Agent of the Grave

[Brogue]

I am GMing carrion crown for a group of my friends and one of them approached me about taking agent of the grave levels. They saw it on the pfsrd and thought it was a cool idea and class.

My question to all of you is, do you see a problem with this? I know it requires a year of membership in the whispering way but they operate in cells and some work against each other so story wise, he could be from a rival cell of the whispering way.

The party is currently evil/neutral.

Thoughts? Comments? Concerns?

Thank You for your time.

[Tobias]

I'd say that it would bring up a lot of issues with the plot.

Spoiler:

- For example, consider the destruction of the undead at Harrowstone. There isn't much reason for a member of the Whispering Way to do that. They want undead to rise up and take over.

- It also messes up the overall plot line. The Whispering Way wants the Whispering Tyrant released or raised. It's hard to justify an agent doing anything that would prevent that once he realizes what is going on.

[Spacelard]

Brogue wrote:

I am GMing carrion crown for a group of my friends and one of them approached me about taking agent of the grave levels. They saw it on the pfsrd and thought it was a cool idea and class.

My question to all of you is, do you see a problem with this? I know it requires a year of membership in the whispering way but they operate in cells and some work against each other so story wise, he could be from a rival cell of the whispering way.

The party is currently evil/neutral.

Thoughts? Comments? Concerns?

Thank You for your time.

I wonder why such a party would be inclined to partake in the scenarios as written in the first place.

Perhaps some more information as to why such a group would be as "good" to comply with the dear departed's wishes rather than just take the money and run...

[Brogue]

I explained in my post why a member would be inclined to do that, we are also in book 2 so the harrowstone incident is behind them. And if you've read the adventure path at all it gives specific ways to handle a evil or neutral party. Ie the

Spoiler:

the incident with the mob justice at trial of the beast, it specifically tells how an evil party might handle it.

[Spacelard]

I don't think you'll like my answer but hey...
The PrC is designed for Bad Guys and I would be inclined to believe that it wasn't designed to be used by PCs in this path. I can't see a good reason why such a PC would be acting against the specific wishes of The Way which this AP is all about. And it requires a years membership during which I would assume anyone even thinking of pulling a double cross would be weeded out. This isn't about a cell competing to be the badest but its about returning Tar-Barphon back to his "rightful" position as ruler of Ustalav.
I think it will cause a lot of issues with keeping the plot coherent and again I struggle to see why a bunch of evil PCs would be inclined to prevent The Way from completing its goals especially if one is an active member of the cult.
Of course YMMV and its your game.

[Brandon Hodge]

I hope I can provide a touch of insight here for you, since I know how it all ends and all. =-)

I'll spoiler my thoughts on the WW just in case:

Whispering Way:

The thing is, the Whispering Way, as an organization, is NOT exclusively about freeing the Tyrant. Rather, he IS their most famous adherent, but the cult existed long before he did. The aim of the cult is to provide a path to undeath for its members. Whether that is lichdom for spellcasters able to achieve that, or even ghoul forms for weird necropheliac gravediggers (stayed tuned for Shadows of Gallowspire!), the existence of the Way does not revolve around the freeing or ressurection of the Tyrant. Their focus is the personal path toward undeath, so if that's what your guy is going for that's one thing.

HOWEVER, in this AP, as you know, the Whispering Way gets some new leadership, and that leadership IS manipulating and using the cult in order to free the Tyrant. That's an important distinction.

So, while I agree the PrC probably isn't the best fit for a PC character, at the same time, if achieving undeath is a path the character wants to trod, you're good with it, and he's turned toward the beliefs of the Whispering Way to do it, I think you can reconcile that easily enough.

And you do that by informing him of the cult's beliefs and doctrines. BUT, he shouldn't have a clue what the upper echelon of leadership is up to, what's going on in Renchurch in the finale chapter, or why anyone is doing anything in this plot, unless you really need to lead your group by the nose if they get stuck. I'd leave him as a member of a cell who was never informed of what the main group was up to, and let him do his thing, but keep his character development carefully excised from the overall AP plotline. It could work. By the time the whole thing ends, and he sees some of the blasphemous stuff they are up to in Renchurch, he might abandon it all and run away to a monastery to become a paladin! =-)

[d@ncingNumfar]

Or if he gets clued in, he may just be attempting to acquire the elixir for himself...

[Brandon Hodge]

d@ncingNumfar wrote:

Or if he gets clued in, he may just be attempting to acquire the elixir for himself...

Stay tuned to find out what happens when someone drinks a lich formula that wasn't specifically brewed for them...that could get interesting real quick! In fact, it get so interesting, it took both Daigle and myself's combined might to describe it! =-)

[Arazni, Harlot Queen of Geb]

Brandon Hodge wrote:

In fact, it get so interesting, it took both Daigle and myself's combined might to describe it! =-)

Tasty!