So I am beginning the HC version of the adventure path, and 1 of my players decided to run a Paladin and a Cleric of Pelor (we have fewer players than the suggested 6, so he volunteered to double up).
I scowered the H/C for info on the slain clerics of Pelor - there doesn't seem to be any mention of their names, levels, etc.
Looking for info on how other DM's have handled having players who had clerics/paladins/followers of Pelor in the party.
I'm trying to add a more in-depth background for the player.
I told him that they were in Sasserine for the last year getting "Trained" at the larger Temple there, so they weren't in Cauldron during the murders, but they surely would have known the clerics.
Does the current cleric, Kristof, know they were murdered, or since Embril plane-shifted the bodies, are they simply MIA, and if so, why isn't anyone actively looking for them?
Were the clerics that were done in successors to each other, or were they all there simultaneously, and off'd together, or one by one?
Is Kristof technically the high priest of the shrine, or is the Management from one of the large Temples sending a replacement?
And Lastly, the player's Paladin has the Scion of Surrabar trait - is there somewhere in the adventure that tells if Surrabar followed any of the deities represented in the AP?
There are some good threads on this subject in the archives. Here's a Link to one regarding the murder of the other clerics. If you search the message boards for shrine of pelor, you're bound to dig up a few more.
In my version of the game, the clerics were murdered by last laugh assasins, and it was made to look like an accident. Embril ordered and payed for the assasination, but wasn't directly involved.
Her motive was control of the shrine. She intended to kill all three priests, but due to some unbelievable luck, Christoff got away. The shrine is a location of ancient power, older than cauldron itself, and one of the reasons reasons the cagewrights came to the city in the first place.
In my game, the cleric of pelor was sent from the temple in sasserine to Cauldron as a replacement for the three priests. It was all the temple could spare at the time.
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I think Chef's Slaad's explanation is excellent, especially if you want the shrine to have a more important role in the AP.
I don't really think it makes sense that Embril would plane shift the bodies away - that would make it look more like a murder than anything else. Speak with Dead isn't an issue if she or someone else weakened the roof above their heads while they slept, since they would have no idea what happened to them.
I scowered the H/C for info on the slain clerics of Pelor - there doesn't seem to be any mention of their names, levels, etc.
As far as I know they are nameless so feel free to create names, levels, backgrounds etc yourself.
I'm trying to add a more in-depth background for the player.
I told him that they were in Sasserine for the last year getting "Trained" at the larger Temple there, so they weren't in Cauldron during the murders, but they surely would have known the clerics.
On a side note - Who trained them? If you have left this fairly vague I would say that the Arch Bishop of the Sasserine Cathedrial where they trained was the disguised Cagewright Master - Shebeleth. See the thread called Adimarchus and the Cagewrights for more details on foreshowing Shebeleth in this way.
Does the current cleric, Kristof, know they were murdered, or since Embril plane-shifted the bodies, are they simply MIA, and if so, why isn't anyone actively looking for them?
In my game I followed a similiar line as what Chief did. I had my party rogue out training with his mentor on a rooftop when the adventure first began when he witnessed the assassination of the two pelor superiors. Jil finished off the high priest when he put up too much of a fight for her Last Laugh underlings.
Later the character heard the nesw that the priests had been killed attempting to rescue some of their faithful from a raging housefire when the roof suddenly collapsed. In the aftermath their was no sign of their remains.
During the Test of the Smoking Eye adventure (I'm still not there yet :)) the party will find the bodies within one of the Cysts on Occiptus where Embril planeshifted them to. They will be too long dead for a raise but will provide immediate information of their deaths and suspicions of the church of Wee jas via speak with dead spells.
Were the clerics that were done in successors to each other, or were they all there simultaneously, and off'd together, or one by one?
Is Kristof technically the high priest of the shrine, or is the Management from one of the large Temples sending a replacement?
Yes bring Kristof's superior - Shebeleth in during Chapter 3/4 (see above)
And Lastly, the player's Paladin has the Scion of Surrabar trait - is there somewhere in the adventure that tells if Surrabar followed any of the deities represented in the AP?
No but feel free to create. I would say he was more a devotee of a druidic/earth mother patron or Earth Elemental Prince than Pelor but if it you would prefer to link him to you players this way then I can not see any problem with that.
Have fun. Hope you and your players have a great time playing through the SCAP
Delvesdeep
P.S. Check out theRPGenius.com site for extra information, documents, ideas that have been written up byt other DMs to make the adventure even more developed and exciting.
The characters in my campaign are children/proteges of an adventuring group that operated in Cauldron 10 years prior to the campaign starting. Two of the members of that original party were a cleric of Pelor, and her husband, a paladin of Pelor. The party's cleric is their daughter. When she eventually finds out that Embril had her parents killed, it will be extra motivation for our cleric to oppose her.
In my campaign there is a noble cleric of Pelor as a PC. I made one of the murdered clerics his mother, to further connect them to the story.
At the same time his family lands and estates were claimed via various sneaky and underhanded dealing and they had the manor house burned down destroying it and killing the PCs father also. He has currently learned that the temple of Wee-Jas and several noble houses now own everything his family once had. He still has the status of noble but is pretty much broke and on his own.
Later when the truth is discovered about his parrents I expect the RP to be great fun.
I also linked in another character (Favored soul of Kord, and noble) into this plot as his family was helping the Pelor temple investigate what was going on. That characters family suffered a imilar fate. In what even they know is NOT an accident.