So we finally nailed down what AP and what group:
One of the character concepts required a multiclass so I allowed everyone to start at level 2.
We have an Oracle Level 2
Kensai Magus level 2
Barbarian Oracle 1/1
and a Ronin Level 2
We were roleplaying in Korvosa today, just to get a feel after a one year hitaus from playing.
Since the characters have started at level 2, and oddly enough their backstories put them all already knowing each other (without my involvement)
The half elf Oracle and the Half Orc barbarian are brother and sister (had the same mother who was a shoanti Seer before the tribe exiled her for harboring her half orc son. she eventually fell in with an Elf Ambassador living in Korvosa, and became his concubine for a time, having the female half elf.
The Elf Ronin is on self exile from having been a Samurai int he Service of the Winter Council, having disagreed with their decisions he left their employ and became Ronin. Eventually traveling to Varisia and settled in Korvosa and falling in as a minor paid mercenary for the same elf ambassador who fathered the half elf and courted the half orcs mother (the elf is obviously considerably older than the two half bloods).
The Human Kensai Magus is a drop out from the academae who eventually fell in with erm, the SAME ELF AMBASSADOR to learn the elven ways of mixing martial with magic and becoming a self taught magus. (In my world Elves are the Japanese, which makes them easier to be different that standard fantasy, so the elves have the katanas, samurai, ninja, and I can use japanese words which sorta in a way sound elven with out having to use a full on different language or remember what I called an item or a thing since those words are real world japanese)
So the elven/oriental theme cinched the characters together in a way.
Soooo the question is , since the characters already have a reason to know each other casually, (having chosen this elf as a common NPC they all know, independently of each other) should I run the initial encounters with Lamm? or since they are also already level 2, just skip it.
on a side not we had a fun role playing experience when the Barbarian/Oracle with the haunted curse says "I cannot read that, but the spirits read it to me and it says ....."
So with Two Oracles int he group and a soon to be bladebound kensai who talks to his sword the Ronin in the party (a 81 year old elf) says "what is up with kids these days, they are all cursed and talking to things that aren't there!"
hah!
I would run the Lamm chapter or find another way to introduce Zellara (but it would hard to top how its written) and bear in mind the Lamm episode also causes the party to have an audience with the Queen. I imagine Lamm would be pretty easy to toughen it up for a level 2 party.
hah! my party (and players) are just as likely to keep or pawn the brooch as to return it to it's rightful owner, especially if it's a rich-born snob! They would also think they might be able to leverage it for more money than the reward for it. They might be wrong but, you never know!
You know your players better than I do i would imagine. Probably should spoiler the rest.
You know your players better than I do i would imagine. Probably should spoiler the rest.
** spoiler omitted **
Information in your spoiler however is not available to the players so they wouldn't know or couldnt act on that knowledge.
Half the party is shoanti by birth and would automatically dislike and distrust a chelaxian queen...
Is there a way to tie them in to Zellara as a NPC they knew when she was alive? Maybe they knew, backstory-wise that her son was killed by Lamm (he could've been a friend), and they haven't heard from her for awhile until she sends them a strange message to meet with her and explains to them that she found the guy that stole her deck and killed her son, and she asks you to help her avenge him, for old time's sake.
Then everything else goes mostly as planned, with them heading in, making the grisly discovery, and her owning up to the subterfuge, unsure how they would react had they known the truth going in. Then she tells them about her current spiritual ties to the city and asks them to help her defend Korvosa?
Man, I could've used this for my group when they all started knowing each other! Two of them were Varisian, too and could've been good friends. Darnit!
Is there a way to tie them in to Zellara as a NPC they knew when she was alive? Maybe they knew, backstory-wise that her son was killed by Lamm (he could've been a friend), and they haven't heard from her for awhile until she sends them a strange message to meet with her and explains to them that she found the guy that stole her deck and killed her son, and she asks you to help her avenge him, for old time's sake.
Then everything else goes mostly as planned, with them heading in, making the grisly discovery, and her owning up to the subterfuge, unsure how they would react had they known the truth going in. Then she tells them about her current spiritual ties to the city and asks them to help her defend Korvosa?
Playing off of that, perhaps Zellara could have been a friend of that Elven Ambassodor and he sends them to check on her.
A Pc keeping the broach and wereing it publicly would lead me down a very fun road as DM. Arrested for theft, introduce reoccuring royal friend/foe, ooh yeah lots of fun twists with that one.
I made Zellara the Seer from the Shoanti who be default makes her the mother of both PCs that are half blooded, she then by default was the consort of the Elf Ambassador which is how the Elven character would know her. The Kensai has the "framed" Trait, so it fits in fine.
So after a few tweaks, and some in city role playing (i wanted to get players comfortable with korvosa) and having some players change their characters slightly (based on some suggestions: we started the actual events of the AP with:
Half elf Oracle/Ninja 1/1
dwarven Bladebound Kensai 2
Elf Ronin 2
Half Orc Urban Barbarian/ Inquisitor 1/1
half orc decided not to go the rage prophet route, because, inquisitor was so much more powerful. Instead of using the build the justify the character background he took sacred tattoo and role played it all (he's now a legend in his own mind).
I tweaked enemies to be pathfinder converted (an expert 2 is now an alchemist 2 for example)
We discovered two things: Urban Barb/ Inquisitor is an intimidate monster! and The Team steam rolled the even beefed encounters in the first part of the adventure.
An encounter with Lamms Lambs was extremely amusing with the Barb Screaming at them like a lion, and scattering the group of children to the four winds. RRRRrrrrraaaaaaaRRRRRG!.
Dwarf Kensai is alittle werid, casts acid splash at everything..... what's up with that. She says, hey if they want to stay away from me, then they get rewarded by living a little longer.
Elf Ronin is quite deadly with it's bow.