Vigilante Group Interest Gauge

[Haroshia]

I'm pretty tired of the "Evil will win because good is dumb" narrative.   I want to change it.  For that purpose, I want to find other people to create likeminded PCs purpose built for PvP and striking down evil and monstrous PCs from the shadows.  This group is somewhat inspired by The Harpers, although re-flavored to fit the more brutal nature of the setting.  RP wise I see this as a natural progression from all of the assassinations, Changeling ganks, and failure of the Communities to keep order.

Let's start with what I think the group shouldn't be:

• This isn't a group if you want to be famous.  No threatening sendings.  No bridge dueling.  Nobody outside of the group should even know you're in it.
  
• This isn't a group if you want to play politics.  If your character joins a house, it's to do so as a spy on the inside. 
• This isn't a group if you don't want to purpose build a character for PvP.  Your character should be adept at killing other characters.  We may have people specialized in certain roles. 
• This isn't a group if you want to play an "Evil" character.  This isn't killing for power or prestige.  It's removing threats because others either can't or won't.
• This isn't a group if you want to kill for money.  This is about justice, not cash. 
• This isn't a group if you want to go Kingward.

Now for what I have in mind for characters:

• Would prefer non-evil, non-lawful aligned characters, for obvious reasons. 
  
• Characters should be purpose built for spycraft and assassination.  Hide, move silently, spot, search, listen, and other skills like that prioritized.  Invisibility and see invisibility also recommended.
• Characters can be any race, but human will likely give the most access to areas around the game world.
• Keep in mind however you want to build your character they should be built for a ganking style of PvP, as well as counter-ganking other stealthy characters. 
• Your character should have a reason they have chosen this path.  It could be as simple as a grudge against the Peers or Blackjacks for their ineffectiveness, or something more personal

Post below if interested, or @Haroshia on Discord. 

[Stranger]

Have you heard of the Companions of the Broken Blade?

Hear me now, hear me true, though bloodied and bruised I may be I stand defiant still; and it is the spirit of defiance which led me to this declaration. Coming together under the light of the moon, 'ere the shadows prowl, a new fraternity of the bold now swears oaths one to another.

I recommend making a cunning rogue, Chaotic Good or Chaotic Neutral, to serve as a spymaster to the noble paladin lord in his ongoing fight against evil.

Though I am much a fan of secret societies, I can think of no group more suitable to oppose the villains you seek to thwart, for reasons that would become apparent if you aligned with them.

[Haroshia]

Have you heard of the Companions of the Broken Blade?

Hear me now, hear me true, though bloodied and bruised I may be I stand defiant still; and it is the spirit of defiance which led me to this declaration. Coming together under the light of the moon, 'ere the shadows prowl, a new fraternity of the bold now swears oaths one to another.

I recommend making a cunning rogue, Chaotic Good or Chaotic Neutral, to serve as a spymaster to the noble paladin lord in his ongoing fight against evil.

Though I am much a fan of secret societies, I can think of no group more suitable to oppose the villains you seek to thwart, for reasons that would become apparent if you aligned with them.

Have heard of them.  Didn't think they'd be a big fan of assassination. 

[creme bulette]

Hey, chief. I don't want to seem belligerent, but it sounds like this is a reaction to the recent upswing in Knave activity and how it has affected the server. I don't know if this is the result of some harsh personal experience, but PvP shouldn't always be considered synonymous with death and assassinations. In fact, very rarely should that be the case!

It's great to want to organize a big force for promoting good. But featuring a faction whose concept revolves around being "built for a ganking style of PvP" is not the best way to go about this. That sort of mindset raises red flags.

I know we've all had our fair share of rough Knave experiences lately, but it can sometimes be good to hash these out with a DM to be better understand the 'what behind the why'. EFU is obviously harsh. Sometimes it's good to get a different perspective.

If you're inbetween concepts, I genuinely think Stranger's recommendation for the Companions of the Broken Blade is worth taking into consideration. The players seem to be really cool and have a good perspective on what it looks like to play good-aligned characters that stand up against evil.

[Haroshia]

Hey, chief. I don't want to seem belligerent, but it sounds like this is a reaction to the recent upswing in Knave activity and how it has affected the server. I don't know if this is the result of some harsh personal experience, but PvP shouldn't always be considered synonymous with death and assassinations. In fact, very rarely should that be the case!

It's great to want to organize a big force for promoting good. But featuring a faction whose concept revolves around being "built for a ganking style of PvP" is not the best way to go about this. That sort of mindset raises red flags.

I know we've all had our fair share of rough Knave experiences lately, but it can sometimes be good to hash these out with a DM to be better understand the 'what behind the why'. EFU is obviously harsh. Sometimes it's good to get a different perspective.

If you're inbetween concepts, I genuinely think Stranger's recommendation for the Companions of the Broken Blade is worth taking into consideration. The players seem to be really cool and have a good perspective on what it looks like to play good-aligned characters that stand up against evil.

It isn't just the Knaves.  It's lots of forces getting away with murder, kidnapping, and robbery by just ganking people from stealth and invisibility.   Players can't really oppose it because they're not built for it.   I've been told there's nothing wrong with people making characters built around specific goals.  People like using mechanics.  It also seems there's no issue with being PvP oriented. 

I'm not saying outright FDing folks on the spot, but ambushing, subduing them and dragging them in to justice seems fine.  I don't see what's wrong with making a reactionary force to counter a common tactic used by players.  If a DM disagrees they can hit me up on Discord. 

[Egon the Monkey]

Yeah, this does seem like a natural progression. It's trivially easy to enter any hub from invis, and guards are so ineffective that hit and run attacks in the middle of town are a fairly safe and reliable PvP move.   Ticker now has no law, and the Peerage has been ineffectual at enforcing its own, even up to "no violence in the Ward".

Meaning there's no consequences for breaking the rules. It's rare to win the battle but lose the war by taking 50% casualties in that gank. Attacker advantage from buffs is pretty wild, so it always makes sense to hit first.

Knaves have just been a strong recent example because the Mask gives them enough plausible deniability to not immediately end up as outlaws. Their biggest strength is they don't need to all log in together. They can use the allies and safe houses of their public identities, and only need to be visible when attacking. Whereas anyone expecting a mugging needs to "run silent, run deep" or coordinate logins for a show of force.

The knaves have a solid tactic, and it's unsurprising someone wanting to fight Evil/Crime would use a winning formula.

Remember, the Classic Orzan Bandit (TM) tactic was to mug people and then run away and hide behind either the faction HQ (to buff up again), or "I'm tough and I demand you duel me". The Classic Ticker Thug tactic was to mug in the Commons then run to the Open door and hope your pursuer didn't have a DM.

Trying to pin this on "It's just Knave salt" doesn't make sense. They're just the latest effective group to lack a strong rival that refuses to fight them on favourable terms.

The last 'vigilante' group we saw seemed to go down pretty well. It was when the Church of the Timeless enforced a 3000 gp murder tax or they'd kill you for Unlicenced Murdering.