Post by Wids on Apr 25, 2018 16:52:22 GMT -5
So the Scarlet Mummers are the Church of Lliira's one entire militant order (if anything in the Church of Lliira can be called "order") formed to defend Lliira's own, confront Loviatar's own (and remove them from the board when possible) and, apparently, to promote and defend the cause of joy, laughter and amusement in general. They're kind of like the Church of Ilmater's Companions of the Noble Heart: They willfully sully themselves with all the fighting and killing and enemy-smiting so that their peace-loving brethren don't have to. Unlike the Companions of the Noble Heart, the Scarlet Mummers prefer subterfuge and deceit in their tactics and executions, leaping from ambush or striking from innocuous facades before slipping away and disappearing.
(It should be noted that the Mummers and the Companions also share a grudge against Loviatar and her sadistic Church. Oh, that dastardly Loviatar, always stirring the pot....)
Ed Greenwood, being the one who came up with Scarlet Mummers in the first place, has this to say about them: archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rl/20061115a
So one day, I decided to try my hand at playing a Scarlet Mummer as a character. Enter, Zedorya Flamedance. She's not quite there yet, but she's already on the way. Devotion to Lliira, Goddess of Joy? Check. Nimble? She's a Dex/Cha build; check. Deceptive? Her Bluff is strong; check. Acrobatic? So is her Tumble; check. Entertainer? She's a Bard; of course she's an entertainer! Check. As a bonus, Bards on this server can conjure single red roses (via the Emote settings), which Scarlet Mummers use as both calls to action and calling cards at the site of each execution or assassination they carry out. So there's that.
It's also nice that Scarlet Mummers don't have any official uniform or color theme, despite their name; they're simply named that because that's how they first appeared when they paid the Church of Loviatar back for assassinating their High Revelmistress by ambushing a bunch of Loviatan clergy outside their own temple: scarlet-garbed actors. And that's good, because Zedorya is something of a singing, dancing clown and she dresses herself in loud colors; hence, a high Move Silently (because she can shut up and sneak around when she wants to) coupled with a not-so-stellar Hide.
But between here (regular swashbuckling Bard) and there (Scarlet Mummer), I can see a few issues that need to be ironed out first:
• As Lliira is said to interact closely with her Mummers, Zedorya obviously needs to take a divine Class or Prestige Class at some point. But the Cleric class is too focused on spells (and not focused enough on the tumbling and fighting on which Mummers rely), and creating a Bard/Paladin is problematic because of Alignment requisites. So the Divine Champion (formerly Champion of Torm) Prestige Class seems to be the only suitable answer to this poser. But....
• The Divine Champion class has Weapon Focus in any melee weapon as a requisite. Mummers are said to attack with bladed boots, which suggests unarmed strikes. But Unarmed Strike doesn't count as a melee weapon, and so Weapon Focus: Unarmed Strike is not a suitable requisite for the Divine Champion class. (See here: nwn.wikia.com/wiki/Talk:Champion_of_Torm#Unarmed ) Should Zedorya take Weapon Focus in a melee weapon (just to satisfy the requisite) and focus on unarmed fighting, or could the Mummers' weaponized boots be considered small blades — albeit blades which they wield with their feet instead of their hands — and therefore, Zedorya should take Weapon Focus in daggers, short swords, sickles, kukris and/or kamas and wield those as normal?
What are your thoughts on these ideas, Casual Reader?
