Troll Lord Games

Hello. My players just wrapped up A0 The Rising Knight last week. Just about to begin A1 AOBTRidge. Most of my players were there from week to week, but one of my friends was only able to be at the session a few times. Sometime back, one or two of the party members promised this neutral evil pirate the 250gp reward offered to the other players by leaders in the town of Malforten. The pirate, and a monk who traveled with him weren't apart of the initial party. They came in around session 2 or 3, and had their own dealings with Gritznak. Since that time, one of the characters who was apart of the deal(a halfling paladin)has died, and I believe the other character who offered this deal was the chaotic neutral elven assassin. Due to the pirate player's spotty attendance, he was probably going to exit after the end of A0(so we wouldn't have to carry the character along if he wasn't there). He couldn't be at the last session in which the assassin and the paladin player's new character(who arrived late in the last session), a lawful evil knight, decided they probably wouldn't let him have that reward afterall. As I understand, the assassin hopes to find a guild somewhere in Aihrde and put a hit on the pirate. No major tensions at the table, but I'm trying to keep problems from brewing. Don't get me wrong, the pirate character probably won't be in the picture all that much, if at all. Even if I allow this to happen, the two players spoke aloud some of their intentions. Naturally, the guy who plays the pirate's friend heard this. I think it's going to resolve peacefully, but I'm trying to find a way to let these two guys sort of do it, but maybe have it come with a price. I don't know. It's not going to derail the group, but I don't want even minor friction. Hopefully, they'll get on their way to the BTRidge and Botkinburg and just forget this crap. I've got the Aihrde folio and the codex, but does anybody know of any assassin's guilds in the area? Any help with a minor alignment issue at the table?

tylermo wrote:It's not going to derail the group, but I don't want even minor friction.

I can't help with the specifics--I'd just wing it--but given what I've quoted, in future campaigns I'd recommend having everyone build the party together rather than individuals creating disparate characters and trying to force them together. If you make it clear at the beginning that you don't want inner-party strife and encourage them to build a cohesive party, you're much less likely to run into this sort of thing.

Long post shortened: ANY group with a preponderance of evil PC's, IF actually played as per stated alignment, disintegrates sooner rather than later... (applies to campaign length endeavors)

This lesson learned, after 32 years of GMing.

I might do something that would embroil both of the characters and force them to work together. Example: If the one character puts a hit out on the other character, maybe the assassin(s) that he hired decide that they kill BOTH characters for some reason (perhaps a third party already put a hit out on the entire group unbeknownst to the characters). The characters might get wind that assassins are coming for the lot of them or might not know until an initial attempt has been made on them, but one thing is clear: the assassins have taken the money of the character who hired them and decided to kill them all and get the rest of their loot or collect on a much larger reward from a third party who the PCs have pissed off in the past. Under constant threat of assassination, the characters will work together or die.

tylermo wrote: I've got the Aihrde folio and the codex, but does anybody know of any assassin's guilds in the area?

I have placed a branch of the Crna Ruk (The Black Hand) [Codex page 196 with additional info in Heart of Glass) and a branch of The Asylum [Codex 196] in Botkinburg.

Always remember rule #2. "It's just a game." Repeat till it sinks in.