he constantly risked his life for the betterment of his people. This is about as good as you get without being a saint.

In Closing

That’s my case for Robin Hood being Neutral Good rather than Chaotic Good. Most will probalby disagree, if so get your own blog. This one’s mine.

I like comments though.

In this story the Knights go on the trail of Space Pirates which leads to a port under tyranny. The wisest course of action would be to wait for reinforcements. Rix follows her heart and battles the pirates head on.

Hope you enjoy.

Here’s the drill; the PCs are in a pitched battle, killing off baddies like Han Solo at a storm trooper convention, when a mook gets KOed or maimed rather than murdalized. One PC shouts “Keep him alive, we’ll need to question him!” and the party acquiesces.

After combat the miscreant is bound, awake and ready to be interrogated. At this stage, in practically every group I’ve ever played with, the PCs break out the knives. It doesn’t matter the system, the setting or the characters, the first tool the party uses to get information from every enemy combatant is torture. That’s right, even in Care Bears the Caring Tender Heart will heat up the branding iron in order to make Beasly squeal.

Kill the wabbit indeed.

I don’t want to blame the players for these shenanigans. I want to believe we do this because the rules encourage us to do so.

Nope.

Well at least not in a quick D20 search.There are bonueses for being bigger than your enemy and that’s about it.

Also, intimidation is based off charisma so even with the Muppet dog this man is damn terrifying.

It does not appear then that Big RPG is trying to vindicate the Bush/Cheney years.

Still it’s odd. I’ve played games with Paladins in the group and they don’t bat an eye when their fellow PCs start competing to see who can be the best ‘Dr. Pain’.

What’s really weird is that even players who are strongly against such tactics in real life will let their characters become ‘Jack Bauer’ when these situations pop up.

Why?

I believe the answer is popular fiction. The GURPS crowd will hate me for this but RPGs simulate fiction; nearly every piece of fiction depicts torture as a valid way to get information. Whenever someone is on the rack they will tell the truth, always, at least in popular media.

In some cases this isn’t so horrifying. After all if you’re playing 24, 007 or Jason Bounre the RPG then this convention is expected. Also, I suppose if your group believes that sometimes ‘enhanced interrogation’ is necessary then this can work.

In some realities this man is mentally stable.

However, if you’re as horrified about this as I am I’d recommend taking a more complex approach to interrogation. While torture may work on the cowardly and stupid (in which case just the threat of it will get results) on everyone else will make it harder to get to the truth. The NPC (gawd I hope you’re not doing this to a PC) will get a bonus because he’s very motivated to tell you a story he believes you want to hear, this will, more than likely, not be the truth.

Thanks for listening to my diatribe.

Carry on.

Note: First picture in this blog was by nome63 at Worth1000.com

In this 2nd Knights’ Mission Rix discovers how a mission can go horribly horribly wrong.

Hope you enjoy.

Also, the next Tao of Chall post (which I’ll be writing right after this) discusses a gruesome tradition in gaming, at least in the gaming I’ve done.

There was a delay in this post because my significant other needed me. I’m not going into details.

In this episode the newly formed band of Knights go on their first mission. It’s an action story with starship combat, urban renewal and a clash of strange powers.

It’s how I run a KoTHS con game; fast paced and intense.

Hope you enjoy.