PC tied to noble family in Sandpoint

[Staub]

So, the following issue arose to me:

One of my players wants to play some sort of mafia kingpin, trying to bring order to "his" town, which might be with drastic actions.
(He said Falcone from the tv series Gotham, but I haven't watched it)
He also said that he regards limits in that as needed to play the AP.

As I like the idea, I wanted to put him into one of the noble families.
But, since we're playing the whole AP, I wanted to ask if there are some problems including him into one of the noble families of sandpoint as a cousin from Magnimar.

I read Burnt Offering so far, so I assume that Kaijitsu might not be the best choice :P (although not out-ruled).
Deverin also not too good with the major and that.

Which leaves me with House Scarnetti and House Valdemar.
From reading around, I assume that Scarnetti, although being perfect in style, are in some way involved in the story following the first book?
Or is that just a hook to explain, while there are alternatives?

Thanks in advance for your answers. :)

[Misroi]

Personally, I wouldn't have a problem if a PC wanted to play a Deverin - in fact, one of mine is. Honestly, the only one that's especially problematic is Kaijutsu, and that's because that line is firmly tied to the events of Burnt Offerings. The other three are far less involved.

If he wants to play a Carmine Falcone, then Scarnetti or Valdemar would be good options. The Scarnettis are the most villainous, controlling the lumber interests in the area. They've been scheming to take control of Sandpoint even before there was such a thing - the Scarnettis were responsible for the midnight raid that sought to kill the Varisians that claimed the area as their own, after all. They rankle at the fact that the Varisians and townsfolk rallied around the Deverins, and they feel like they should be the ones in charge. A Scarnetti noble PC might either empathize with Uncle Titus (and work with him, only to betray him once control of the town is theirs), or seek to reform the House, putting him at odds with the rest of the family back in Magnimar.

Valdemar would also be good, as they're the shipbuilders and are therefore under the thumb of the Scarnettis. A Valdemar PC would probably want to shake off the control that the Scarnettis have on them, and rise to power over them.

[Staub]

Deverin wouldn't be that much of a problem actually, yeah, but as they are kind of the "good guys", probably not that fitting.

I take it, that the Scarnetti aren't involved in the story of the following books?
My choice or rather suggestion was Scarnetti because of the raid on the Varisians. :)

Thanks a lot for your quick answer. :D

[Fried Goblin Surprise]

Spoiler:

Every member of every noble family, except for the mayor and the Kaijitsus, could die in the initial raid and it would have no effect on the story. There is a monetary reward for turning over (or not turning over) evidence of Scarnetti crimes in book 4 but it is not related to the main story and is easily missed by players

The most important thing when running this AP is giving each character a reason to care about what happens to Sandpoint.

Personally, I think that anyone of those noble families used to living in Magnimar would find Sandpoint "beneath" them.

I would go with a Scarnetti bastard/hostile takeover angle, but that's just me.

[the Lorax]

All four are workable, like FGS sez above, the important part is the connection.

Kaijutsu could be a fun choice in and of itself, a younger brother to the two, or even a nephew that gets doted upon - makes Tsuto's actions much more interesting.

Scarnetti is amusing as it really seems that they have no friends/allies beyond those they can forcibly influence. How a PC deals with that stigma could be fun.

The other two work fine, no choice is going to be much of a problem from the story beyond what you see in Burnt Offerings.

[Fromper]

If you're going for mafia type, then Scarnetti is the obvious choice.

I have a cavalier in my group who is a cousin to Mayor Deverin, who grew up as part of the family in Magnimar. But he's lawful neutral, and genuinely wants to protect Magnimar, Sandpoint, and the hinterlands without trying to take over. He's an Abadar worshiper, so he's big on civilizing the area, but also expects to get paid for his efforts.

[Staub]

Thanks for the additional input.

What I did not mention, we already started the AP.
The party just finished the catacombs of wrath and said player in question did a few ridiculously stupid things (fun things, though, we had a lot fun) after which his character kinda is taken out of the game.

I'll hide what he did in a spoiler. Just to explain, he is the most experienced player at the table and usually makes more "crazy" characters that may have a mishap of getting killed or rather locked away. Anyway...

Spoiler:

He felt the urgend need to take several "samples" of both the minor runewell and the altar of Lamashtu and drink them all at once out in the woods, hoping to get stronger from mutating/offering himself to Lamashtu.
Of course I warned him in advance as I personally play in a way that my players can die, but it is either combat (see minor drawback) or if they are okay with it.
(Minor drawback here, being okay with it means making a deal with death (me) himself, buying himself back into life at a cost)
I warned him that drinking that stuff will not necessarily kill him, but most certainly render his character unplayable.
He was fine with it, mostly out of curiosity I guess... ^^

Thus, the party is just about to leave for thistletop.

[Qakisst Vishtani]

One of our players is a nephew of the mayor, and that works just fine (but he's an upstanding fellow). Another option is to be a...

Sczarni:

working for Jubrayl Viski. He can then chafe at the notion that the Sczarni are being manipulated by the Scarnetti after what they did to the Varisians years ago. That gives him reason to want to take Jubrayl's place later, want revenge on the Scarnetti, and care about what happens to Sandpoint (which he sees as his little kingdom).

[Ashkar]

Valdemar is a tricky choice. Patriarch of the family is constantly on narcotics, one of his sons in Magnimar is a Intellect Devourer and head of cult whose goal is to bring more of his kind in hosts/drug addicts. I suspect that Sandpoint branch of the family may be somehow tainted too.