Hello dear people,
I'm in dire need for some advice. One of my players smelled that there was something fishy going on with the Victocoras, so he asked to play an exiled family member, preferably the son, because he wanted to have a more personal story going on, with the investigation of the death of his family. When he finds out who killed them, he wants to play it out like a personal vendetta against the people responsible.
The player said he found it suspicious that the fire seemed so targeted and that the Victocoras were the only major family missing from the Noble Scion list.
Well... a bit carelessly I granted him his wish, without considering the consequences and what repercussions it might have on the storytelling structures of the AP. I want to keep my word, but I need some advice and some outside opinions, to make sure I'll consider everything needed.
So let's start with the PC: He wants to play a male human in his late teens, who is ambitious, focused, but also close-minded. He wants to take the Ex-Asmodean trait, so my first thought is that his brothers sexuality and personality might have driven him to the church, to redeem his family reputation, but the church might have treated his brother very harshly, which pushed him to act against the church. Something along those lines... These events would have let to his expulsion from the church and our PC ended up in Varisia in military school, where he was trained in infiltration missions (Ninja).
I mostly need help with fleshing out the interpersonal relations between the family members, as we have not much to go from. I can see how the relationship between the PC and his brother wouldn't be the best, as his behaviour hurts his ambitions, but how would you see the parents reacting, especially as they were members of a secret cult. Also it isn't mentioned how the Victocoras became nobles or how they build their wealth.
Thanks already, any input is greatly appreciated!
Its likely that he had a thing against his brother's turn from a tomboy to an actual boy(man), sending him to the church. That right there would have alienated him from his parents - perhaps to a degree that he never knew about their relation to a certain group. That would leave him woefully out of the loop - perfect for a player, as a result.
I personally turned away any direct members of Victocora in my recruitment - I did allow one player to be a semi-distant relative (Cousin to Rexus), so theres far less of an issue there, and since he only came to Kintargo to figure out what happened to his aunt/uncle/cousin, he wouldn't know a thing about their true affiliations.
While it doesn't say how the Victocoras became nobles or whatnot, they did own and operate the Kintargo Opera House (although they didn't build it). Because of their association with a certain group, one would assume thats also how they built their wealth - although outwardly it would've been the Opera House.
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That sounds like a fantastic plot thread, and a great idea for a character.
The fact that he's exiled actually solves a lot of your problems. Remember, the mom and pop don't even tell their NON-exiled son that they were members of that cult (until the very end) so it could still be a revelation to the PC. On top of that, being exiled means he's not put in the inheritance (will) or whatever. It also gives Rexus a reason to trust the PCs with the idea of getting everything back together. Instead of hiring random PCs he finds in a crowd, he seeks to reconnect with his brother, who he also wants to share the secret of his parents' death with.
Remember, Rexus has poor health (7 con) so as long as the PC is better than that, all Rexus has to do is say "Brother, I know you were always the strong, tough one. I need your help now, help me find out what happened to mother and father. I know we haven't always agreed on . . . things, but it is time to put that aside . . . Kintargo is in danger!"
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Its likely that he had a thing against his brother's turn from a tomboy to an actual boy(man), sending him to the church. That right there would have alienated him from his parents
Great, that's the stuff I'm looking for! Right now, I'm still not quite sure how parenting looked like for the Victocoras. As members of an Irori Order, they probably valued discipline quite highly, but in Rexus' description (who was named Lexus (I'm not a creative person...) before in my campaign) it says the parents were distant observers and Rexus had a lot of liberties. I want to get the discipline part in (as the PC wants to play a person who values discipline), so I'm thinking the PC and Rexus were on a tight schedule when they were young (lots of studying, fencing, riding, art school and learning an instrument, etc.) and were given the right to decide for themselves, when the parents thought they were old enough.
While it doesn't say how the Victocoras became nobles or whatnot, they did own and operate the Kintargo Opera House (although they didn't build it). Because of their association with a certain group, one would assume thats also how they built their wealth - although outwardly it would've been the Opera House.
That's great! The rage the PC has to experience, when he learns that his first suspect, just took their property and started housing there, has to be immense! On a side note, I don't think that being a member of an Irori Order makes you rich or noble.
That sounds like a fantastic plot thread, and a great idea for a character.
The fact that he's exiled actually solves a lot of your problems. Remember, the mom and pop don't even tell their NON-exiled son that they were members of that cult (until the very end) so it could still be a revelation to the PC. On top of that, being exiled means he's not put in the inheritance (will) or whatever. It also gives Rexus a reason to trust the PCs with the idea of getting everything back together. Instead of hiring random PCs he finds in a crowd, he seeks to reconnect with his brother, who he also wants to share the secret of his parents' death with.
Remember, Rexus has poor health (7 con) so as long as the PC is better than that, all Rexus has to do is say "Brother, I know you were always the strong, tough one. I need your help now, help me find out what happened to mother and father. I know we haven't always agreed on . . . things, but it is time to put that aside . . . Kintargo is in danger!"
Yeah, I wouldn't have greenlighted (greenlit?) the idea if I didn't see any roleplaying potential to it, even if takes me some time to work the idea. The relationship between the PC and his brother is going to have an interesting dynamic of resentment (even though I don't think Rexus would be to bitter about it, he doesn't seem to tick that way) and dependence on each other, as they work together to get closer to their goals (even if their goals are different).
What age would you give Rexus, given that my PC wants his character to be around 19?
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Yeah, I wouldn't have greenlighted (greenlit?) the idea if I didn't see any roleplaying potential to it, even if takes me some time to work the idea. The relationship between the PC and his brother is going to have an interesting dynamic of resentment (even though I don't think Rexus would be to bitter about it, he doesn't seem to tick that way) and dependence on each other, as they work together to get closer to their goals (even if their goals are different).
What age would you give Rexus, given that my PC wants his character to be around 19?
There you've got some wiggle room. If the PC wants to be his older brother, you could make Rexus as young as 16 (starting age 15, +1d4 intuitive class (sorcerer)=minimum 16.) You can always have Rexus be older (attesting to his aristocrat levels, or that he just hasn't got a lot of experience) meaning he could be up to, say, 25-27.
There you've got some wiggle room. If the PC wants to be his older brother, you could make Rexus as young as 16 (starting age 15, +1d4 intuitive class (sorcerer)=minimum 16.) You can always have Rexus be older (attesting to his aristocrat levels, or that he just hasn't got a lot of experience) meaning he could be up to, say, 25-27.Yeah, I wouldn't have greenlighted (greenlit?) the idea if I didn't see any roleplaying potential to it, even if takes me some time to work the idea. The relationship between the PC and his brother is going to have an interesting dynamic of resentment (even though I don't think Rexus would be to bitter about it, he doesn't seem to tick that way) and dependence on each other, as they work together to get closer to their goals (even if their goals are different).
What age would you give Rexus, given that my PC wants his character to be around 19?
Sounds reasonable. I was thinking about a solid age difference, because that way The PC would be at an age at which he would have trouble relating to his brother and trouble to follow his reasoning or his explanations. Now with some distance and time, between the events he could have matured enough to show more compassion. Or maybe the PC is still bitter that the events led to his exile. I'm very intrigued to see how it plays out.
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Or if you don't want the family complications, age Rexus up a little bit and make him the trusted family retainer who was out on a mission during the Night of Ashes, and is now seeking out the lost (and last) son of Victocora, both to warn him of the danger and also to beg him to carry on his parent's legacy...
Either way I think you've got a great hook going on for the AP.