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I just finished Life's Bazaar. The pair of half-elves aided the party in the battle against Kaz.
The PCs really took a liking to them and I believe they would be interested in more conintuous interaction with the pair.
However, the party is six characters strong and doesn't really need them as 'cohorts'.
I was wondering what others have done in the past with the pair? What did you use them for in town? Any ideas would be appreciated about what they could do until such time that they are part of the written storyline again.
Thanks
Robert
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I just finished Life's Bazaar. The pair of half-elves aided the party in the battle against Kaz.
The PCs really took a liking to them and I believe they would be interested in more conintuous interaction with the pair.
However, the party is six characters strong and doesn't really need them as 'cohorts'.
I was wondering what others have done in the past with the pair? What did you use them for in town? Any ideas would be appreciated about what they could do until such time that they are part of the written storyline again.
Thanks
Robert
I keep forgetting to include Fario & Fellian - I've run through parts of Life's Bazaar twice now, and each time there has been significant trouble with the grell and a perfect place to introduce them, but I've missed it both times. Luckily, since I moved to a different state, I'll hopefully get to bring them in on the third time around.
As for what they can do until they make a reappearance, that's not too difficult - since they work for Meerthan, they can be sent on all kinds of missions both in and out of Cauldron investigating the corruption in Cauldron and the possible presence of the Cagewrights. If the PCs miss a clue or an opportunity for one down the road, they can bring it in, having discovered it in their investigations.
The problem for you at this point is what they TELL the characters they've been doing, as the SCAP indicates that they're unwilling to explain what they're really up to from the beginning. If you had them tell the party that they were going into Jzadirune to find their wizard friend and he wasn't there, you can have them claim that they went off into the Underdark in search of him.
Otherwise, once they feel like they can trust the party, they could simply come clean and explain that they're part of the Striders, searching for a hidden, corrupting evil in the town, and that the presence of a beholder is not good news. In that case, they can say that they've got to report back and simply not show up again until later on.
Fario and Fellian can be really useful in divulging bits of information as the campaign progresses. In your instance, they can easily become allies of the party and provide an introduction to their leader Tyro Amberhelm who would be very interested in any of the PCs activities. They are directly responsible for providing reconaissance information and motivation for the party later Lords of Oblivion, but Tyro Amberhelm is trying to work under the radar himself, so would probably not give everything away until later chapters, after the PCs have proved themselves further. Until then, I'd have Fario and Fellian continue to run missions for Tyro and his purposes and let the PCs encounter them in passing, as social encounters where you might drop hints for coming events as needed.
My group also just finished the big Kaz fight this weekend. Fario and Fellian were directly involved, as the group asked them to assist in finding the rest of the kidnapped people, using info from a captured skulk.
Once the beholder is seen, Fario and Fellian have the evidence they need to know that something foul is going on. Now they need to work on getting to the bottom of it. I'm looking at having them open up a bit more to the group. I agree that having them looking in the Underdark for their missing friend is another reason to have them not around, though this might be counter-productive if you have denied your players that option (i.e the city council forced them to seal off Keygan's secret door).
A beholder is beyond Tyro's capabilities, so creating a more lasting relationship with local allies will be in their better interests. They may not speak of their entire mission, or how powerful Tyro really is, but they could at least drop a hint that they have a mage as an ally, and that they are concerned about the beholder. This also allows for the Necrocant foreshadowing, as the group needs to know about the Striders (Necrocants are from the alternative plotlines posted on RPGenius).
Having Fario, Fellian and Tyro try to do research on beholders and the slave ring might be an idea. They may need to go back to Sasserine to be a little more discrete on their research. I haven't read up on Vervil, so I am not sure how important he or the slave ring is to the whole plot.
Actually I have a related question. I'm just starting Chapter 4,Zenith Tragectory, and I keep forgetting to involve Fario and Co. I've had them spot them at a distance before a couple times, but they've never directly encountered them. How directly important are the characters to the future. Do I need to make a concerted effort to force them into the story?
Thanks
That's mostly up to you. The party should probably develop some degree of trust with Fario and Fellian and/or their boss Tyro Amberhelm. This is easy to do, since the rescue of Shensen fromt he Lucky Monkey gives them a point of contact with Tyro. In a later chapter, Lords of Oblivion, the party is asked to rescue Fario from the Last Laugh and the information he has is important for the PCs to believe so that they will next go to the home of Thifrane and the encounters there. If the party does not have at least some rapport with Amberhelm and his group, then you may have to work a little harder to get the party there. The degree to which the PCs interact with them is open ended.
F&F never made it in to my campaign. You can substitute any another NPC during for the Brass Monkey rescue.
You can substitute any another NPC during for the Brass Monkey rescue.
Yup, that's just as good, too.
IMC F&F saved the party's bacon twice in Life's Bazaar, then after the final fight said they were being sent "north" for further investigations. I used it to say that the gloves were coming off-- the party had a nice safety net at levels 1-3, but after that they were on their own.
They're now around 10th level and coming back from the Test of the Smoking Eye. Along the way there are a number of vital clues about the Cagewrights that they missed. They never connected the cage making workshop in the Kopru ruins with anything, they found a clue to the Ebon Triad but again, never connected it to anything, and when the got to Dugobras they diplomacized him into answering any questions they wanted, but then asked no questions.
So F&F are coming back after the smoking eye, and they're going to have OTHER pieces of the puzzle-- they're going to know that the cages were being built by one group but not enchanted. That the workmanship seemed to be giant related. That the Ebon Triad wants to combine three gods.
Hopefully I can spin it that the party is providing F&F with vital clues they need while F&F are providing the party with the gaps in the story.