Character tie in for serpent skull - no spoilers please

[Christopk-K]

I originally posted this in the serpent skull subforum. Due to this being one of only two posts in the whole subforum I'll take the liberty to repost this here.

We're close to finishing book 2 if serpent skull.

I'm not too happy with my character and think about retiering him to bring a new one into the campaign.

Currently my thoughts revolve around three ideas, each having some hints in the serpent skull player guide, to be goid choices

1 follower of Shelyn
2 follower of Desna
3 some sort of good fey/fey friendly character

What do you think would be mist rewarding for books 3 trough 6?

[Christopk-K]

Hopeful bump

[EvilMinion]

None of those really have any connection to what's going on...
So what would be most satisfying depends entirely on the character itself and what you mean by the phrase and why you're not feeling it.

For instance, are you not enjoying the PC for mechanical reasons, or RP reasons?

The best way to get invested is to work some of your background in to the various things going on. And that is dependent partially on your GM and you.

I'd suggest, at a minimum, putting yourself in a position to be opposed or at least related (good or bad) with one of the other groups for, background reasons. It should be pretty easy to have a reason to be in conflict with the Aspis or Pirates... the Sargavan government in a pinch (especially if you're mwangi) ... the pathfinders a little less so.
But don't do something that puts the other PC's at odds with you too (ie: if they're opposing the Aspis, don't be a devoted Consortium member)

To be honest, the events of book one are a big part of getting the PC's invested, as they get you connected to many of the players, and give you a shared background to draw from. If you got through that and didn't feel it, not sure what to say then.

I'm never a big fan of abandoning a PC midstream like this... and a new PC is even less likely to feel connected. If its just power levels, well, you can probably work with the GM to overcome some of that.

[blahpers]

Quote:

Due to this being one of only two posts in the whole subforum I'll take the liberty to repost this here.

Eh? The Serpent's Skull forum has lots of posts. It's been pretty dead lately, but that's not unusual--it's now an older adventure path, and not as popular as the old standbys like RotRL.

I'd suggest checking the player's guide again as a refresher on what sort of characters are more or less likely to fit into the AP, which the understanding that the parts relating to the very beginning of the AP are no longer relevant. Of the three options, the Desnan is weakly more appropriate for the simple reason that Desnans generally love to travel. (There's a reason Desnans are overrepresented among adventurers, after all!) Any of them can work, though, but you'll have to come up with your own reason to be there, and that reason might not be directly tied to your class or abilities.

[Valandil Ancalime]

I'm curious, what makes you think those three choices are good choices? Since you are near the end of book 2, you should know which faction the group is leaning towards. Probably a good idea to also ally yourself with that faction.

[Christopk-K]

Sidenote, I meant one of two posts this week not total ;-)

Actually all three options get mentioned in the player's guide.

To my taste this player's guide is comparatively vague with it's suggestions and the quest is still quite unclear mainly a scavenger hunt so far.

We (whole group) are allied with the government but more out of a perspective of least evil not because we really have a connection to them.

With the background of my character he'd rather ditch the whole AP and go looking for nice flowers in the jungle.

I can understand that exchanging characters is a bit disruptive. Still I wouldn't want to drag my character through 4 books of AP/ me through 6-9 month of playing if there's investment.

Next sidenote, I have no intention of changing the group of people I play with.

Advice by people who read/mastered/played the AP would be excellent.

[Leitner]

I have not played/GM'd the adventure path personally. But if the main reason you want to swap characters is that the current one is not invested in the campaign/storyline, I might suggest speaking to your GM about it.

I had a similar issue in the Skulls and Shackles campaign where my character's reason to participate in the campaign was wrapped up after book 4 or 5. My GM added an extra element that my character would never have walked away from and that solved my RP dilemma.

If you don't like the character because it just isn't working the way you thought it would, or the fun of a specific role has worn thin, then yeah, go for it.

[Mike J]

I GM'ed this AP in its entirety. While I made a number of community-suggested modifications, they did not change the story and were applied primarily to books 3 and 4.

You are close to finishing book 2, so if any of the following is spoilers, something went severely wrong in your game and/or your GM went in his/her own direction. If that is so, I really can't help you and I'd suggest talking to your GM.

Your group is the advance party for the government's massive expedition into the jungle to find a lost city. There are several other massive expeditions with their own advanced parties. Ready, set, go... It's a race which will be followed (hopefully) by an exploration of a lost city that has probably been overrun by the surrounding jungle. Of course, it's a race between expeditions, not between advanced parties. You're just clearing the path, so to speak. First expedition to get there gets all the bragging rights. Also, lost city and jungle.

To be honest, a character that is interested in looking for nice flowers in the jungle fits pretty good. Any expedition into an uncharted jungle will need a botanist to make sure everyone doesn't touch/eat/lick/etc. deadly plants or flowers, of which there will be many (this is a Pathfinder AP - everything is out to kill you).

The three ideas you presented don't necessarily fit with the AP's theme. Those ideas could work, but not because of the aspects you presented. For example, a whip-wielding, hat-wearing, professor of archaeology who likes to explore old ruins and happens to be half-fey would fit perfectly, but not because of the half-fey part.

So, I'd suggest the following thoughts: Indiana Jones and any who might travel with him. Lara Croft & company. The British Empire's taming of Africa in the late 1800's (and their "treatment" of the natives). Any other pulp, turn of the century, explorer types. Wild natives from the jungle. One of my players was a Mwangi barbarian with a bone in his nose! I think his name included a tongue-click sound, IIRC. Hopefully, this gets you thinking about characters that fit with the theme of the AP.

If you need more, you're going to have to provide more specifics about your ideas.

[Christopk-K]

The "specifics" for Desna and Shelyn come from this text in the player's guide:
"Clerics of
Desna will be rewarded for the long journey, while those
who venerate Shelyn may find their goddess represented
in unusual ways in parts of the Mwangi Expanse"

It's not a lot to go by but I thought it might be something.

If that ends up being one half page encounter at the end of book 6 I'd see it as being disappointing. If it would be something that you still have some chance of advance the story of a character around that would be great.

[Christopk-K]

arghh, I just spent 20 minutes translating the backstory and explaining how things went sideways and why my character would rather leave the expedition and go off exploring on his own.

and than my &%$*# computer (or the paizo page) ate it.

So, only the short version. My character (and propably some og the other PCs) feel let down and not supported by the NPCs of out expedition.

[Christopk-K]

Leitner wrote:

I have not played/GM'd the adventure path personally. But if the main reason you want to swap characters is that the current one is not invested in the campaign/storyline, I might suggest speaking to your GM about it.

...

That's sound advice and I'll try to get a hold of him before our next session.