How much should Brodert know about Thassilonia? For example how much of the Thassilonian material in PF#1 would Brodert actually know?
I've been tackling with this issue lately. I want him to be a source for background information, but I also don't want to take the air out of discoveries the party makes along the way.
How have you handled this issue?
Thanks for any assistance!
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I had him befriend a PC early on, and express serious curiosity about all the Thassilonian stuff that they found. My PCs ended up ignoring a lot of clues, so I've had Brodert figure things out along the way. I'm deciding how much stuff players should know at any given point and then having him fill stuff in.
If my players were into figuring out the mystery for themselves (a style they sometimes play even though they're not this time) then I wouldn't be doing this. I think it comes down a lot to what would be most fun for your players.
Thanks for sharing!
I just re-found what James had mentioned a while ago in response to a similiar question, which may be helpful This info was compiled by Tim Shadow.
Q: A little harder question here- does Mr. Jacobss have any recommendations on the DC's for knowing information about ancient Thassilion? I read another thread where he said another GM was probably okay with what he had already revealed.. but since I haven't run it yet and I have the benefit of foresight, could he give me some insight on how much info he would dole out for certain DC checks?
A:(James Jacobs) It's a base DC 30 to know simple information about Thassilon, using bardic knowledge or Knowledge (history). There'll be some advice given in Pathfinder 2, but keep in
mind that the vast majority of the information given in Pathfinder 1's section on Thassilon is currently "forgotten." The PCs will have a chance to learn a lot of this information near the end of the fourth adventure. For now, don't give up too much information. The PCs can certainly learn with a DC 30 check that the seven-pointed star is known as the Sihedron Rune, and that it symbolizes the seven schools of magic of Thassilon. But much more beyond this should remain secret until adventure 4.
Creative Director
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Now that we're a year into the world's development, keeping Thassilon more secret isn't AS important. When we launched the AP, we wanted readers and players to be introduced to the world itself, not the world as it was 10,000 years ago, so we chose to keep Thassilon relatively on the hush.
That said, it's still probably a good idea to keep things in Rise of the Runelords kinda hush hush on Thassilon. Varisia's settlement by the southern nations is still very recent, after all; the area's still mostly unexplored and frontier-like. The baseline for knowledge about Thassilon should still be DC 30 at the start of Rise of the Runelords, but once that campaign's over and assuming the PCs aren't secretive with their discoveries of certain Thassilonian locations along the way, Thassilon lore becomes more widespread. At this point, I could easily see DCs drop down to 20 and up.
In the end, though, you WANT the PCs to learn about the runelords before too long, though, and having Brodert there to tell them about the runelords is a great option. He's sort of supposed to be the guy who everyone thinks is a crackpot (the Old Light was a flamethrower? Come ON!) but is actually pretty much right about what Thassilon was like. Using Bordert to dish out tidbits about Thassilon (perhaps as he himself makes some discoveries and translations along the way) is a great way to get the info across to the PCs, but you shouldn't go TOO crazy. After all... when they discover the Thassilonian library in Adventure #4... they should still have lots of questions needing answers that the library can provide, otherwise its discovery might seem anticlimactic.
In the end, though, you WANT the PCs to learn about the runelords before too long, though, and having Brodert there to tell them about the runelords is a great option.
Very true. All to often the GM ends up on sitting on a lot of information for no reason at all, just because "its a secret" or some such. In truth, the GM really WANTS to characters to find out all the secrets. Helps keep the players hooked to the game as well.
The characters in my campaign ended up taking Erylium alive (Didn't see that one coming. Really.), so instead of her just buttoning up, I used her to drop tons of good story-stuff on the unsuspecting characters. At the moment they're holding her prisoner inside a ward at the Turandarok Academy under the watchful eye of the headmaster. And boy, do I have future plans for her! ;)
Thanks for the update James.
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Thanks for the response! So the impression i'm getting if someone how the PC's here the name Karzoug and they decide to ask Brodert about it, there is a chance he would,
"Karzoo, Karzouu, Kaarzo..Karzoug you say? Hmmm, I recall seeing the name somewhere yes. But it's meaning...hmm could've been a ruler from the Thassalonian era...or perhaps a diety for the peoples...hmmm, yes perhaps...though i'm not certain."
How does that sound?