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Not sure how much attention this forum is still getting, but here goes. I’m prepping for a run of Agents of Edgewatch in a couple of months, and looking for a way to carry over some of our inter-player RP that we enjoy so much in our current campaign (a one-year detour of Vampire). To help with that I will present my players a list of guard clichés and tropes from film and TV, just as a jump start and to prevent them from falling into the “mechanics first”-trap. This is what I have come up with so far (I’m sure you can spot the inspiration for some!) Could you imaginative folks please help us with suggesting some more?
War-damaged
You fought the legions of the Whispering Tyrant and for you the war is not quite over. Your S.O. has moved out, nightmares plague you, and the horror and trauma live on. You feel guilty because your comrades died while you, for some reason, survived. You are easily irritated, startle for no reason, afraid of dark spaces and drink too much. Some in the corps see you as a lethal weapon ready to go off at any time.
The careerist
Your mother was city watch, your grandmother too, and your first words spoken were “patrol route”. You’re focused on making a brilliant career and see yourself as district captain within a few years. Just have to graze off a few dog years first. You like to take the credit, lick superiors' behinds and position yourself to be "in the right place with the right people". But you don't really prefer to go first when the going gets tough. After all, you have a long career ahead of you, and Absalom needs you. Alive.
The technician
You are very interested in weapons, equipment, and technical methods of practicing your profession, and have (and carry around) all kinds of gadgets. You know all the rules and regulations and never misses an opportunity to recite them. Your equipment is in top shape and you'd be hard-pressed to choose between leaving a comrade behind or your LR-22 Tactical Baton (painted in night camo).
The idealist
You became a guard because you want to help people. Protect the weak and bring justice. You are always first in the morning line-up with sunshine in your eyes, and always sign yourself (and your unit) up as volunteers. You feel sorry for the criminals, always trying to give them a second chance and see the best in everything and everyone, even when there’s scarce to find.
Retirement in sight
You are a bit older, and don't have many years left until retirement. You had a comfortable desk job at the station and spent the weekends at your cottage up the coast, in peace and quiet. For some reason, and against your will, you're now back in a unit and out on patrol with a bunch of hot shots. Your back aches, the shoes pinch, the uniform has shrunk. You're too old for this s~@+.
Mastermind
You are driven by secrets, mysteries, riddles. And where does one find those, if not at a crime scene? You see your new profession as a game to challenge your intellect, and have little interest in the human aspect. Everything and everyone carries a secret, and you are the key. As long as you get some time, and people stop running around and bothering you, you will solve this.
The softie
If the sergeant is looking for someone to shout at, you are always their first choice. Soft spoken and timid, your parents thought guard academy would toughen you up. It hasn't, and you are still looking for your voice and your moment to shine. It’s out there, you hope. Somewhere.
The entire adventure path is practically based on movie tropes. With each book (except the last) essentially attempting to mimic some 'police/crime' movie of old.
I HIGHLY suggest that you read the entire adventure path in entirety before running this and comparing what it presents to your players and their characters. As strange as this sounds for what presents itself as about about law and order, lawful characters are going to be railroaded into doing unlawful things by book 3 if you just follow the books and don't want to spend the effort rewriting the story. Player Agency is repeatedly taken away with the author just saying "Tell your players to just go with it."
And the last book is so disjointed that my table we just ended up reading it out loud as it starts off suggesting your party essentially make all new characters more tailored to the subject at hand.
If your players on the other hand are those that enjoy being lead around, aren't into world immersion, and don't take things to serious then don't worry about it. OH! Advise anyone thinking of playing an Investigator to play something else, there is no investigating to be done in the adventure path. The evidence is usually and quite literally sometimes just stuck on the wall impossible to find, unless you once again spend a lot of your own creative effort to rewrite.
Thanks for your feedback Orikkro! Seems you don't like this AP very much - no problem - tastes differ! I have read it, and I agree there's some work to be done, but all APs need work in my experience; if not because of plot holes/weak sections/broken stuff, so then to tie the story tighter around the player characters.
Fortunately I have gotten lots of great tips from this forum and from Reddit, and also from jsled's helpful document (which kind of curates forum- and Reddit posts). And I will change the last book as well, to make it a more inline with the others, and to give the BBEG a better motive and plan.
As for the tropes, I presented the ones above (and a couple more) to my players and they liked them as inspiration.