I'm just curious if anyone else's groups reacted very negatively to Amella Venkalie? I guess "hate" is too strong a word, more like intense disdain. The group I am DMing is almost done with "Here There Be Monsters" and so far, while they loathe Avner, they direct most of their insults at Amella, who was captain of the Sea Wyvern for my group. "If we hadn't hit EVERY REEF on the way to the Isle, 'Captain' we wouldn't be walking through this hellhole island!" I've tried to play her as at least moderately sympathectic, but their disdain at her 'incompetence' seems to outweigh everything else.
Anyway, just curious if anyone else reacted this way. It kind of caught me off guard... I guess mostly because I didn't think to blame her, since I know the crashes were largely scripted. :)
I had a similar situation, except my PCs decided to hate Urol (he got them stuck in the Pearl Current for over a week, and then was unceremoniously relieved of his duties as navigator and replaced with Amella). It all went downhill from there, with Urol warning of dire consequences if the 'unqualified sailor' Amella was given the job, Amella whispering dark warnings of gnome conspiracies ("While the ship might have been lost, I wouldn't be surprised if Urol know exactly where he's going..."), the PC captain eventually beating Urol unconscious after one jab too many once Amella and the adventure script conspired to wreck the ship (and Tavey, who'd fixated on the captain, kicking Urol once he was down), Urol deserting the party after the wreck, the PC mage eventually convincing him to come back (Urol was the Isle of Dread expert, after all...) on condition that the captain be geased not to harm him again, and Urol eventually dying under Dark Mountain after the captain deliberately did not include him in the effect of his healing aura class ability - and in doing so, managed to ensure Urol's death without violating the letter of the geas.
Not what I expected (I was planning that Olangru would kidnap Amella in Fogmire and frame Urol for her murder...) but lots of fun. I'm trying to think of a way for him to come back that wouldn't seem cheap, but I can't really come up with anything at this point...
RPG Superstar 2013 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2011 Top 16
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Even though one of the party Clerics started shacking up with her, the rest of the group doesn't like her at all. Incompetence for getting them lost and stranded is the main reason, the other major one her brash demeanor, the consumate independant woman. This especially grated on my Goliath barbarians nerves as she refused to buckle down to his "we're the heroes, you need protecting so you better do as we say" attitude.
I'm taking steps to insure that players fill any role for which she's intended -- so she's not in my campaign.
Amella took a shining to my old coot of a navigator... so, no, we didn't hate her. They blamed my character instead. :)
From the Lidu Diaries:
Amella Venkalie looked like a woman destined for great things. Even though she was dressed in men’s clothing, and her face was marred with a thick scar under her right eye, she was clearly an attractive woman. She carried herself with poise and confidence. Her cold calculating eyes roamed the room and seemed to measure and judge everything they fell upon. Lavinia had selected her as a possible first mate, but according to what I had heard, her experience and knowledge of the sea probably surpassed that of Buffy or myself. I imagine that her knowledge surpassed even that of James. She would make a fine captain, but, for the time being, I would fill that roll. Her eyes eventually fell on us and I knew immediately what she was thinking “they’re young!” James, at the ripe old age of twenty two, was our eldest.
“Greeting Amella,” James said as she walked over to our table, “Please have a seat. Let me introduce everyone, I’m James, this is Buffy, Kiki, and Kale, and that,” he said pointing to me, “is Captain Tristan Lidu.”
“How old are you,” She immediately asked me.
“Slightly younger then Captain Rothschild the far seer when he took command of his first ship,” I said, displaying my knowledge of navel history. “But old enough to understand that being captain doesn’t automatically earn you respect, I’m old enough to respect the fact that I don’t know everything, and I’m old enough to listen to the advice and opinions of others.”
“What experience do you have?” she asked.
“Sailing? Little. That’s why we need an experienced first mate.” I said quickly, “Lavinia tells us that you have quite a bit of experience in that regard. Please tell us about it.”
“Well,” she said, sounding a bit more at ease, “my late husband and I had a small freight service not far from here. Only one ship but with the right cargo it was lucrative enough. I’ve spent almost twenty years on the sea, and a good number of those were working as me husband’s right. I know the sea (or as well as she’s willing to be known) and I know how to run a ship. You’ll not find another first mate of my experience without a ship anywhere in Sasserine. The devil take me if I’m lying. I’ll take the job, only because I need the work, but I don’t tolerate incompetence or fools. I’ll give you some leeway because you’re young, but the sea is no place to be playing, and if I feel you’re not up to the task I’ll take my leave at the first friendly port. Acceptiable?”
“Yes,” I said, shaking her hand, “Let’s draw up some papers.” It wasn’t until Amella left that I realized that it had been her conducting the interview and not the other way around.
I didn’t need to look to know who we were missing but Amella did a quick scan before growling “Avner . . .” He and his two servants had yet to arrive.
“He’ll probably be an hour or so,” I said to Amella, “nobles like to show up fashionably late.”
“Bloody n . . .” Amella said, catching herself.
“Nobles?” I finished. Amella scowled. “Yes we are a pretentious lot – some worse then others. It’s how we were taught to behave. We’re all about pomp and circumstance but we’re hardly the only class or occupation with it’s idiosyncrasies. I also fancy myself a scholar; we tend to bandy about large and possibly obscure words to make ourselves sound smart. But again it’s all pageantry, some of us are no smarter then your average street thug. The main difference is the vocabulary. We can talk for hours without resorting to obscenities! We act according to the roll we are expected to fill. That’s one of the reasons you’ll find the crew to be an ill-tempered uncouth lot, that doesn’t mean that they’re all filthy uneducated savages, it just means that’s the rolls and stereotypes that they’ve come to expect and try to fill. Really, the secret to understanding people is getting past all that.”
“I’m sorry,” Amella said after a few moments, “were you saying something?”
“Oh I was just agreeing with you,” I said with a sigh, “Bloody nobles!”
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My game was setup with a nautical/ sailing theme in mind, and as such, my PCs were almost all accomplished sailors. Amella was therefore not necessary as a captain, but was useful for such things as steering the ship during combats so the PC's could fight, and more importantly, for roleplay purposes. She served as a romantic interest for the Aventi monk. Said monk has gone on to take the Leadership feat, and make Amella his cohort (with benefits!). She has since taken a few levels of bard. This allows her to assist the rest of the party in combat without having to be directly involved herself.
Additionally, on the really hot days at sea, our mage would dish out a limited number of "Endure Elements" spells, and his alignment was such that he wasn't terribly shy about making it known that they would be given to those who did the most in his eyes to earn them (aka bribery). As an animal lover, he often cast it on Avner's horse (it's not the Horse's fault his owner was a tool), but beyond that it was often the case that he was politely asked NOT to cast it on Amella. It turns out that when Amella gets hot, she loses layers of clothing, which is good for the overall morale of the ship. :)
So, the short answer is no, our group doesn't hate Amella.
Yeah, my group hates her. They keep correcting her when she refers to the Sea Wyvern as "her" ship, reminding her that they technically own it as Amella is just the hired driver. The archivist PC actually just engaged in a huge debate with her, because as they sailed into a Farshore on fire, she started sobbing that the PCs were cursed and have ruined her life and the lives of her crew (all of whom died in the wreck on Mashers Reef). She told the PCs: "You don't all call yourselves anything, but I now know who you should be - the Black Cloud Company, for that's what you are."
At which the archivist argued, Hey, maybe YOU'RE the one who's cursed? Calamity has befallen us since we started sailing with you, etc. etc.
It's made for some good roleplaying, actually.
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It's interesting how different groups take or not take to different NPCs.
I think that's the #1 lesson I take from reading this message board. We are all using the same source material, but everyone has their own game and every group has its own dynamic. Even though the basic storyline is the same, each Savage Tide being played at each table is VASTLY different from every other.
I happen to think that's one of the things that make the AP, and to a broader extent, roleplaying in general, such a great thing. :)
Amella (huh ? she was Amelia to us...) stayed one of the blander NPCs, mostly due to the fact that we actually had competent characters to captain the ship on our own, and only used her as a backup "master".
So the blame was ours to bear (and our GM actually was quite deft in setting up a hopeless situation with the reefs so we couldn't really protest too much about bing driven onto the rocks )....
Throughout the rest of the STAP (up to Tides) she was kept mostly in the backrow to baby-sit NPCs like Tavey and Avner.
She is no "out of game" since she is crewing a captured ex-pirate carrack which serves as a supply-ship for Farshore.
Basically one of the least impressive minor sidekicks so far - but pretty interesting how group dynamics push different characters to the fore in different campaigns.
It's interesting how different groups take or not take to different NPCs.I think that's the #1 lesson I take from reading this message board. We are all using the same source material, but everyone has their own game and every group has its own dynamic. Even though the basic storyline is the same, each Savage Tide being played at each table is VASTLY different from every other.
I happen to think that's one of the things that make the AP, and to a broader extent, roleplaying in general, such a great thing. :)
Hell, in my campaign:
1. Avner and Thunderstrike drowned in the Sea Wyvern shipwreck.2. I made Skald a world-weary investigator of demon infestations. The party never trusted him until he was abducted by Olangru in Fogmire. They found Skald's guts in his backpack hanging from a tree. Eventually the PCs reincarnated him into a human.
3. Urol, scarred by his experience in Fogmire, has abandoned the druidic path and has now become an ascetic, living in a lonely sea-cave away from Farshore.
4. Amella is a taciturn and grumpy sea captain who wishes she never took on the job of sailing the PCs around.