Would there be any particular disadvantage to killing Arael and Janiven off near the end of the first adventure?
The reason I ask is it seems my players are completely willing to just do whatever the pair ask of them and I'd like to give them a little kick into self-motivation.
I was thinking of having Arael and Co. arrested by the city while the group is finishing exploration of the Bastards lair. The characters return topside and find that the two are scheduled for a public execution. This would help in a few ways that I can see.
1. Put the players on their own path. Perhaps they discover Arael's notes about the city, serving to give any information they would have otherwise gotten from Arael.
2. Give them some extra motivation in the form of revenge.
3. Make the situation in the city seem worse and the hopes of the common folk dark, leading to a whole night is darkest before the dawn feeling.
Ailyn would still contact the group, since they've become the de facto rebellion presence in the city.
I was also hoping one of the editors could let me know if Arael and Janiven are crucial to either of the final two adventures.
Creative Director
|
Arael and Janiven have no load-bearing role in any of the adventures beyond the first; they're there basically to serve as convenient ways to send the PCs on missions. If your group of players is good about finding their own missions and is self-motivated, then you don't really need either Arael or Janiven.
They're also in there to give the PCs some NPC allies, whether to eventually develop into romantic interests, cohorts, replacement PCs, or whatever. Basically... to serve as reminders to the PCs that not every NPC out there is their enemy; some of them are friends.
One thing that you should be VERY careful of is setting up friendly NPCs just so you can use them later as leverage against the PCs. If you make a habit of killing off every friend the PCs make (or worse, having every friend end up betraying them), then the players might start losing interest in seeing NPCs as anything other than liabilities or potential threats.
My suggestion would be to put Arael and the others put in danger and then let the PCs try to save them. If they fail, they're dead and the PCs are on their own. If they succeed, though, the PCs feel like they're doing stuff!
Also, having Arael and Co. executed sounds like a GREAT way to derail the PCs into a different type of adventure than what's coming in"The Sixfold Trial." I mean... the PCs won't really be motivated to be subtle and mingle with the aristocracy if they just saw those same government agents execute their friends for charges that were trumped up and cruel and unusual, eh?
Wouldn't it be kinda cool if an assassin was sent to take our Arael?
He did greatly embarrass some very powerful people, after all. If the PC manage to thwart it, then cool. If they don't, then they have lost their crutch and gained a potential recurring enemy.
It would also bring home the seriousness of the game here. People are playing for keeps.
But, as cool as it would be, I don't think it fits with the way the Rack thinks.
Darn.
"Guys, we've got dark times ahead of us. Arael and Janiven have just been killed for crimes of rebellion. We will have to be the light in the night and lead this city to freedom. Do any of you, have any plans on how to do this?"
-bard raises his hand-
"We perform in a play, and go to dinner."