(RPG) Grand Consequences
A situation came up in last night's Lords of Gossamer and Shadows game that is, to me, interesting to consider. And from a GM who seems to dislike drama in all forms even. Oooo! ;)
The player group was faced with a trading group of a slave-holding society. The reactions of PCs who are more hero than not was reasonably predictable as the situation became apparent, with what is actually a nice range to watch. I'm a bit disappointed a few players weren't very present/involved, as I find the reactions fairly telling of characters.
We had one character willing to create and throw a whole bunch of gold at the problem to buy the slaves present with the intent to murder the others (well, sink the ship, which is probably the same). We had one who instigated some confrontation, but turned the follow-through over to another who supernaturally caused the slave-owners to feel compassion for their slaves and let them go.
Frankly, I think those would be a bit more fun to play than the character I had on scene, who is a strategist from a society that was particularly structured to begin with. She looks at the situation an, while acknowledging the personal injustices, sees a society that is functional. She also can follow the lines of consequence of these actions.
- Buying out a group of slaves solves the in-sight issue, but doesn't do anything for the larger society. Sinking the ship invites possible retribution. Creating lots of money invites further requests and risks destabilizing economies. Then the freed slaves have to be supported in some way, because freedom, for all its value, does not mean the ability to be self-sustaining.
- Magically altering the slave holders might be a longer-lasting solution, though it's morally questionable (I'd argue as bad or worse) given you've just removed some people's mental freedom in order to give other people their physical freedom. It probably means they'll be ostracized at home as well, perhaps even outcast or executed for all the group knows. Plus, the newly-freed slaves may still need some way to support themselves.
Neither of these routes, for as heroic as they look at a glance, will solve the issue on a larger scale and both create other problems that could potentially be worse. Any mass removal of slavery and "moral elevation" of the society would involve a lot more involvement and time.
Now, the PCs, being rather powerful world-walking entities are in a position where they actually could pull that off. But even those levels of power don't remove the need for a better understanding of all the interconnected systems to do it. That all means time and attention. Even "claiming" the gossamer world, which can give a bunch of control on its own, doesn't necessarily make it easy (plus you get into more morally questionable grounds fundamentally changing reality for millions of people).
I remember a book scene that touched on this. A visionary who wants to better the world gains sudden godlike power, so he tries to improve the world. He alters its orbit, but that changes the climate. To counter, you get volcanoes spewing ash to shield against too much sun, but then the plants die. So you need new plants that can survive... Each act, while well-intentioned, has consequences that are difficult to predict, especially when acting hastily...
My character sees all this, but she's simply not invested enough in a one-of-an-infinite-number world she's been in for perhaps 24 hours to devote the time required to do something like this right*.
* And one could debate all day and night about what "right" even is.
The player group was faced with a trading group of a slave-holding society. The reactions of PCs who are more hero than not was reasonably predictable as the situation became apparent, with what is actually a nice range to watch. I'm a bit disappointed a few players weren't very present/involved, as I find the reactions fairly telling of characters.
We had one character willing to create and throw a whole bunch of gold at the problem to buy the slaves present with the intent to murder the others (well, sink the ship, which is probably the same). We had one who instigated some confrontation, but turned the follow-through over to another who supernaturally caused the slave-owners to feel compassion for their slaves and let them go.
Frankly, I think those would be a bit more fun to play than the character I had on scene, who is a strategist from a society that was particularly structured to begin with. She looks at the situation an, while acknowledging the personal injustices, sees a society that is functional. She also can follow the lines of consequence of these actions.
- Buying out a group of slaves solves the in-sight issue, but doesn't do anything for the larger society. Sinking the ship invites possible retribution. Creating lots of money invites further requests and risks destabilizing economies. Then the freed slaves have to be supported in some way, because freedom, for all its value, does not mean the ability to be self-sustaining.
- Magically altering the slave holders might be a longer-lasting solution, though it's morally questionable (I'd argue as bad or worse) given you've just removed some people's mental freedom in order to give other people their physical freedom. It probably means they'll be ostracized at home as well, perhaps even outcast or executed for all the group knows. Plus, the newly-freed slaves may still need some way to support themselves.
Neither of these routes, for as heroic as they look at a glance, will solve the issue on a larger scale and both create other problems that could potentially be worse. Any mass removal of slavery and "moral elevation" of the society would involve a lot more involvement and time.
Now, the PCs, being rather powerful world-walking entities are in a position where they actually could pull that off. But even those levels of power don't remove the need for a better understanding of all the interconnected systems to do it. That all means time and attention. Even "claiming" the gossamer world, which can give a bunch of control on its own, doesn't necessarily make it easy (plus you get into more morally questionable grounds fundamentally changing reality for millions of people).
I remember a book scene that touched on this. A visionary who wants to better the world gains sudden godlike power, so he tries to improve the world. He alters its orbit, but that changes the climate. To counter, you get volcanoes spewing ash to shield against too much sun, but then the plants die. So you need new plants that can survive... Each act, while well-intentioned, has consequences that are difficult to predict, especially when acting hastily...
My character sees all this, but she's simply not invested enough in a one-of-an-infinite-number world she's been in for perhaps 24 hours to devote the time required to do something like this right*.
* And one could debate all day and night about what "right" even is.
Sure makes playing God seem more like just staying "hands off" and letting everything just figure itself out anyway
ReplyDeleteIn the Lucifer comic book series, he teaches a girl how to be God. And she learns the hard way that each of her interventions has a consequence. 'Hands off' might be the best way to go.
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