Hi forum!I just want to ask a couple of questions to see if my GM is out of his mind being a skin-flint, or tight-fisted or whatever... or if in fact the way I am experiencing the AP is the way it's meant to be played.
My party and I have gotten off of smuggler's shiv and are in the initial phases of chapter 2 I believe. WITHOUT SPOILERS, please if you've read the story and know how the campaign is supposed to be run, confirm or deny that this is how the AP is supposed to be run...
1) We've been asked to scout ahead of and reach the ruins of S.Y. first, but our GM says that we're only allowed to take away what we ourselves find there +3500gp... meanwhile, the faction we are supposedly working with gets to take EVERYTHING ELSE. The shank of the treasure of a massive city of treasure and we don't even get a percentage for FINDING IT FIRST?!
2) The glory of finding the city too, must be in the name of one of the associated factions. so... we're not even discovering the city for our own glory... the shank of the treasure AND glory are going to other people?
If the above is true.. when does this AP actually become a story about the protagonists, the players? I understand that giving the players some unchecked amount of treasure would upset game balance... but if the AP covers 1st-15th level or so... why does it matter if they are absurdly rich and can retire at the end of the adventure?
Maybe this is the way it's supposed to be in the AP but my GM has done a bad job of making it seem like we'll be sufficiently rewarded... as it seems to me we're doing all the work and assuming the greatest risk, and giving all the best of the rewards to NPCs.
I'm not afraid to get the answer I'd prefer not to hear... but I have never felt less empowered in a role-playing game before playing this AP with this GM. I cannot be sure if it's the negative/antagonistic demeanor of my GM... or if the AP is just written up that way.
If you know the answers because you've read the module, let me know without giving anything away.
-V
1.) Actually you got a better deal then what you should have, You're group must of negotiated pretty good to get the extra gold. And what is wrong with only keeping what you find? the group you lead offers other things like being able to buy supplies that you would not have in the middle of a jungle and protection and other intangibles.
2.)That is the price you pay for not being able to do it alone.But with most of the factions I am sure you get the credit for finding it, it is just in the factions name.
I am having fun with this AP and as others have said it is very much a sandbox style game that leaves a lot up to the GM,he just gets a few general locations and general plot