I had a good read-thru of Wormwood Mutiny and have an idea for how this AP can be used for good PCs or players who are less interested in the evils of piracy.
Since the whole Path leads aims toward Captain Harrigan being a secret spy for Cheliax, could the PC's take on that role themselves and play the slightly gooder agents pretending to be pirates in order to work their way into the inner circle of the Shackles? At the end of book 1, the newly-promoted pirate captain PC is approached by an agent of Cheliax with their plan. Meanwhile, Harrigan goes back to being a regular old vicious pirate who serves as the chief opposition to the PC's rise.
Thoughts?
I'm also interested in a Good (pun intended) hook/roles for players who don't like playing morally bankrupt characters. I wonder what options might exist.
Harrigan is a BigBadEVILGuy...if you take his place, that makes you the BigBadEvilPerson. Frankly, even my LG Paladin would, I think, root for the Shackles over Cheliax. Grudgingly.
Harrigan is a BigBadEVILGuy...if you take his place, that makes you the BigBadEvilPerson. Frankly, even my LG Paladin would, I think, root for the Shackles over Cheliax. Grudgingly.
Naw. He stays a total bustid, he's just now loyal to the Hurricane King rather than trying to betray him. The PCs, in this scenario, would have to walk a fine line to keep the illusion of wickedness, but might see more appeal to some types of players and characters if they thought they were working toward better ends than the sheer evil of piracy.
The scenario could even come at the beginning of book one if the PCs learn Sandara is an agent of Cheliax and starts forming the scheme with her from the get go.
Now, as thejeff pointed out, Cheliax is no angle of a nation either, but it might be enough for players who balk at going full-on evil.
It was just an idea I had reading the first book and thought I'd share it with anybody in that position.
Yes...Rahadoumi might rather kill your paladins than commission them.
Many of the crew on board the ship seem to be neutral and good and many are evil. How would the CG members behave during a raid or whatever? How do they justify not coming to the aid of the innocent?
My first question is, who's innocent? My second would be, who says the party doesn't help them?
One possible answer for you, though - the PCs choose to 'live to fight another day.' Dying with these poor sods accomplishes what exactly? Whereas finding the 'opportune moment' allows you to avenge them.
Just a few different options there for you...
Have the Paladin work for Andoran, looking to stop the slave trade in the Shackles.
To be able to really affect the slave trade, the Paladin would have to be on the council (or at least have his own fleet). They are working towards the greater good, so can stand to work with some less savory individuals (that and Andoran and their church are footing the bill for a few atonements, as needed).
Rather than kill the sailors on the merchant ships that they are attacking, have them use non-lethal damage. The sailors either become pirates, slaves or are ransomed (better than being dead - where there is life, there is hope).
Once the Paladin realizes what Captain Harrigan has in mind, they are all for stopping it (and that will likely keep most of the AP on track).
My first question is, who's innocent?
Well, the Rahadoumi, obviously. They've done nothing to indicate that they're evil or deserving of destruction. As far as I can tell, they're just merchants and sailors.
My second would be, who says the party doesn't help them?
Well, that seems rather obvious if they're assisting in boarding and seizing the merchant vessel.
One possible answer for you, though - the PCs choose to 'live to fight another day.' Dying with these poor sods accomplishes what exactly? Whereas finding the 'opportune moment' allows you to avenge them.
Just a few different options there for you...
Maybe I'm missing something, but I only see one option: don't help, save your skin, and avenge their deaths at a later time. That's not exactly good or even good-ish. That's squarely in the neutral-look-the-other-way category. Which is an "ok" solution for some of the more squeamish players, but clearly not a best-case scenario.
Of course, there is some suggestion in the book that one or more of the PCs might somehow find a way not to participate in the battle like this. If that's the case, they get whipped and publicly shamed and forfeit their part of the bounty. What with the fog of war and fog in war, I suppose that makes it possible.