I'm due to start up my Savage Tide campaign, using Pathfinder, in a little over a month. I've got five players, and I've worked with two of them -- the swashbuckler and the rogue -- to create backgrounds which are distinctly anti-Scarlet Brotherhood. (The swashbuckler is the last surviving scion of a noble family the Brotherhood purged when they assassinated all those Sea Prince nobles (the description of the Scarlet Embassy specifically says it was built on the burned ruins of a former noble family); the rogue is a half-elven bastard of Keltar Islaran's now-mysterously-deceased fist wife. In this background, that action -- and the fact that the bastard child was hanging around as perpetual reminder of Keltar getting cuckolded -- is what helped to turn Keltar towards being a full-blown agent of the Brotherhood. Enough so that he helped them with supplies and transportation when they performed their purge, and so his position as Harbormaster was elevated. Between that and Keltar's pre-Brotherhood-purge remarriage to a woman of pure Sueloise blood, the young bastard half-elf has had to deal with a lot of anti-demihuman prejudice from a very young age, and even from his own family.)
Anyways. I had an odd idea for the end of There Is No Honor, when it mentions that Rowyn will try to recruit the adventurers. What if she claims that the actions she took -- assassinating Keltar, trying to seize control of the Sasserine underworld and shipping concerns, etc. -- was all done to stand off the potential influence of a Scarlet Brotherhood takeover? She couldn't act openly, she'd say, because the Brotherhood has a great many capable soldiers and wizards, but indirectly... surreptitiously... sure, why not? My thinking is that this argument will very much connect with both the swashbuckler and the rogue, and possibly some of the others.
Here's the thing, though -- even if Rowyn's not being wholly honest about her motivations, the possibility that she is in favor of Sasserine self-determination (under her and Heldrath Kellani's rule, of course) isn't that far-fetched. Both she and her mother presumably have a wide range of experience and knowledge of other lands and current events; they'd know fairly well that the Scarlet Brotherhood had forcefully annexed more than a few other nations.
To include this in my campaign could be worthwhile, but some small shifts would seem needed. For one thing, if the characters are captured or whatnot, she wouldn't be selling them to the Brotherhood. The Crimson Fleet, maybe, but not the Brotherhood.
And if she does succeed in converting the adventurers to her cause... does that necessarily mean that they'd stop working for Lavinia Vanderboren? After all, Rowyn might well want them to keep doing so, simply as an additional layer of subterfuge between Rowyn, her agents (the PCs), and the Brotherhood. Rowyn might even end up in a "business partnership" with Lavinia, surreptitiously loaning her money stolen from the Vanderboren vaults.
I also found myself wondering just what, well, questionable missions Rowyn might send her new top agents on. Stealing artifacts or magic from an individual Rowyn has denounced as Brotherhood-associated? Sure. Assassination of a Brotherhood agent? Easily possible, and quite plausible if the players were given a chance to aim themselves at the Embassy. The fiery destruction of the Telavanta Dance Academy, a known hideout and training ground for Brotherhood agents (which includes amongst its students the three Sueloise pureblood younger sisters of the rogue)? Oooooo, character morality choices!
If they go with Rowyn as their primary employer, too, the question of how the Brotherhood will be handled in Sasserine has to be answered before the PCs depart the city in Sea Wyvern's Wake. If that's the case, Rowyn would probably end up staying behind in Sasserine to oversee the breadth of her new domain... but her place could easily be taken by a vengeful Scarlet Brotherhood agent looking to sabotage a Rowyn-backed venture.
So I guess my final question is... does this alteration in Rowyn's motivations make sense? Can she be made to believe wholeheartedly in getting rid of the Brotherhood in Sasserine, without losing that cold-hearted evil nature of hers that has served to get her this far?
Absolutely - the motivation to rid Sasserine of the Brotherhood does not conflict with her modus operandi of cold-hearted evil. She would assess her intelligence and make plans accordingly. If the player characters are willing pawns, so much the better. If they are willing double-agents, that is great as well. The players may like being double agents as well, as it gives them an option in case Rowyn gets captured or worse. They may also come to plan on their own to 86 the elections for Council of Farshore.
Just be sure to read ahead through the rest of the STAP and 'forecast' the alterations you will need to make to accomdate your campaign's altered Rowyn Kellani.
You may need to consider fertilizing a few NPCs to take Lavinia's place in the latter stages of the STAP, *especially* after Vanthus' assault on the colony - since your campaign's Lavinia may well have been messily dispatched by your player characters as an expendable political asset...
Absolutely - the motivation to rid Sasserine of the Brotherhood does not conflict with her modus operandi of cold-hearted evil. She would assess her intelligence and make plans accordingly. If the player characters are willing pawns, so much the better. If they are willing double-agents, that is great as well. The players may like being double agents as well, as it gives them an option in case Rowyn gets captured or worse. They may also come to plan on their own to 86 the elections for Council of Farshore.
Just be sure to read ahead through the rest of the STAP and 'forecast' the alterations you will need to make to accomdate your campaign's altered Rowyn Kellani.
You may need to consider fertilizing a few NPCs to take Lavinia's place in the latter stages of the STAP, *especially* after Vanthus' assault on the colony - since your campaign's Lavinia may well have been messily dispatched by your player characters as an expendable political asset...
I'm brainstorming to come up with ideas for later, though I definitely do need to read through the AP up through... City of Broken Idols, I think? I'm fairly familiar with the first four segments, just from everything I've read on these boards.
I can really only see Rowyn as willing to send her best associates (assuming the PCs take the job, that is) off on a multi-month expedition if the Brotherhood's hold on Sasserine has been seriously disrupted. That alone could turn into a campaign-within-a-campaign, with the final step being to not only destroy the existing Brotherhood forces and influence but expose them, somehow, and turn most of the opinion of Sasserine against them as well.
Once the Brotherhood's foothold in Sasserine was removed, I can see Rowyn as willing to dispatch her top "agents" on a long-term mission to the Isle of Dread. Possibly it could be under the auspices that the Brotherhood is looking to choke off trade routes and unduly influence a distant colony.
The real question in my mind is how best to transition between an earthly, if tyrannical, enemy (the Scarlet Brotherhood) and an extradimensional and wholly evil one (Demogorgon, the fiends, and the threat of the Savage Tide). The Brotherhood seems so staunchly racial-purity (both human and Sueloise) that I doubt they would ally themselves with demons at all. (Hell, backstory for the swashbuckler character -- which even the player doesn't know quite yet -- is that the main reason his family was purged was because his father was a warlock who had entered into dark pacts with devils.)
The Scarlet Brotherhood have a vast number of colonies along the route of the Sea Wyvern from Sasserine to the Isle of Dread proper. You could skip anything you don't like and insert Brotherhood foes for the characters to loot, pillage and plunder to provide necessry XP. Rowyn finds out that the Brotherhood is extending their tendrils towards the long-term potential economic benefits that the exotic goods of the Isle of Dread offers is sure to provide an excellent motivator.
I would change the bullywug strike team (Chapter 2) to a Scarlet Brotherhood strike team. You could also 'reflavor' Rowyn's guild into an underground resistance against the covert mechanations of the Brotherhood in Sasserine, have Vanthus working as a loose cannon for the Brotherhood-affiliated Crimson Fleet and whatsherface the high-level duelist have been an unwitting pawn, later realizing that not even the Brotherhood has recognized that the Big D's agencies are not going to care about obliterating Suloise and non-Suloise alike. Rather easy to do given the higher-than-7th-level and lower mook NPCs' ability scores and skill bonuses (as compared to the major players of the STAP, let alone the PCs) as compared to demons' bonuses in such matters.
Also, don't forget in PRPG demons can possess (especially Shadow Demons) the weak-minded...
For example ... I retooled Olangru for PRPG a bit:
BKA
Augmented Antagonist Babau Rogue 10 CR 13
Medium Outsider (Chaotic, Evil, Extraplanar, Tanar’ri)
Strong Aura of Chaos and Evil
Speed: 30 feet
Senses: Darkvision 60 feet; Perception +31, Sense Motive +23
Hit Points: 277 (7d10 racial HD [70] +11d8 class HD [88] +108 Con +11 favored class) {18 total HD}; DR 10/cold iron or good
Defenses:
AC: {22} x w/ gear; {26} x w/ gear & mobility (touch AC +8 natural); uncanny dodge/improved uncanny dodge
Touch AC: {14} x w/ gear; {18} x w/ gear & mobility (10 +3 Dex +1 dodge +x deflection); uncanny dodge/improved uncanny dodge
Immune to electricity and poisons; Resist acid 10, cold 10, fire 10; SR 24
Special Defense: Protective Slime (Su): Any weapon that touches Olangru takes 1d8 acid damage, against which the weapon’s hardness does not apply. A magical weapon may attempt a DC 25 Reflex saving throw to avoid taking this damage. Creatures that strike him with unarmed strikes, natural weapons or melee touch spells take this damage as well, with the same saving throw permitted to negate. The saving throw DC is Constitution-based. [10 +9 +6 Con]
Feint DC 33 (10 + Sense Motive bonus)
Intimidate DC 30 (10 +18 total HD +2 Wisdom modifier)
Saving Throws: Fortitude +19 (base 5 +3 rogue +6 Con +5 insight); Reflex +20, evasion (base 5 +7 rogue +3 Dex +5 insight); Will +15 (base 5 +3 rogue +2 Wis +5 insight)
SQ: Telepathy 100 feet, Sneak Attack +8d6 (2d6 racial +6d6 rogue), uncanny dodge, improved uncanny dodge, evasion, trapfinding, racial +8 on Perception and Stealth checks, Trap Sense +3, rogue talents x4, advanced rogue talent, ignores any miss chance due to concealment (including total concealment)
Languages: Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Draconic, Olman and Suloise
Spell-like Abilities: (CL 18th, dispel DC 29, save DC = [10 +SL +5 Cha]; At Will – darkness, dispel magic, see invisibility, teleport (instead of greater teleport, permitting attempts to take creatures with him that fail the Will saving throw DC of 20 [15 +5 Cha]) and telekinesis (DC 20); 3/day – Quickened Teleport
Ability Scores: 22 Str (+6), 17 Dex (+3), 22 Con (+6), 16 Int (+3), 14 Wis (+2), 20 Cha (+5)
Feats: Proficiency with claws, bite, all simple weapons, all martial weapons and one exotic weapon (rogue exchange), light armor proficiency (rogue); Multiattack, Power Attack [-4/+8], Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack, Vital Strike/Improved Vital Strike/Greater Vital Strike and Quicken Teleport 3/day
Skills: Acrobatics +24 (18r +3t +3 Dex), Climb +27 (18r +3t +6 Str), Craft [traps] +24 (18r +3t +3 Int), Disable Device +24 (18r +3t +3 Int), Disguise +26 (18r +3t +5 Cha), Escape Artist +24 (18r +3t +3 Dex), Knowledge [local] +24 (18r +3t +3 Int), Perception +31 (18r +3t +2 Wis +8 racial), Sense Motive +23 (18r +3t +2 Wis), Sleight of Hand +24 (18r +3t +3 Dex), Stealth +32 (18r +3t +3 Dex +8 racial), Survival +23 (18r +3t +2 Wis) and Use Magic Device +26 (18r +3t +5 Cha)
Base Attack +15/+10/+5
To facilitate Olangru as the principle agent behind the lower-end Scarlet Brotherhood manipulations, simply add the Spellpowered template for a 1 point increase to his CR. For this +1 CR, give him the ability to magic jar 3/day as a spell-like ability with a DC of 20.
I like the original Olangru's gear load out - especially the ring of the ram, but I leave that to you to customize to fit your campaign.
The Scarlet Brotherhood have a vast number of colonies along the route of the Sea Wyvern from Sasserine to the Isle of Dread proper. You could skip anything you don't like and insert Brotherhood foes for the characters to loot, pillage and plunder to provide necessry XP. Rowyn finds out that the Brotherhood is extending their tendrils towards the long-term potential economic benefits that the exotic goods of the Isle of Dread offers is sure to provide an excellent motivator.
I would change the bullywug strike team (Chapter 2) to a Scarlet Brotherhood strike team.
Interesting thought. I was actually considering making a Brotherhood strike team take the place of Diamondback and her preposterous stilt-assassins.
Another thing I wanted to do was run the Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan, slightly updated to PF standards. If I were to introduce a competing Scarlet Brotherhood archaelogical team (which Rowyn tells the team about via sending or the like -- or, hell, it could be that documents discovered in the completion of the nix-the-Brotherhood-influence-in-Sasserine mini-arc lead to knowledge of that and Brotherhood ambitions on the Isle of Dread, and that's what leads Rowyn to support Lavinia's expedition), it could introduce a very worthwhile Indy-vs-Belloch Raiders of the Lost Ark vibe.
I find myself contemplating re-watching season 1 of Alias for the evil-organization-within-the-facade-of-a-good-organization feel. *grin*
Also, don't forget in PRPG demons can possess (especially Shadow Demons) the weak-minded...
For example ... I retooled Olangru for PRPG a bit:
** spoiler omitted **...
Hmmmmm. *eyes Shadow Demon bestiary entry* That could make things verrrrry interesting.
As it turns out, I actually am house-ruling that scouts transfer over from 3.5. They're used with the ixit's in TiNH, after all, and honestly I think the mechanism is one that isn't entirely duplicated within PFRPG as yet. Additionally, without the Swift Hunter and Improved Skirmish feats, they're nowhere near overpowered compared to the updated PF base classes. That's why I'm contemplating just using the Turbo-Olangru bar-lgura scout build you posted way back when. : )
The original 'Turbo Olangru' was another community member's stat block. My version was just plain nastier - especially the Ghost-Faced Killer version. ^_^
As it turns out, I actually am house-ruling that scouts transfer over from 3.5. They're used with the ixit's in TiNH, after all, and honestly I think the mechanism is one that isn't entirely duplicated within PFRPG as yet....
Dorkistan has the vanguard, which is essentially scout renamed and tweaked slightly... here's the link, might provide some ideas for your transfer :)
IMC, the Brotherhood were already in charge of the city in which TINH and TBG take place. Rowyn's motivation was to overthrown the Brotherhood and restore the (rightful?) nobility to power. My players already had some knowledge of the oppressiveness of the Brotherhood. So when the PCs were pitted against Rowyn, it made for more difficult choices / better roleplaying. The PCs still decided to stop her, since her methods were less than admirable.
What kind of methods are we talking about? I've got some ideas in mind, but I'd love to hear what yours were.
(In mine: the rogue is the half-elven bastard child of Dockmaster Keltar Islaran's deceased wife. Islaran since remarried a woman of pure Sueloise blood and had three very Sueloise daughters by her (now in their teens), and aided the Scarlet Brotherhood in their overthrow of the Sea Prince forces in Sasserine ten years past. Said daughters are attending the Televantas Dance Academy, which inquiring DMs know is a front for training young Brotherhood agents.
My thinking is that the reason Rowyn had Keltar Islaran killed was not only because he was Dockmaster and eliminating him advances her family's (and the Lotus Dragons') potential influence, but because he was a stooge for the Brotherhood as well. And should the PCs choose to side with Rowyn, it seems plausible that she would wish them to eliminate the Televantas Academy as well... down to every last student-recruit, including the rogue's younger stepsisters. It'll be interesting to see whether the players balk at that... or whether, for that matter, the rogue even admits to the other characters that his sisters are in training there.)
What kind of methods are we talking about? I've got some ideas in mind, but I'd love to hear what yours were.She had planned to unleash hordes of hungry rhagodessae on the Brotherhood by hiding rhagodessa eggs inside stuffed animals. She didn't seem to mind the carnage and chaos the plan would inflict on the city as a whole.
- I replaced all of the exotic animals on the Nixie with crates of rhagodessa eggs. (Keep the one adult rhagodessae... she's an egg-layer.)
- I sprinkled a few more crates of eggs around the taxidermist's shop, along with some hollow and/or egg-implanted animal trophies, to make the point obvious. (My players burned the place to the ground to get rid of all the eggs.)
- I changed the flavor text of the "war room" in the Lotus Dragon lair to reflect the elements of the plan.My players had no love of the Brotherhood, but they knew that hungry young rhagodessae are not exactly discerning diners and many innocents would die if Rowyn's plan came to fruition.
Mmmmm ... call deathbug horde sounds like a pretty spiffy spell to me...
What kind of methods are we talking about? I've got some ideas in mind, but I'd love to hear what yours were.She had planned to unleash hordes of hungry rhagodessae on the Brotherhood by hiding rhagodessa eggs inside stuffed animals. She didn't seem to mind the carnage and chaos the plan would inflict on the city as a whole.
- I replaced all of the exotic animals on the Nixie with crates of rhagodessa eggs. (Keep the one adult rhagodessae... she's an egg-layer.)
- I sprinkled a few more crates of eggs around the taxidermist's shop, along with some hollow and/or egg-implanted animal trophies, to make the point obvious. (My players burned the place to the ground to get rid of all the eggs.)
- I changed the flavor text of the "war room" in the Lotus Dragon lair to reflect the elements of the plan.My players had no love of the Brotherhood, but they knew that hungry young rhagodessae are not exactly discerning diners and many innocents would die if Rowyn's plan came to fruition.
Actually, that gives me an intriguing idea for the "discredit the Scarlet Brotherhood" campaign... what if Rowyn somehow managed to make it look as though the Brotherhood was implanting the rhagodessa eggs in ... well, whatever? If the eggs/larvae weren't particularly large, they could even be hidden inside potions or wine bottles to be imbibed. Some time later the partially grown vermin would burst out, killing the host in the process and wreaking havoc among those nearby... and nicely foreshadowing what might happen to Father Feres on the voyage of the Sea Wyvern...
Shades of Age of Worms, Alien, and that recent Fringe episode that had a Chinese gang smuggling biological-substance secreters inside illegal immigrants (two-foot-long tapeworm-lampreys that gestated inside said immigrants and usually killed them coming out).
When combined with an underhanded rumormongering campaign, something to emphasize how brutal and amoral the Brotherhood is in other lands, that could go quite a ways towards lessening the influence of the Scarlet Brotherhood in Sasserine.
"In the captured lands - Idee, Onnwal, the Lordship of the Isles, and the former Hold of the Sea Princes - Scarlet Brotherhood agents now hold nearly every position of power. Amedio and Hepmonaland natives roam these lands in packs, obediently following the beck and call of the Scarlet monks. Worse yet, foul half-breed creatures, likely created in the halls of Hesuel Ilshar itself, are now used to instill fear in the occupied lands. The exact numbers of Scarlet Brothers and Sisters in the taken lands is not known at this time. What is known is that existence there is hellish, and many of those who cannot escape commit suicide by the day..."
"Your mission, should you chose to accept it, is to stealthily infiltrate the villa of this noble the Brotherhood is courting, and replace several of the bottles of wine the Scarlets have gifted to them..." *evil grin*
Also, don't forget in PRPG demons can possess (especially Shadow Demons) the weak-minded...
For example ... I retooled Olangru for PRPG a bit:
** spoiler omitted **...
*blink blink* Whoa. I actually took the time to look over the entirety of Ingrooloo and, um, where exactly does that +20 insight bonus to hit with his claws and with his CMB come from?
CR 13?!? You threw that at level 7 characters in HTBM? I know from reading your campaign journal that your PCs are tough, but gyaaaaah!