Betraying a sentient object- Regaining its trust

[Ninja Brian]

Good day to all,
If i may introduce myself on my first post real quick: i am Daniel, currently playing a character called Ninja Brian (he was actually given the name "Ninja..." it's not a title or a profession in this case).
I am playing in my second campaign now since my DM lost all charactersheets when we were merely Lv2.
So as you can tell, i am a noob and need advice.

Current Situation: We are currently playing Out of the Abyss and i have acquired the magical Longsword Dawnbringer. My character is supposed to be an extension of myself and i view the characters of my friends in the party to be their extensions. As such, i view it as if my friends and i jumped ourselves into this world. One of us, a Warlock, failed 3 death saves and i wanted his Great Old One to resurrect him. My DM said before i should see Dawnbringer as a creature in any sense but the physical, but despite that, i tried to persuade the godesque being by offering Dawnrbinger for the life of my friend. I received the Sanity Ability Score, hallucinated, but the sword was still in my hands, and my friend still dead.

The Problem: Naturally, Dawnbringer is quite upset about this, to the point of not answering me, but clearly letting me feel its disgust and having the feeling of my own treachery poison my soul. Can anyone of you imagine a way for me to sort this out without having to give the sword to another partymember (have someone else be attuned to it)? I already tried to reason with it, saying it was part of its duties to help me get to results for the greater good, especially since i am its master. It didn't work. I have not yet had the chance to simply apologize to it (we ended the session there).
If you think it helps, i still have 1d6 for inspiration.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give me on how to handle the situation.

[Ninja_Prawn]

I already tried to reason with it, saying it was part of its duties to help me get to results for the greater good, especially since i am its master.

Wow. I am shocked - nay, astounded - that this person doesn't trust you. Apologies for the sarcasm. :smalltongue:

But how was "I am so sorry" not the very first thing you said to it?

Honestly though, you've made it pretty clear that your squishy friend's life is more important to you than Dawnbringer's. That's a hard thing for it (a unique and powerful artifact; basically a celebrity) to swallow. Maybe you can explain why you treasure Jimbob McWarlock so much, and hope that it understands why you did what you did...? Or try to re-establish your relationship with the sword in a colder, more businesslike way? "You and I are partners here. We share the same goal, so even if we don't get along, we need to work together."

[Ninja Brian]

Thanks for your reply :smallsmile:
My character is very goal-oriented, (supposed to be) very logical. in my mind (especially in the heat of the moment) i thought of dawnbringer as nothing more than a weapon- an object. crafted to bring salvation to this world in one form or the other, but ultimately through destruction. so i figured "destroy the object, and bring salvation- what could be more fitting of such a fine tool than to use it to grant life?" and then i offered it. Honestly, i regretted the choice the moment my DM said "make a persuasion check", and he is usually quite forgiving.

Both sound like they are worth a try. What do you think are the odds for my success in this endeavor? Honestly, i don't even know how this would be calculated- My persuasion check against its Wisdom check with advantage maybe? Or would that be depending on the DM? Does the intent of using my additional d6 even promise help?

[JackPhoenix]

It's an NPC. NPC with psychological issued to boot. Treat it as such.

I definitely wouldn't allow you to regain its trust with a single check.

[Ninja Brian]

It's an NPC. NPC with psychological issued to boot. Treat it as such.

That is an issue i haven't even considered so far. Indeed a very important aspect i will keep in mind for the next session(s).

Much obliged. ^^

[Nifft]

"Trust monster or rust monster, your choice sword boy."

While dangling it over a pit full of hungry rust monsters.

[MaxWilson]

Current Situation: We are currently playing Out of the Abyss and i have acquired the magical Longsword Dawnbringer. My character is supposed to be an extension of myself and i view the characters of my friends in the party to be their extensions. As such, i view it as if my friends and i jumped ourselves into this world. One of us, a Warlock, failed 3 death saves and i wanted his Great Old One to resurrect him. My DM said before i should see Dawnbringer as a creature in any sense but the physical, but despite that, i tried to persuade the godesque being by offering Dawnrbinger for the life of my friend. I received the Sanity Ability Score, hallucinated, but the sword was still in my hands, and my friend still dead.

The Problem: Naturally, Dawnbringer is quite upset about this, to the point of not answering me, but clearly letting me feel its disgust and having the feeling of my own treachery poison my soul. Can anyone of you imagine a way for me to sort this out without having to give the sword to another partymember (have someone else be attuned to it)? I already tried to reason with it, saying it was part of its duties to help me get to results for the greater good, especially since i am its master. It didn't work. I have not yet had the chance to simply apologize to it (we ended the session there).
If you think it helps, i still have 1d6 for inspiration.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give me on how to handle the situation.

So, what would you do if you were in a situation where you had offered to trade a new acquaintance's life for a life of a friend, and the new acquaintance took offense? Would you really try to rebuild your relationship with the new acquaintance, or just accept the fact that you permanently alienated the new guy/girl by showing that your friends mean so much more to you than they do? Would you really expect the new acquaintance to overlook this behavior?

What I'm getting at here is that it's not wrong to make choices as if you were really there--but you have to also accept the consequences as if you were really there, too. That may mean that you've permanently offended Dawnbringer, barring very special circumstances like you and it somehow saving each other's lives in the near future, like some kind of buddy-cop movie where two people that hate each other wind up finding that they respect each other after all.

"I was genuinely sincere in my feelings" is not a Get Out of Jail Free card. It just means you've chosen sides.


"Trust monster or rust monster, your choice sword boy."

While dangling it over a pit full of hungry rust monsters.

Okay, I admit that one has some hilarious long-term roleplaying potential, like a buddy cop movie gone horribly wrong. It's like something Old Man Henderson would do...

[Ninja Brian]

"Trust monster or rust monster, your choice sword boy."

While dangling it over a pit full of hungry rust monsters.

My character is chaotic good... this sort of intimidation would at best be a bluff. But to be honest, it sounds hilarous. If i weren't so unnecessarily attached to my character and put too much of myself in it, then i probably would consider trying it. :smallbiggrin:



What I'm getting at here is that it's not wrong to make choices as if you were really there--but you have to also accept the consequences as if you were really there, too.
............
"I was genuinely sincere in my feelings" is not a Get Out of Jail Free card. It just means you've chosen sides.

I would rather not have there be bad blood between this acquaintance and me, since it put its trust in me to begin with. I understand that i have to accept the consequences, but typically, 'everything' has a price- by my understanding that includes trust. Additionally, if i were to no longer use it, it would just go straight to my ranger buddy, so the two of us will have to get along somehow and i'd prefer it to be in a way of respect.

To use the "get out of jail free card" as a method of explaining: i'm not trying to get off scot-free, but i'd prefer not to stay in jail forever as well.

[MaxWilson]

I would rather not have there be bad blood between this acquaintance and me, since it put its trust in me to begin with. I understand that i have to accept the consequences, but typically, 'everything' has a price- by my understanding that includes trust. Additionally, if i were to no longer use it, it would just go straight to my ranger buddy, so the two of us will have to get along somehow and i'd prefer it to be in a way of respect.

Well, you could try asking its opinion, and whether it would like you to give it to someone else, or if it would prefer some other way for you to atone/apologize. At least that shows you're willing to respect its autonomy. It's a start anyway.

[Ninja Brian]

Well, you could try asking its opinion, and whether it would like you to give it to someone else, or if it would prefer some other way for you to atone/apologize. At least that shows you're willing to respect its autonomy. It's a start anyway.

I would have to agree. All those suggestions (except for the intimidation, although, again, it sounds hilarious) are of great help.
I think i got enough information to put something together and hope to turn things in my favor.

Thanks a lot guys! I feel a lot more confident about this subject now :smallsmile:

[Sigreid]

If I remember the character of the sword right, it's afraid of being left in the dark. You don't have to threaten it with rust monsters...

Personally, I don't use intelligent weapons anymore. I dislike them as a particularly annoying form of DM PC and leave them to rot.