Pact Parchment Contract.

[Yeturs]

So, I am taking the opportunity to scribe a contract for my Cleric to join the party. They are good, while I am evil. I am hoping to make the wording legal and somewhat confusing, but I dont want to build in downfalls for my fellow party member. It will be written on Pact Parchment, though I doubt that will be all that important in the long run.

My goals are as follows.
1) Protect Matilda
2) Protect Tombstone (The character, my cleric), Unless this should override notice 1.
3) Protect Tombstones "Flock" Unless this should override notice 1 or 2

The story bittys:Matilda is my sister. Well, was. She is dead now. Big bad killed her a year ok, I haven't gotten over it. Seeking to bring my dear sister back, I consorted with the gods of death. I am not a cleric on the death: undeath subtype domain. Undead lord archetype. Its PF, but it boils down to I have a skeleton following me, its matilda's skeleton. So that

The contract, First draft. Left here for completeness sake. I, the undersigned, Do swear by my blood to fulfill the obligations agreed upon herein. I shall protect, without regard for my own personal injury, the writer of these words, henceforth referred to as the Cleric, Tombstone. This protection shall extend so far as ruin the chance at personal gain, to degrade ones moral standing, and to provide the Cleric, Tombstone with a safe and hospitable place to stay, should the Cleric, Tombstone desire it. This article shall always be carried out foremost, save it should interfere with my ability to protect Matilda, my dearest.

So long as the Cleric, Tombstone lives, I hereby swear to protect the flock thereof. This flock is any who should follow the Cleric, Tombstone without protest. I shall protect the flock as dearly as I protect the Cleric, Tombstone, save that this protection interferes with my ability to protect the Cleric, Tombstone.

But, I shall also henceforth agree to bring protection upon Matilda, as she is the dearest thing in my heart. She shall be protected from all evils, from all indignities. I shall slay towns to save her very name. I shall ruin lives and murder those who slander her. Her name shall be divinity, and never spoken out of place. Her body a temple, never touched, save the most dire of need. This shall be carried out, and take precedent, above and beyond my need to protect the Cleric, Tombstone.

I, the undersigned, have read and shall swear by the above conditions.

The contract, revised. I, the undersigned, Do swear by my blood to fulfill the obligations agreed upon herein. I shall protect, without regard for my own personal injury, the writer of these words, henceforth referred to as the Cleric, Tombstone. This protection shall extend so far as ruin the chance at personal gain, to degrade ones moral standing, and to provide the Cleric, Tombstone with a safe and hospitable place to stay, should the Cleric, Tombstone desire it.

So long as the Cleric, Tombstone lives, I hereby swear to protect the flock thereof. This flock shall be comprised of any who should follow the Cleric, Tombstone without protest, and without life. I shall protect the flock as dearly as I protect the Cleric, Tombstone, save that this protection interferes with my ability to protect the Cleric, Tombstone.

But, I shall also henceforth agree to bring protection upon Matilda, as she is the dearest thing in my heart. She shall be protected from all evils, from all indignities. I shall slay towns to save her very name. I shall ruin lives and murder those who slander her. Her name shall be divinity, and never spoken out of place. Her body a temple, never touched, save the most dire of need.

In return for signing, the Cleric, Tombstone, agrees to utilize all resources under his command, including any divine or supernatural abilities, to protect the undersigned. The Cleric, Tombstone, agrees to provide any monetary cost to assist the undersigned, should the undersigned be unable to assist in this financial expenditure. Should the undersigned be able to assist, a separate agreement shall be made on a case by case basis. This is to include, but is not limited to, bringing the undersigned back to life should they die while upholding the terms of the contract, removing negative effects which they acquire during the course of upholding the terms of the contract, and healing any damages inflicted during the same. The Cleric, Tombstone, will protect the undersigned to the best of his ability, unless such protection should cause a breech in the protection of Matilda.

The Cleric, Tombstone, hereby recognizes that others morality differs from his own. He shall not press his own morality upon the undersigned, and agrees to not force any of the Undersigned to commit actions which are against their basic nature, and the Undersigned explicitly has right to refuse such orders.

The undersigned hereby recognizes that others morality differs from his own. He shall not press his own morality upon the the Cleric, Tombstone. and agrees to not force any of the Cleric, Tombstone, to commit actions which are against his basic nature, and the Cleric, Tombstone, explicitly has right to refuse such orders.

The Cleric, Tombstone, and each of the Undersigned will have one share of any goods liberated each. Followers are not entitled to any treasure shares. Any payment followers are owed are to come from their leaders share.

[motoko's ghost]

Pact Parchment:smallconfused:

[TuggyNE]

I'm not sure what pact parchment is (I'm vaguely guessing BoVD for some reason), but anyway this seems like a thing my Good characters would generally look at slantwise and not with any favor.

In particular, what do they get out of it? The only things your contract specifies are the duties they have to protect various loosely worded entities, and to take a certain attitude toward another entity (which they may or may not have identified with the skeleton at this point, obviously).

At the very least, make sure to put in some kind of compensation in there... you may also want to put in a bit of reciprocal "oh yeah, I'll protect you too", though if carefully phrased it needn't be anywhere near even, obviously.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

I, the undersigned, Do swear by my blood to fulfill the obligations agreed upon herein. I shall protect, without regard for my own personal injury, the writer of these words, henceforth referred to as the Cleric, Tombstone. This protection shall extend so far as ruin the chance at personal gain, to degrade ones moral standing, and to provide the Cleric, Tombstone with a safe and hospitable place to stay, should the Cleric, Tombstone desire it. This article shall always be carried out foremost, save it should interfere with my ability to protect Matilda, my dearest. Bolded clause will NOT fly if the player has the intellect of a rutabaga. Plus, no benefits are given to the undersigned. Fishy.


So long as the Cleric, Tombstone lives, I hereby swear to protect the flock thereof. This flock is any who should follow the Cleric, Tombstone without protest. I shall protect the flock as dearly as I protect the Cleric, Tombstone, save that this protection interferes with my ability to protect the Cleric, Tombstone.No. Just... no. This gives Tombstone carte blanche to declare ANYONE at ANY TIME to be a member of his flock, and suddenly not only can you NOT kill them, but you're now supposed to defend them? Never going to fly.


But, I shall also henceforth agree to bring protection upon Matilda, as she is the dearest thing in my heart. She shall be protected from all evils, from all indignities. I shall slay towns to save her very name. I shall ruin lives and murder those who slander her. Her name shall be divinity, and never spoken out of place. Her body a temple, never touched, save the most dire of need. This shall be carried out, and take precedent, above and beyond my need to protect the Cleric, Tombstone.

I, the undersigned, have read and shall swear by the above conditions

Okay, so at least your clause for protecting your 'sister' supersedes protecting the Cleric and whomever he decides to drag along. However, you have zero benefits for doing so. I don't care how 'good' you are, no one signs away their life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness for free.

[Socratov]

just use Asimov's 3 laws of robotics, adapted to yourself. While it seems fool proof, if you think it through enough you will come to the conclusion you can do anything short of outright killing him.

[BobVosh]

Um, why would anyone sign this?

[Tyndmyr]

The contract, please feel free to comment on any bad wording, I have no experience! Thanks! I, the undersigned, Do swear by my blood to fulfill the obligations agreed upon herein. I shall protect, without regard for my own personal injury, the writer of these words, henceforth referred to as the Cleric, Tombstone. This protection shall extend so far as ruin the chance at personal gain, to degrade ones moral standing, and to provide the Cleric, Tombstone with a safe and hospitable place to stay, should the Cleric, Tombstone desire it. This article shall always be carried out foremost, save it should interfere with my ability to protect Matilda, my dearest.

So long as the Cleric, Tombstone lives, I hereby swear to protect the flock thereof. This flock is any who should follow the Cleric, Tombstone without protest. I shall protect the flock as dearly as I protect the Cleric, Tombstone, save that this protection interferes with my ability to protect the Cleric, Tombstone.

But, I shall also henceforth agree to bring protection upon Matilda, as she is the dearest thing in my heart. She shall be protected from all evils, from all indignities. I shall slay towns to save her very name. I shall ruin lives and murder those who slander her. Her name shall be divinity, and never spoken out of place. Her body a temple, never touched, save the most dire of need. This shall be carried out, and take precedent, above and beyond my need to protect the Cleric, Tombstone.

I, the undersigned, have read and shall swear by the above conditions.

So, you want the entire party to swear allegiance to you. Also, you're telling them you're evil. Also, you're not giving them jack for it.

This is going to fail hard.

[Bedivere]

As the DM of this adventure, the idea heartily has my support. But seriously make it a little less blatant. Granted I think our druid would sign it regardless, but rogue and bard might think twice and it requires everyone.

I'll also hit you up with some stuff to help this along, like perhaps putting the players in a situation where the most obvious/easiest way to survive is by signing the contract. You haven't escaped the Grigs yet!

EDIT:


Bolded clause will NOT fly if the player has the intellect of a rutabaga. Plus, no benefits are given to the undersigned. Fishy.

This party struggles with fairly obvious tasks such as ignoring the obviously enchanted feast or distrusting a grig after butchering his kin. A rutabaga might one up them on occasion

[Belril Duskwalk]

This party struggles with fairly obvious tasks such as ignoring the obviously enchanted feast or distrusting a grig after butchering his kin. A rutabaga might one up them on occasion

I must say, A party that would willingly sign this contract without intending to break it... I don't think that's a group of people I WANT protecting me, or being anywhere near me for an extended period of time.

Basically it's an unpaid bodyguard position, with the potential to end up guarding MORE people subject to the person who isn't paying you deciding to add them.

[Flickerdart]

I would sign this contract and then immediately Imprison/Quintessence the Cleric and his skeleton, so that they will be forever safe, then go on my merry way.

[Steward]

I don't really understand the scenario here. Like the others noted above, this contract is wholly detrimental to the signer. There are no upsides or benefits noted, not even temporary or illusory ones. In exchange for essentially turning yourself into an evil magician's slave, you get... nothing.


I must say, A party that would willingly sign this contract without intending to break it... I don't think that's a group of people I WANT protecting me, or being anywhere near me for an extended period of time.

Pretty much.

[Yeturs]

Well, as bedivere stated, these dudes arent the sharpest at times.

At any rate, ooc, I wouldnt break it. Amd the parties benafit is to have tombstone join them. I will write that in.

And the flock is my undead herd, strictly. While thats not written in, it is true.

Lastly, pact parchment makes those who break the contract have a -4 to attack and damage till an atonement I think. Not too huge, they could certainly fight me (unoptimized cleric here)

Some ooc agreements here. What else should I add, to make you sign it.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Well, as bedivere stated, these dudes arent the sharpest at times.

At any rate, ooc, I wouldnt break it. Amd the parties benafit is to have tombstone join them. I will write that in.

And the flock is my undead herd, strictly. While thats not written in, it is true.

Lastly, pact parchment makes those who break the contract have a -4 to attack and damage till an atonement I think. Not too huge, they could certainly fight me (unoptimized cleric here)

Some ooc agreements here. What else should I add, to make you sign it.

First off, the Cleric agrees to utilize any and all resources at his disposal, including divinely granted abilities, to further aid in the protection of and support of the undersigned, including providing material components for said abilities. This is to include, but not limited to, bringing the undersigned back to life should they die while upholding the terms of the contract, removing negative effects which they acquire during the course of upholding the terms of the contract, and healing any damages inflicted during the same.

Second off, the Cleric acknowledges and accepts the differences in morality between himself and the Undersigned, and agrees to not force any of the Undersigned to commit actions which are against their basic nature, and the Undersigned explicitly has the right to refuse such orders.

Third off, the Cleric and each of the Undersigned will have one share of treasure each. Followers are explicitly not entitled to any treasure shares, no matter how much they contribute. Any payment followers are owed are to come from the Cleric's share.

[BobVosh]

The second clause you list is too open to interpretation to prevent the absolute slavery that the OP obviously wants.

[Yeturs]

The second clause you list is too open to interpretation to prevent the absolute slavery that the OP obviously wants.

Well, I dont want that. While I agree, that is a very likely conclusion, one my fellow players will make, I am sure, that is not the intent.

The Flock is meant to be my undead herd, as I am a necromancer. My intent in this line is to allow my flock protection, while not making it obvious they will be protecting undead.


First off, the Cleric agrees to utilize any and all resources at his disposal, including divinely granted abilities, to further aid in the protection of and support of the undersigned, including providing material components for said abilities. This is to include, but not limited to, bringing the undersigned back to life should they die while upholding the terms of the contract, removing negative effects which they acquire during the course of upholding the terms of the contract, and healing any damages inflicted during the same.

Second off, the Cleric acknowledges and accepts the differences in morality between himself and the Undersigned, and agrees to not force any of the Undersigned to commit actions which are against their basic nature, and the Undersigned explicitly has the right to refuse such orders.

Third off, the Cleric and each of the Undersigned will have one share of treasure each. Followers are explicitly not entitled to any treasure shares, no matter how much they contribute. Any payment followers are owed are to come from the Cleric's share.


I like all of these agreements, thanks! I will be incorporating them in the revision, hopefully while keeping the feel and language of the original.

I edited the OP to include the revision.

[Bedivere]

Always a necromancer...

[TuggyNE]

Yeah, I can reasonably see someone with a wis or int of 8 signing this revision without too much protest. Given that you're trying to get them to do things they wouldn't be thrilled with if they properly understood, that's probably as goodevil as it gets. (And from the description of the other players, this will probably pass OOC as well as IC.)