What is the appropriate response to a village that every so often sacrifices one of its own to a legitimate...

What is the appropriate response to a village that every so often sacrifices one of its own to a legitimate, real monster thing that in turn bolsters their harvests?

Should you even intercede in this?

how often? And they do actually give benefits, not just "I won't cause a drought and kill you all"
Honestly, I think that might be the dealbreaker.

Kill the monster.

What kind of villager are they sacrificing?

>smoking hot loli
We gotta fix this
>attractive woman
We might fix this
>brave young dude/dudette what volunteers himself for the good of the village
We can look into it
>old ass man/woman what lived a good life and wants to help the village one last time
That's pretty cool

You get the monster drunk and feed him a scarecrow stuffed with cooked meat.

The instant a sacrifice becomes utterly unwilling, or when/if it becomes clear the sacrifice is being misled in some form or function.

Sacrifice is a choice. The instant it becomes a demand is when tyranny reigns.

I think it would depend on your character right?
Like, what if you're some kind of character who believes that dying isn't necessarily a bad thing by itself, if there is equal trade.

I imagine the monster is doing the demanding. Like if the town is in a desolate area and they can only exist because of this arrangement.

TN

LG

CN

CG

LN

I feel like you're judging me for TN.
But be real. If a forest god or whatever demands a single human sacrifice once a century, and in return grants a boon of protection and bounty? No one would look at it twice if they phrased it as "I need a new vessel, so someone's getting possessed" despite being functionally identical events.

like, 100 virgins a year or something? yeah, hard to imagine a benefit that could outweigh that cost, but gods and forest spirits are not to be trifled with, show some respect. If they make a fair costing and keep their word, who are outsiders to judge the village for making the appropriate sacrifice?

I could see 100 virgins a year if the harvest aura covers like, an entire damn country.

>I feel like you're judging me for TN.

Nah, nothing's wrong with true neutral.

I actually like all the alignments, get at me.

Fearful Neutral

Nah, that actually makes sense...

> village must sacrifice
> party wants village gone
> party interferes with sacrifice

yes, they should intercede.

The urge to intercede is tempting, as the party all come from cultures which frown on human sacrifice in general.

The questions are:

>Is the monster evil?
>Are the villagers somehow evil?
>Would allowing it to go on be an evil act?
>Would stopping it be an evil act?
>Is there a way to settle this diplomatically?
>How powerful is the monster?
>How common and/or legal are these practices within the region/country/municipality?

What sort of monster? If it only takes what's offered, then leave it be. If it's a menace even to those not being sacrificed, then it should be dealt with. Not necessarily killed, but curtailed.

Probably
Eh, neutralish
Debatable
Debatable
Well, you could stop doing the sacrifice, which would dry up the harvest
I don't actually know, it's got less combat oriented powers so it is hard to quantify
???

Kill the monster, take it's place.

>???
I want to know if these villagers are doing this legally, or against the decree of their liege.

yeah, but I dunno

>m-m-muh liege

get a load of this slave fuck toy

Why does it need a sacrifice, would a different kind of tribute not work?

>bolsters their harvests
Nah that's some weak shit. Phrase it more strongly next time OP, I'm interceding.

>harvest bolstering is weak shit
The fuck did you just say to me?

>being an anarchist cur
>in Feudalist Fantasy Setting #MMXVII

The villagers tell you that the lord was informed when the monster moved in in ages past. They seem unaware that the lord in question, and indeed his entire bloodline, died out years ago.

Kill the monster but don't tell anyone and take up residence in the cave, selling the sacrificed people into slavery.

They must be informed immediately! Who knows what kinds of unwitting infractions against the new management have been committed? If word of this incident gets out, the new lord's soldiers might be raiding this village in a matter of weeks!

Assuming there IS a new lord.

Is the additional food necessary for the village to survive, or does it merely improve their quality of life.

Hard to say. They're enjoying a super fucking lush ecology, that seems to get more harsh as you get away from village proximity.

Really, it depends more on how hard times around the village are, as drought cycles are natural in areas without sacrifice based ecologies.

depends on my character :^)

The villagers are confused, rapidly moving towards angry. Apparently someone's still been collecting taxes in the old lord's name, and the burden thereof drove them to the sacrifice arrangement.

>implying feudalism
Most people running DnD games don't even understand how feudalism fucking works they just have someone with a fancy hat and all this boring governmental shit is consigned to the far background.

A friend of mine ran something similar.
After some consideration, the party took this approach.

LE

alright we still need NE, CE, and NG. step up.

>CN

I'll take it

To be fair, that's how a bunch of the nobility wished it worked.

shit they're onto me

Well, NOW we have to find whoever this extortionist is and deal with them - and quickly, before they escape justice.

Then they must be loaded. Why don't they buy slaves from elsewhere to appease the beast?

If there's no slavery then why don't they use the bountiful riches of said super fucking lush ecology to support an army to raid for captives to appease the beast?

Any of the numerous reasons why a group in a time of plenty would become peaceful as opposed to warlike, and the moral beliefs that flow from that?

Oh please how complicated could it be. There's the monarch with the divine right to rule who doles out fiefs to nobles to manage and fight on his behalf, these nobles in turn dole out smaller fiefs to knights, and the noble are always fighting each other secretly for more power.

>NE
I approach the monster and try to negotiate a deal in exchange for some of my slaves.

>CE
Kill the sacrifice myself and eat their beating heart. Noone claims the blood of life but me!

>NG
Introduces improved farming practices to reduce the need for sacrifice.

So buy slaves peacefully.

Depends on the setting tone
>Noblebright
We protect the sacrifice and save the village, of course.
>Nobledark
We discuss with the villagers how the long-term cost of the monster's defeat compares with the loss of life and decide whether to and if so how to fight accordingly.
>Grimbright
Probably cut a deal with the monster to trade the sacrifice for one of our henchmen and take the sacrifice as a sex slave/servant.
>Grimdark
When it comes to the gods, you're either charismatic enough to negotiate with them, powerful enough to fight them, or you put up and shut up or die.
We measure the reward against the cost and probably the leader takes the sacrifice and forces himself on her anyways.

Because the beast is the source of their prosperity? The beast makes the fucking crops grow.

It's like you don't even read.

Also the beast needs homegrown sacrifices, outsiders won't do.

>start sacrificing slaves
>harvests die off
>meanwhile, the hometown of some slave somewhere has a bumper crop

I would not be surprised for one moment if this is how it worked.

So why does it need sacrifices, and from this one village anyways?

Facilitate the sacrifices. This way, I can learn more about the monster, and possibly gain some blessings from it as well, and the village doesn't have to feel like the blood is on their hands.

>forcing yourself on the sacrificial maiden
Oh jesus this is such a bad idea on general principle

probably something like The sacrifice becomes the nourishment which supports the land. It has been raised and nourished by this land, and it gives it's life back to the land.

So it could be like a cow or something?

Clearly we must bring civilization to this barbaric tribe by slaying the monster and its attendant priesthood, then install a system that will ensure the monster and its supporters are forgotten. Of course, if they refuse our offer, then the barbarians must be eliminated for the sake of regional security.

I wonder if you get a curse for rules lawyering magical creatures

Because they’re close by?...

If I was a magical creature granting boons I would totally peace out and let your stupid ass fucking town die.

Fucking rules lawyers, not even once.

Fine, leave and have nothing.

You were asking an awful lot mister magical creature.

depends on the magical creature. Some literally just want the exact thing they said, so if you find a loophole it sustains them just as they wanted anyway, good for you.
Others the situation is cheating them, and both you and they know it. So just because they hold up their end of the bargain because they have to, they can also reward you with plenty of other, less pleasant things for your "creativity"

The monster is a plant-like monstrosity born of the dark corruption that took hold in this realm after Hell invaded. It controls the plants in this area. It can subsist off of ordinary fertilizer temporarily, but the main flower in charge of the land is born of the soul of the sacrifice and has his/her lifespan accordingly. If the flower dies, the crops die. Forever.
Basically, the sacrifice turns into the flower and becomes a monstrosity, but he/she only lasts so long. He/she also protects the land, but the sacrifice's mind is slowly twisted into an inhuman monstrosity who grows less and less sympathetic to the plights of the commoners. When the flower grows consumed with hunger, a new sacrifice must be given to restart the cycle. The former holder's soul passes on/is destroyed/whatever.
For some reason, leaving is not an option. Maybe everything else is worse. Maybe the people view this as a sort of ancestor worship and hide it from commoners.
Damn, I want to include this as the secret of some village in one of my games.

> Like if the town is in a desolate area and they can only exist because of this arrangement.

Isn't that more of a transaction though?
Like, if they're living in a desolate, barren, harsh environment and for the cost of a single virgin they get guaranteed bounty, fertility, etc.. That doesn't seem like such a 'bad' deal?

Especially if you can just give it babies.
Dude, people have babies die from arbitrary shit all the TIME: mumps, bugs, born with no butthole, mom doesn't want it, your baby can even die just for no reason- it's called crib death. I'd imagine giving a baby or two to some monster for something in exchange wouldn't be so bad.

ITT:

>monster gets a baby
>I CAN'T FUCK THIS
>er, I mean, this is an unsuitable sacrifice, please get a different one

I hold no authority here, but I would laugh.

>*hide it from others
Whatever. I'd totally use this if my players didn't think I was fucking mental as I am.
I've got a history of including stuff that's not grimdark fucked up, but more like "uh do you have issues or something". Because I think emotional torque is great and apparently CERTAIN people I know are babies who can't handle NPCs getting killed in the course of adventuring. Not even all of them, just every so often/casualties of war.

>monster insists on hot sacrifices
>10 generations later
>village is entirely made up of uggos because of evolutionary pressures
>village elder and/or monster begin hiring adventurers to try to get more hotties to move into the village and have kids so hot maidens can exist again

Shit I forgot they released Okami for pc

you're welcome.

FUCK YOU I ONLY WANTED A LOLI EVERY DECADE YOU UNGRATEFUL FUCK.

>Grimbright
Probably cut a deal with the monster to trade the sacrifice for one of our henchmen and take the sacrifice as a sex slave/servant.

That sounds just like gensokyo to me

>a loli every decade
Jesus fuck greedy yokai.
Can't you just have one waifu for laifu like the rest of us?
Uh not that I'm a monster or anything. Though if you do happen to have some pure waifus I would definitely like them to be sent to the cave next to the cliff

The cobras would burn as well you stupid bitch

PAGAN SAVAGERY
This must be dealt with!

>peasants driving hard deals
>youkai trying to outcompete each other
>human sacrifice errywhere
magic is harder than I thought!

>The sacrifice is not eaten, merely kept as a pet/servant by the monster to dress up in adorable maid/butler costumes and serve tea to monster friends
Not sure if magical realm.

Well, we gotta ask ourselves here, who profits? All I'm gonna say is, if I was a monster who wanted more money and virgin sacrifices, the current arrangement would be a pretty sweet deal.

It's what I'd pull.

sounds like a good use for death row inmates.

Cut a deal with the state. help empty death row and save the taxpayers some money while also keeping the monster sated and boosting agricultural output.

>CN
you mean NG

Most times these human sacrifice things are just a ritualized death penalty.

Laugh at it.

>False King! You are afraid of death and so have defrauded your village! Know that no springtime truly comes until the old king is sacrificed and the world is recreated anew! Know my grounds to challenge you! For long ago I was a peasant serf to a cruel lord who ran away for adventure and now I bring you a torch of alder, the golden bough, that holds the seed of thunder and the light of the skyfather! Face me in single combat and prepare yourself to meet Geryont!

Hey, harvests isn't too bad as far as sacrifices go.
Where it gets real weird is when you have to sacrifice your best swordsmen to the guardian spirit of your village otherwise he'll weaken.

and by 'sacrifice' I mean they have to fight it.

>ayo, village, are you cool with that deal?

And then the village split into two factions each shouting at you to either to kill the thing or to get the fuck out

>DIPLOMACY HAS FAILED WHAT DO

...

>loli
>any flavor of Good

always press the button.

This is a really neat question and I'd need to know more details to know whether say, an assumed Good PC of mine would intervene. Stuff I'd wonder:

1) Is it every harvest (in which case it's more of a threat: you will have bad harvests if you don't, than a boon)?
2) How often is there a sacrifice?
3) Who chooses (or volunteers) for the sacrifice?
4) How do they choose (or volunteer)?
5) What is the entity like? What is its PoV as it can be understood?
6) How much of an effect does this have on the harvests?
7) Does the entity need to have the sacrifice to do this, or to survive?

>monster uses 90% of sacrifices for fertility
>skims 10% off the top for monster reasons

I'm probably OK with that? I'm mainly interested in the extent to which it's a choice, to which both parties understand that, how sustainable it is long-term, how moral both parties are, is the choice made the individual, etc, etc.

If the monster just wants to eat that's OK if a bunch of other conditions are met.

What if it's a monster that, for whatever bizarre anatomical/magical reason, requires the flesh of people to continue living, and is just trying to get necessary nutrition in the least shitty way it can think of?

I mean that's better than just wanting to eat but I've still got to be sure this is a fair deal and isn't being abused by either party.

It's all very well if the villager says they're willing but actually the village chiefs only choose sacrifices from the poorest families and/or the sacrifices have no conception of what they *could* choose to be if they didn't want to sacrifice themselves.

My current character is the cleric of a death god and I guess I'm thinking from their PoV but I ended up thinking more of this as a transaction than I intended to.

If it really works I let them do it. Preventing bad harvests might save more lives from starvation than one maiden per year. It's their trolley problem to lose sleep over.

Let's scale this up. Now there's an empire that sacrifices thousands of war prisoners on a regular basis to a legitimate, real sun god that in turn prevents the moon and stars from attacking and eating the world.

Does your party's answer change?

Praise Zarus!

Better them than me.
I mean, we probably want to fight the ever-hungering stars at this point.

Tenochtitlan delenda est

Usually how these threads work is that you put yourself into the mindset of your character and answer that way.

>they just have someone with a fancy hat and all this boring governmental shit is consigned to the far background.

That is literally how government power works.

Of course I intercede. Be it for the harvest or for safety, Sacrificing people is wrong no matter what.

... And then the rest of my party decides that they're bored being heroes and try to work a deal with the monster, and probably give it one of our magical items or heal it.

>t. Tlaxcala

Portray the ritual as an abomination, rally the people against it. Get legal permission to burn the town to the ground, then do it. Stops them from deciding to sacrifice you instead ontop of making you look like heroes.

That's basically CK2's entire premise.

Start to bolster their harvests even more, but demand monsters as sacrifice.