fireshade's page

I had two PC that were members of the Guard, and we have not had any problems. Sure, they went a bit vigilante by going after Lamm without authorization, but with the riots breaking out, nobody took the time to give it a second look. Seeing that most of the rank-and-file guards were busy handling riot control, I had Kroft appoint those two as Special Investigators and deputized the rest of the party to aid them. I did have one of them bristle a bit later in the plot as Kroft asked them to act as "plain-clothes" guards, since the entire organization was under scrutiny from the Grey Maidens. And, of course, everyone had an issue with Book 4, but I added in a segment about rescuing Kroft from being turned over to the Hellknights and then raiding the Grey Maidens' headquarters cheered them up a bit.

Yeah, my group will be finishing the Trial of the Totem tonight, and the majority of this book has fallen flat with them. They've been good sports and gone along with a lot of things throughout the campaign so far because they know that I don't have time to make significant changes (or we'd be playing an open-world campaign). However, the whole "leave the city and jump through hoops for the Shoanti" has worn out its welcome. I'm hoping that the Vault raid will get them back on board enough for the trip to Scarwall. Otherwise, I'm going to have to use the holiday season as downtime and tweak "Fortress of the Nail" to be the next part of the plot.

While my party did have a cleric on board, I also had them create a relationship with the Temple of Abadar by having some of the quests come at their request instead of from the Korvosan Guard or unaffiliated NPCs. That relationship gave them a higher priority access to healing magic. It helped a bit at the end when they picked a fight with a certain vampire, who ended up flat-lining the hunter with one spell.

My party also has a cleric of Abadar, so I had to consider some of these points as well. Some of it will depend on the character and their alignment/outlook on following their deity. Mine was Lawful Good with an emphasis on the Good.

- Of course, my cleric of abadar will have to choose between obey to the temple or cure Korvosans for free or almost. I'm pretty sure he will stand a long time at the first choice, at least until the city itself will be heavily threatened by the Blood Veil.

Remind them that they can't save everyone. There isn't enough curing magic in the city to contain the plague. Trying to save those that can't afford it will only drain their resources, so free healing should be reserved for close friends/family and party members, with whom there should already be some sort of financial agreement.

- I wonder why Grau would still call on the PCs to find a cure for Brienna if he forbid his sister to go to Abadar's temple because of the money... I mean, maybe the PCs can be generous, but still in his role, the Cleric of Abadar will ask for money for the cure...

Since he has a relationship with the party, he would likely hope that he can negotiate the price down to the 100 gold reward he has on hand.

- What about Ishani Dhatri's moral dilemma? I'm pretty sure my Paladin will detect Ishani Dhatri's poor faith and will try to convert him... But in front of a cleric to the temple ?

He certainly wouldn't discuss it openly in front of another cleric of Abadar, but he might talk privately later. In our case, I had him decide that his faith was not strong enough for the needed healing magic, but he could help in other ways. I had him become the liaison between the church of Abadar and the Korvosan Guard, allowing him to help the party more as the plague progressed and setting the ground work for the "Resistance" later in the AP.

- What about Zenobia's "convertion" ? That should be a rumor for commoners but won't my cleric of Abadar will have access to this case and then will want to investigate?

There is a note that Zenobia doesn't have an office at the High Bank, just the Longacre Building, and by the time the church grows concerned enough to investigate, she is back and cuts ties with them. If the cleric shows interest in pursuing the matter, someone might remind them that changing her beliefs isn't a crime (they don't know who she follows now), and they have more important matters at hand.

In my opinion, Hellknight wouldn't work well. I feel like the focus on law and order might conflict with how the campaign encourages the party to resolve issues. Also, the local Order of the Nail may place a PC in a position where they might find themselves in conflict with the rest of the party.

I know that's pretty vague as I attempt to avoid spoiling anything, but the main thing is if you really wanted to try a Hellknight, talk it out with your GM and see how they feel about the idea and the adjustments they may need to make to smooth out such a character's participation.

I added in Prince of Augustana from PFS to fill a session during book 1 when a few players were missing. It worked out fairly well, and it even left my players wondering when they first heard about the "Emperor of Old Korvosa".

My party hasn't tried to figure it out his real identity, but there were a few instances where Blackjack has come up in conversation and the reaction was "If it's Orisini, I'm going to punch him in the face." They found Orisini's hidden chest, but they couldn't open it, and none of them are really suitable Blackjack replacements, so they may never learn the truth.