I am preparing to GM Rise of the Runelords. So far I have only read the first two chapters.
I like how some of the PC opponents have very strong motivations. For example the quasit does not care about Karzoug, but she is still happy to help Nualia so that she can create more sinspawns for her army.
Tsuto does not have strategic motivations, but he hates Lonjiku and is in love with Nualia and that works perfectly fine. He manages to get Lonjiku involved with the goblin attacks and can now blackmail him. Very good. But then he decides to have a rendezvous just to murder him? That's really stupid. He can manipulate one of the most powerful men in Sandpoint and decides to kill him instead of using him for Nualia's cause? So far Tsuto seems quite passional but not an idiot. While the AP unambiguously states that Tsuto has planned the murder in advance I feel that a rendezvous to further blackmail him which escalated makes more sense. Lonjiku wanting to kill Tsuto seems in character. Tsuto is there, the goblins are hidden and when Lonjiku attacks Tsuto and the goblin kill him and the workers. The idea of killing the workers just to frighten the population seems weak, but now that they have witnessed the murder they cannot be left alive, also there is no holding back excited goblins.
But now Tsuto sends a message to Ameiko to meet in the place where 9 people have been murdered that night???? Waiting in the place of crime for several hours just so that he can be caught and incriminated???? In fact he is still there the day after when the place should be open for business??? People will worry when the workers do not come back home, and start searching. And there is absolutely no reason to meet Ameiko at the glassworks. There is no reason to expect her to join once she knows that he has murdered 9 people, her father among them. And if Tsuto just wanted to kidnap her, most other places would have been much safer.
Have I misunderstood something? Has anyone changed up these events a bit? I think I will go with Tsuto having organised a night meeting (less people around) at the glassworks with both Ameiko and Lonjiku at the same place/time to put one against the other or something, and Bethana deliver the message to the PCs in the evening and not the morning after. Things go awry during the meeting, Lonjiku is killed and Ameiko captured. The workers who were sleeping at the glasswork also get killed since they woke up and are now witnesses. Since it is night Tsuto and the goblins have until sunrise to leave and it makes sense that they spend some time cruelly acting on Lonjiku's body. Not long afterwards the PCs arrive. What do you think? Curious to hear other ideas as well.
Runelords is an awesome story with excellent reasons and motivations written in, as you have noticed. For the glassworks section I left it pretty much as written, figuring that Tsuto (my players knicknamed him "Kungfupants" and I became so used to that I nearly forgot who you were talking about) had gotten what he wanted from the old man and hated him so much he decided to finish him off.
Also, you should check out the RotRL subforum in the Adventure Path section, it is full of good stuff.