Palladium Fantasy: Cheating the Curse system

[Silus]

Ok, so this last game, I got hit with a cursed sword that had the "Rags" curse:

Rags: The curse of rags causes any clothing and armor worn/carried
by the cursed victim to tear and break easily, rapidly becoming nothing
more than rags within a one week period after being acquired. Normal
armor will lose 10 S.D.C. per day, while magical armor will lose one
S.D.C. per week. When the S.D.C. of the armor or clothes is exhausted
it is totally useless. Once the cursed item is gotten rid of, the curse usually
goes with it.

Now, this wouldn't be an issue, as getting rid of the cursed item would be the most likely means of dropping the curse and getting my Man-At-Arms her armor back. However, I have to give it to someone with no expectation of payment, which I botched (Tried pawning it off to corrupt cops, and apparently saying "Don't hurt me, please just take my things" counts as asking for "payment" in the eyes of the DM).

Anyway, all I have going for me at the moment is my person S.D.C. and an unusually high Parry (Man-At-Arms, Boxing, Expert Hand-To-Hand and a shield + Telekinesis for a total of +11) to keep me alive.

What I'm looking for is essentially a legal way to cheat this curse so I can have some form of damage mitigation and not burn through a suit of armor a week.

[Ravens_cry]

Give it to a local charity?

[Silus]

Give it to a local charity?

Yeah, not really an option. The sword is currently no longer in my possession, but the curse is sticking.

[Lord Torath]

So... track down the corrupt cops, take your sword back, and then give it to someone. Does everyone who touches it get the curse? Could you track down the officer in the decaying armor, tell him what happened, and get him to give the sword back to you, freeing him of the curse, and then you can give it to someone else, freeing you of the curse?

Is there a way to destroy the sword so it can't curse anyone else?

It seems like rather a mean-spirited curse, that you can only get rid of by passing it on... (That seems rather mean-spirited of your DM as well...)

Is there a wizard in your party who could research an armor spell, and cast it on you every day?

[Silus]

So... track down the corrupt cops, take your sword back, and then[/i[ give it to someone. Does everyone who touches it get the curse? Could you track down the officer in the decaying armor, tell him what happened, and get him to give the sword back to you, freeing him of the curse, and then you can give it to someone else, freeing you of the curse?

Is there a way to destroy the sword so it can't curse anyone else?

It seems like rather a mean-spirited curse, that you can only get rid of by passing it on... (That seems rather mean-spirited of your DM as well...)

Is there a wizard in your party who could research an armor spell, and cast it on you every day?

The curse is stuck on me until I pass the curse off to someone else, or until I somehow get a God-Tier Dispell Curse (Any other "quality" would wear off after about a week). There is a thieves guild in the city with the cop, so I can try to pay them to obtain the sword for me, but it'll likely cost me more money than I have on hand.

The sword has the indestructible quality to it to prevent us from just breaking it.

We do have some casters, but I doubt they have an armor spell on tap at the moment.

The worst thing? The sword was presented to myself and the new guy in the party wrapped in a cloth. I made it a point to ONLY touch the cloth and not the sword. By all rights, any by every convention that I know of in fantasy RPGs, you get cursed if you actually touch the friggin' cursed object, or put it on or whatever. Accepting a cursed object has never, in any of my experiences ever, bestowed a curse

Honestly it feels like my front-line fighter who has been skilled up to make armor from damn near anything is completely useless now.

Oh, and bonus points? I'm level [I]three.

[Ravens_cry]

Geeze, I don't know much how Palladium Fantasy group dynamics are generally assumed to play out, but it looks like you got bigger problems than some cursed sword.

[Silus]

Geeze, I don't know much how Palladium Fantasy group dynamics are generally assumed to play out, but it looks like you got bigger problems than some cursed sword.

Yeah, the group itself is an issue (not really pertaining to this issue though), being led by a player that seems to specialize in manipulative enchanty type characters. He's playing a Psychic that can alter memories, read minds and, if need be, shut down key nerves in your body to make you blind, lame, stunned, etc.. Hasn't done it to the party yet, but I don't think anyone at the table would put it past him.

Generally though, from what I understand (this is my first Palladium game) the Fighter, Mage, Thief requirements don't really apply 100% to the system.

Edit: so turns out the easiest way to break this friggin' curse is to do the bidding fo this blood god that I caught the attention of (running from a 2-ft tall monster that did like 80% of my HP in one poison attack. Nobody told me that it could only do that once or that it was just Poison that dealt damage directly to HP). But to get his attention to get a hint of where to go to do the bidding (fetching a blood thirsty sentient blade that can control me if I don't kill enough people) I need to murder some guards or soldiers.

There goes trying to play a moderatly good character.

Operation: Razing Kaash is GO!

Basically I'm gonna try burning down the city of Kaash and killing as many NPCs as I can to get the attention of Lopnel The Red (the aforementioned god) so I can get that hint I need to finish his friggin quest.

[Lord Torath]

That's the easiest method!?!?!?

Are there no good (okay, scrupulous)-aligned deities with temples in the town you're in? Certainly one of them could give you something useful to do to attract their god's attention...

And at level 3. Does this DM typically pull stunts like this? Has anyone else been hit with something similar, or is he just picking on you?

[Silus]

That's the easiest method!?!?!?

Are there no good (okay, scrupulous)-aligned deities with temples in the town you're in? Certainly one of them could give you something useful to do to attract their god's attention...

And at level 3. Does this DM typically pull stunts like this? Has anyone else been hit with something similar, or is he just picking on you?

It seems that he's picking on me, though I've likely just run into a string of bad luck. And we started at lvl 2, and next Friday is session 3.

And it's the easiest in that it's the most likely to legitimately attract the god's attention. There's also the option to pay the local thieves guild 600-1000g to steal the sword that's worth easily six figures (They'll likely keep it), pray to the deity to let him know that I'm about to do mass murder and arson in his name that'll more than likely pull unwanted attention onto him as a last ditch effort to get some help, or just proceed with the wholesale NPC slaughter.

Or I could just straight up tell the DM that given the BS circumstances that all the **** piled up has made this character unplayable. Which will likely get me the equivalent of "it's not that bad" and/or "just suck it up". At which point I'm tearing up my character sheet and rolling up a new character whether he likes it or not.

[Ninjaxenomorph]

Some factors you forgot: if you are careful enough, you can imply the sword passes its curse to anyone who acquires it through uncertain means. Basically, you can say the guard did something right that stealing would not. If that doesn't work, my new character is an assassin who likely knows or is even part of a guild. They won't double cross you. If we can't get that to work, we steal it ourselves.

[Mewtarthio]

You just have to make the curse work for you. Try having yourself buried up to your neck so you can "wear" the very earth itself. If that doesn't get the blood god's attention, nothing will. :smallbiggrin:

[Lord Torath]

So are you being punished for running from the venomous little vermin that nearly killed you?

Before ripping your character up, I'd talk with your DM about why he placed the curse on you: Did he think your character was too powerful? Is this part of a larger plot? Did you offend him by turning exactly 90 degrees to your right? Does he just like watching you squirm? Will he make it worth your while to labor under this curse for a few levels?

Depending on the answer, it may be worth toughing it out for a bit. Or it may give you guidance into creating your next character while your current one retires from adventuring to set up an armory selling armor and equipment to poor shlubbs who still think they adventuring is an noble exciting profession.

[Ninjaxenomorph]

You just have to make the curse work for you. Try having yourself buried up to your neck so you can "wear" the very earth itself. If that doesn't get the blood god's attention, nothing will. :smallbiggrin:

As an extension of this: you can wear chains/restraints/shackles, and those would deteriorate.

[Silus]

So are you being punished for running from the venomous little vermin that nearly killed you?

Before ripping your character up, I'd talk with your DM about why he placed the curse on you: Did he think your character was too powerful? Is this part of a larger plot? Did you offend him by turning exactly 90 degrees to your right? Does he just like watching you squirm? Will he make it worth your while to labor under this curse for a few levels?

Depending on the answer, it may be worth toughing it out for a bit. Or it may give you guidance into creating your next character while your current one retires from adventuring to set up an armory selling armor and equipment to poor shlubbs who still think they adventuring is an noble exciting profession.

Well the curse was tacked onto the sword, which was presented to myself and Ninjaxenomorph's characters, both of us being the newer players and neither of us having experience with the DM's shenanigans. The DM utilized an obscure thing from the Curses section that threw me for a loop, that only possessing the object is needed to transfer the curse.

As for the god and the monster, I had a brief talk with the DM last night during a Monster Hunter session. He reminded me that one of the other senior players had taken over the little monster instead of him. Neither of the players informed me in any way on the rules of combat, thus all but forcing me to run from this two-foot-tall monster that had just shaved off 14/19 of my HP with one attack and apparently had like 4 more attacks. No indication that I could have rolled to dodge or parry the attack, no notification that poison works differently, nothing. Just "It stings you. Take 14 damage to your HP" followed by "Haha, why are you running from it? You can totally take it".

[Raum]

Are you enjoying all of this? If not, walk away. Bad gaming is worse than no gaming. Particularly if it involves meta-game power issues.

[Silus]

Are you enjoying all of this? If not, walk away. Bad gaming is worse than no gaming. Particularly if it involves meta-game power issues.

I think I'm about to just walk away, assuming I can't quickly fix this character that I feel's been shoehorned into the position she's in, or at least kill her off or retire her so I can bring in a new character that does not share her problems.

But then there's that seditious little part of me that wants to tough this out and see it through out of pride and spite. That part that's like "Yeah, you screwed me over so much with all these issues and inter-party headbutting, but I'm soldiering on, gonna make the most of this and earn my character's happy ending".

[Slipperychicken]

Now, this wouldn't be an issue, as getting rid of the cursed item would be the most likely means of dropping the curse and getting my Man-At-Arms her armor back. However, I have to give it to someone with no expectation of payment, which I botched (Tried pawning it off to corrupt cops, and apparently saying "Don't hurt me, please just take my things" counts as asking for "payment" in the eyes of the DM).


I still maintain my position from the last thread you posted about this game. Your GM is being a gigantic tool.

[CE DM]

Armor normally isn't too important in palladium fantasy; you could just suck it up

There are a few rare armors that self repair, though, so they might be of use.

Lastly, curses can often be removed; since you are playing 2e I'll take a quick peek to see what hits...

clergy over L5 have a 1% per level chance. Visiting the high priest of every church you can get to & paying a donation probably ought work faster than you'd think.

although it's not explained on page 262, one really ought assume powers similar to or greater than a L6 priest should have a chance (perhaps the same chance). Summoning angels, demons, devils, etc for them to take a crack at the curse ought work in time, too.

the remove curse spell is high level & said to be potent in 2e (L11 spell), so the DM ought give it a chance of some kind.

And to be honest, if you have $, magic armor only looses 1 SDC per week. Suck it up?

Alternate: get some item of armor of ithan or whatnot & just use that.

[Ninjaxenomorph]

The GM talked to me about this, to have me back him up. It involves factors beyond Silus's PC, and telling him would ruin it. I can say this: Silus did everything right. Something else happened.

[Waar]

The GM talked to me about this, to have me back him up. It involves factors beyond Silus's PC, and telling him would ruin it. I can say this: Silus did everything right. Something else happened.

So the GM is being a ****, intenionally screwing over Silus and Silus's PC, and you support this behaviour :smallconfused:




**** insert moderately insulting term here :smalltongue:

[Ninjaxenomorph]

I can affirm it is NOT the GM's fault. He isn't the one actively screwing over Silus. Once this all comes to pass I will have a word with everyone, but as is I cannot.

[Raum]

I can affirm it is NOT the GM's fault. He isn't the one actively screwing over Silus. At minimum he's aiding and abetting said "screwing over"...but I'd go beyond that and say he is probably* still accountable. At minimum there should have been a conversation among the group about just what PC vs PC actions are acceptable.

*It is possible that the OP's surprise at being screwed over was manufactured. If it wasn't there are communication problems.

[The Glyphstone]

I can affirm it is NOT the GM's fault. He isn't the one actively screwing over Silus. Once this all comes to pass I will have a word with everyone, but as is I cannot.

So it's another PC doing this? Because otherwise it definitely is the GM.

[Lord Torath]

The GM talked to me about this, to have me back him up. It involves factors beyond Silus's PC, and telling him would ruin it. I can say this: Silus did everything right. Something else happened.So does this mean the DM will make it worth Silas's effort to labor under the effects of this curse for a while? If yes, I might be tempted (in Silas's shoes) to tough it out. But when one of your core class features is denied you through no fault of your own? That tends to put a serious damper on your enthusiasm. Without the promise that things will get better, it's pretty easy to want to give up on a character.

It sounds like the DM is putting pretty serious obstacles in the way of breaking the curse. I presume this means he has a particular method in mind? Or a particular role for the curse in the plot?

[Ninjaxenomorph]

Basically, our Mind Mage screwed him over. While Silus's PC retains the curse, the sword was taken and sold. The Mind Mage implanted a false memory, and the GM rolled abysmally low on the save, like, a 3, when he needed a 12. So all of this? Never happened. We headed out the next day. Once we get back, my new PC who is inclined to help help him quickly figure it out. Since the PC is an Assassin, the logical conclusion can be reached.

[Lord Torath]

So the corrupt guardsman is just a figment of the Mind Mage's imagination, made real for <Silas>? What a nice guy. :smallmad: I can see why you guys have some intra-party issues... I say it's time for a group-wide discussion regarding what is and is not allowed. Something along these lines: http://home.earthlink.net/~duanevp/dnd/manifesto.htm Especially Points 22 and 23Sorry for locking you out of this, Silas. :smallredface: But it looks like your friendly alien ninja has your back. :smallwink:

[Ninjaxenomorph]

Well, the entire experience of being beaten and giving away the sword is an implanted memory. The guards are plenty corrupt.

[Silus]

It's taking most of my willpower to not click those spoilers. And I'll forgive this curse BS if the reason is sufficiently good. But if it's little more than hazing, I **** you not, I'm up and walking out.

Edit: And it feels like I'm jumping through too many hoops to deal with this BS. Best chance of success is SOMEHOW track down the guard that stole the sword and either steal it back or kill him. Violence would likely pit myself and Ninja, both lvl 3 and only decently geared, versus at least four lvl 3 guards that are better armed and armored than us. Honest to God it feels like I'm being railroaded into choosing the strategy that the DM wants me to choose, something one of my first DMs pulled and that I still hold a grudge over (it involved our group of lvl 6s vs a lvl 20 Psion/Rogue and a Spelljammer ship that we needed to find in a dry dock to help us escape. Long story short, party wiped and we got a Spelljammer ship, just not one anyone could pilot)

[Waar]

SPOILER

Kinda not for Silus Eyes, ish
Was Silus informed about the PvP nature of the group/game, if so then yes the GM is not at fault, and is Silus interpertation of how to break the curse correct? If so I would probably have let the curse get broken since Silus's PC didn't get any benefit from, well, it effectively being stolen.

edit: and good luck helping Silus PC :smallsmile:

[Ninjaxenomorph]

It pretty much comes part and parcel with our group.
Fear not Silus, you aren't being railroaded. And yes, you know how to break the curse and did do it correctly. There were... Other factors.

[Silus]

So...I said the words right, so by all rights the curse should be broken as per the customized curse rules that the DM laid out, that being the "Possession" style curse, yet the curse remains, likely due to meddling by a fellow player or at the insistence of another player in an attempt to teach me an OOC lesson or some such.

Is that about the size of it? And honest to God I've not clicked a single Spoiler tag.

'Cause if so...

:furious:

[Slipperychicken]

So...I said the words right, so by all rights the curse should be broken as per the customized curse rules that the DM laid out, that being the "Possession" style curse, yet the curse remains, likely due to meddling by a fellow player or at the insistence of another player in an attempt to teach me an OOC lesson or some such.

Is that about the size of it? And honest to God I've not clicked a single Spoiler tag.

'Cause if so...

:furious:

There is extreme tooling going on. If I were you, and I was reading these spoilers, I would be raging so hard right now.


Basically, our Mind Mage screwed him over. While Silus's PC retains the curse, the sword was taken and sold. The Mind Mage implanted a false memory, and the GM rolled abysmally low on the save, like, a 3, when he needed a 12. So all of this? Never happened. We headed out the next day. Once we get back, my new PC who is inclined to help help him quickly figure it out. Since the PC is an Assassin, the logical conclusion can be reached.


Who the hell allows this PvP bull****? This is basic roleplaying etiquette here. And it was Silus' first session with the system too! Like they couldn't be assed to at least cut him/her a break until s/he learns how to play.

And if the Mind Mage player says "that's what his character would do", he deserves a serious phonebooking. And so does the GM for not vetoing this dickery.



It pretty much comes part and parcel with our group.


Again, did you actually tell Silus that there was going to be extreme PvP shenanigans?

[Silus]

Well my gut reaction at the moment is to bring a NERF gun (The pump action rifle with a drum mag) and pop whoever is the "ringleader" in the face with some darts. And I'll be going for the eyes.

[Waar]

@Silus

What did the group/GM say to you about PvP in this group/system? (If the answer is nothing, then :smallyuk: :smallmad:.)

[Silus]

@Silus

What did the group/GM say to you about PvP in this group/system? (If the answer is nothing, then :smallyuk: :smallmad:.)

Basically that the DM won't stop any PvP should it happen. And knowing the party and players that I do, I know who's getting shanked.

Then I'll shank his backup character out of sheer spite. :smallmad:

[SassyQuatch]

Basically that the DM won't stop any PvP should it happen. And knowing the party and players that I do, I know who's getting shanked.

Then I'll shank his backup character out of sheer spite. :smallmad:
Well, my advice for now is to stick it out until you find out what has really happened.

Then you have my blessing to shank, shiv, and fulfill your character's well-founded violent tendencies.

And at that point if it turns to the "ha ha, come on, man. It's just a game. Lighten up." phase, or other players sulking that you took reasonable in-character action you might want to give up on the group. But you kind of owe it to yourself to wait and see what happens in the game first.

[Silus]

Well, my advice for now is to stick it out until you find out what has really happened.

Then you have my blessing to shank, shiv, and fulfill your character's well-founded violent tendencies.

And at that point if it turns to the "ha ha, come on, man. It's just a game. Lighten up." phase, or other players sulking that you took reasonable in-character action you might want to give up on the group. But you kind of owe it to yourself to wait and see what happens in the game first.

Nah, if they get to the "ha ha, come on, man. It's just a game. Lighten up" phase, I'll look'em square in the eye and announce to the DM that I shank THAT character as well.

[Beige Dragon]

Basically, i'd say quit the game. There are only 2 things that could be responsible for this: The GM, or another player. It has been insisted that the GM is not behind this, but yet, did not stop a player from screwing with your character. And, because it was not the GM which did it, it is not a major plot-point or such, it is just standard jerkitude. I would not play with any player who just felt that my character could make-do with a constant need to buy new armor, and whose magic armor they win the toils of combat, will simply waste away in a month or two. Nor would I play with a GM who curses your character in your first session with a relatively severe curse.

[Silus]

Basically, i'd say quit the game. There are only 2 things that could be responsible for this: The GM, or another player. It has been insisted that the GM is not behind this, but yet, did not stop a player from screwing with your character. And, because it was not the GM which did it, it is not a major plot-point or such, it is just standard jerkitude. I would not play with any player who just felt that my character could make-do with a constant need to buy new armor, and whose magic armor they win the toils of combat, will simply waste away in a month or two. Nor would I play with a GM who curses your character in your first session with a relatively severe curse.

Oh the player in question will be getting his soon enough. There will be much shanking of characters and a general *****ing out come the reveal. Also, I've a vindictive streak, so I'm sure that'll help a bit.

And the first session was:
1) Getting jumped by a monster with poison when I was alone (Poison apparently punches through and deals damage to HP and not to the other damage mitigation...things like other attacks).
2) Not explaining the way combat works even though they knew it was my and Ninjaxenomorph's first time playing the system.
3) Giving me a Hail Mary to escape (1% that I somehow made) and making the "reward" my character escaping but owing an evil God a favor.

Needless to say, the prospect of a "Do what the God wants you to do or he'll kill your character" railroad plot (in a more or less sandbox game) in the future grates at my nerves and the DM just does not seem to understand why.

[Ceiling_Squid]

At minimum he's aiding and abetting said "screwing over"...but I'd go beyond that and say he is probably* still accountable. At minimum there should have been a conversation among the group about just what PC vs PC actions are acceptable.



This. Very much this.

I wouldn't let him off the hook just because another player is directly acting. The GM is at fault for fostering this kind of bull****. By refusing to actually moderate inter-party conflict, he is in-fact condoning this behavior. He is implicitly showing his approval.

Plus, the "evil god" railroading is another sign of ineptitude.

I'd never game with him, that much is for sure. I'd have walked out on this hack already. If the GM isn't going to ensure that all players are actually enjoying themselves, he's terrible at his job. Especially if it's a newbie being picked on.

Soldier on, then, Silus. If you don't get rewarded for your trouble, I'd drop the game.

[Silus]

This. Very much this.

I wouldn't let him off the hook just because another player is directly acting. The GM is at fault for fostering this kind of bull****. By refusing to actually moderate inter-party conflict, he is in-fact condoning this behavior. He is implicitly showing his approval.

Plus, the "evil god" railroading is another sign of ineptitude.

I'd never game with him, that much is for sure. I'd have walked out on this hack already. If the GM isn't going to ensure that all players are actually enjoying themselves, he's terrible at his job. Especially if it's a newbie being picked on.

Soldier on, then, Silus. If you don't get rewarded for your trouble, I'd drop the game.

Well I've been assured that if my character meets a "proper" death (That being no suicide or me intentionally offing the character just so I can reroll) then I'm allowed to play a Minotaur Palladin which honestly I'm kinda looking forward to >.>

But yeah, the nagging feeling that there's no carrot at the end of this stick is buggin' me. And the justification to shank a party member doesn't count as a "carrot", rather a nice little perk.

And I'm patient with my retribution. I'm like one or two games away in the DMing rotation and I can hold a grudge as well as any Dwarf.

"Ok, you *points at the current DM* lose your Lycanthropy due to the moon vanishing, and you *Points at the jerk who is orchestrating this mess* are stripped of your cleric powers by a ticked off God of Death. Also your zombie army gets dusted by rays of holy light that lance out from the sky."

[Lord Torath]

When it is your turn to DM (or maybe even before), I'd recommend busting this manifesto (http://home.earthlink.net/~duanevp/dnd/manifesto.htm) out for discussion by the whole group, especially Points 22 and 23. Modify it as your group sees fit, and make everyone agree to abide by it. Because seriously, the PvP type game is not something that generally makes for a fun gaming experience for everyone. And anyone who's unwilling to give it up is probably not someone you want to be playing with.

[Friv]

No gaming is better than bad gaming.

But if you do stick it out, I do hope that we get an after-action report of the ultimate blowup. Because I really can't see this story having a happy ending.

[Waar]

Well I've been assured that if my character meets a "proper" death (That being no suicide or me intentionally offing the character just so I can reroll) then I'm allowed to play a Minotaur Palladin which honestly I'm kinda looking forward to >.>

But yeah, the nagging feeling that there's no carrot at the end of this stick is buggin' me. And the justification to shank a party member doesn't count as a "carrot", rather a nice little perk.

And I'm patient with my retribution. I'm like one or two games away in the DMing rotation and I can hold a grudge as well as any Dwarf.

"Ok, you *points at the current DM* lose your Lycanthropy due to the moon vanishing, and you *Points at the jerk who is orchestrating this mess* are stripped of your cleric powers by a ticked off God of Death. Also your zombie army gets dusted by rays of holy light that lance out from the sky."

While I would be as mad (or more) as pretty much anybody if I would be put in this sort of situation, I don't think going the vindictive gm route is a good idea (sets a bad precedent, keeps the revenge ball rolling etc.), deal with it in or out of character, but getting revenge as a gm is pointless (unlimited power >> limeted power and all that) :smallfrown: :smallredface:

[Silus]

While I would be as mad (or more) as pretty much anybody if I would be put in this sort of situation, I don't think going the vindictive gm route is a good idea (sets a bad precedent, keeps the revenge ball rolling etc.), deal with it in or out of character, but getting revenge as a gm is pointless (unlimited power >> limeted power and all that) :smallfrown: :smallredface:

Aye, true. Had a talk with one of the players not involved in this plot and he basically said the same thing. So I'll figure something out probably in-character to...I dunno, derail the game on a Henderson type scale or something.

[Hangwind]

Nah, I had a situation like this once. One guy decided to kill my character for a crime, which made sense since his was an enforcer for the kingdom we were in. Fair enough.

Then he killed my second character for "personal reasons" and retconned it as being his character having had problems with my kind of magic before. I was a little ticked, but I could deal.

It was when he killed my final character, a party face, for being more popular with the king than he was that I finally lost it.

During the downtime between sessions, I started looking through every book, every forum, every last resource I could find. When we started our next session, I made a character with every bit of cheese I could. Then I killed his character in the most gruesomely inventive way I could think of. (As a hint, I used the Spanish Inquisition for inspiration.)

He rolled up a new charcter. I killed that one inventively as well, though I went more Roman than Spanish this time. I RP'ed it as being suspicious of strangers.

His next character? Yeah, it died too. Screaming.

This continued until I finally culminated with convincing an evil god to inhabit a maze where I would banish any one of his characters that wandered by. The god filled the maze with the most sadistic and torturous monsters and traps around. After losing a couple of characters this way, the other guy got the point.

I have been gaming with this guy for six years now.

In conclusion? Get your revenge, not as a GM, but as a PC. Once the other guy is about ready to leave the group, then have the discussion on what is appropriate.

If your DM tries to step in? That is when you leave. After all, if it was fine for him to screw you, it is fine for you to screw him.

[Silus]

Well, a week from tomorrow is the next game I'll be attending. I intend, right out the gate, as soon as the game starts (and even if I have to talk over other players) that I'm going back, alone if needed, to the city of Kaash where I was initially cursed.

Plan is as follows:
A) Start doing good among the poor and the refugees that are in the city. Mostly in the form of free hot meals.
B) Begin spreading rumors of a Mind Mage (the character of the player that's screwing me over) with a massive bounty on his head. Circulate the description and the name among the aforementioned poor and refugees until it's the talk of the city.
C) As the rumor spreads, try to find the location of the cursed sword and do what I can to gain possession of it.
D) Laugh as said Mind Mage walks back into the city and gets jumped by every cutthroat, bounty hunter and corrupt guard that spots him.

[CE DM]

"Although adventurers and mercenaries are usually quick to accept a psychic among their group, many normal folk fear them as bewitched, inhuman monsters or frightening mutants. These people fear what they don't understand so they shun, chase away, or even attack characters with psychic abilities. Likewise, even in communities, like those in Bizantium, the Western Empire and Timiro, where magic and psionics are considered to be commonplace, psychics are often accused or suspected of mind control and other forms of mental manipulation. This fear and suspicion is not groundless paranoia, history is filled with Mind Mages who have used their incredible powers to shape, manipulate, conquer or destroy
kingdoms. The Mind Mage is among the most feared P.C.C.s on the planet. By contrast, the Psi-Healer is the most respected of the psychics." PF 2e pg 156

it ought to be pretty easy to rile up folks against an "evil mutant":smallamused:

"A mind mage can be a follower of any religion or god(s). However, many find it difficult to follow and obey any laws of a church or accept any man (church hierarchy) as his (spiritual) leader. This has made many a Mind Mage an enemy of religious organizations/churches/cults. Some churches regard Mind Mages (and psionics in general) as servants of demons and evil forces, and have been known to accuse them of being witches. Other people fear the Mind Mage because of his incredible powers, especially those to control and manipulate others" PF 2e pg 161

don't forget to get the inquisition on board, too!:smallwink:

[Silus]

"Although adventurers and mercenaries are usually quick to accept a psychic among their group, many normal folk fear them as bewitched, inhuman monsters or frightening mutants. These people fear what they don't understand so they shun, chase away, or even attack characters with psychic abilities. Likewise, even in communities, like those in Bizantium, the Western Empire and Timiro, where magic and psionics are considered to be commonplace, psychics are often accused or suspected of mind control and other forms of mental manipulation. This fear and suspicion is not groundless paranoia, history is filled with Mind Mages who have used their incredible powers to shape, manipulate, conquer or destroy
kingdoms. The Mind Mage is among the most feared P.C.C.s on the planet. By contrast, the Psi-Healer is the most respected of the psychics." PF 2e pg 156

it ought to be pretty easy to rile up folks against an "evil mutant":smallamused:

"A mind mage can be a follower of any religion or god(s). However, many find it difficult to follow and obey any laws of a church or accept any man (church hierarchy) as his (spiritual) leader. This has made many a Mind Mage an enemy of religious organizations/churches/cults. Some churches regard Mind Mages (and psionics in general) as servants of demons and evil forces, and have been known to accuse them of being witches. Other people fear the Mind Mage because of his incredible powers, especially those to control and manipulate others" PF 2e pg 161

don't forget to get the inquisition on board, too!:smallwink:

Only downside: my character has minor psychic powers ^_^;;

However I could pull some rabble-rousing no problem >:3

[ChaosArchon]

No gaming is better than bad gaming.

But if you do stick it out, I do hope that we get an after-action report of the ultimate blowup. Because I really can't see this story having a happy ending.

I 2nd this, I would be very much in favor of hear of an after-action report once you find out whats going on!

[CSeiberlin]

Only downside: my character has minor psychic powers ^_^;;

However I could pull some rabble-rousing no problem >:3

Heh... it's been a looong time since I've looked at Palladium Fantasy (or any Palladium game) but I would bet that your target should have some means of 'fair escape' from an angry mob or similar shenanigans. I don't know about your group's players or playstyle but I would bet the Mind Mage player has a bit more system mastery experience that should enable him to wiggle out of anything but a DM reinforced deathtrap unless you cover all the potential angles.

I think you mentioned the Mind Mage had sixth sense so an ambush gank by mooks or potential mooks probably has no greater than a 50\50 chance of working. You could wait for a 'happy accident' to take advantage of but I doubt you have much opportunity to exploit those as a frontliner.

I'd tread carefully and just break the problem down step by step.

First up is deal with the curse. Returning to the scene of the crime might not be feasible since you are not the expedition leader and are bound as a 'mercenary'. However, I would assume you have some cash and items for trade... find and hire someone to first divination and\or investigate (gather information) the location and the pathway the sword changed hands. You don't want any surprises if you steal the sword back that you won't be pissing off some crime boss (who would be accused of stealing the sword for resale).

While you're at it you can also have the diviner determine if you truly 'owe' a life boon to a demon\blood god... if you didn't ask for intervention that is not typically how the trope works. If you did agree for the help of your own free will (even if you didn't understand what was offering the help or were tricked into it) that is a different story, but to have a lien on your lifeforce it is a bit unusual that you were thrown into a contract without your assent in some fashion. The evil power could also be lying to you so determining if there is some sort of evil hook on your soul is something I'd look into.

Non-spellcaster divinations work in Palladium fantasy iirc... skills like astrology I'm pretty sure are in the system. Depending on the GM's thinking on these events it could be just as effective and\or harder to magically block at a price that should be lower than hiring the big caster guns.

After you have the situation investigated, hire a 3rd party to fetch the cursed sword for you while you continue on whatever the expedition is doing. Play nice and put on the martyr cloak. Use the time to develop allies (either through pity or play), gather resources (and xp), and determine strength\weakness while you wait for the subcontracted adventurer(s) to return the cursed weapon to you.

Once you have the sword back in hand, don't inform the others but find a beggar or otherwise destitute man or family and offer to give them the sword (to sell). Make sure they know the curse...which would make it a midling sacrifice for someone that is probably already wearing rags, but it would help keep you mildly good.

Once you have that bit of housekeeping done and if the Mind Mage is the next agenda item, I would look to first develop counters and then recruit fellow PCs to help fix the situation (and make sure any PvP is as much out of the GMs hands as possible). The first part is GM dependent... there might be something in Palladium Fantasy... a charm/talisman/trinket or some other magic item that can block someone from looking into your thoughts and digging through memories. If you can find something that makes you invisible to his sixth sense- bonus.;-). GM fiat could make that relatively cheap or it could be impossible. I suspect the odds would be good the GM wouldn't mind taking a bit of wind out of the Mind Mage's sails so finding something that you could afford might not be impossible.

I don't have much to go on with how the MM plays, but from what I can gather he's a bit short sighted\foolish even if he is developing what he thinks is an uber pc. I would suspect he reads the thoughts of his own party regularly via secret note passing with the GM or pre or post game discussions. I don't remember if the Palladium Mind Mage's could implant triggered commands as well but that is another thing to do your homework on (and prepare to counter). Before you start in on screwing with the Mind Mage (thus far the only thing in your thinking should be how to break the curse), have your counters in place. Ideally you'd want something that makes you immune to his effects but alerts you to what he was trying to do (so you can carry out his commands) without alerting him that it didn't work. Odds of getting that kind of counter are slim, but that's what I'd shoot for.

Once you are at least semi-protected then look into dealing with the problem directly. Gather your evidence, recruit fellow PCs privately (if he's screwing with you, what's to say he doesn't do the same to them), and if sanctioned put him on the 'he needed killin' list (kicked out of the party he'd likely end up as a npc bbeg so exile prolly isn't a good choice).

[Silus]

Well the DM has offered me an "out" in that the party voted to allow me to retire the curse-bearing character and roll up a new one. Apparently they're tired of me trying to deal with the CURSE THAT TURNS MY ARMOR INTO SCRAP all the time.

Oh, and the lesson? In the DMs own words: "don't take free gifts without looking for the knife (figuratively)". :smallannoyed:

[Slipperychicken]

Well the DM has offered me an "out" in that the party voted to allow me to retire the curse-bearing character and roll up a new one. Apparently they're tired of me trying to deal with the CURSE THAT TURNS MY ARMOR INTO SCRAP all the time.

Oh, and the lesson? In the DMs own words: "don't take free gifts without looking for the knife (figuratively)". :smallannoyed:

This is probably the best way it can end. I still say that you should consider leaving the group, because holding a grudge like this isn't healthy.

[Silus]

This is probably the best way it can end. I still say that you should consider leaving the group, because holding a grudge like this isn't healthy.

Aye, at least they're offering the out. I liked this character though. I had plans for her. Character development on levels I didn't get to reach in the last game (A NWoD Hunter game).

Hopefully I'll get to roll the Minotaur Palladin though.

Edit: So the DM and I seems to have hammered out an agreement. My character will go into semi-retirement, taking care of the curse on a one-on-one basis. And meanwhile (I think) I'll roll up another character for party-shenanigans.

And turns out that apparently I was wrong about the plotting and scheming and whatnot of a third party. The whole notion was likely a product of excessive misinformation, misunderstanding, paranoia and general trying-to-be-secretive-ness.

What he said: "You did everything right to break the curse but it's not broken. There are likely other influences at work."
What he meant: "YOUR CHARACTER thinks that they did everything right to break the curse but it's not broken. There are likely other influences at work."
What I heard: "You did everything right to break the curse but it's not broken. There are likely other influences at work. Someone or something is playing you."

[Scow2]

Meh... I still think you should have your character give the mind-mage the sword without any expectation of compensation - Pointy-end first!

[Silus]

Meh... I still think you should have your character give the mind-mage the sword without any expectation of compensation - Pointy-end first!

Nah, I'll get a bit of vengeance (this time for the hard time the Mind Mage player gave me when I was DMing) by rolling up either a Minotaur Palladin (Palladin Steelhooves <3) or, essentially, Granny Weatherwax from the Discworld books. Steelhooves won't take crap from anyone, and Granny sure as hell won't, but will have psychic might to back her up.