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Howdy there! I'm running #7-22: Bid for Alabastrine during the second session of PbP Game Day 5. Play will begin on October 12th, 2016! This scenario is awesome and and roleplay-heavy, with lots of opportunity to take advantage of the PbP medium. In addition, the outcome will have huge ramifications for the future of the Pathfinder Society!
Looking forward to running- please let me know if you have questions ahead of time.
A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 1–5.
Decades ago, the merchant nation of Druma anticipated a wave of migrants and built the city Alabastrine to accommodate them. The mass migration never happened. Always seeking a return on investment, Druma recently began auctioning off control of the city to the highest bidders and wealthiest entrepreneurs for five years at a time. The next auction begins soon, and the powerful Aspis Consortium gold agent Myrosype—an enemy of the Society responsible for countless Pathfinders’ deaths—is poised to take control of the whole city for her own nefarious ends. The Society has secured a few invitations for the PCs to attend the auction. Can they disrupt the event’s delicate politics in order to stop their rival, or will the Aspis Consortium gain an unassailable stronghold?
Content in “Bid for Alabastrine” also contributes directly to the ongoing storyline of the Exchange Faction. Content in this scenario also ties into a special metaplot element from Pathfinder Society Special #6–98: "Serpents Rise". Players who have completed that special event are encouraged to bring its Chronicle sheet when playing this adventure.
Written by Thurston Hillman.
Putting myself forward, please! Looks like you still have room. I have a wide variety of characters in tier and can narrow it down closer to gameday's start.
I have played Serpent's Rise (with the Leader).
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Here's the current signup list:
1. Kivuli Greyfeather - Level 3 Unchained Rogue
2. Syndra Gwavirin - Level 2 Wizard
3. Kitoro - Level 3 Bard
4. Raven Licstein - Level 1 Cleric
5. Character from Dien - TBD
6. Drusillia - Level 1 Swashbuckler
Alternates
a. Volyana - Level 1 Monk
b. Character from DMSnider - TBD
So excited to have a full slate! We're starting on Wednesday, October 12th, but if I can get everyone to check in with an intro post starting Sunday, October 9th up to the 12th that'd be great! Here's the suggested content:
Intro Post (after October 9th)
Character Name
Class(es) + Level(s)
Pathfinder Society Faction
Sense Motive modifier
Perception modifier
Any pre-scenario purchases
Any "big" purchases your character has made or would like to make in his/her career. These are along the lines of mercantile purchases, such as a house, shop, mode of transport, etc. This section is more for flavor than any "real" reason :)
Day Job roll (if any)
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Looking at that line-up, I think I'll bring a melee fella; level 4 monk-rogue-brawler mess-of-classes. Will post the required info come October 9!
Yeah, I'm not bothered by that. :)
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Dien here.
#30341-12
Character Name: "Tiny" aka Chota Saitana
Class(es) + Level(s): Rogue (Swashbuckler) 1 / Monk (Flowing Monk) 2 / Brawler (Snakebite Striker) 1
Pathfinder Society Faction: The Exchange
Sense Motive modifier: +7
Perception modifier: +9, darkvision
No pre-scenario purchases
Mercantile ambitions: Oh Chota wants very much to have a wonderful caravan someday that will travel between his beautiful homeland of Vudra and the rest of the world, and carry such wonderful things as ginger, cardamom, and cloves to the people that do not have them!
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Loc here!
83523-4
Character name: Raven Licstein
Class Cleric of Sanrenrae 1
Society Faction Dark Archive
Sense Motive +7
Perception +3
She will be picking up a wand of cure light wounds with 24 charges for 360 gp. Getting it off my rise of the goblin guild sheet.
As to her ambitions she wants to one day construct temple of Sanrenrae to better honor her god. Something grand that would inspire hope in the people around it and would draw those in need of help and redemption to it's doors. A home she could call her own as well would be nice.
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Kivuli Greyfeather
151777-15
Character Name: Kivuli Greyfeather
Class: Unchained Rogue (Escapologist)
Faction: Dark Archive
Sense Motive:+5
Perception:+8, Darkvision
No purchases.
Kivuli wants to discover how his race really got to Golarion. His personal belief is that the answers are to be found buried somewhere deep in an Osirian ruin. His hope is to be sent by the Society on such a mission.
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Looks like Kit will not be available in time. I'm going to have to substitute Solstice, a 2nd level sorceress. A pity since Kit would have fit nicely into a social sounding scenario.
Solstice Rain (141936-8)
[b]Class: SorceressFaction: Sovereign Court
Sense Motive: +0
Perception: +0
Day Job: Perform sing +6, take 10 for 16 - 10 gp.
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Drusillia 161871-5
Class: Swashbuckler (Mouser)
Faction: The Exchange
Sense Motive: -1
Perception: +5
No day job
I still need to update her with her first chronicle. I will get that done as soon as I can manage in the next day or so. I will definitely be buying a wand of CLW with my 2 PP. Also buying some better equipment but I need to sort through that still.
Yeah, okay, I'm officially going to ask you as a fellow player to tone it down/pull it back, Syndra.
I can see no conceivable roleplay reason to be trying to undermine the party, as representatives of the Pathfinder Society, to NPCs who are the law enforcement here in the region we are specifically being tasked with conducting a diplomatic mission in. We had received approval from the guards and polite treatment/welcome; I don't understand how calling them cowards (and thus jeopardizing that welcome) furthers the goals of the Society, and I don't understand how calling fellow agents liars furthers the goals of our mission.
This may be a great example of how to roleplay low CHA to others, and you're all certainly welcome to that opinion, but I'm finding it extremely hard to play in-character off of this, especially since Tiny would currently be worrying if Syndra intends to be this abrasive to the contacts we are explicitly supposed to be making in this city.
Yeah, I get what you are going for, but this is starting to get to be too much. Pbp opens itself up to larger and more indepth story telling than a standard PFS scenario. However, it seems your character development is designed for a campaign and goes beyond what these smaller stories are for. I am all for people having their good, clean fun, and I really enjoy the idea of an abrasive personality. That said, there is conflict that arise naturally from roleplay and there is conflict for conflict's sake. This feels like the later.
Just my two copper.
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I had an extremely similar situation with a dwarf I was playing with a low cha. He did not trust Torch and was quite belligerent. Not surprisingly I got a very similar reaction from my fellow players as you just did. I had to work around it, not wanting to tick the others off, and had the character make an oh-so-obvious and deliberate attempt to learn diplomacy.
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I'm kind of getting to the point of having trouble responding in-character as well. Dru really would have done everything she could to stop Syndra from executing the others but since it was already well past when I checked in, I didn't do that then. But my character very very much wants to turn Syndra in to these guards for those murders. Dru would say Syndra deserves the mines far more than the bandits do.
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I have no problem pulling back, which is why I offered. However, dealing with someone that is belligerent, or abrasive is something that happens quite often in real life, and characters with low stats and should know how to deal with in a group setting. How do you deal with someone that plays at a table that is dealing with autism, or aspergers? What about someone that has social anxiety. We have all played at these kinds of tables, and this is something that can come up in game.
Dien, you should be worried about how Syndra is going to act in regards to the contacts. How are you going to work to smooth things over besides insulting her, or intimidating her? Not every character is built for every scenario, and in this one, there are things about Syndra that can be very useful to the group.
TriShadow, I appreciate your opinion, but I disagree. Because these scenarios are short shouldn't limit what you do for the background of your character or character development, as all of us will put many hours and sessions into the play of our characters.
Dru, turning Syndra into the guards would have made this storyline very interesting, and I'm curious how Yasumoto would have handled it. For the record, Syndra killed two bandits, and set two free (Balances each other out). Two others were killed during the encounter, but only the ones that Syndra killed are murders?
Either way, the purpose of PbP is for everyone to enjoy their game, and I'm happy to play Syndra as a character with a normal Charisma for the duration of the encounter.
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I recommend having her be intimidated or coerced or convinced into a pouty silence by necessity, and express some of her inner vitriol as thoughts, occasionally leaking out in ways that do not jeopardize the mission. She's definitely smart enough to catch on to the fact that letting every thought go verbal will cause issues and possible mission failure. Let your character evolve without abandoning the basics of her personality.
Mm, okay, I'll play.
First off, I'm a VL and organizer for my city. I do in fact deal with problem players all the time, including those with mental and behavioral issues. I have had an autistic player at my table before, and a schizophrenic one. (I've also taught students with learning disabilities in non-gaming settings.)
And my response is to coach them gently in playing in a non-disruptive fashion, while making it clear to them (or their caregiver when applicable) that if they talk out of turn, act up, disrupt the table, etc, that they are going to need to stop the behavior when they're politely asked to, or they are going to have to leave. I have also asked problem players to leave my table, and used my authority as a VL to make that happen, when I saw it was disrupting the fun of others. My commitment to inclusion takes a second place to ensuring a fun, enjoyable gaming environment for the majority of my players.
Secondly, I find it a kind of problematic comparison that you're drawing an analogy between people who literally have mental issues and are not responsible for their social gaps, and the notion of intentionally choosing to play a character abrasively. I can and will deal with people who have social issues in my own life as a GM and an organizer, and I like to think I am pretty patient with them when it's obvious they are working to the best of their abilities. I've actually designed a custom, graphics-only character sheet from scratch for a non-verbal kid on the spectrum who had trouble processing written text.
Telling other players that they should learn to tolerate an intentionally-portrayed-jerk character because it's... good training for dealing with someone with mental health issues is..... well, like I said, I find that sincerely problematic.
I'll also point out that pretty much every special needs person I've sat at a table with has not been actively insulting or combative. Hyperactive, loud, distracted, wandering away from the table at times, talking out of turn-- yep. But not actually acting like an intentional jerk. Again, there's a line between behaviors someone literally cannot help and behaviors one is consciously choosing to inflict on a table.
Secondly, regarding the notion that it's Tiny's obligation to find a way to make Syndra cooperate and not screw up the mission for the party? No, it really is not. It is never, ever incumbent on another character-- or player-- at the table to try and wrangle another character into not actively f**$ing up the mission. That's because the Pathfinder Society mandate, in character, is to Explore, Report, Cooperate. Your character literally went through three years of training to make sure that they could actually manage those three things. If your character needs to be in-game coaxed and cajoled into not actively disrupting the mission, then that is not a character that should be played in Pathfinder Society. Full stop.
For what it's worth, Tiny expressed concerns politely BEFORE he got more confrontational about it*; they were ignored. I see no reason to make my pretendy fun times RP into an extended session of forcing my character to make another OSTENSIBLE ALLY do the job she is here to do, once he's made a polite stab at resolving it and had it roundly ignored.
(*The fact that you're characterizing Tiny's behavior in that exchange as insulting and intimidating given that Syndra's was considerably more insulting to literally every person in the party indicates a certain double standard to me.)
I am perfectly happy to let this game continue in a normal, no-hard-feelings fashion, but I'm not going to be like "ooh yes, congrats for making us think hard questions about this RP" when it is literally not how characters in Society play should have to interact with each other, given the explicit 'cooperate' mandate of Society play.
As a 14 year classroom teacher, I agree with much of what dien is saying about community members with special needs.
As to disagreeing with me? Well, it feels as if you are missing the point of PFS. Yes, have a back story, but you can't expect others who have signed up to play with random strangers to appreciate, and/or develop your story. The over the top nature of your character is better suited for a group who knows your play style, accepts what is going on with your character, or has an established trust. There needs to be a give and take. If people are distracted by how my character 'speaks', I am happy to be more straightforward in how I write dialogue, or abandon the affectation all together so that the table has fun.
Don't forget that in a RL game, this is supposed to be a 4 to 5 hour slot. The exchange with the border guards may present interesting story options, but it is beyond the scope of the planned scenario. Could it be pulled off and the table enjoy it? Sure, its possible, but not necessarily what the writer, or GM, planned for. The character's approach also puts the mission at risk I think we are asking that you be aware of everyone's play style and not force a 'table' adjust to what you want to do.
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I would like to continue in a no-hard-feelings fashion as I have none. I generally enjoy intraparty conflict and philosophical discussions but that just slows down PFS scenarios too much.
Dru, turning Syndra into the guards would have made this storyline very interesting, and I'm curious how Yasumoto would have handled it. For the record, Syndra killed two bandits, and set two free (Balances each other out). Two others were killed during the encounter, but only the ones that Syndra killed are murders?
For the record, I don't have to agree with my PC's views any more than you do with your reprehensible character. But yes, there is a difference between killing someone in armed combat and executing a helpless person. And I don't think anything balances out killing people unnecessarily.
But this isn't the time or place for that discussion unfortunately.
...I swear I didn't hack the dice bot. Well, this is easily the most and best usage I've ever gotten out of Tiny's otherwise for-lolz Day Job....
GM: Just clarifying, all PCs are present at this offer and all discussions are happening in full view of each other? I'm a little unclear on how the scenario writers expected this to play out, since it apparently implies the inability of other PCs to stop the revealing of information if one PC decides to do so.
(This is not meant as a specific statement on Syndra. I have characters in PFS who probably would take such a bargain. But it's awkward in that the scenario apparently sets up no way for you to accept the bargain privately, and that means other agents presumably just have to stand around while the 'turning' character spills the beans, which would be deeply OOC for lots of characters, I think?)