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As someone in a previous thread said, I think that Orbius is really running the Last Laugh, not the Cagewrights. It says in the HC that the Cagewrights use lots of proxies, and I guess that in this case, Orbius is running the guild for them. He has been in Cauldron for longer than them, and has more contacts (in both Vhalantru and Orbius forms), which could be useful for them. No matter how much infighting there is the guild, all the jesters are scared sh*tless by the presence of an eye-tyrant in Cauldron, and he often bullies them into following his orders. Quite a few Last Laugh members will know of the existence of Orbius, but definately not of the Cagewrights. The jesters may suspect a power behind Orbius, but it is unlikely. The Cagewrights will manipulate the guild throughout the AP for their own purposes, but I don't think they've infiltrated it directly- it seems to make more sense to use Orbius.
Anyway, that's just my view on the link between the Last Laugh and the Cagewrights.

Sorry, forgot about Jil.
It's always interesting when a character has multiple motivations. I think that as Jil is not loyal to Velior, it is possible she'd support Vervil in a power struggle (given enough pay), or help the players for pay or if romantically involved with one of them. Therefore, I guess her actions are slightly more unpredictable than other NPCs', due to her being 'pulled' in different directions by conflicting loyalities and desires. I think she may well be ambitious enough to try and replace Velior, but she needs to increase her own strength, and does she really want to bring herself to the attention of a highly professional and cold-blooded assassin (see previous)?

On a side note, I'm not that keen on different divisions of the guild, nor of one guildmaster having complete power. I think that the idea should be that each of 5 jesters shares the resposibility of running the guild, and that although each has their own speciality and loyal guild-members, they keep in regular contact and each decide what they'll focus on on a weekly basis- i.e. each jester has some autonomy, and manages their own resources, but will pour their resources into whatever task is decided for them by the meeting of jesters. Of course, this works better when one jester hasn't murdered 3 previous jesters, and 2 of the other jesters are essentially puppets. In this case, I imagine the weekly meetings to be rather tense (full of concealed weapons and thuggish lieutenants), with all parties eager to gain the upper hand in discussion of guild activities, but not to offend each other, lest the infighting reaches a full-on guild split and war! In fact, this could be one way for smart players to take down the guild... it would be very satisfying to watch the organized crime guild descend into bloody chaos!

Hmmm, that side note was bigger than the actual post!

Lol! Definately lots of Vs in the Last Laugh! The assassin in question was born in Cauldron, but has spent his professional career in Sasserine, before returning to his beloved city of birth. I'm not sure about the legalities of discussing it as I got the character, and the background story from a D20 licenced product on RPGnow. It's free to download and fits in so perfectly I couldn't believe it. The link is http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=5520&
When you read his (but I agree, he should be made into a she for male/female balancing- this world needs high ranking female crooks too!) background, just think of the Lantern Street Orphanage and that the Vanderborens have taken it over only recently. After leaving the orphange, he should flee to Sasserine, and where the story leaves the character, they should just have returned to Cauldron in the past year or two for my set up. I haven't checked the stats yet, he/she may be overpowered, but that's easy to alter. Anyway, check out the link and see how good the fit is!

Thanks for the ideas guys!

I like the idea of guild infighting, but I don't know if I want to make the Last Laugh seem unorganized as the players' first impression. There may be power struggles within the guild, but I think that from the outside, signs of this should only be glimpsed ocasionally.

I also like the idea of the shattered statue of Patch and/or Twindaggers, but I'm not sure if it's too obvious a hint about Lord Vhalantru's involvement, especially considering his large 'statue' collection. I was thinking if just their boots were found, (including feet bitten off at the ankles) then that's a good warning without suggesting everyone's favourite half-elf noble was involved.

Chef's Slaad, do you mean Velior instead of Vervil or did you replace the original jester with the slaver?

Vervil Ashmantle would make a good jester though... Maybe Jil's warning could have been an attempt to protect the interests of Velior's fellow jester. (Even if not out of kindness, Velior could have leant Jil's services to aid Vervil for more mercenary reasons, and Jil's unsubtle methods could have actually been a sneaky attempt by Velior to do Vervil's side-business of slave trading harm, whist under the pretence of doing him a favour).

As a side note, does it actually say anywhere in the SCAP hardcover that Velior is head of an assassination division? If not, I have a really cool assassin who is also a major player within the guild- he slaughtered 3 previous jesters, one a week, until the remaining 2 (Velior and Vervil(?)) offered him a position as guildmaster. He turned it down, accepting the position of jester only (he thought he could better control the guild by manipulating the other 2 existing jesters). An uneasy truce descends on the guild, and after a while 2 new jesters are installed, both talented but not ambitious and weak willed in comparison.....let the infighting begin.

Phew! Just been working that out whilst typing, but I think that sets it up nicely. What do you think?

I'm unsure as to a few details about the Last Laugh's involvement in chapter 1, and was wondering if anyone had any ideas.
Specifically:

1. Why does Jil warn Ruphus (and the players) to stay away from the Orphanage? I guess she knows Terrem has been kidnapped, and that if Twindaggers and Patch were working for her, it may be her responsibility to get him back, but why warn people off going to the Orphanage? This just seems to draw attention to Terrem and imply that the Last Laugh were involved in the kidnappings.

2. Does Jil or any other Last Laugh member make any attempt to get Terrem back? As I see it, Lord Orbius (I guess the guild only deal with/know about Vhalantru in his beholder form) has charged the guild with keeping an eye on Terrem, and when they screw up, they should be keen to correct their mistake. If I was Jil and it was my fault, I'd try find the kidnapped child as soon as possible- Vhalantru was sure to find out Terrem had gone missing, and warning the Church of St. Cuthbert not to help doesn't make much difference. If anything, the players are actually helping the Last Laugh by searching for the children....unless the guild has a stake in Kazmojen's business, and don't want it discovered.

3. I'm thinking that Patch and Twindaggers should die for their incompetence. Who should kill them? Would Orbius eat them, or would Jil kill them first to try and appease the beholder-lord?

In my campaign, the players actually failed to spot Jil in the first encounter, but I like to know NPCs motivations and their actions between adventures. I find it annoying for both my players and me if NPCs actions don't make sense.

If anyone has any insight on Last Laugh motivation, I'd be very grateful.

Thanks

Hey Jeff,

Congrats! I've only recently started running SCAP, and but I'm already almost overwhelmed by so many roleplaying oppurtunities. I want to introduce as many of the important (and a few not-so-important) NPCs as early on as possible, and to make sure my PCs have a real feel for Cauldron as a living city. My party are nearly done in Jzazidrune but had a lengthy introductory roleplaying session to start the adventure, based around a smaller plot I'm going to attempt to interweave with the main thread. I'd be very interested in any tips you've got in retrospect on foreshadowing events or introducing NPCs, and any little touches you added (or have heard since) that you thought were really neat.
Cheers