Angela Deth - Disgraced Ranger

[Gurggulk]

The quest to find Ace's journal has you in a bar where you meet Samuel the trader. After going through the dialog the journal is handed over. All is cool. Except its not.

Thats when Angela Deth has a PMS response and kills Samuel for watching Ace die. Well, imho it was murder. He did fight was a coward and lied. Nothing to merit cold-blooded murder.

Saved the game, grabbed a beer and thought about what to do about this turn of events.

If it was possible i'd disarm her and place her under arrest. Take her back to the Ranger Citadel to stand trial. But that can't happen. I can dismiss her and she will just hang around in game reminding me of her dishonor.

So this is my solution.

I'll throw a little curve ball into the story. Keep Angela Deth in party. Just never heal or level her. This way she can die an honorable death, weapon in hand. This will happen while returning to the Ranger Citadel. Who knows how long she can last before the end comes. But her legacy in my game though stained with blood will allow a story to be told of her sacrifice in the name of the Rangers.

What do you think?
Anyone else have second thoughts about her after this incident?

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=488711609

[Kalsu]

I think people in a post-apocalyptic world would have different moral compass then us :P

[NoiT]

yeah i felt the same way like you, but her choice remember we are just recruits. she is not.. better watch ur toes around her ;)

[udav]

Originally posted by Gurggulk:

Thats when Angela Deth has a PMS response and kills Samuel for watching Ace die. Well, imho it was murder. He did fight was a coward and lied. Nothing to merit cold-blooded murder.

Is it surprise you that no one likes traitors or cowards? :) Esp. in wilderness where you'll depend on each other.

Originally posted by Gurggulk:

If it was possible i'd disarm her and place her under arrest. Take her back to the Ranger Citadel to stand trial. But that can't happen. I can dismiss her and she will just hang around in game reminding me of her dishonor.

How about load the save, exclude her from party, ger journal, include her back? No one dies, all happy. Since you have a power to rewind time and make thing right. But you want play bloodlast god right? ;)

Originally posted by Gurggulk:

Keep Angela Deth in party. Just never heal or level her. This way she can die an honorable death, weapon in hand.

What do you think?

I (personally) think that's murder as well. You just prefer that somebody do it for you so you can stay saint. It's like burry men alive in the closed room without food and water - he dies but you tell it's hunger kill him, not you. :D

[Jean-Luc]

Yeah, Angie definitely had a "moment" there. I attributed it to the harshness of the world those characters live in as well as Angela's grief of course but she definitely goes a bit far.

It's interesting to consider what kinds of role-playing situations might emerge from that event.

[Gurggulk]

In the wasteland many stories are created and lost to time. This is one of them.

<voices>
<where are they coming from>
<what is wrong with me>
<got to hold it together>
<Ace help me!>

as the room spins and contracts, suddenly it stops. the world a snapshot of violence.
reality assaults like a cyborg honey badger.

"ang... Angel... Angela... ANGELA!"

"CAN YOU HEAR ME ANGELA?"

Is that you Ace?
Who am i? This is was Angela Deth Ranger and friend of the people.
Where did this blood come from? Covering my hands pooling at my feet.
Why is my hand so heavy? Ace's Wrench stained with brain matter and bits of bone hair.
Did I do this? What caused me to act this way? I am a Ranger. Protector of the people. A wasteland guardian. My oath is my life. Now broken like the man at my feet.
<senses slowly coming back>

voices


Rose, "She's coming around. Looks like Snake Squeezins are good for what ails ya."

Ralphy, "I'm glad she's getting better. But now i'm kinda scared of her."

Festus, "Angela's had a hard life. Her time with us wasn't the best. That was with Ace. We need to remember that. She's like thunder after lightnin."

D. Adams, "Its a wonder she held it together for as long as she did. Lets take her back to the ranger citadel for a needed rest."

Newly, "The good she did far outweighs this isolated injustice. No need to call Delta Team. Lets vow never to talk of this with anyone outside our team."

M. Dillon, "We can meet with General Vargas. Tell him the story. Leave him to judge. He has that responsiblity. We still need to earn our ranger star to many wastelanders out there."


Angela, "Damn you Rangers!" Tears stream from her bloodshot eyes. "The mission must be completed!" Looking each Ranger in the eye. "I must finish this for ACE. I'm not begging. I'm asking, ranger to ranger."


Each member of the team looks at each other and nods silently. Filing out the door one by one into the wasteland.
A trail of blood in their wake.

[Kalsu]

You coward stood by and watched instead of helping? How many more people are you goin to "leave to the wolves" to save your own skin? Sorry weakling , you don't deserve to live? Shic Shik! BANG!

[Gurggulk]

The wasteland is not the only place for crazy.

[|$m0k!n|-Mr. 4HyDe-]

That's one of those moments where this game really falls short in every regard and leaves you with a big question mark about what the Desert Rangers actually stand for.

[Kalsu]

That's when you show your brotherhood and shoot everyone in the bar . No witness!

[Jean-Luc]

Originally posted by |$m0k!n|-4HUD-DK:

That's one of those moments where this game really falls short in every regard and leaves you with a big question mark about what the Desert Rangers actually stand for.

I'd rather say it adds complexity and layers. Frontier "justice" is hardly perfect. Even today cops kill innocents and a post-apocalyptic wild west would be far worse.

[Gurggulk]

She suffered a breakdown and needs to be replaced. Which in a way motivates me to find a new NPC to replace her. She is such a good NPC its not easy to say goodbye.

Looks like Scotchmo is her replacement.

Thanks for all the replies wastelanders. /salute

[|$m0k!n|-Mr. 4HyDe-]

Originally posted by Jean-Luc:

Originally posted by |$m0k!n|-4HUD-DK:

That's one of those moments where this game really falls short in every regard and leaves you with a big question mark about what the Desert Rangers actually stand for.

I'd rather say it adds complexity and layers. Frontier "justice" is hardly perfect. Even today cops kill innocents and a post-apocalyptic wild west would be far worse.

I guess you could say that, because there is little else to say, because there are no mechanics or features to say anything else.. No party dialogue, no repercussions, just a big load of nothing to do about it.

[New Moon On Monday]

I don't know the full lore of the game. But it seems to me that the Rangers are a militia group led by an unelected warlord acting without any set of codified laws. The Rangers may be comparatively benevolent compared to other militia groups, in that it has humanatarian functions to maintain the sympathies of the locals rather than relying on fear alone.

(Even in the modern real world, many organizations of terrorists/freedom-fighters/thugs carry out humanitarian projects for the locals to maintain local sympathies and support. Use your own judgment as to whether the humanatarian acts morally justify the violent acts. Apply that judgment to the game.)

The Rangers are not the democratic government of a civil society enforcing universal human rights. The Rangers still use deadly force as a primary tool of problem-solving. Even if the Rangers refrain from unnecessary killing, death is still a casual thing in the world. In the very beginning of the game- if you try out your Smart Ass skill on Vargas- Vargas acknowledges he is putting your PC Rangers lives at risk by withholding equipment, as a way of testing them out.

Angela Deth outranks everyone on Team Echo, so no one in the team has the authority to arrest her. If her skills are vital to Team Echo's survival, then arresting her immediately is stupid, illogical, and could get the whole team killed.

"Arrest" is an interesting word to use anyway, since it is a term-of-art to describe a procedure of the criminal justice system, while no criminal justice system seems to exist in the world of Wasteland.

Team Echo could report her actions to Vargas upon returning to Ranger Citadel. Is Vargas going to recoil in horror to hear that his long-time and trusted friend avenged the death of another of Vargas's long-time, trusted friends? Better yet, how would Vargas react if the new whelps of Team Echo dragged Angela Deth in handcuffs to him- would Team Echo be getting medals?

When Vargas authorizes Team Echo to "deal with" those responsible for Ace's death, it seems pretty clear to me that he does not mean arrest those responsible in anticipation of a fair trial with due process. He means exacting retribution. It's a license to kill (at least).

Angela Deth acted emotionally when she heard what Haas had done. Human beings have emotions. Had she the emotions of a sci-fi Vulcan, maybe she would have restrained herself. Or maybe not; if Vargas is just going to order execution as punishment for abandoning Ace to certain death, then by killing Haas herself, Angela Deth acted very efficiently.

I don't have a problem, for story purposes, with Angela Deth killing Samuel Haas. It could have been done a little more momentously. Unless I skipped past a dialog or something, I remember it being very casual and short and non-descript. As the climatic moment for Angela Deth's story, it should have been a bigger scene.

Edited to add:

Even when Angela Deth joins Team Echo, she's up front that her motivation is to find justice for Ace, and it is very clear that she is emotionally devastated by his death. If Team Echo is worried that her emotional state will affect her competence for the mission, then Team Echo needs to turn down her offer to help immediately. Team Echo knows what they are getting when they take her.

I don't remember if the dialog states it explicitly or not, but maybe the reason Vargas does not put her on the mission immediately is because he suspects she is too close to the case. But then Vargas has no objection when she starts running around with Team Echo, which puts his tacit stamp-of-approval on her quest for vengeance.

[Kalsu]

Fill up her inventory with pain relievers :P

[Jean-Luc]

Originally posted by |$m0k!n|-4HUD-DK:

I guess you could say that, because there is little else to say, because there are no mechanics or features to say anything else.. No party dialogue, no repercussions, just a big load of nothing to do about it.

Yeah, the lack of any reaction to the deed is dissapointing.