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A "Dread Pirate Roberts" situation.

If you don't happen to be privy to story in The Princess Bride, here is the part I am referring too [spoilers]:

In the story, it is revealed that a ruthless, mythical pirate known as "The Dread Pirate Roberts" is not a single man, but a series of men. The title is passed down from one to the next, and thus he never dies and never seems to age giving him his mythical status.

We all know the importance of names and naming in Earthdawn. I understand there are actual immortals within this world too, but it seems that this type of immortality would fit right in as well.

I just thought it might be fun to think about. Not sure how I would make it work mechanically or if I would even need to.

Have any of you implemented something like this in a campaign? Would you? How far would you take it mechanically?

I'm not sure what I'll do with this idea in my games, if anything, but I really like it. I agree, with the importance of names it feels like a natural fit for Earthdawn.

Just noodling off the top of my head, maybe something like a lahala with each new "Roberts" gaining access to the knowledge of their predecessors, or to differentiate between this and the T'skrang, perhaps taking on the name through some ritual transfers existing threads that have been tied to the "Roberts" pattern ? I could see the concept working well for something like the "Last True King of Landis" or some such, where the a line of succession is maintained not by direct descent but through pattern magic which binds the ruler to the True Pattern of the land and the symbols of state (orb and scepter or sword of state or similar type of thread items significant to the culture).

I would probably model it as a kind of hybrid group pattern/thread item. Whoever holds the title currently can weave threads as if to a group pattern, but with bonuses appropriate to the legends and tales associated with the title. A token or other magical widget/maguffin might be needed (though at that point, you might just make it a high-powered standard thread item -- unless you specifically want to allow the flexibility represented in group pattern magic).

Mataxes wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 04, 2020 1:30 am

I would probably model it as a kind of hybrid group pattern/thread item. Whoever holds the title currently can weave threads as if to a group pattern, but with bonuses appropriate to the legends and tales associated with the title. A token or other magical widget/maguffin might be needed (though at that point, you might just make it a high-powered standard thread item -- unless you specifically want to allow the flexibility represented in group pattern magic).

well if the name gains a true pattern, it could have pattern items. you could then obtain a pattern item (for the dread pirate roberts example, possibly a coin from the first treasure the original took, or the original ship's flag turned into an article of clothing, etc), weave a thread to the pattern, and "...boost one or more of his own abilities when interacting with the subject of the True Pattern."

so they'd actually only have the abilities of the dread pirate roberts when they're actively *being* the dread pirate roberts. and as the legend grows, the pattern items could potentially grow stronger. and i'm not sure, but it looks like there's no limitation on the number of threads you could potentially weave, so long as you have multiple pattern items, although it's possible that was just an oversight (i mean, if you're already drawing power from a pattern, can you draw power from it again? maybe, i guess... after all, someone else could also draw power from it)

but even if only one thread to a given pattern per person is possible, that still means that you could empower the lieutenants of that person. or you could have people arguing over who is the "real" dread pirate roberts, with different people having inherited different pattern items. they could even use that to their advantage, like if the dread pirate roberts was in iopos in the morning and somehow made an appearance in bartertown that afternoon the legend might grow =D

i think it's a bit of a stretch of the existing rules for weaving threads to a true pattern, but it could work

Awesome.

I have no idea when/how/if i would use this in a game but thank you for the feedback, it definitely gives me something to think about.

If anyone runs with this, I hope you post how it was used.

I just stumbled into this discussion while looking for something else. But, it's what you describe essentially what happens with the Shivahala for the T'skrang houses?

Scherme wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 03, 2020 3:09 pm

A "Dread Pirate Roberts" situation.

I don't know that its quite the same thing, but the deeds attributed to the legendary hero Naaman Y'ross are not the deeds of on person but twin brothers that went their own separate ways.

WednesdayBryan wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 05, 2020 5:19 pm

I just stumbled into this discussion while looking for something else. But, it's what you describe essentially what happens with the Shivahala for the T'skrang houses?

Maybe. They are notoriously tight-lipped about the situation.