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I’m thinking of running Curse of the Crimson Throne for my group, as a nice change of pace after we finish our current Night Below campaign. However, it will be the players’ first introduction to Golarion, and I am wondering how best to introduce them to the setting.
If I rely on the Players Guide, I expect it will pan out as follows :-
One of them will happily read the Players Guide, and might read Guide to Korvosa as well.
Two of them will read the “crunch” elements in the Players Guide with a view to character optimisation, and will ignore all the setting information
One of them won’t read any of it and I’ll have to pick the campaign trait for that player myself
As a result, I’m thinking of doing a brief character questionnaire for each player to complete, in order to get them thinking about the setting. Has anyone ever done something like this, and are there any other useful questions I could add?
What is your opinion of the so-called Curse of the Crimson Throne? (e.g. an actual curse that blights Korvosan society, a daft peasant superstition, somebody else’s problem)
What do you think of Varisians? Shoanti? Chelaxians?
What do you think of Harrowing? (e.g. important part of Varisian culture, a good way to gain an “edge”, a sop for credulous cowards)
How keen are you on monarchy in general, and on King Eodred Arabasti II in particular?
If you don’t like the monarchy, why haven’t you moved to Magnimar (a rival city ruled by a lord mayor and his council)?
What do you think about Blackjack? (e.g. an entertaining myth, a troublemaking rabble-rouser, an inspirational protector of the common man)
I gave extra points for players that made a full character background, integrating their chosen plot hook into it before the first session. Then I read over their backstories and worked with them to 'tie' their character to some part of the storyline and talked with them about what they did in the city, where they lived, etc.
Example, one of my players just wanted to play a swashbuckling rogue, and I gently worked them into the idea that they could be a 'Zorro' type character who had hero-worship for a particular 'masked hero' in the city. He now calls himself Black Ivan, after his hero. He was also a half-elf, but didn't really know his father. Enter a certain elven noble kinda infamous for fathering 1/2 elf children on the populace....
We also had a background brainstorm session together, where I could answer questions about the city, give the cliff notes of what the typical Korvosan should know, that sort of thing. And what they should know going into the story. After that, I tied in where i could to give everyone a sense of being part of the story.
As for your questionaire, I think that's a great idea. I may add one asking what they think of the King's wife. I may also ask them what their favorite thing to do in the city is, or what part they live in. Make them think about what they like and what they do.
The clincher in keeping the party interested in saving Korvosa is ensuring they like it there and it feels like home for them. If they are just strangers to the city, or if they have no vested interest, some players will ask "Why don't we just bail?" (especially since its one disaster after another). The answer should be "Because we like it here, and no one is gonna rain down on our city if we have anything to say about it."
I would also ask what the dislike about the city and what they could change. Come Crown of Fangs, the party will more than likely be elevated to nobility, if not taking the throne for themselves. They'll have real political power in Korvosa and could try to institute change in the city.
Have the players think about how the react to the various churches and organizations in the city. What do they think of the Academae? The Sable Company? Kressida Croft and the guards? The Nobles, especially the Arkonas if they are from the slums? How about the Pharasmites and the Grey District? Have the players ever had problems with encountering undead? Have their characters ever encountered racism or bigotry in the city? How did they react?
I do like the rewards for fleshing out backgrounds. My players tend to have a problem with that and very rarely do they ever give me a background. I think I'm going to start introducing a reward system for people who give me an actual background.
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Thanks for the replies.
It had never occurred to me to bribe the players into answering the questions. I think that is a great idea. All the characters will be getting one of the background traits from the Players Guide. I'll offer an additional trait from the APG to those who complete the questionnaire and also manage to tie the trait in to Korvosa.
I'll also put in a question along the lines of "Korvosa is far from perfect, and you have a sneaking suspicion that things are about to get worse. What is it that makes you want to defend the city rather than just leaving? (Any characters that would prefer to leave are not suitable for this campaign.)"
Of course, if they later refuse to leave, come what may, that will give me the opposite problem!
