I was curious what Faction groups have chosen and which have become their rivals.
Format
Faction: (Your Faction)
Rival: (Your Rival)
Other: (Comments on any of the other factions, if any have become secondary rivals or allies, etc.)
I was curious what Faction groups have chosen and which have become their rivals.
Format
Faction: (Your Faction)
Rival: (Your Rival)
Other: (Comments on any of the other factions, if any have become secondary rivals or allies, etc.)
Faction: My player's struggled between joining the Sargavan government and the Pathfinders, but eventually settled for the Pathfinders.
Rival: Mainly the Aspis consortium, they really didn't like how the PC's refused their offer.
Other: The Shackles pirates have been using Aerys, whom one of the PC's hooked up with on Smuggler's shiv, as a bargaining chip to get the PC' to join them. This let to a really heartbreaking goodbye in Eleder as the PC's started their expedition.
My players were torn between Sargavan Govt and Aspis Con. Eventually decided Aspis was the way to go, offered better support. (Even though they really disliked Aerys, and bonded with Gelik.)
I'm going to play up Pathfinders as a somewhat ineffectual (but focused) rivals, with the Mantis is the deadly-swarm-of-wasps that you don't want to draw the attention of.
In our game, the faction issue is ready to become a full-blown soap opera:
1) basically they have joined the Pathfinders, as they liked Gellik (especially our gnome Oracle) and they sounded competent for uncovering lost civilizations.
2) One party member has developed a romance with Sasha... she spilled the beans on the expedition early after a pub crawl. Sasha was the NPC rescued from the Freemen's Revolt and the Mantis could be friendly, but I am having the Mantis leader have love interests in Sasha too, thus making the Mantis a secondary adversary for personal reasons, at the very least.
3) The Aspis is our primary enemy, though Ishirou feels divided; he spent most of the first adventure scared or shaken by the Shiv, so he feels that the PCs uncovered his shame, but he is also grateful to them, he could help them at a critical point or become a total bastard.
4) the party rogue is a born Sargavan firebrand returned home, her family pounded her for info on the expedition, then tried to have her settle and marry an idiot Sargavan noble. This put the government into the scene, but our PC, to take some revenge and vindicate herself, finally threw her lot with the Pathfinders. Now, the rogue's "fiance attempt" is a lieutenant in the Sargavan expedition (a disastrous fop), but also sold off to the Aspis in order to have them sabotage the Pathfinders to "shame and tame" his rebellious betrothed. Jask feels more loyal to the party than to the Sargavans.
5) The Free Captains are some sort of friendly competitor. The party liked Aerys a lot and our ranger (former Jennivere crew) had some inconclusive flirting with her. I think I will play them as a bit of "comic relief", loud, ineffective, rum-loving pirates; the first to get slaughtered or to need rescue. Quite a bit of contrast to Aerys' epic poetry writing!
Faction: Red Mantis
Rival: Shackles Pirates (3 of whom are currently serving the PCs in a subservient capacity).
Other: The Aspis Consortium worked hard to recruit the PCs, and there's some disappointment that they ended up helping a different group. This may play out in chapter four.
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The way I'll be running the game is the PCs will all be assumed to be Pathfinders, but the PF Society won't have the manpower to mount an expedition. Thus the PCs will need to court the Sargavan Government, the Shackles Pirates or The Red Mantis, competing with the Aspis Consortium for the "secondary" factions.
But this isn't for a while yet, I have Kingmaker to get through.
My group joined the Pathfinders as they were the only good-aligned faction in my version of this AP. Their rival faction is the Aspis Consortium, mainly because Etters tried to screw them for losing the cargo one of the PCs was charged with ("Get the cargo through"-trait).
There was a run-in with the Red Mantis at Tazion where the PCs intentionally misinformed them about the best route to Saventh-Yhi. Yes, they are out for blood now, biding their time to strike.
The pirates sold slaves to the charau-ka which were freed by the PCs who currently hold Lewynn captive.
The Sargavan government is currently working on the other (southern) part of the city and hasn't got any spotlight yet.
my group joined the pirates and had the sargavan government as opposition.
while in saventh-yhi, they recovered the mantis blade and the rogue/assassin in our group decided to keep it, so now chivane and the red mantis are PISSED. so far i've been playing up the faction aspect to make "city of seven spears" less a scorched earth (i.e. not so kill everything-ish) scenario then it sometimes appears to be- using the traps from the "vaults of madness" dungeon death traps article also helps ALOT.
i had all the factions come to them and let the party decide, i used tried and true movie scenarios.
the pirates were waiting in their room one night, the pathfinders approached them in a bar, the sargavan government had them brought into the governors office, the red mantis trapped them in an alley and gave them an ultimatum, the aspis consortium was waiting for them when they got off the rescue ship (which was aspis affiliated).
it was great fun, we made it to middle of "vaults" before group broke up (due to new jobs and various other economic concerns). i'll be firing it up again this summer for my daughter and nephews.
this time i plan on making numerous mention of the argental font on smuggler's shiv as a priceless artifact as well as putting a more treasure in saventh-yhi (my main complaint with serpent's skull is a lack of treasure in saventh-yhi).
After much debate, my players decided to go with the Pathfinders. The gnome cleric of Gozrah really wanted to go with the Free Captains since he was quite smitten with Captain Kassata. He secretly agreed to help the Free Captains by sending information to their expedition. He showed his displeasure with the Pathfinder choice by promptly hocking his wayfinder. The players easily refused the Red Mantis. I had the Red Mantis show what they thought about the refusal when the PC discovered a bloody and battered Sasha outside the inn missing a few more fingers. The PC’s had included Ishirou on their adventures on the Shiv and it broke his heart that they had refused to join him on the Aspis Consortium expedition. I have yet to show the Sargavan’s reaction, but I think some harassment from the city guard will be in order.
Faction: Pathfinders
Rival: Red Mantis
Other: My group joined up with the Pathfinders and ended up making the Red Mantis really mad at them by convincing Sasha to sabotage their expedition. I'm glad it worked out this way, because having the players worried about assassins is great fun. The players haven't really interacted with any of the other expeditions, but we are in book 3 and I intend to change this.
Faction: Free Captains
Rival: Red Mantis
My players ending up grouping up with the Free Captains after Aerys and Sasha spent time trying to convince them to join their respective ranks. To add insult to injury to the Red Mantis, they convinced Sasha to join their group as well, and a little love interested between her and one of the PCs formed up. If they hadn't done that, they would have had the Pathfinders as their rivals, because they were not too friendly to Gellik.
My players are trying to form an alliance with the Pathfinders (the faction that they have chosen) and the Free Captains (the runner-up). Did anyone face this situation and how did it work logistically?
Faction: Coalition between Sagarvan Govt and Pathfinders
Rival: Aspis (for whatever reason my group just hate these guys)
Other: One red mants attack in Kalabuto. I've also had the Pirates make an offer to one of the PCs to carry a magical tracking device and the Aspis offer to buy the information (2k up front 20k on their arrival).
Future plans/ideas:
* Friction in the coalition requiring PC intervention
* Red Mantis seizing the temple and blocking all others from entry (I'm almost thinking of having the seize the entire temple district)
* A seperate settlement by a non-faction to serve as a trading point. Factions mingle and bump into each other. I'm thinking some sort of group that sells magic items and offers spellcasting services at a more expensive rate. Will use it for information.
* I'm also thinking of the other factions seizing areas and making it a sort of capture points challenge. Capture the most critical points to control the city and have the dominant claim.
* Aspsis forming an agreement with one of the groups in the city.
* Dropping in the Harrowing
Faction: Pirates
Rival: Mantis
Other: dunno yet.
Pizock was the greatest deciding factor for the pirates as he was joined with them. Not to mention my character is a pirate as well. Might have been different had I been wanting to make a mantis assassin.
Faction: Joint expedition of Pathfinders and Red Mantis
Rival: Aspis
Other: To be determined
My players treated the NPCs like other PCs, full shares, etc.. while on the Shiv. So all nine (PCs and NPCs) of them were going after the lost city. The PCs made a side trip to find out where Tazion was (River into Darkness, module W2) from a missing Pathfinder's journal. The had a bit of trouble with Aspis there.
The Sage accidentally let the cat out of the bag by discussing the translation work with other sages at the club where they hung out.
When they got back, all five of the NPCs met with them and passed on the offers from their respective factions. As one of the PCs is also a Pathfinder and the Pathfinders was the only group interested in more that loot, they went with them and as the Red Mantis were only after a single magical item (that could not destroy cities - the PCs asked), an alliance was offered and accepted.
The PCs asked what the factions were offering the others, and made sure that they offered the same or better (ex: Aerys was also offered Pathfinder maps - confirmed by local Pathfinders, as well as a promise to help her obtain a ship if her share would not be up to covering the cost)
my group used heavy diplomacy and were able to ally and unite with Red Mantis, Sargarvan government, and Pathfinders. making them agree that the red mantis are given the right to claim anything related to their god, and the pathfinders are given the right to document, excavate the site, and build a lodge. While the Sargarvan government is given the right to the treasure and wealth found along with the right to have a base of operations. as long as the pathfinders and the government agree to work together.
This however made them sure enemies with the Apis and the Pirates. and the difficulty of gaining their aid in the end was made twice as difficult.
my group had a bard who had both luck and in hindsight too strong a diplomacy skill.
Faction: Shackles Pirates. Amusingly were the most upfront and willing to work out compromise. They wanted booty, we wanted..well...plot related stuff...worked out well. Aerys was a big NPC favorite and the deciding factor.
Rival:Aspis. Ishirou is liked by party, but Aspis tried to kill us, and Expedition leader is oily. ooooooooily.
Other:
Working arrangement with Mantis(secondary ally). Sasha is liked by several in party. Butted heads with mantis in Book2 and came out on top. gave the impression it was better to work with us then to take the losses to remove us.
Friendly Neutral with Pathfinders(secondary ally). Group disliked Gelik, but thier expedition leader has given a good impression.
Unfavorable dealings with Sargavan Government in Book 2 means predisposed to oppose/hinder when we encounter them due to extortion/heavy handed treatment of Jask.(secondary rival)
Faction: Pathfinders. Best group to join for exploring an ancient city, and the only good group.
Rival: Aspis mainly. Didn't like the initial offer or their reputation.
Thanks to some bad luck and our rescuing some of their party from the local menaces we befriended the Pirates.
We organised a deal between the Pirates and the Pathfinders, as they weren't doing well (not being explorers), so they were placed in charge of supplies and paid for it, making them some profit.
We stumbled across the object that was the reason the Red mantis were in the city, took a chance and handed it over when asked (menacingly), and they left.
The govt just followed along behind the Pathfinders and were ignored as they didn't try anything.
Aspis was our only big fight, and even then it was more to one of the local threats subverting the Aspis leader, we left the survivors in peace.
DBH
Yar!
Faction: Joint alliance between the Pathfinders and the Pirates
Rivals: Red Mantis with secondary rivals in the Sargavan Government.
Other Due to incredibly careful planning, secrecy and bold actions, the Aspis was prevented from even getting involved. They were never even able to leave Eledar.
The joint venture between the Pathfinders and the Pirates has proved to be quite good so far! As an organization goes, the Pirates make for great body-guards and general strongmen (their abilty to transport goods quickly is also a boon) while the pathfinders make for great researchers, squishies with noble (in comparison) goals to be protected, and ranged support in combat. I'm big on visual aids and 3d terrain, and even took the time to combine the Pathfinders and Pirates heraldry to create a flag to represent them both at once (for the purposes of marking each factions expansion into Saventh-yhi via small flag markers on a 3d city map I made, as seen here. My group was also able to ally with all of the NPCs and have all 5 of them along.
Pezzok, while loved greatly by my group, never left Smuggler's Shiv. Instead, he and Aycenia we given reign over the isle after the group did all that they could to purge it's evils.
~P
Faction: Aspis Consortium
Rival: Pathfinders
Mostly a neutral to evil group, Aspis offered a good bit of funding and a discount on ordered items, and this group being the money-grubbing mercenaries that they are couldn't resist.
Mantis was in the running, but a certain character's backstory has his parents being assassinated by the Mantis, so that would not have ended well at all.
Faction: Pathfinder Society
Rival: All, but especially the Aspis Consortium
They said no immediately to the Aspis Consortium and the Red Mantis, as these two came across as evil almost immediately. They met with General Havilar and the pirate chick (whose name obviously escapes me), but decided on the Pathfinders. They don't really like Sargava, as I built up the racial tensions, and the party almost sided with the freakin' Freeman's Revolt (I think), but it was the open slave trade that killed it for them. And I portrayed the Free Captains a bit too much like the Pirates of the Caribbean, and I think my party was looking for a more mature option.
As for the NPCs, they didn't really factor into the decision at all. They were actually outright hostile to Gelik when I portrayed him as swaggering around letting the party know that as a full Pathfinder already, the party should look to him as a leader. When the party fighter thought this was a bad idea, Gelik thought he'd just charm (via Charm Person) the fighter into agreeing with him. One spent hero point later, and Gelik flees, never to return (or will he? Mwa ha ha ha!)
The party has had a love/hate relationship with Sasha, whom they deem crazy, respect Jask, and are always on edge around Ishirou after an incident on the island. They don't really interact with Aerys, which is too bad. They did recruit Pezzock, who is now a happy Pathfinder-in-training, and the self-proclaimed mascot of the expedition (tengus bring good luck, you know).
We established a coalition between the Pathfinders and the Shackles Pirates. Our main rivals seem to be the Aspis - they're the only ones that have tried to kill us - we just started the third module, and they attacked us once or twice in the second. We got along pretty well with the Sargavan government, but didn't see much reason to help them, and the rest didn't interest our primarily good group.
It also helped that my character's sister ended up being the second-in-command of the Shackles pirates - I had set her up as a pirate captain in my backstory, and the GM decided to include her there.
I'm running the game on Eberron, so there were some changes...
Faction: Free Captains (from the Lhaazar Principalities)
Rival: The Aurum (replacement for the Aspis Consortium)
Other Factions: They have good relations with the Wayfinder Foundation as they kinda like Gelik; a friendly rivality with the Red Mantis; and haven't really interacted with the Stormreach Government, but they are good friends with Jask.
Faction: Pathfinder Society
Rivals: Aspis Consortium and as secondary rivals the Red Mantis
Other: One of my players is connected to the Pathfinders from his background. Two of my players had reason to distrust the Aspis. Two of the players are Mwangi and just couldn't join the Sargava government. I made the Pirates very chaotic. None of them liked the Red Mantis. So their choice was basically pre-determined although they talked about going at it alone for a while.
My group is on good terms with the Shiv NPCs but for the most part each NPC is joining their own faction. They reached out to Sasha and she is joining the main expedition as she desperately wanted to leave the Red Mantis. They kept Pezock around because he was having trouble adjusting and now he is joining the main expedition with Sasha. I made Pezock develop a hatred for the Red Mantis since he believes they abandoned him on the Shiv. Hence the secondary rivals.
As of this session, we are allied with both Aspis AND Red Mantis.
Eez gud day.
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Faction: Pathfinder Society
Rival: The Aspis Consortium
Other: The party mostly got along famously with the NPC castaways, thanks in no small part to their Aasimar Paladin's silver tongue. Ishirou, Sasha, and of course Gelik are along for the ride. Aerys parted company with the group pretty amicably and joined up with Kassata, so they have a friend in the Free Captains expedition. Jask, who was maimed by the cannibals on Smuggler's Shiv, really just wanted to return to a desk job with the government but was pressed into joining the Sargavan expedition, so the PCs have an in there, too.
The paladin had been getting vague signs from on high that it was important for him to go to Saventh-Yhi, but he had a bit of a crisis of faith over whether he should join up with the government or the Pathfinders. The other PCs were divided as well, but they ultimately ended up going with the Pathfinders because the society had approached them first.
The possibility of the two factions working together was raised, but the Baron felt it would be political suicide if the Eleder aristocracy percieved his administration as endorsing or supporting the Society, and Venture Captain Bellaugh was worried about getting cought up in the politics of the Colony in such turbulent times. The party might have been able to negotiate an agreement, but ultimately they decided it wasn't that important to them.
I'm doing my best to keep the Red Mantis mysterious at this point; Sasha warned the party that they contacted her and were interested in the notes they found on Smuggler's Shiv, but they didn't tell her why. So far the party hasn't encountered even one (living) Red Mantis Assassin, but I'm planning to introduce clues that the cult is shadowing their expedition. I'm hoping that this way the actual appearance of the assassins will be more dramatic, and they'll be more likely to live up to their fearsome reputation.
Faction = Currently undetermined but I am betting that it will be The Mwangi Freepeoples (yeah my own custom writeup - that includes some Freemen) because the party seems to seriously dislike or distrust all five of the standard factions and one of the party has mentioned getting help from close Zenj relatives in her background.
Rival = Aspis & Sargavan Government (and any other exploiters of the Expanse and its peoples).
I will update as things develop.
spoiler:I'm doing my best to keep the Red Mantis mysterious at this point; Sasha warned the party that they contacted her and were interested in the notes they found on Smuggler's Shiv, but they didn't tell her why. So far the party hasn't encountered even one (living) Red Mantis Assassin, but I'm planning to introduce clues that the cult is shadowing their expedition. I'm hoping that this way the actual appearance of the assassins will be more dramatic, and they'll be more likely to live up to their fearsome reputation.
Thank you GB - I am quite taken with that idea!
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My players (after a bit of debate between the Free Captains, Sargavans and the Pathfinders) eventually plumped for the Pathfinders.
Rival: The Aspis Consortium are their main rivals at present although an attempt by the Sargavan government to delay them in Kalabuto may lead to problems with them too. I even adapted the NPC party from Entombed with the Pharoahs to be the Aspis trailblazers. They've appeared a couple of times to taunt/annoy the party and hired the agents in Kalabuto but so far nothing more.
So far the Red Mantis have kept a very low profile as have the Free Captains but that may change very soon.
Well done! Love the terrain!
We chose the Government (although some of the players made secret side deals with the Red Mantis and Pathfinder Society.
My group played it like this:
1. They agreed to ally with the Sargavan government because they offered good support and Jask's freedom (or at least a less harsh punishment). The government equipped them, gave them Jask and an escort of four soldiers, and pointed them towards Nkechi.
2. After returning with Nkechi, they approached the Free Captains and told them about their alliance with the government. They asked Captain Lewynn to arrange an "ambush" along the way to Saventh-Yhi to get rid of the soldiers and free Jask for good. After that, they would work with them exclusively. Lewynn then pointed them towards Cheiron in Kalabuto, who would make further arrangements for that.
3. They pretty much ignored the Pathfinders, which might be fun, because poor Gelik was the hostage during the Freemen's revolt. He might bear a grudge after that, even though the party saved him.
4. They actually considered the Aspis offer, because the party's Gunslinger has some history (and unfinished business) with them. In the end, they decided otherwise. Aspis didn't take kindly to that and may be the main rival for now, which is why they instilled the riots.
5. The Red Mantis approached the group's Barbarian, who had the "Delivering the Goods" campaign trait. He lost that crate in the shipwreck. Turns out the Red Mantis were the customers. So, with the Barbarian kinda owing them, they struck a side bargain: He has to report everything and anything the group finds out to them and can not tell anyone, or else.
Should be fun.
We just have chosen to go with the pathfinders, saving some relics for the red mantis.
I think we wont have any problems with the pirates because we have a very nice relationship with Aerys, but we got more than words while listening aspids offer, so i think they will be our main problem to reach the ruins... (hope Mantis help with them)