Changing "Flight of the Red Raven" to fit current canon?


Adventures


Now that the Red Raven's full backstory has been set up, what changes need to be made to "Flight of the Red Raven" to make sure it fits the current backstory and personality of the character?


It actually doesn't take much - I think they purposely wrote the new backstory so that it wouldn't interfere a lot with the already established bits. After Aric is freed by Quinn, he goes to Taldor, and that's where the module has him meeting Geppa. Since

Spoilers!:
Geppa is his motivation for stealing the Vernal Key,
nothing should have to change in order to run the module.

Where I'm making some slight tweaks is how the Red Raven is gossiped about and how the stories are told - if I run it, it'll be in Play by Post format, so I've got the advantage of a platform that lends itself to more extensive storytelling and flavor treatment. The "steal from the rich, give to the poor" shtick will still be there, but it'll also play up the modern Galtan distaste for the nobility and the idea that the Raven's thefts may actually be widening the social divide - it's actually a similar angle the narrator of the Red Raven's story took up. I think I like it better with those elements introduced; it brings more Galtan flavor to the proceedings, even though the module's events themselves don't touch on the unrest.

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On top of Rennaivx's great insights, I would play down the Red Raven's written motivation of "Steal from the rich, give to the poor, but in fact mostly give to myself." His disingenously selfish Robin Hood gig works nicely for the chaotic neutral rogue in the original module, but I found it did not translate in a flattering way to an iconic backstory. The vigilante guise might even perpetuate this thievery and keep a considerable share for himself, but I bet Aric feels a little guilty about it once in his social guise again (and thinking more clearly).


John Compton wrote:
The vigilante guise might even perpetuate this thievery and keep a considerable share for himself, but I bet Aric feels a little guilty about it once in his social guise again (and thinking more clearly).

That's the point, though - regardless of how Aric feels about it, the Red Raven does it. And bards aren't telling stories about Aric on stage - it's the Red Raven they're regaling, how he takes the treasure those awful depraved nobles are holding back and gets it back out to the people (by spending it on things for him). And that part in the parentheses is glossed over in the game of story-time telephone, especially in a national consciousness desperate for a hero - any kind of hero - to bring hope to a very, very dark situation.

It doesn't matter that the way he's "helping the people" is by buying himself nice things; to those people he's buying from, it's food and shelter. Might not be the hero they deserve, but he's the hero they desperately need, so they latch onto him. If anything, portraying him with a streak of selfishness brings faerie fire to the situation, highlights how different the real figure is from the heroic stories people tell. I kind of like the dichotomy - and after all, dichotomies are what vigilantes are all about. ;)


Mavrickindigo wrote:
Now that the Red Raven's full backstory has been set up, what changes need to be made to "Flight of the Red Raven" to make sure it fits the current backstory and personality of the character?

There's been more than one, after all. Accepting this character as the new post Eyes of Ten, Red Raven, takes care of any incongruities.

What I'm looking forward to is the Red Raven Beyond scenarios in about 30 years in the future.

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