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Canon?
A combination of the second and third GMs' approaches would be closer to the truth. First is way off. Are there some settlements that will kill certain races on sight? Yeah, but it doesn't make it morally right and any paladin worth a damn would have a problem with this.
And as humanocentric as Golarion may be, it isn't that bad about universal freakout reactions towards non-core races. Tieflings don't get strung up in Sandpoint for being tieflings, basically. An orc lived a good life in Kenabres. There's a freaking goblin working at a noodle joint in Cheliax. Most people don't even know what drow are until after Second Darkness happens. Magnimar had a hobgoblin serve on jury duty once. Hobgoblins, nagas, and more serve as respected members of Molthrune's military. Sarenrae exists. And then there's Kaer Freakin' Maga.
The best thing to do is to look at the settlement and the races on a case by case basis rather than going with an absolute and applying it to everything. And keep in mind how to keep the players' characters playable.
What races are in question? And what area are the PCs located at now?
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Kobolds? :D
As far as races with typically bad reputations go, those kobolds are one of the easier ones to get accepted, especially if any of them pick up that Redeemed Kobold feat and go metallic. They will rouse suspicion and concern, but if they're with the rest of the party and on good behavior they shouldn't be getting lynched right out the gate in Sandpoint and especially Magnimar(which is one of the more cosmopolitan cities in the Inner Sea). Runelords shouldn't be too hard for them to get by in, unless they try to bring more negative attention upon themselves. And honestly, taking part in defending Sandpoint from that goblin attack alongside the other PCs in the beginning should go a long way towards warming Sandpoint up to those kobolds.
(though if one or both wind up with Shayliss Vinder, things could go bad very quickly...)
Realistically, they'll probably face racism and suspicion from a lot of corners, but their actions and how they conduct themselves should absolutely have an effect on that. Having some history in the town already can go a long way towards smoothing things over too, like if they were adopted as eggs by that paladin of Abadar or someone else. Ameiko being Ameiko, she might very well have hired one as a company mascot for the Rusty Dragon.
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Kobolds? :D
As far as races with typically bad reputations go, those kobolds are one of the easier ones to get accepted, especially if any of them pick up that Redeemed Kobold feat and go metallic. They will rouse suspicion and concern, but if they're with the rest of the party and on good behavior they shouldn't be getting lynched right out the gate in Sandpoint and especially Magnimar(which is one of the more cosmopolitan cities in the Inner Sea). Runelords shouldn't be too hard for them to get by in, unless they try to bring more negative attention upon themselves. And honestly, taking part in defending Sandpoint from that goblin attack alongside the other PCs in the beginning should go a long way towards warming Sandpoint up to those kobolds.
(though if one or both wind up with Shayliss Vinder, things could go bad very quickly...)
Realistically, they'll probably face racism and suspicion from a lot of corners, but their actions and how they conduct themselves should absolutely have an effect on that. Having some history in the town already can go a long way towards smoothing things over too, like if they were adopted as eggs by that paladin of Abadar or someone else. Ameiko being Ameiko, she might very well have hired one as a company mascot for the Rusty Dragon.
Drunken Rager Barbarian Kobold. Must. Make.
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From a dramatic perspective (both in terms of the overall story and their individual character development) the best thing you can do is give them both pretty big obstacles to overcome. IMO, what makes a gaming session great is when you feel you have accomplished something by the end that you think you couldn't do at the beginning. Make being a kobold in a human world hard for them, but not so hard that they just throw up their hands and walk away. Give them small achievable goals each session. At the beginning, people might react with shock, horror, or disgust, so perhaps the first goal should be "get a human to talk to me and not run away or go for his weapon".
IMO Golarion is a MUCH more dangerous world than we live in (unless you happen to live in Syria or another war zone) and IMO that would mean that people would tend to be of the "shoot first and ask questions later" school of thought. A perceived threat is treated as a threat until it reveals itself not to be.
Even though non-core race members of society exist in the area, they are extremely rare and you have to remember that kobolds are naturally evil, and they will be perceived that way. It's hard for us to think in these terms, because we are taught to be culturally sensitive, and because there is so much variety in "alignment" in the real world. The only RL example I can think of, is if you were standing in a bar and a nasty looking neo-nazi guy walked in dressed in a full SS uniform. Sure, they might simply be dressing up for a party, but then again. What if three or four guys like that walked in?
I had a player who had a Kobold paladin of Apsu in the Rise of the Runelords game I DMed (which at this point will probably never be finished). There really isn't much conflict built into the AP for kobolds, and his actions in defending Sandpoint gave him credit in the eyes of the citizenry of the town
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I'm of the (pretty strong) opinion that it should depend on the group and that WE PLAY TO HAVE FUN. And that that trumps all else: individual opinions, realism, RAW, everything.
There is no canon here.
It's one of the great unfortunates that none of the publishers in D&D's history, from Gygax and Arneson, to D. Cook, to Monte Cook, to Mona et.al. have had any experience in studying Ethics -- thus making Alignment in D&D potentially group-destroying.
So my first advice -- now that it's your turn to DM -- is to briefly go over what you will expect for THIS campaign, based on what YOU THINK best suits RotRL.
It has nothing to do with DM opinion A, B, or C. For you, it has to do with what seemingly will best suit this particular campaign.
There is NOTHING WRONG with any of the Alignment expectations. Nothing at all. Monte Cook and Robin Laws both discuss this in their books, DMG3.0 -- the REAL DMG -- and the DMG 2 (3.5). Whatever works for the Players in the group is BEST.
So when DM A is running the show the Players can expect all monsters to be bad. No one has to worry about monsters surrendering or Atonement spells or all that baggage. And that's perfectly fine even though it's not my favorite (or the assumption of the official Pathfinder Campaign Setting)
But when DM B is running the show it's a bit different. And the Players can make their PCs based on those assumptions.
As far as Rune Lords goes,
But most of the encounter themes in RotRL are pretty generic: kill goblins attacking Sandpoint, kill undead horrors, kill disturbing ogres from the Carolinas, kill evil giants, kill an evil Runelord -- pretty straightforward.
Ultimately, though, what I think based on my memory of RotRL is of no consequence.
You've read it and have prepped it for play for your group. What seems best for you?
As far as I remember...
Kobolds aren't an ancestral enemy of the inhabitants of Varisia. Sure, there are some around, but they tend to be travelers. As such, as long as they can speak decent common, they probably won't be attacked on sight. They're not goblins, after all. The players should expect massive amounts of distrust from NPCs initially, but one of the things about RotR is that the party becomes kinda famous in Sandpoint after not too long.
It's a rather carefree town that has never had real issues other than the occasional goblin and the "late unpleasantness." As such, most of the inhabitants don't have a reason to be cynical and suspicious.
Hanging from a bent nail at both the gatehouse and the southern bridge is a sign and a mirror — painted on each sign is the message: “Welcome to Sandpoint! Please stop to see yourself as we see you!”
As long as the kobolds present themselves favorably and don't mind being stared at, I think they shouldn't have too much of a problem.
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@Castarr4,
That can be pretty problematic too -- unless you're going with DM-A from the OP.
How does Sandpoint "see" Kobolds, even PC Kobolds, mayhaps?
"Arrrgh, monsters. Let's Kill 'em!"
Thus the warning on the sign: "See yourself as we see you" -- as monsters!
. . . .
Like I said earlier -- things like this HAVE to depend on what the group wants.
And in the OP's group, where there's a different take on Alignment and monsters with each new DM -- whis is perfectly okay -- the new DM may do very well to base his expectations & interpretations on how he feels about the published campaign and what would play best for it.
AND LET THE OTHER PLAYERS KNOW THAT.
There's a freaking goblin working at a noodle joint in Cheliax.
What book is this in? I must know!!!
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Towns of the Inner Sea. Look in the chapter on Pezzack, specifically.There's a freaking goblin working at a noodle joint in Cheliax.What book is this in? I must know!!!
That country also gave us an honorary non-evil goblin Hellknight.
He even made his own little helmet!
One glaring problem with DMa's interpretation:
Paladins have the ability to detect evil. If the paladin detects no evil and continues to kill these "monsters" it might be problematic for him/her.
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Towns of the Inner Sea. Look in the chapter on Pezzack, specifically.There's a freaking goblin working at a noodle joint in Cheliax.What book is this in? I must know!!!That country also gave us an honorary non-evil goblin Hellknight.
He even made his own little helmet!
Jinkoo is one of my favorites!
If we ever finish Council of Thieves, I'm hoping that he'll form the first ever Order of the Sewer, devoted to Angel the Succubus (player character, actual lawful good succubus with the angel subtype; with a mythic back story and thus acquiring mythic tiers/Divine Source stuff, and becoming an ever-more prominent figure for Iomedae in Cheliax*)
* All of the party characters are both "normal" races and "monster" races gaining mythic tiers in that game. In any event, it's very likely that Angel is not only going to become the new ruler of Westcrown but its queen as it voluntarily cedes from Cheliax. They've acquired way too many fame points (I gave them more options than in the book, and expanded the results thereafter including a Kingmaker-esque BP-to-fame mechanic that costs ever-more BP to gain fame... which they're totally pouring tons of cash into), and are likely going to be in an... interesting situation when they discuss things with Asmodeus who is being way to generous/happy about all of this**.
** Dealing with Asmodeus is like playing poker with a dealer who smiles all the time.
***
Man I love that campaign.
Contributor
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One glaring problem with DMa's interpretation:
Paladins have the ability to detect evil. If the paladin detects no evil and continues to kill these "monsters" it might be problematic for him/her.
That ability only works for beings for beings over a certain number of HD; the the preponderance of NPCs, monsters, and creatures in the world probably fall below that number (5 HD). So they have to use their judgment fairly frequently.
Totally forgot to note why the first spoiler happened.
It's so that:
b) Asmodeus can have a successful "female spawn" so he can lord her over the other male devils in proof of his own innate superiority such that even a female from his loins is more powerful than they. This humiliation keeps them in line. The female devils will simply be dealt with more strictly if they get any "ideas" (and often forcibly subjugated to her whim... which automatically defers to Asmodeus' whim in Hell... thus making sure he keeps complete control and a patriarchal structure, despite the apparent aberrant rise of a female who may or may not be a "figure to rally around" or "inspiration" otherwise. This is especially effective against Mammon, if they defeat his son.
c) Asmodeus can claim/eliminate/otherwise negate a <relatively> large tract of the Abyssal landscape as belonging to the Abyss (at least in part for the "affront" that Baphomet gave him by dragging the Ivory Maze into the Abyss so long ago after successfully navigating the "impossible" maze (made by big-A) in the first place <>
d) Asmodeus can "clean house" by eliminating a lot of unwanted political entanglements/baggage by actively enslaving them to this "impressive/subservient" quasi-divine entity, thus negating any power they (and, indirectly, their masters) might have gained over Asmodeus in the first place, by severing their segments of Hell and binding them into a lower layer of "c".
d) Asmodeus can use "b", "c", and/or "d" as a weapon against Lucifer and Infernus by subtly sparking an interplanar war that he has no direct (or really even directly indirect) involvement in due to some entanglements with Mammon, the Abyss, and a few other things. Especially when that "liberated" layer of the Abyss (now filled with redeemed demons and other similar creatures) just kind of... "accidentally"... crashes into the top layer of Infernus, because of the nature of their planar alignments, stability, and free-floating elements...
e) Eliminate (purposefully or accidentally - it matters not) a large amount of competition/potential-or-real threats to Asmodeus while simultaneously causing those doing said elimination becoming ever-more-indebted to him, and indenturing all of Hell (and possibly other evil planar entities) to his service ever-more-deeply. It's like getting paid twice... or maybe five times.
f) Any or all of the above occurs.
Of course, the PCs don't know any of this stuff. And, he actually genuinely loves her, after a fashion, though,