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Greetings, fellow forumites.
Due to peer pressure I've found myself gm'ing CotCT. Two sessions into the campaign the party is preparing to raid All the World's Meat. So far so good, but several decisions made at party creation have the potential to turn the campaign, or at least some of the AP adventures, upside down! So, I baaadly want ideas. And cool character-driven adventuring of course.
Here's the spread:
The most confuzzling currently being that one of the player characters ended up being of Arkona stock: The group's oracle of bones is a black sheep of the family, specializing in wiping floors and being a pesh/shiver addict. His family threw him out after a confrontation between him, the city coffers and some very illegal substances
Anyway, the character is currently fighting his addiction, inspired by the trust bestowed upon him by his comrades-in-arms after witnessing the power of his magic. I want to exploit both this torturous process and his standing/background as an Arkona somehow and make Escape from Old Korvosa something memorable. But how?
Another interesting thing which I will definitely puzzle myself with is that one of the characters in the group is a dhampir. Now, the guy(a paladin of Shelyn of all things) is oblivious to this, which isn't surprising consider how full of crazy blood-related shenanigans Golarion is, so anything is possible and surprising both the player and the character is in the cards. I wish I could somehow tie his background into Ramoska Arkminos, but the dhampir is not nosferatu-kin and it would be a big stretch anyhow considering how little time the good doctor has spent in good ol'Korvosa. Maybe he's a remnant of a dead noble house? Too cliche?
Finally, I have a Shoanti character in the group. Coolio beans, really hyped for History of Ashes! However, I'm gm'ing in a shared Golarion in the sense that the campaign is an indirect continuation to two earlier ones. The first of these, RotRL to be exact, ended with one of the characters becoming the warleader of Shadde-Quah. I so want to use this somehow, but fear that introducing another clan into the scenario would really upset the balance. Any ideas?
So that's that. Any input heartily appreciated.
There are some things I don't understand. The oracle is Arkona stock, meaning he works for the Arkona organization or he is one of "them"?
Regardless, at All the World's Meat, there is probably nothing to exploit with this background since Vimanda is unlikely to have told anyone of her plans or spy.
The tortuous journey of overcoming drug addiction is up to you, but there are rules in the core rulebook for it.
Escape will be more memorable for this PC since he will likely be seeking revenge, or will have to make a choice over his allegiances. Don't pull a Greyjoy (Game of Thrones reference)!
One of the PCs in the party is a Dhampir and the player doesn't know? How could the PC possibly not know (given their abilities and appearance)?
If you want a tie in with Ramoska, maybe make the PC have an affinity with Ramoska (or perhaps all vampires) and killing vampires is like killing one of his family. Ramoska's mere appearance might have a charm type effect on the PC. You pass the player a note telling him and hopefully he tries to convince the party towards a peaceful solution. If not, the PC can't act against Ramoska, and if he fails 2 saving throws, perhaps he even fights for him.
I would just leave History of Ashes alone, it's great. If you really want, perhaps some of the visiting delegates to Thosand Bones can be from Shadde-Quah, and you can have some roleplay or additional story around these Shoanti.