(( posted with permission of author, a few typos corrected with permission of author )) From: "marc" Subject: [stcircle] Genuine advice...:) Date sent: Tue, 19 Jun 2001 14:26:08 +0100 I am removing the name of the player who sent this. They asked in all sincerity, and maybe I should have been nicer... but I couldn't help myself. What follows is as honest as I can say it... Thought some of you may appreciate. :) marc *********************** > Mr. Torley, > > Hi you don't know me. but i play a brujah in the states. My character > got taken to a justicar. and since you seem to be an authority on > justicars. What would be the best way to deal with it? I have read and > read, all that i > can find on the subject. Only to realize I am way out of my league. Any > assistance you could give on the matter would be appreciated. honest advice? OK, you should IC get on your knees and beg for forgiveness. Plead. Blame everyone else. Give up the names of anyone you know is guilty of any crime EVER. Make some crimes up and blame any Kindred for them if they are caitiff, anarchs or Followers of Set. Offer to do anything for them. ANYTHING. Never make eye contact unless they ask you too. Drink their blood three times and become their slave. Ask if you can take the Oath. Ask IC to take the oath AND drink their blood. Ask if you can take the Oath, drink their blood and be dominated. Try to impress them with your previously unknown Lore- "Pleading" Scream whenever one of them enters a room. Look terrified. Cry a lot. Lie on the floor whimpering 'I don't want to die; I don't want to die'. Mix this with the screaming, and the crying and the looking terrified. Relent to every test. Submit. During torture say things like 'Thank you Your Grace- I deserve this'. During torture scream BEFORE they do anything to you. Scream AFTER they have finished as well. If you can convince them that you would rather be eaten alive by ghoul rats than face anymore torture they may not actually torture your PC. This being said they may decide to feed you PC to ghoul rats, but that's a risk you have to take. Do whatever you have to do IC to get OUT of custody and remove the Archons and the Justicar from your characters story. As long as the Justicar IC is IN your characters story, your PC can be killed at any time. That is why everyone fears the Justicars. NO ONE can beat them. The only reason your PC is there is either because a) Your PC did something to bring them to your PC. or b) Someone accused your PC of doing something that brought them to your PC. The only response I found that works are to a)- Pleading and begging forgiveness (see above) while blaming someone else. and to b)- Pleading and begging forgiveness (see above) while blaming someone else. (with both, the crying and the whimpering should be used to good effect) On occasion you could offer to do a favour for them- this has worked now and then (IF what you offer sounds good on paper), but on the whole pleading and begging forgiveness (see above) while blaming someone else is the only proven tactic that PC's generally can produce. Coming up with witty one liners and saying things like 'You will never break me' usually does not get the reaction you think it would. You see most Archons and Justicars are designed to be 'clever villians'. In a movie most villians are stupid. You say things like... "Ah, but if you kill me you will just be proving that I was right all along' and the bad guys 'Curses' and keeps you alive. You say that to an Archon, their correct response is to go 'Fair enough...' and then take your PC's head off. Claims a Justicar can never break your character is also a bad move. Your character sheet has limits; if need be the players of Archons and the ST's in control of Justicars can stand there and test and test and test- for weeks if they want, until you PC is out of willpower, down to their last health level and drained of physical, social and mental traits. Then while you as a player may go 'He is still fighting' ST's will rule that the PC is now a glove puppet and the Archons haven't so much broken them as- broken them, messed the parts up, put them back together in ways that make them giggle a lot. And THEN they will kill your PC. (smile) Hope that helps. Sorry if it sounds glib, but for as long as I have been in this society I have felt on golden rule is forgotten all the time- Justicars are THE scariest thing your PC's will ever encounter. And that people should role-play accordingly. marc torley UK179 timelines project lead founder of the 'bastard league' "I am a bastard too; I love bastards. I am bastard begot, bastard instructed, bastard in mind, bastard in valor, in everything illegitimate..." -William Shakespeare Troilus and Cressida.