Our latest PS campaign is now underway and since we have a whole bucketful of Clueless with us (both characters and players), so I’ve been trying to explain and draw up a Code of The Planewalker – a rough code of honour and behaviour for canny adventurers. I’ve tried not to create something that relies on a particular alignment or Faction belief, although obviously it dovetails better with some than with others!
In my opinion, it takes a special kind of person to be a true planar adventurer (as opposed to just a mercenary), and even people with radically different race, alignment, and philosophy would have a lot in common, regardless of their morals or allegiance. Many adventurers will also cross paths with the same contacts many times over the years; sometimes working alongside them, sometimes against. It makes sense that such folks might look to build a better working relationship with each other, if only unofficially.
I don’t think that the ‘Planewalker’s Code’ exists in any charter or statute at the Planewalker’s Guild, but members would probably know it well enough to debate the nuances endlessly over a few pints of ale, and a Guvnor might well speak of the “axioms of canny adventuring” as well.
I was wandering if anyone else can think of anything? Just remember that in theory it is has to be acceptable to both LG and CE adventurers…
The Planewalker Greeting
The guild has adopted a traditional monkish hand gesture as a universal greeting: A closed fist held out, then covered by an open hand. Minor variations of this are used by countless martial arts schools across the Prime and Planes, and it is often recognised by creatures which have no common language or culture references. It indicates a willingness to fight, but also that the bearer comes in peace.
Respect Your Fellows
There are fanatics in every corner of the Planes, but what I’m talking about is the same civility that allows Celestials and Fiends to meet peacefully in Sigil, although the reasoning behind it is different: I work for a Faction or a faith or Patron and so do you – today we’re opposed but tomorrow we could be allies against a threat to us both. Kill him if you must, but respect even your opposite numbers in the Kreigstantz. He’s just you taken from a different viewpoint. And hey, sometimes it’s just about loot, right?
I see the situation as being analogous to the legendary/fictional reputation of Cold War spies – they’re agents serving different masters (in this case philosophical viewpoints – patron, alignment, Faction, deity, etc) but they have more in common with each other than with their respective folks back home.
A Body In Need Is A Free Ally
Even a blood can get hipped, and every planewalker finds himself dumped in a bad place unprepared from time to time. If a Planewalker approaches a fellow cutter in genuine need of help getting out of a bad place (the definition of ‘bad’ varies by race, class, and alignment…), then they should be helped no questions asked – because next time it could be you stuck in Avernus with nothing but your bathrobe. Of course, a body’s got to pay for such help one way or another – at minimum they’re expected to not torque off their helpers and to fight alongside their new party on whatever quest they’re about.
In our PS group, we use this in-character rule to justify the acceptance of new PCs to the group in mid-adventure.
Of course this only applies to fellow planewalkers who know the score and are prepared to make a deal. Fanatics and ignorant locals don’t have to be helped, and a knight of the post who tries to take his rescuers for a ride can expect to be written in the dead book.
Captives Can Make Deals
This is really an extension of the first two rules. We all have causes we’d die for and causes that we won’t. In the latter case, it’s acceptable to surrender to a fellow Planewalker with the reasonable certainty that you won’t be executed out of hand. Mostly it’s just a job, after all.
But a body has to earn his freedom by lanning his captors to as much as he can honourably tell, or paying them off some other way. Now any gear may be forfeit and they may get trussed up or bundled through the nearest portal, but that’s a lot better than the Dead Book, eh?
Well known lawful/honourable cutters sometimes offer a ransom to be delivered later instead, commensurate to the prisoner’s wealth and status (in the medieval knightly tradition).
Repute Is As Useful As Gold
Among planewalkers, reputation can buy more than gold pieces: Trustworthy cutters get all the best jobs and the better rewards. Trust isn’t about being 'good' or 'bad' - it’s about finishing what you start and not turning stag without a damn good reason. Stick to your deals (even if it’s just to the letter, not the spirit) or at least make sure the other guy understands that there aint no deal. This holds true even if your the blackest fiend in Nessus: After all, you want the reputation that when Demogorgon needs a job doing, she comes straight to you, right?
Chances are a patron will base their future view of all planewalkers on your actions, so make sure you’re a good advert for us all. There’s more work, jink, and respect for us all that way.
That seems a good start. I'd probably add a few things to the list.
Do a Job Right, If You Agree to Do It
This is largely an extension of the previous point; a successful 'walker should not just do a job following the letter of the law... he goes beyond to finish it, if he is not philosophically opposed or strapped by resources. For example, if a cutter is paid to dismantle a faction's operation, and he does so, but finds out that in reality it was part of a greater operation, he takes down the bigger one. After all, finishing a job partway is not finishing it at all.