Must kill flaming fist mercenaries
IkMarc
Member Posts: 552
I just can't help it. I meet them wandering the maps, they inquire me about something in an authoritarian and offending manner and then I just get pissed off and offend them back. Even with a good party I end up getting into a brawl, killing them and losing reputation (even when we are in the freaking middle of nowhere). It's like they are begging for it.
"I serve the flaming fist" you are an idiot, mind your own business goddammit........................... BAM
Does anyone share this with me?
"I serve the flaming fist" you are an idiot, mind your own business goddammit........................... BAM
Does anyone share this with me?
8
Comments
you can use 1 char to lure them away with speed boots. Or you can lure them away with your thief and then pop hide in shadows when you run around a corner to enter a building.
Or the ones just found on the map you just state ur adventures and they walk off lol
On the other hand, I think that a "Goodly" party would be less likely to attack unless they were attacked first. And I think that they would go to extreme lengths to avoid provoking the mercs regardless of how high handed they were.
When playing the game recently with my 'Goodly' aligned party at the point where you get arrested, I took the stance that I would let them take me in and plead my case. I imagine that doing otherwise would be 'Evil'. (role playing and not in any way saying that all Goodly parties would act that way. Merely that I did).
You're right, they are mercenaries, but they are mercenaries being paid by the state to enforce the laws and security of the region. If you have a problem with that, you should either leave the country or take your grievance to the dukes.
Put simply they are the analogous to the army versus the police. The Army stops foreign aggression. the police solve domestic crimes.
And in any case, corruption happens. Being 'in the employ of the Dukes' doesn't mean that they are given absolute authority. If the cross the line, they are just as accountable as any private citizen.
Medieval era adventurer's reasoning option two: "Hmm duke Eltan's mercenaries of law are astonishingly rude to me. I will respond to their behavior submissively because they have state-sponsored authority... and stuff. Later I will personally request from the dukes to get their servants in line.... Because they will definitely listen to me: a nobody adventurer."
Medieval era adventurer's reasoning option three: "I am walking in the wilderness with my party, an armored guy comes by all alone, starts threatening me and asking offensive questions. He keeps getting more aggressive and then attacks me. What an idiot............ BAM. Now back to finding food, a place to rest and figuring out why half the realm wants me dead."
What makes more sense to you?
Needless to say, they will rub cottage cheese on their bellies and eat vast quantities of fresh-water fish every time when they'll discuss the real important political matters of the Sword Coast. I'll also see to it that the Flaming Fist mercenaries will be replaced with the prestige and highly effective Asleep Foot militia. They are the best of the best.
Anyway, my point was that the sentiments expressed in the OP were petulant and childish. Killing a man for doing his job and not kissing your ass is lunacy. He's being paid to kick bandits in the teeth, not suck up to your Level 1 Orphan. The correct answer: Try to not throw a huge tantrum for no reason and, instead of killing an innocent man who is doing his job, just leave. You said it yourself, you're a level 1 adventurer, so why should a Flaming Fist mercenary respect you any more than the Dukes?
As for shouting "I AM THE LAW", does it then follow that all men are scum? Shar-Teel says that quite often. Does that automatically make it true?
Now, I share you sentiments that for a 'Goodly' party, killing the Flaming Fist probably wouldn't be their first choice. However, I do see many situations where a Neutral party might easily find reason to kill the Fist. Take for instance the matter of Viconia. She is being persecuted by a Flaming Fist officer for apparently no other reason than the color of her skin. he claims that she is a criminal, but can offer no proof or evidence of that. It would appear that he is a bigot plain and simple. Given the choice between killing a potential innocent before she has the opportunity to prove (or disprove) her innocence and killing someone who appears to want to kill her for walking around while Drow, I know who I would side with.
The Flaming Fist Mercenary Company serve as the city guard. Granted, they aren't officially recognized as the police until after the events of the Baldur's Gate games, but they still serve that role in the games. The Fists attempt to arrest CHARNAME whenever they get on the wrong side of the law. They are, for all intents and purposes, the police. Not the same circumstance. The Flaming Fist officer harassing Viconia is clearly in the wrong. At most, he should detain her, not outright hunt her down and kill her. OP is talking about slaughtering peace officers for asking routine questions at a road block.
"The Flaming Fist aren't mercenaries, they're this city's police force." --Scar
As stated before by other players :
He is in charge of law enforcement.
He is doing his job to ensure that roads are free of bandits.
He is questioning you (as he is legally entitled to) since you are unknown travelers to him.
He is not nice because in "medieval settings" people were dangerous and distrustful.
=> I guess you'll shoot IRL the next policeman that dare ask you for your driving license then ...
Also, that link merely indicates that they are the city guard. NOT peace officers. Not cops. But Mercenaries that serve as the city guard. I see nothing to disabuse me of the notion that they are jumped up army soldiers. NOT police.
Does anyone think the "proper response" would be to accept their fate and die at the hands of "the LAW" and leave it up to their heirs to clear their good name and sue the pants off the local gov't rather than resist?
I mean, they are outgunned (lol) and outnumbered, yet they storm you like a berserker if you don't immediately bow down to their questioning under threat.
=> uhm great comparison
I agree that they have the right to question me.
If I'm playing an evil party chances are they won't live long after insulting me.
If I'm playing neutral then I usually insult them back. The game was designed so that getting arrested means end of game. If you insult them they either arrest you or attack you so it ends in a violent death (their death). Had there been an option where I could pay a reasonable fine (50 or 100 gp) then this would probably be my choice.
If I'm playing good then it depends. Some of my party's would respond with friendliness and it ends in the guard walking away. Other times my party wont put up with being insulted and why should they? As long as I answer their questions they have no right to be so insulting me and at worst they should arrest me but alas that means end of game. If they draw blades then I have every right to defend myself.
I know Baldur's Gate is set in a medieval setting but that shouldn't mean that these guards should treat me like dirt. For all they know I could be a noble! In this day and age if the cops are being rude and I am rude to them then they can certainly arrest me but good luck in court! If a cop tries to kill you for being rude to him then you have every right to defend your life and should that result in the accidental death of said cop then you'd still be in the clear.
Personally though in real life I've had 5 encounters with cops.
One where I got questioned at home about whether I'd seen anything when a fire erupted in my building. That cop was very polite.
One where I got searched for weapons and they were very polite and respectful about it.
One where I was mistaken for a member of a gang of bikers (which was extremely silly considering I look nothing like those guys and I don't own a bike and I was in a car in full work uniform with two other guys wearing the same type of uniforms. One of the cops was very rude and questioned me on the street about it and because he was so rude I was rude to him in my answers. (Not on the personal level though). And the other cop quickly ended the situation in a respectful manner. But had the other one wanted to arrest me I would have gladly come and I would have gone all the way to the court and I would have complained about that particular cops behavior.
I also had one where I was asked to give my criminal record to a company that was hiring me. Where I'm from you get that from the police office. And while getting it the cop just said "all that paper and not a damn thing on it"... I smiled and said in a jokingly manner: "That is just because you haven't caught me yet!". That actually pissed him off.... Wauw. But all he did was look at me harshly.
Generally speaking I think the cops in Denmark are very polite as long as you don't piss them off.