What should my GM friend do?

marshalljames1
edited December 2021 in General Discussion

Many years ago another GM I know has used tables he made based on but different to the 1's The GM I mentionedin my last post also made many years ago and this GM friend has a far bigger problem. What should this GM friend do?

This 1's even worse because this GM's tables have results that can be but usually aren't very good for The Player and very bad for The GM, but The GM says that theirs roughly 6.6 million possible  combinations but only 6 of the  combinations have a result that's very good for The Player and very bad for The GM

The GM claims that when rolling on his Tables The Player makes 26 1D100 rolls and the 4 worst, for The GM, results require 6 of the 26 rolls being A 100, 10 of the other 20 rolls coming up A 40 or higher and the other 10 rolls coming up A 20 or higher

The problem is that The GM figured out no player would even fairly pass all those rolls, well he made those tables in Janurary 2,007 and after almost 15 years 1 of his players finally has fairly passed all those rolls. Here's what those results resulted in his players character starting with. What should my GM friend do?

The players character is the heir of A criminal dynasty that's almost 1,079 years old, this means the characters the leader of the most powerful criminal organization in all of history, but for some reasonhis criminal organization only(?) makes him a profit of just under 178,000 Gold Coins A Year

A few weeks before the character was born his father paid a corrupt Duke 1,040,600, in return he was given both the title of very senior Baron and rulership of a massive Barony and was allowed to purchase land, property, business's, investments and ships worth almost 366,000 Gold

The players father also bought A 35% ownership in A Gigantic Herbalists Greenhouse which gives him exclusivr access to 187 regular plants, 43 poisonous plants and earns him at least 550 Gold per year

That means that the character is earning almost 200,000 Gold A Year, he use's most of it to employ 1 of the biggest mercenary forces in the world and even after paying 14.9% per year to The Cult of Ranald he still makes just under 3,300 Gold profit a year

Because his families been criminals for almost 1.079 years the characters inherited 19 melee weapons, 8 ranged weapons, 6 shields, 14 assorted bits of armor, 411 bitss of equipment, enough food to last 17.8 years 1,341 pints of alcohol, 40 dose's of herbs, 23 dose's of poison, several thousand stolen farm animals, just over 100 regular animals, 3 Pegasus that were stolen whilst eggs, 88 regular books and 17 Magical Grimories

That's also the reason why the characters also inherited cash worth just over 43,500 Gold Coins, valuables worth just under  122,400 Gold Coins, 5 magic arrows, 2 magic melee weapons, 1 magic shield, 1 magical sleeveless Mail Shirt, 1 suit of +1 Full Leather, 13 magic items and 6 dose's of magic potions

Post edited by marshalljames1 on

Comments

  • thaen
    thaen
    Posts: 1,064

    What is the GM concerned about?  The other Players?

    Obsidian Portal Developer

  • marshalljames1
    Posts: 231 edited December 2021
    I thinks he's worried that with this guy having A Massive Private Mercenary Force, as well as commanding the biggest Criminal Empire in History, has the title of A Very Senior Baron ruling A Massive Barony, earns a minimum of almost 3,300 Gold per year and starts with more wealth then some Dukes die with has my GM friend him worried that this character will get all the fun, which will ruin it for the other 3 Pcs

    This guy employs The Massive Private Mercenary Force that listed below, I dare you to look at even the 1st part of it and tell me that A Character in his 1st career who is just starting out as A Adventurer yet has full command of such a force isn't going to be A Nightmare and don't forget that even though he earns almost 200,000 Gold Coins he earns per year this costs him just under 177,200 Gold Coins per year, but even after paying The Cult of Ranald 14.9% he's still earning almost 3,300 Gold Coins per year

    Update on finances

    10 minutes ago I send my mate A E-Mail asking him to double-check the finances of his players character, I've just read the reply and here's how his players characters finances work out and yes both he and I made several rather large mistakes. Sorry

    All in all his players character earns a minimum of of 198,504 Gold Coins per year before paying his Mercenaries, his Mercenaries get 166,300 Gold Coins per year, that leaves him with 32,204 Gold Coins per year after paying his Mercenaries 166,300 Gold Coins per year but after after paying The Church of Ranald its dues of 14.5% or 28,894 Gold Coins per year he only makes 3,312 Gold Coins per year

    The main group of Mercenaries

    76 Mercenaries that all have 6 advances, 35 Barber Surgeons that all have 6 advances, 25 Mercenary Sergeants that all have 19 advances, 10 Hunters that all have 6 advances, 10 Cooks whose actual career is Servant that all have 6 advances, 10 Combat Trained Translators that all have 5 Advances, 8 Physicians that all have 18 advances, 6 Mercenaries that were once Rogues that all have 14 advances, 5 Mercenary Veterans that were once Sergeants that all have 38 advances, 3 Freelance Priestess of Shallya that all have 24 advances, 2 Freelance Journeymen Wizards of The Lore of Life that both have 20 advances, 2 Freelance Priests of Sigmar that both have 19 advance, 2 Freelance Priests of Morr that both have 19 advances, Freelance Journeymen Wizard of The Lore of Fire that has 18 advances, 1 Freelance Journeymen Wizard of The Lore of Beasts who has 18 advances, 1 Freelance Journeymen Wizard of The Lore of Shadows who has 18 advances, 1 Freelance Priest of Ulric who has 19 advances, 1 Freelance Priest of Myrmidia who has 22 advances and 1 Freelance Targeteer who was once A Hunter who has 28 advances

    A much Smaller Mercenary Group

    11 Mercenaries that all have 6 advances, 2 Physicians that both have 18 advances, 2 Combat Trained Translators that both have 8 advances, 2 Mercenaries that were once Rogues that both have 14 advances, 1 Mercenary Sergeant that has 18 advances, 1 Freelance Journeymen Wizard of The Lore of Shadows who has 15 advances, 1 Freelance Priest of Sigmar who has 15 advances, 1 Targeteer who was once A Hunter who has 28 advances and 1 Mercenary Captain who has 34 advances

    The 1st group of criminals that were once wanted that The Players Character managed to secure pardons for that now fight for him

    5 Thugs that all have 4 advances, 4 Crooked Physicians that all have 22 advances, 3 Halfling Thieves that all have 8 advances, 2 Smugglers that both have 4 advances, 1 Protagonist who has 5 advances, 1 Apothecary who dealt in poisons who has 5 advances, 1 Vagabond who has 6 advances, 1 Thief with 7 Advances, 1 Cat Burglar with 17 Advances, 1 Racketeer with 17 Advances, 1 Enforcer who has 19 advances, 1 Human Journeymen Wizard of The Lore of Metal who is also A Ex Apprentice Wizard and A Ex Student who specialized in Medicine with 33 Advances, 1 Assassin who has 34 advances, 1 Outlawed Targeteer who has 38 advances and 1 Lesser Crime Lord who has 46 Advances

    The 2nd group of criminals that were once wanted that The Players Character managed to secure pardons for that now fight for him

    2 Thugs that both have 4 advances, 1 Smuggler who has 4 advances, 1 Thief with 7 Advances, 1 Cat Burglar with 14 Advances, 1 Racketeer with 14 Advances, 1 Master Thief with 14 Advances, 1 Halfling Thief with 8 Advances, 1 Rogue that was A Thief that has 13 advances, 1 Journeymen Wizard of The Lore of Shadows who is also A Ex Apprentice Wizard and A Ex Student who specialized in Law with 33 Advances, 1 Outlaw Chief who has 34 advances, 1 Veteran who is A Ex Outlaw and A Ex Thief with 36 Advances and 1 Lesser Crime Lord who has 46 Advances

    The 3rd group of criminals that were once wanted that The Players Character managed to secure pardons for that now fight for him

    3 Thieves that all have 7 advances, 2 Thugs that both have 4 advances, 2 Apothecaries who dealt in Poisons that both have 5 advances, 2 Protagonists that used to be Thugs that both have 18 advances, 1 Smuggler who has 4 advances, 1 Cat Burglar with 14 Advances, 1 Racketeer with 14 Advances, 1 Master Thief with 14 Advances, 1 Priest of Ranald with 17 Advances, 1 Halfling Thief who has 6 advances, Rogue that was A Thief that has 13 advances, 1 Journeymen Wizard of The Lore of Death who is also A Ex Apprentice Wizard and A Ex Student who specialized in Law with 35 Advances and 1 Crime Lord who is also A Ex Cat Burglar, Ex Thief and A Ex Apothecary who dealt in Poisons with 55 advances
    Post edited by marshalljames1 on
  • thaen
    thaen
    Posts: 1,064

    From the perspective of the GM, this just seems like lots of nice plot hooks to play with.  : )

    I'd treat this as a "double edged sword".  Yeah, the PC has lots of resources, but those resources are also a large draw for dangerous opponents.  If the PC has access to the resources, then that PC is now a target of kidnapping and ransom attacks.  And the PC also has to keep control of the organization while still being a low level ... what keeps factions in the organizations from seizing control of portions of the organization?  Maybe the only people the PC can really trust are the other PCs.

    Obsidian Portal Developer

  • marshalljames1
    Posts: 231 edited December 2021
    Thanks I'll pass it on. 2 more things though

    1 thing I'll mention is that the main problem The GM has is that The Pc starts with well over 200 people that directly work for him, and a lot of them are very powerful. Any advise on how to deal with that?

    Another very big problem is that The GM rolled on tables he made to determine The Magical Goodies The Pc started with, a lot of which he made, and several of those are either very powerful or very troublesome, for The GM or very problematic, for, a The GM. Here's info on 7 of the more troublesome, for The GM, Magical Goodies that's The Pc started with. Any advise on how to deal with that?

    1 Suit of Full Leather Armor

    Its worth +2 AP more then normal, which means it gives 3 AP on all locations

    1 Mark 5 Greater Pouch of Plenty

    At the start of every month it gives every Pc 28D3+100 Gold Coins and all 4 Pcs all get the same amount of Gold Coins

    1 Mark 5 Moderate Pouch of Plenty

    At the start of every month it gives every Pc 20D3+75 Gold Coins and all 4 Pcs all get the same amount of Gold Coins

    1 1-dose bottle of potion of Greater C Success

    Once drank the next 3 times the drinker attempt's to do something that's either criminal or illegal or criminal and illegal he or she's automatically succeeds

    1 1-dose bottle of A Mark 3 potion of Greater none-aggressive Disguise<

    If facing a situation the drinker doesn't want to face he or she can drink this and until he or she take's aggressive action enemies that haven't fully completed at least 3 careers, but all 3 completed careers can be basic careers, prior to their current 1 and aren't either Minor, meaning weaker then Lesser, Demons or intelligent Undead treat me as if I were a friend

    A bit more info on this

    Because A Mark 2 potion of Greater none-aggressive Disguise doesn't actually give the drinker the appearance of something that's either unintelligent undead and minor Deamons would treat as A Friend those that are enemies of all Demons and all Undead won't treat the drinker as A Enemy unless he or she is already their enemy

    And

    Saying that though roughly 59% of people that are enemies of Demons and Undead are smart enough to know that the drinker is using some some of Magic to escape his or her enemies, as a result they will pretend to treat the potions drinker as A Enemy and they will also make it look like the drinker was lucky enough to only just escape

    1 Mark 2 Greater Magical Kit that is used to make fake Coins

    It only makes its owner/the character, 22D2+110 Fake Coins of all 3 types a month, sadly that's far lower then the potential 50x31 or 1,550 Coins a month you can make with regular counter-fitting equipment

    A bit more info on this

    Some players may that think that the far slower production rate means its not as useful as regular counter-fitting equipment but it is, in fact its well worth it and that is because unlike coins made with regular counter-fitting equipment its impossible to tell that any coins that this magical kit makes are fake

    1 Mark 3 Lesser Magical Bag of Tassels

    Every once a month or after every adventure, whichever comes 1st, it will provide its owner/the character, with 4D6+30 Gold Coins worth of Silver Tassels
    Post edited by marshalljames1 on
  • marshalljames1
    Posts: 231 edited December 2021
    Oops my GM friend has spotted a few mistake's he made in The E-Mai about his players characters finances. I say sorry on his behalf. Here's the corrections. Also I'd spotted mistakes that I made that I've since corrected

    His players characters followers cost his players character 156,300 Gold Coins per year but his players character puts aside another 9,150 Gold Coins per year that are given out as bonus's and another 950 Gold Coins a year to The Orphans cared for by The Church of Shallya. That's why it costs his players character 166,300 Gold Coins per year

    At the end of the year any of those 9,150 Gold Coins that weren't spend on things like bonus's, extra's and cash rewards gets spend on A Warhammer RPG Version of A Christmas Feast for all of the players characters mercenaries

    If theirs enough, so far their has always been at least 600 Gold left and more often then not their was at least 920 Gold Coins left, then the players character does A PR Stunt, by which I mean that my GM Friend's player invites rank and file members of his criminal empire to The Warhammer RPG Version of A Christmas Feast

    And

    It always works out at no less then 33 rank and file members of his criminal empire invited at a cost of 33x18 or 594 Gold Coins and more often then not it works out at 54 rank and file members of his criminal empire invited at a cost of 54x17 or 918 Gold
    Post edited by marshalljames1 on
  • marshalljames1
    Posts: 231 edited December 2021
    Ooops 5 minutes my GM friend spotted a few mistakes and E-Mailed me the correction. Sorry. Here's the mistake and how to correct it

    Even though his players characters criminal operation operates across the Old World Continent in his original E-Mail he listed its number of members and what it earns his players character per year but by mistake my GM friend only listed the number of members that operate within The Empire and Bretonnia and what they earn his players character per year

    It actually has a total of 100,846 members and it earns the commander/my character a minimum profit of 282,870 Gold Coins per year

    All in all his players character character earns a minimum of 299,938 Gold Coins per year before paying his Mercenaries 181,700 Gold Coins per year

    Add in The Church of Ranald dues of 35% rounded up to 105,000 Gold Coins per year

    Add in the 9,.150 Gold Coins per year for the yearly Christmas feast for both his players characters Mercenaries and as many rank and file members of his organization as possible and the 850 Gold Coins per year that his players character gives to The Church of Shallya and his players character only(?) gets a minimum profit of 3,238 Gold Coins per year

    The reason that the increase in costs is so big is because his players character also employs the following very large unit of 25 Renegade(by which my GM friend says that he means that they deserted from The Army) Pistoliers

    Saying that when I think about it as these guys are deserters they would no longer be legally classed as Pistoliers but they would still be members of The Pistolier Class

    In The Unit is 16 Pistoliers that all have 18 advances, 3 Pistolier Sergeants that all have 33 advances, 2 Physicians that are of Noble Blood that are both Ex Barber Surgeons and Ex Nobles that both have 38 advances, 2 Scouts that are both from A different very wealthy family that both have 24 advances, 1 Pistolier Veteran who has 46 advances and 1 Pistolier Captain who has 50 advances
    Post edited by marshalljames1 on
  • thaen
    thaen
    Posts: 1,064

    The GM could have one of the 200 people be a corrupt adviser that is building up their own criminal organization inside of the bigger one by skimming and also getting rid of anyone in the organization that is loyal to the PC ... probably by sending the loyal people on suicide missions, while saying it's a direct order from the PC.  That way if the loyal people do survive the suicide mission, then they might turn against the PC for sending them on the suicide mission.  Similar to The Musketeers with the King and the Cardinal ... where the PC is the King, and this adviser the Cardinal.

    For the magic items, as the GM, I would have an encounter very soon after y'all start the game where the PCs are attacked by some more powerful NPCs who are explicitly attacking to try to take the magic items from the less powerful PCs.  Then I would have a more powerful good aligned NPC help fend off the more powerful attacking NPCs.  After the attacking NPCs are repelled, the good aligned NPC should warn the PCs that the PCs aren't powerful enough at this level to keep these items protected.  And suggest that the good aligned NPC could keep them safe until the PCs are high enough level to keep them safe themselves.  The PCs might decide to take the NPC up on the offer, or might decide to put the magic items in a vault at their own base or something, since they do have this criminal network and probably do have access to that kind of thing.  BUT, the message should be clear to the PCs that if they try to take all of these magic items out with them, and it becomes obvious to other NPCs, that they might again be targeted for a "mugging" and lose whatever the magic item is ... not to mention their lives.  So from here forward the PCs should be very mindful of whether they are publicly using the magic items and drawing attention, and/or if there are hints that they are giving off that they have access to magic or wealth that is more than their level.

    Obsidian Portal Developer

  • thaen
    thaen
    Posts: 1,064

    The reason to give the PCs the "warning" as opposed to just having the NPCs take the items is that it's going to be more fun for the PCs to play with the items.  But if they can't be public about them, then that puts a limit on the usages of the magic items.  So if the GM doesn't want them to use a magic item for a particular encounter, then the GM can make sure to have people watching or somehow otherwise become aware if there is a magic item used.  The PCs might notice that there's this one hooded guy that's always hanging around nearby.  A spy from a competing organization who is supposed to keep an eye on them, so they'd always have to make sure they had slipped his view if they wanted to bring out one of the "big guns" and still be able to keep it afterward. 

    Or the PCs could decide that whatever the thing they were trying to do is worth turning this great magic item into an effectively "one use" item, since someone will definitely take it from them once they see what it can do.

    Obsidian Portal Developer

  • marshalljames1
    Posts: 231 edited December 2021
    My GM friend has a question about conflict among the characters but not among the players. Any ideas?

    He knows that the other 3 players won't hold it against the player with this Super-Mercenary that he got by being so lucky because they know that it was just pure luck

    The thing is that the other 3 characters are A Apprentice Wizard that worships Verna and wants to join The Light College, A Barber Surgeon who isn't particularly religious but gives to The Church of Shallya and A Thief from A Rival Organization

    I bet you see the problem, all 3 of The Other 3 Pcs for what-ever reason would have nothing to do with The Mercenary, The Thief would kill him because he's the leader of A Rival Organization and the other 2 are the kind of goody two shoes that would either kill A Crime Lord or take him in for trial and execution

    That is despite the fact that The Mercenary can't help his heritage but even though the other 3 players will see it that way their characters likely won't see it that way and the authorities definitely won't see it that way

    I have had a idea on that matter. What do you think?. The idea is that because The Mercenary and The Thief whose from A Rival Organization, their different gender and their the same age

    That's why my idea to have have The Female Thief get send to secretly gain control of The Mercenaries Organization by seducing him and pretending to fall in love with him but she ends up genuinely falling love with him
    Post edited by marshalljames1 on
  • thaen
    thaen
    Posts: 1,064 edited December 2021

    As a GM, this is a problem that I make the Players solve.  They each have to come up with the reason that their PC is friendly (possibly even devoted) to each of the other PCs.  That way, they are the ones that have to make it work, rather than trying to push against the GM's railroading them all together.  And there's no awkward slow first scene where they meet at an inn and are all posturing and end up not really liking each other but go adventuring anyway.

    Have them each create background reasons that these 4 PCs are friendly and devoted to each other before the game even starts. 

    Maybe they're all childhood friends because they got into a scrape early and just always had each other's backs after that. 

    Maybe they were all kidnapped by the same child slavery ring at one point and escaped together due to the Mercenary's parents saving them. 

    Maybe they all liked the same game store in town and ended up playing TTRPGs together.  : )

    Whatever the reason, have it be in place before the game even starts.  And then the GM can even start the first scene "in medias res".

    The love relationship between the two PCs sounds good, but I would just say that they are already in love and have already worked out the logistics of where the spy's loyalties really lie ... and that should be with the PC vs the opposing criminal organization.

    Post edited by thaen on

    Obsidian Portal Developer

  • marshalljames1
    Posts: 231 edited January 2022
    I've had 2 thoughts on how to work the child slavery idea could work and 1 on why it would never work. Your thoughts?

    The 1 on why it would never work is because with The Mercenary Pc at the time would have been the heir to the most powerful criminal empire in history no one would be daft enough to make him a child slave

    The 1st of the 2 on how it would work is to have The at the time child that's now the Mercenary Pc have befriended the other 3 Pcs who were also children at the time, and when he hears what happened to his friends he persuades his parents to save them

    The 2nd of the 2 on how it would work is that because Slavery is legal in this universe have The other 3 Pcs have been born slaves, have him flee a attempt to kill him by people that don't know who is he, rather they just want the massive fortune, to the cut-throats, that his clothes are worth

    In this idea he bumped into them running a errand for their owner, they saved his life by using their knowledge of the area to give the footpads the slip and they helped him get back to his family

    In this situation The Child that became The Mercenary Pc has whichever parent he inherits the criminal empire from return he favor by buying their freedom then as his son clearly likes them have him also offer him work getting paid to be his sons friends, companions and playmates

    In this situation The Girl Child that becomes The Thief Pc for some reason takes a disliking to him, laughs, maybe even in The Future Mercenaries face, and leaves

    But because The Boy Child that becomes The Mercenary likes her and may, without realizing, already had feelings for her, manages to talks his parents into not having her killed

    That is why rather then going from being A 6 year old Child Slave to living a life All Barons, most Viscounts and A tiny number of Earls would envy she instead ends up being A 7 year old Street Kid and later becomes A Teenage Child Thief and later The Thief Pc

    Years later she gets, unknown to her bosses, to infiltrate The Empire of A 19 year old that has inherited the largest criminal empire in history is the 1 that saved her from slavery and offered her a life that many nobles would envy but because of her distrust of him turned him down, laughed at him and left thinking she's never look back with regret

    Having realized years ago what she could have had and would have had if she'd decided to ignore her dislike for the guy, realizing who the 19 year old that has inherited the largest criminal empire in history is and that she has another chance at untold rich's and she switch's sides
    Post edited by marshalljames1 on
  • thaen
    thaen
    Posts: 1,064

    All sounds good to me, but of course, it's your game, so whatever you want to do is all that matters.  : )  I'm sure there are tons of other "origin stories" that y'all could come up with for why/how the group is already friendly to each other.

     

    "The 1 on why it would never work is because with The Mercenary Pc at the time would have been the heir to the most powerful criminal empire in history no one would be daft enough to make him a child slave"

    This reminded me of that movie with Wesley Crusher (or Wil Wheaton if you prefer) called Toy Soldiers ... where exactly this happens (if I'm remembering the right character).  Wesley/Wil is the son of a gangster, and this group of criminals takes over the boarding school the son happens to be attending.  The criminals realize who the son is in the middle of their siege of the school and offer to let the son go out of respect for his father, but not the son's friends.

     

    Obsidian Portal Developer

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