So to begin my conundrum:
I have not GM'd an RPG since 2nd Edition AD&D. The fact that there's such a thriving community here is freakin' awesome.
Anyway, I'm hoping that my aforementioned background may help to explain why I blindly said "yes" to a PC that asked me if he could play a Red Mantis Assassin in SS.
1) I have unconfirmed suspicions that this PC has thoroughly read through the entirety of Serpents' Skull. This was either because he intended to GM it (I don't recollect the last time he GM'd anything), or he wanted to min/max on this adventure.
Exhibit A: Questions have been asked that are explicitly outlined in book 6 in regards to the Faction Guide. (pg 56)
Exhibit B: He was gung-ho about rolling a Red Mantis character from day 1.
As I said, suspicions. Regardless, I think you already know where this is heading, so my questions are:
Being that his character is male (insane, I know), would he even be allowed to possess something of that power?
Should I let him have something that powerful that early on in the adventure? (As a newish GM, would I be setting myself up for a headache with his newfound power?)
What kind of rewards could I offer the other PCs if I did let this guy keep the weapon?
He might be dubbed a hero, but would such a Matriarchy even permit him to wield it?
If he keeps it secret, would they come after him?
2) Would Sasha Nevah even stick around knowing his point of origin aboard the Jenivere and his affiliations? Would she perhaps actively work against this PC/the party later on?
These two questions, however, have been burning at the back of my mind, and I was hoping for some input from you. I fully understand that it's my universe to create. I simply hope to get some input from knowledgeable people with more experience than myself.
We've only just begun "Souls for Smugglers' Shiv", so it's not too late to address any red flags you guys might find.
Thanks in advance! :)
Contributor
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My party sided with the Red Mantis... so I think I can offer some aid. :)
1) Player who's read the Path.
I'd talk to him about this. Having a player who knows what's in store isn't a deal-breaker, as long as he is careful to split player and character knowledge. I wouldn't worry too much about the Red Mantis Assassin prestige class being min-maxing, either. You should be fine there, at least power-wise. See my questions below for more.
2) The mantis blade.
I took another look at the mantis blade's stats. I wouldn't be too worried about this either. A few things to remember:
-It can't be upgraded. +2 axiomatic forever.
-He'll have to deal with its intelligence and Ego. I haven't seen his build, but his Will save will probably be low enough that the DC 16 will be a concern. Also, remember that its powers work only when it allows it. If the blade isn't happy, no alter self for him.
-This can actually be a really great roleplaying opportunity; the intelligent weapon is a trope that doesn't see enough play (in my opinion).
-The priesthood knows about it - it's the reason they want to find Saventh-Yhi. I think they'd let him use it, but it will bring greater scrutiny upon him.
As for rewarding the other PCs, I'd give it time. In my experience, players aren't nearly as concerned about this sort of thing unless the artifact is either incredibly powerful or the core of the plot. The mantis blade is neither.
3) Sasha Nevah
Is he blatant about his goals/connections? If so, there'll definitely be friction. As with the previous, I'd use it to drive roleplaying. The castaways are a fractious lot.
Maybe she'll come around to him (this depends on his personality). If he performs her "pet dinosaur" sidequest, that might be an opportunity to bond. And if he really is a min-maxer... that +1 initiative boon will bring him around. :)
Now, I have some questions of my own.
Can you tell us more about his build? Is he a rogue? A ranger? A slayer? Does he focus on Dexterity or Strength?
Can you give a rough overview of the rest of the party? Races/classes/alignments/etc. Have any of them showed any interest in specific castaways yet?
Of the five factions, do you have a guess which your group is most likely to ally with? This is where the Red Mantis thing could cause trouble; if one person built around the Mantis and everyone else wants to work with the pirates, you will have some challenges. (It's not necessarily all bad, though; some really interesting roleplaying could come from that.)
Hopefully this is helpful to you. Feel free to come back with more questions. :)
Thank you for your input Kalindlara. It's helped me clear my mind a little bit, and make some decisions for myself. :)
Can you tell us more about his build? Is he a rogue? A ranger? A slayer? Does he focus on Dexterity or Strength?
The PC is a Rogue with a focus on Dex, but he did spend some ability points on Wis (25-point stat buy). My guess is he'll go for a Headband of Wisdom and/or Iron Will to help him gain near-permanent dominance over his weapon later on.
In the interim; considering that the items' Ego doesn't exceed 20, how would you play that item? Is it complacent to just kill unjust rulers and do what he wants? Do you have any interesting ideas or concepts for that weapon that you enjoyed playing out, or never got a chance to use?
Considering that the weapon is designed for the Red Mantis, I imagine any wrenches I try to throw into his plans to control it will be met with criticism unless it's justified. :(
Maybe the weapon is a feminist? :D
Can you give a rough overview of the rest of the party? Races/classes/alignments/etc.
There's 1 player playing 2 classes to round out the party. The first is a big dumb Orc Warrior (CN) who likes to play "Bad Cop". His other character is an Aasimar Cleric (NG) that plays "Good Cop" and takes care of the Orc in a motherly fashion.
The other player is playing the 1st Magus (Human) (LN, I think) of our gaming group ever, so it's kind of exciting to finally see one in action.
As you would expect, the Orc is putting out some big numbers early on (Two-Handed Fighter), and the Magus can do some serious damage when he wants to.
I imagine the Rogue will shift to LE when he's ready to take his prestige classes in Red Mantis, if he isn't Evil already.
Our gaming groups' interpretation of alignment is that Good and Evil can co-exist, but work is involved to ensure that helpless innocents aren't being murdered before "Good Cops'" eyes. ;)
Have any of them showed any interest in specific castaways yet?
As I said, we only just started playing, so we're up to night 2 right now, with a major impending rain storm about to hit their campsite. I feel this is going to be the perfect time for RPing, with tempers ready to flare, and the castaways to find that some of them really don't like each other.
They've tried flirting with Aerys (obviously didn't go over so well).
They've already set Jask free, so he's obviously happy with them.
They've intimidated Gelik for information about Smugglers' Shiv (No one has ranks in Survival, heh).
They are intrigued by Ishirou, but haven't conversed with him very much as of yet.
And they are about to embark on finding a baby Dimorphodon for Sasha on our next gaming session this Saturday.
Overall, here's my predictions for the PCs attitudes towards the 5 factions:
Pirates - A possible ally. No one's gung-ho about it just yet, but that could change.
Pathfinders - While they're aware of them, when they questioned Gelik about his story, they didn't seem to care much about helping him out. They seemed to prefer intimidating him instead.
Aspis Consortium - When Ishirou briefly mentioned that he worked for them, the Aasimar/Orc PC said "Jesus Christ". Heh.
Sargava - Little to no interest there.
Red Mantis - Considering the topic of this discussion, I predict this is the most likely group the PCs will ally with, assuming that there's no divide within the party.
So ...
You could consider just not letting them find the blade. The leader of the Red Mantis expedition is there for the single purpose of recovering the blade. You can just let her find it first if you'd like. Of course, who knows where it would go from there with your PC. If your player is annoyed, then yes he read the AP. If I were a PC in this situation, I would probably try and eliminate the leader and take over the Red Mantis expedition if I really wanted the sword badly enough.
Alternatively, if you think it is too powerful, you can just change it to something else to be on par with other weapons.
I would agree that your potential biggest problem is you may have a PC would knows the AP and didn't admit it to up front.
If I were a PC in this situation, I would probably try and eliminate the leader and take over the Red Mantis expedition if I really wanted the sword badly enough.
I totally see it going down like this, when we get to that part.
Even the mention of the 5 factions has helped me flesh out some more of the details.
Again, thank you for the insight guys! :)