Tone in Vathak

So I've been running my home game in Vathak. My players were immediately on board when I told them about the gray and gritty world—a place where it's only by stubborn tenacity of humans (and no shortage of guns) that civilization can hold itself together in the face of corruption, plague, and madness. They'd be beacons of good—well, mostly—in a world where goodness is something rare.

But how to best set that tone? How would I show that the One True God might not be a nice guy, but he's still one of the reasons humanity is holding on? How to show that the vindari are aggressive, unpleasant imperial types with a history of violence, and yet their military power is largely directed towards greater (and often incomprehensible) evils?

I created the Trial of Abernath.

Of the servants and saints of the One True God, St. Abernath is perhaps the most traditionally “good.” As the patron of paladins, Abernath is representative of what my players might have expected from the One True God—the sort of deity that actually cares about good, rather than simply order and survival.

My players walked into a town mid-execution, where an elderly man was to be put to the sword. The PCs, of course, jumped at this. Why execute an old man? Of what did the man stand accused? Where was the justice in killing a potential innocent? Why was there no trial for the man? And why was it such a public spectacle?

“In these dark hours, corruption festers in every corner,” the faithful replied. “Should we endanger the entire community for one man that fails to defend himself?”

I imagine the OTG doesn't care much for particulars, and neither do his faithful. One stood accused of a terrible crime without a witness to claim otherwise. Only those that invoke Abernath's name—and his Trial—could forestall the executioner's axe. His trial invoked a 72 hour grace period, where the Justiciars of Abernath (the PCs) would have free reign to prove the man's undeniable innocence before the OTG himself.

Immediately my players grew wary (and rightfully so). They thought that if the trial failed, the would join the accused in his punishment. “Nonsense,” the faithful said, “Where would be Abernath's justice in that?” But lawful good is not lawful nice.

If the trial failed (like most that did not involve PCs might), they would become the executioners. They would be the ones to swing the sword—or, in this case, to cast the first torch upon the pyre. The Trial would end with cleansing forgiveness, no matter how messy that might be. The players were less than excited by this development.

Unsurprisingly, the PCs cleared the accused's name and saved the day in a relatively short and simple adventure. But I'd introduced the zeal of the faithful and the questionable morality of the OTG. The players got to feel like heroes by successfully completing the Trial of Abernath, but faced the potential of carrying the grim weight of “justice” in a world where justice is not always just.

And that, I think, was a good introduction to Vathak.