Luring them in

[hnlockwood]

Well, I've started running CoT on a play-by-post site, and everyone seems to be having fun so far. I have two groups, each of 5 players, and both are sat areound a table talking with Janiven.

Group A is all being very well-behaved; one is saying "do you actually have a plan, or are you going with optimism and opportunism?". Most of the rest are saying "yes, let's do it!".

Group B is apparently full of cynics. The main grumbler is the rogue, who states that "freedom" will just lead to fewer opportunities to make money due to reprisals from the nobility whenever they are crossed. He's asking Janiven for payment up-front for his services, which she doesn't have.

I'm wary of just introducing the Hellknights to force the party together; they're bright enough to see that as railroading. On the other hand, I need to get the characters invested in the plot. So what do I do?

[FarmerBob]

hnlockwood wrote:

Group B is apparently full of cynics. The main grumbler is the rogue, who states that "freedom" will just lead to fewer opportunities to make money due to reprisals from the nobility whenever they are crossed. He's asking Janiven for payment up-front for his services, which she doesn't have.

I'm wary of just introducing the Hellknights to force the party together; they're bright enough to see that as railroading. On the other hand, I need to get the characters invested in the plot. So what do I do?

I spent a lot of time before the campaign started to lay out the environment and concept of the AP to my group, and told them to build characters who are motivated to serve the public good more than personal wealth. I also had fairly detailed backstories for each character that gave them specific instances of how they've been wronged by the status quo, along with motivation for it to be in their best interest to be help the citizens of Westcrown.

Even so, I got a few "why should we help?" looks. In the end, their protests diminished when the Hellknights showed up, and they were now guilty by association.

Out of game, they simply accepted that this was the premise for the AP and rolled with it. Most APs are generally railroads to a large extent, so they went with it.

My advice is to either let the players figure out a way that makes sense for their PCs to participate, or have Janiven thank them for their time, and ask the players to generate PCs that fit better for Janiven to recruit. Janiven wasn't looking to hire adventures or recruit people who were not already sympathetic to the cause.

The AP really isn't good for your typical merc who only does things for money/power. If they are looking to get paid for every act they perform on behalf of the Children of Westcrown, I think it will make for a less enjoyable AP.

[hnlockwood]

FarmerBob wrote:

My advice is to either let the players figure out a way that makes sense for their PCs to participate, or have Janiven thank them for their time, and ask the players to generate PCs that fit better for Janiven to recruit. Janiven wasn't looking to hire adventures or recruit people who were not already sympathetic to the cause.

The AP really isn't good for your typical merc who only does things for money/power. If they are looking to get paid for every act they perform on behalf of the Children of Westcrown, I think it will make for a less enjoyable AP.

Thanks for the advice! I decided to give it a little more time; play-by-post happens slowly. The other characters, including the half-orc monk whom I hadn't pegged as much of a talker, started offering arguments why they should do something. It only took Janiven a couple more arguments before at least half the group were on board, and then a group of Hellknights showed up. Whaddyaknow?

One of the players made an OOC remark: Horrible visions of Janiven locking the cellar door behind us are rolling through my head.

"The insurrectionists are firmly locked in the cellar officer. Here's the key."

I'm so tempted...

[Deidre Tiriel]

hnlockwood wrote:

He's asking Janiven for payment up-front for his services, which she doesn't have.

Technically, the book says she does, depending on how much he is asking for.

Pg. 11: "She approaches each PC differently, based on his own particular personality and, more importantly, his particular complaint. She wants the PCs to join her group, and if that means bribing them with money, using flattery or appealing to a sense of duty will get the job done, she'll do it.