Zon-Kuthonite PCs and the AP (Spoilers for CotCT players !)

[Adrien Wasila]

Hello .

I hope you may be able to provide me with advice . I am about to run Curse of the Crimson Throne as a Play-By-Post after seeing a DM-less group thread on the boards .

I have indicated that I'd prefer a non-evil party because I'd like to emphasize party co-operation and the adventure's heroic pitting of non-evil characters against the evil Queen Ileosa and her assorted minions . One of the players has pitched a concept of a LN Inquisitor of Zon-Kuthon and I was wondering how you'd handle such a character concept within CotCT

To my mind a LN Zon-Kuthonite is probably involved in judicial torture or executions of some sort and historical evidence from Renaissance/Enlightenment era Europe suggests that executioners and their aides often filled in as coroners/anatomists because they could perform autopsies and had access to the bodies of the condemned (making death masks etc) . I have suggested this possibility to the player (e.g the character might be an executioner's apprentice) , but I am a bit concerned about his description of the character as 'antisocial' . If the character is Rorsach-like this could be damaging to the enjoyment of the other players. This also raises the question of torture (likely an evil act) within a non-evil party . A case of 'going back to the drawing board' ?

On the other hand it raises interesting possibilities for future volumes of the AP where the church of Zon-Kuthon features heavily (e.g Skeletons of Scarwall) . What are you thoughts on the viability of a non-evil Zon-Kuthonite in a party playing Edge of Anarchy and beyond ?

I have also suggested that the player should take a look at the "Zon Kuthon ,Shelyn and Lifestyle issues' thread on the boards in case the the player is interested in going along with some of the ideas about worshipping Shelyn and Zon-Kuthon as twinned deities or a masochistic character worshipping Shelyn .

It's very early days (character concept stage) but I'd appreciate some guidance . Thanks !

[Heaven's Agent]

If the player runs the character as described by the setting, you're likely going to experience a few inter-party conflicts along the way; even though the character is not evil, his deity most definitely is. Torture of others and/or self-mutilation are likely to be common themes for this character, and as a lawful neutral character, the occasional evil action made in the name of his deity would be justified from an alignment standpoint. Honestly, if you're looking for a non-evil party, I would extend this to all aspects of the characters' designs, including choice of deity.

As far as issues with an antisocial character, they are limited somewhat by the nature of PbP gaming. He's likely going to still play well with others and contribute, and if he doesn't simply remind the player that there is usually a long line of others ready to jump into an active PbP. PbP games also allow a player to utilize internal dialogue and description to indicate an antisocial character's actions, without resorting to words or even holding a conversation with anyone else in the group.

In my experience with antisocial characters and PbP games, though, eventually most players grow tired of these PCs. Pathfinder is a social game, and attempting to play an antisocial character in such an environment can be tiring, and at times downright exhausting. Then again, sometimes it comes naturally.