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In the Bullywug Gambit the Jade Ravens that are captured have their gear listed in the treasure section of the encounter. Obviously good parties who are aligned with Lavinia will give the stuff back, but my question is this.Is this treasure actually for the PC's? Like hey thanks for saving our lives take this a a token of gratitude! Secondly are the stat blocks with the captured Jade Ravens and Lavinia altered based on the missing gear, because when I was looking at the stats It seemed as if they where strange.
As far as the treasue goes, I would say that if your PCs treat the Jade Ravens well (offering healing, not rubbing in the rescue), perhaps a few things could be exchanged in gratitude. The stuff in Lavinia's house shouldn't be viewed as treasure, except perhaps the staff of passage in the Fharlanghan shrine and the boots of striding and springing in the treasure room, and similar items that just make sense for the PCs to get. Lavinia's later stat block doesn't reflect her having anything distinct from the house, so I assume she may want to give it to the PCs.
Or, if they are like my players (mostly neutrals, with the odd neutral evil thrown in), they will orchestrate the Jade Raven's untimely deaths.
Creative Director
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If the tables were turned and it was the PCs who were rescued by the Jade Ravens, wouldn't the PCs want their stuff back?
In other words, the Jade Ravens' gear is not intended for the PCs. They're welcome to take it, but lawful or good PCs who go along with such a stunt won't stay lawful or good much longer.
Or, if they are like my players (mostly neutrals, with the odd neutral evil thrown in), they will orchestrate the Jade Raven's untimely deaths.
Come again? Orchestrating untimely deaths doesn't sound too neutral. If that's the way they roll, I suggest enforcing some alignment changes. But that's just me. YMMV.
In my own STAP campaign, my players returned any of the Jade Ravens things immediately if the NPCs didn't simply gather their things up themselves. The other things found in Lavinia's were clearly her's and off limits to enough of the PCs that they were simply given back to Lavinia once the manor was secured. The humble pie the Jade Ravens were served hot and steaming was payment enough for my group, though the Jade Ravens also swore to return the favor if they ever had a chance. Well, just about 2 weeks ago they had the opportunity when the Sea Wyvern was attacked by the aquatic hydra in The Sea Wyvern's Wake. The relationship between the two groups is much stronger now and there is a feeling of mutual respect and even team work, to an extent.
That can be an interesting state of affairs. In the first adventure path in Cauldron my players got along with most of the NPCs, even the rival adventurers ultimately settled in to a friendly rivalry. So, as a interesting development, when the tremors began threatening the city the players were given the option of breaking in to four groups, each consisting of one PC, one of the Stormblades, one of the Seekers and one other friendly NPC. It actually worked quite well.
My players gave back their stuff imediately because an un-equiped Jade Raven wasn't much help. They also left Lavinia's treasure alone for the most part. I used her hidden treasure room to introduce a Legacy Weapon (Fiendkiller) to the group. The minotaur grabbed it up (it being a large weapon and all) and planned to return it when they took care of all the bad guys. The expression on the groups face when the Bullywug priest summoned up a Lemur and the minotaur's new flail hissed and his eyes glowed was priceless. Once saved Lavina offered the flail to the minotaur stating that it seemed to fit him. It also impressed his contatcs at The Church of Whirling Blades. ;)