Servant Level WTF?

[robkelk]

Originally Posted by Azel

"It is a real Symphonic connection, however; more than friendship, loyalty, domination, admiration, fear, or compulsion (any of which may also be present in the relationship). ... Voluntarily or not, a servant's will is suborned. His master can make him do things, and he knows it."

There are folks who interpret that as meaning the master doesn't have to ask or threaten or cajole or trick the servant to do something if the master wins the "will war" - the master just tells the servant, and the servant has no choice but to carry out the order.

I believe I've posted a fanfic snippet addressing this ... (goes and looks) ... yes, here it is.

[PenitentDemon]

All Im saying is a strong Symphonic Connection, will be a LOT more useful with some servants then others.


Like I DOUBT theirs many orders (That a servitor of Dominic, or Laurence would ever be likely to give) That someone who'd accepted a place in their service would ever be likely to disobey.



And, I admit, Im pretty sure, even Baal, if you killed a soldier for something short of blatantly selling out, would probaly respond with something like


"Hmmmmn, am I to understand you believe that 6 force Mortals grow on TREES? Im afraid that they dont it may take a while, try to be patient.."

[Azel]

Ah, now that's a role playing aesthetics question. Those are totally dependent not upon canon, but upon the relative mood, contrast, and levity of your game world. If you do play such austere interpretations of each of those Superiors, then yes, you can probably get away with a lot more role playing action that does not depend on Servant Level.

However, it's always a good idea to know canonical mechanics in case the GM ever needs to pull a string. PCs can get quite lazy if they think their threats will always work on their minions/Servants. Reminding them that there is a value to purchased servitude, just like purchased roles, is a healthy way to control power creep in your game. (***plug for Liber Servitorum***)

[JCD]

Depending on the Servant, they can do RIGHTEOUS damage to a Celestial.

[tHEhERETIC]

Originally Posted by JCD

Depending on the Servant, they can do RIGHTEOUS damage to a Celestial.

I'm missing a trick here. Do you mean physical--which doesn't last, especially against a Malakite. Trauma is serious, true. Or do you mean something more subtle, like exploiting resonances? Say, kicking some poor cherub's attuned to get the cherub's attention?

[Jason]

Originally Posted by tHEhERETIC

I'm missing a trick here. Do you mean physical--which doesn't last, especially against a Malakite. Trauma is serious, true. Or do you mean something more subtle, like exploiting resonances? Say, kicking some poor cherub's attuned to get the cherub's attention?

Doesn't have to just be physical damage. Servants can learn Celestial Light as well as anybody else. The key is that the GM has to be wary about what it's likely for a demonling or a soldier to have learned. If the GM doesn't specifically say "no" (I learned the hard way), it's pretty easy to craft a Servant that acts as an extension of the PC's Song and Skill set. On the surface, it ends up looking much more points-effective to give your PC all the roleplaying-oriented Songs, Skills, and Attunements she needs, and then just buy a bodyguard with Corporeal Shields 6, Dodge 6 (to dodge INTO blows targeting the PC), and Numinous Corpus Tail 6, which my player calculated is the NC song with the greatest damage per turn potential...

[Rocket Man]

Originally Posted by Jason

Doesn't have to just be physical damage. Servants can learn Celestial Light as well as anybody else.

Actually, no they can't, at least not most Servants. Human servants can usually only learn Corporeal Songs, with a few exceptions like Saints. Now demonlings, relievers and other supernatural beings, yes ...

The key is that the GM has to be wary about what it's likely for a demonling or a soldier to have learned. If the GM doesn't specifically say "no" (I learned the hard way), it's pretty easy to craft a Servant that acts as an extension of the PC's Song and Skill set. On the surface, it ends up looking much more points-effective to give your PC all the roleplaying-oriented Songs, Skills, and Attunements she needs, and then just buy a bodyguard with Corporeal Shields 6, Dodge 6 (to dodge INTO blows targeting the PC), and Numinous Corpus Tail 6, which my player calculated is the NC song with the greatest damage per turn potential...

Quoted for truth. My view is that a Servant should be created by the GM, not the player -- the player can give broad strokes, but the GM determines the details, including the specific character sheet.

[fwcain]

Originally Posted by Rocket Man

... a Servant should be created by the GM, not the player; the player can give broad strokes, but the GM determines the details, including the specific character sheet.

True, for *any* of my campaigns, regardless of specific game system used. ;-)

[Jason]

Originally Posted by Rocket Man

Actually, no they can't, at least not most Servants. Human servants can usually only learn Corporeal Songs, with a few exceptions like Saints. Now demonlings, relievers and other supernatural beings, yes ...

I did mean demonlings, and they are even cheaper to create than soldiers as servants. As I said, though, I learned the hard way not to let my players pull this kind of thing...

[Azel]

The likely reason why servants can cause a lot of problems to their masters is very simple -- most masters usually have servants that complement their resource set. Essentially more valuable servants bring something new to the table. If not so, the servant would still be useful (everyone can use a gofer), but mostly redundant in more important situations.

So it would likely be a corporeal bodyguard to help a corp-lite celestial, and vice versa. And naturally all PC characters get a look over by the GM before play (including servants, who serve a mixed NPC-PC relationship) . In fact, I do find the optional guideline to restrict any resource to a max 3-4 levels on character creation a good rule of thumb. Anything hitting around 5-6, though not strictly forbidden, should receive considerable more scrutiny. Them human players are crafty! ;)

But human servants and the like are no slouches, if GM'ed creatively. It doesn't even have to be a successful confrontation, either. For the Malakim example, a servant would usually only balk if a) the relationship is so sour the servant hates the Malakim OR b) the request goes too far against their moral code. (Damned servants, or in the process of becoming so, would most likely be already dead long before it could rebel against a Malakim master.)

In situation B a Malakim has little recourse to "enact Heaven's vengeance" upon someone who is being true to their code of honor (especially in the face of death). Oh, they could still kill them, yes. However, you'll have a lot of explaining to do to your Superior if word gets out... and blessed souls are about impossible to silence in Heaven (Pax Dei, baby). They will likely get audience w/ your Superior quite quickly. Malakim going rabid is a concern for Heaven, that's why they are policed/police themselves so strictly...