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I'm having trouble getting over the mid-book hurdle in book 5.
At this point in the campaign, the PCs know that the WW are "bad news" and need to be stopped "somewhat urgently", and are thus not likely to follow up on sidequests just for the fun of it, but rather stick to the mission at-hand. (At least my PCs are.)
They show up in Caliphas without anything to go off of, but eventually learn that both Luvick and Ramoska have information for them, however, they won't give up this info until the murders stop. (Quinley, the other "quest giver", is also only interested in "killing the murderer").
So, assuming the PCs kill Radvir in Part 3 (which is the likely outcome since his coffin is on-premises), why would the PCs investigate the witches?
In either case, once Luvick is made aware of the role played by the witches in harvesting vampire bodies, he requests that the PCs put an end to them as well.
I'm imagining the scene from The Empire Strikes Back where Vader tells Lando "I'm altering the deal. Pray I do not alter it any further." (Which seems odd given that Luvick is LE.)
But even if Luvick decides to jerk the PCs around, there's still the issue of Ramoska: even though the text for him helping out the PCs appears on page 58 (ie after the Witch's section), there is no particular reason he would have to wait until that point. The moment that Radvir (or his even his journal) is handed over to Ludvick, then Ramoska should be able to help out the PCs.
The Abbey seems like a neat set of encounters, but ultimately it seems like just another weird sidequest in a campaign that already feels littered with sidequests (and this one doesn't even have any plot-pay-off at the end). Anyone else feel similarly?
Anyone else have ideas on how to change things?
The easiest fix is to relocate Radvir's coffin and all-revealing journal to the Abbey (perhaps F24 and F15 respectively), thus requiring the PCs to go there. But I'm also looking for a way to tie things together more so that this doesn't just seem like a red-herring and dead-end from the PC's point-of-view.
The way I intend to handle it is by stressing a few important facts.
- The Way sees Luvick as an enemy, and one who prevents them from taking advantage of the vampires of Caliphas and using them to increase their numbers.
- The drug would be invaluable for overthrowing Luvick and then taking control of the new order that takes over.
- The drug would be very complex to create and the shop lacks the resources to make it.
- They can tell where the captured vampires are being shipped too.
- Who would place the resources and support into overthrowing Luvick?
If the players believe that the Way is behind this they're much more likely to check it out.