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I have a quandary; a character in my campaign made a series of gaffes with the Alchemist Poliker. They approached him and fumbled around asking for something to put people to sleep; not actually knowing his side business. However a series of spectacularly failed Diplomacy rolls by the rogue moved him to hostile along with the bard who accompanied him being exceptionally pushy. They even tried to barge into the shop and demand he sells/makes them what they want; apparently no means no (who would have thought it?)
Anyway escalation and Poliker had to resort to throwing a small bomb at them to convince them to leave his shop and not bother him anymore (the rogue did attack first but missed). The rogue was nearly knocked out by this bomb and the Bard dragged him away still kicking and screaming about his drugs/poison needs. (Bard has played an alchemist before and knew the rough level of the alchemist by the dice rolled; they were both level 2 at this point)
Apparently saying no to the Rogue was not acceptable and he took umbrage against loosing against a damn shopkeeper and decided to even the score by attempting to burn down the Alchemists place of business and house; not once but twice. First time was setting a small fire by the back door and the second time by cutting a hole in his rear window and throwing alchemists fire inside. The first attempt scorched his door as it was a solid security door made of seasoned oak and bound in iron. (You have to protect your place of business) The second attempt wiped out the contents of his back room which included some alchemy stores and most of his kitchen. (The Rogue is a minor noble and CN in alignment; used to getting his own way and is a spiteful little sod so apparently no is not on the cards)
So what to do? I have spoilered this as it has dodgy info.
Now considering Polikers nature and contacts what would be the most suitable repercussions for these events. I have asked for countless Knowledge Local rolls on the Rogue and Bard’s part but neither of them can get above 10 despite many attempts so they have no idea of Poliker’s connections.
1. Contact the local law enforcement and log a complaint. (no proof just suspicions) One of the heroes of Sandpoint tried burning down the place of business of a resident of Sandpoint. This would fit the Lawful side of his alignment but would not really satisfy Poliker.
2. Use his contacts to make like difficult for the Heroes. (they are at level 4 having just finished Thistletop so most thugs will not be that much of a problem) Price hikes, people not being available for services etc. This will probably just impact the bonus they get for being the Heroes of Sandpoint.
3. Contact a group of naughty people from Riddleport/Magnimar to help out and eliminate/educate the rogue; this will likely annoy the party and have repercussions.
4. Something else …
I am really enjoying this side of the campaign; I’m leaning towards getting in some specialists to teach the upstart minor noble some manners. I believe in there being repercussions to your actions.
On a side note these characters are the children of a previous campaign; I was running Jade Regent and they party got almost wiped out by a Large White Dragon; they retreated and healed/resurrected those killed and minus equipment decided to return home to Sandpoint and lick their wounds. The party Rogue married Ameiko and had some kids, two of the party are playing these children (rogue and bard) and as such are minor Nobles. I know RotRL’s is set prior to Jade Regent but it seems to be working ok. There will come a point when the group needs to decide on following the RotRL’s path or moving to Jade Regent.
Regards
Sic.
I'd probably go with a two-fold assault here.
Given that his side business is a rumor you can acquire around town, I'm running on the assumption that the Sheriff already knows, or suspects, what else Podiker is up to, and simply hasn't confronted him. Whether due to lack of proof or just wanting to keep old Pillbug in his back pocket in case he needs to lean on him to get info about other ne'er-do-wells around town. Either way, though, Podiker's a taxpaying businessman and mostly-upstanding member of the community, and would be well within his rights to report the rogue for the threats and the two clear arson attempts. Sheriff Hemlock isn't likely to lock up one of the Heroes of Sandpoint out of hand, but he might try to address it with whoever's perceived to be the party leader and mention that the rogue is quickly wearing out their welcome in Sandpoint- "You take care of it, or I will." The citizens of Sandpoint are likely to react very, VERY badly to people trying to burn their city down for a third time.
Secondly, Pillbug has no shortage of shady characters who would like for him to stay in business. Just simply dropping the hint that whoever takes care of this troublemaker can look forward to some discounts in the future might be enough to get a small army of individual lowlifes gunning for this rogue.
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Well to let you know this went pretty much like this.
Had them make Perception checks to notice people watching them; they are the heroes of Sandpoint of course people are watching them (not all of them were watching for the reasons they assumed). Had the guards at the gate laying bets on who would walk back in or who would be carried back in (Taking note of times they left and when they likely returned). The rogue even joined in and made a profit from betting on his own hirelings not coming back; he made quite a profit but didn’t think the amounts they were willing to bet was unusual; At least not at the time. (They got well paid for the information and were only too willing to get some extra for getting more information)
On returning valiant and successful from the raid on Thistletop (took several attempts setting up a pattern that was easy to anticipate) they came across some bandits blocking a bridge and demanding “tribute” to use their well maintained and bandit free crossing. Hidden in the nearby trees was the true enemy which they all failed to see due to his exceptional stealth, cover and preparation. The party were all for turning around and going into Sandpoint from another direction when two arrows sprouted from the chest of the rogue; two failed fortitude saves later his Dex is impacted with Giant Wasp venom. They quickly retreat down the road with the rogue hemorrhaging his dexterity and finding somewhere safe they notice a piece of paper wrapped tightly round one of the arrows. The rogue opening it and reading finds a short poem.
“Eye for an Eye, Tooth for a Tooth, like playing with fire?, some poison for your use”
Reading also sets off the spell trap causing it to explode in his face and consume the slip of paper (destroying the evidence). This knocked the rogue out and the rest of the party have to heal him up and approach Sandpoint from the south avoiding the bandits. (Some party of heroes)
Having been healed up They all head back to the Rusty Dragon where understandably they have rooms; The rogue heads into his room after having something to eat and a lot to drink and notices the rug before his bed is slightly rumpled this sets him on guard as he notices that his window is not quite as closed as it should be. Looking out of the window he spies two people on the roof opposite watching his room while he also hears a slight hissing sound like acid eating its way through pottery then the collection of alchemical bombs under his bed goes off blowing him out of his room and he crumples (having failed his reflex save… Dex damage is painful); his last conscious thought was why was the man on the roof smiling and waving like that …
Companions hear the explosion and run to his room, using create water to put out the fire and some healing to wake him up. Seems he still does not get the hint and now wants revenge. Seems some people don’t accept that there are consequences for your actions.
His Mother (Ameiko) is annoyed obviously at the damage to her establishment and ripped into her son telling him what a disappointment he was and he will never be as good as his father; why can’t he be more like his other brothers and more responsible instead of off gallivanting round and causing havoc and annoying people. All of this is expressed with a soup ladle waving in his face and splattering his clothes with mostly cooked tasty soup. He had better go and apologize to the nice Alchemist who he has obviously driven to this drastic action by his idiotic behavior.
I had some fun with this … Takes the campaign a little off topic but it makes Sandpoint come more alive having a nemesis that close. One that is to all outward appearances an upstanding member of the community, pays taxes, has lunch with nobles and guards, visits the bakery for his bread every morning, always goes out of his way to stop and talk to passerby’s and makes toys for the local kids visiting his store.
Laid the nice guy on a little thick but hey; I’m having fun.
Sic
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That's awesome, Sic, especially Ameiko. Clearly, she's an older and wiser Ameiko, since her youth is pretty much defined by rebellion and charting her own route through life, despite what her father wants for her. She might be a mother and more settled down than when we met her in Runelords, but she still won't take any crap from people.
And while I enjoy running APs, to me, the smaller side stories are the most interesting, mostly because you get to delve into the characters of the PCs themselves, and find out what fun little dramas you can tell with them. Where have they been, where are they going, how are they getting there, and can they change the course they're on?