PC with Slavery in Backstory Help

[Black Jimmy]

Hey all

One of my players has a family who he's recently discovered uses slaves. I'm unsure how to implement it though.

I was hoping I could get some opinions on what I've got.

So far, assuming he's ok with tying his character to an establish NPC, I thought of having Titus Scarnetti, as his father perhaps, have some involvement in slavery. Either by:

1) Owning some silver mines out west where slavery is legal, or
2) Has a hand in smuggling Sczarni captured slaves to Cheliax

What would you say would work better?

Edit: Would any of the clash with established information/lore

Thanks x

[Haladir]

Hmmm...

By canon, at least, along the Lost Coast, slavery is pretty much universally deemed abhorent.

Slavery is not practiced at all in Magnimar or Riddleport, or in any of their demesnes.

None of the native populations of Varisia have any tolerance for slavery at all. (i.e. the Varisians, the Shoanti, the elves of the Meriani Forest, or the dwarves of Janderhoff)

Slavery is not practiced in Korvosa or its holdings either, but... Korvosa's affinity toward Cheliax means that there may be some tolerance for slavery among some of the less-moral noble houses. In such cases, the houses may have servants or other domestic employees that are effectively slaves, even if they may be technically free. For example, the servants may owe their employers thousands of gold, which they are taking in exchange for labor... and charging their servants' accounts exorbitant fees for food, clothing, and shelter, such that they'll never be able to pay off their debt.

Slavery is openly practiced in Kaer Maga and in the orc-dominated city of Urglin in the Cinderlands.

Unless you want to make some changes to the Scarnettis' motivations and personalities, I wouldn't make them secret slavers. That said, the Scarnettis don't really come into play much as part of the main storyline, so if you wanted to change their story, do what works best for you and your group.

If I had a PC who wanted this backstory, I'd probably say that he could be a scion of a Korvosan noble house, and fled to the Lost Coast after realizing his family wasn't as noble as he thought they were.

But... you're the GM, so do what you think is best for your group!

[Kalshane]

I would agree. Someone from a "very traditional" Korvosan family would probably be your best bet here.

I will say that while no one would actively own slaves in Riddleport, someone who sold people into slavery elsewhere probably wouldn't be completely out-of-place.

[Latrecis]

Perhaps some further information might help...

What does the player expect to come from this background? Is is just bit of historical information that sets his character? Or does he expect to free these (or other) slaves? In the first case, he can be from Cheliax or another Golarion location that definitely has slaves. The AP won't take him home and its just background. In the second case, as Haladir said, there aren't slaves in Varisia to free. So unless you want to alter Varisia to suit your needs, it's hard to find a tie in. (And if you make such alternations, that's totally fine just know none of the background material that may be available on line or in books will jive with it.)

Minor exception:

Spoiler:

There are enslaved dwarves and maybe captives from the raid on Sandpoint at the beginning of Book 4 in Jorgenfist to be freed. But note: they don't show up as an option until Book 4 - a long wait to pay off on a player background for the first time.

[Wheldrake]

The Runelords were big on slavery, and there are countless examples of that all through this AP. Although it's not a major theme, it is recurrent.