Question about Gestalt / Relationship rules

[Liam Warner]

I'm thinking of running this adventure path and I had two questions I was hoping people who'd already run it or have more experience could answer.

First off I'm concerned about the rules for NPC relationships. The devotion one shouldn't be too much of a problem but the enmity one concerns me. Has anyone had any problems in PC's reaching the point where the conflict between PC's and NPC's gets to be a problem ingame? I'm aware that part 5 has only just come out and they may not be high enough level for it to have occured but the way its written in the playres guide worries me. Take Ameiko for example she, or his sister is essentially hte whole reasoon for the party to head east but if a PC has increased their competitive rating to the point where they hate each other why would they stay in the caravan instead of heading off alone? I'm aware that if its only one you can probably work round but if you start off with a "competitive" relationship and it evolves to enmity with several NPC's, well you see my concern.

Secondly the party would be smaller than standard 2/3 players based on whether one player could make it that week or not. So I was thinking of letting them play gestalt characters to make up the difference but I've had problems with those before but that was in a homebrew campaign. In a set path like this the encounters are pre-defined so the slightly faster growth rate of gestalts should be offset. Do people think that this will work or will the party be too weak or too strong?

[Asurasan]

I'm running the AP for two different groups at the moment(I've put a lot of work into this AP, so I want to get the most I can out of it!) and both groups have at least one player with an active rivalry going without issue.

Ameiko might be the catalyst for the journey, but do not take that to mean she should be the sole reason the PC's go along with it. The campaign traits should be used to build a cohesive backstory to link the PC to their respective NPC, and those NPC's are most certainly going along to help their friend Ameiko. That element should be focused on for those players who might be prone to rebelling against Ameiko.

Try to spend a little time engaging your PC's every other session or so with their individual 'reason' for joining to keep them from fixating on the 'reason' they think they shouldn't be walking half way across the world to make some girl a Queen. You probably have a good idea of what your players like and their general maturity level when it comes to roleplay. If your players are the type to be able to keep their in character and out of character emotions separate, rivalries are a great chance for some memorable storytelling. If your players are the type who 'are' their characters, you might want to try to steer them away from the rivalry option as it may lead to them being mad out of character after having a row with one of the NPC's.

Running a small party:

I 'think' you should be able to run this campaign with a small group without much problem. I would personally go about it by using the NPC's Cast rather frequently instead of going for the Gestalt approach. If the players can survive the Warden's Shack encounter in the first chapter and find Walthrus, you have a decent ally that should feel indebted enough to the party to help them out through the swamp area at the very least. After that, you will get access to the rest of the NPC's, but by the time you hit Brinewall Castle, most of them are pretty darn close to where they need to be in the power scale and none of the NPC's are independently powerful enough to really 'solo' Brinewall.

That is just my thoughts on the matter, but I think the caravan allows for a party 'hot-swap' option seamlessly. If one player can't make it, have an NPC join up. If all players are present, send the NPC's back to the bus!

My groups and I really enjoy this AP and I highly recommend it to others thinking about picking it up. I think any effort you have to put into making it work with a smaller team will ultimately be worth it in the long run. Have fun with it!

[Liam Warner]

Thanks for the advice, good knowing there's another option than gestalt as I've had problems with that in the past.

I still can't shake the feeling I'd prefer a third relationship option as in friendship-devototion, rivalry-enmity and rivalry-competitive but friendly rivals. The kind of people who are continually trying to one up or beat each other but will team up to beat an outsider without a thought and work well together. Then go back to trying to beat each other, don't need to kill the other guy just prove your better.

[Doram ob'Han]

I think of "enmity" as more of a "frenemy" condition. It's like having a co-worker who grates on you: you want to make sure that you're good at their area of expertise so that you can show them up at meetings.

One of my PCs is Ameiko's sister, and is going for enmity. It makes sense that they would travel together, and work together against common enemies, but when the fight is over they go back to bickering. I have another PC who thinks Sandru is a jerk, and needles him every chance they get, but at the end of the day it's Sandru's caravan, and they can't exactly walk off into the frozen North alone.

I also agree with Asurasan that giving them other reasons to go to Minkai is good. I have one who is being sent there to spread the word of Iomedae and two who are being instructed by messages from Desna to aid in freeing a land she favors. This way even if they end up not liking Ameiko, they have a reason to stick with the caravan.