Striders of Farlanghan: Affiliation

I'm stating out the Striders as an affiliation for my Shackled City campaign, and I wanted everyone's input. Please feel to comment and post suggestions. This is what I was thinking:

Striders of Farlanghan

Type: Spy Ring
Scale: 9 (regional)
Goals: Protect those that travel the wilderness and prevent evil from establishing a foothold in the region.

Criterion:
Character level – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – + 1/2 PC level
Worshiper of Farlanghan – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – +1
10+ ranks in Gather Information or Knowledge (local) – – – +2
Member of the Pathwarden prestige class – – – – – – – – – + 2
Has the Tracking feat – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – + 1
Completes a mission for the Striders – – – – – – – – – – – + 2*
Evil alignment – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – - 10 (edit: was - 4)
Fails to protect travelers in need – – – – – – – – – – – – – - 10

*note: For purposes of the SCAP I'm including many of the adventures that mirror the Strider's goals, even if the character wasn't explicitly hired by them to complete that mission (and as long as the Strider's are aware of what occurred, of course). Off of the top of my head, that involves the events of Life's Bazaare, Flood Season, and later adventures against the main organization behind the events of the SCAP.


Titles, Affiliations & Duties:
Affiliation Score
3 or less – – – – No affiliation.
4-10 – – – – – – Watcher: The Striders recognize you as a potential ally in a fight against evil in the region.
11-20 – – – – – – Farstrider: You are accepted as a member of the Striders of Farlanghan. You take advantage of the Strider's training and network of contacts, receiving a +2 bonus to Knowledge (nature) and Gather Information checks. In return, you are expected to guard the pathways of the wilderness, aiding travelers in need and destroying threats to the area.
21-29 – – – – – – Pathwarden: Your access to the Strider's information network allows you to use your Gather Information skill throughout the region without having to physically travel to the location of your search.
30+ – – – – – – Shadowstalker: Due to your extensive web of sources, you can re-roll a Gather Information check. You can use this ability up to 3 times/day.

Executive Powers: Raid, Research and Shadow War

Wow, no respones? That's the last time I post anything on a Sunday.

Now that people are back to wasting time at work: any comments or ideas?

~Q~

Looks pretty good to me, although I might make the penalty for being evil greater, or at least make sure that a high-level evil party had had plenty of opportunities to accrue the -10 penalty.

I am heartened to see people contemplating and using the affiliations mechanics, though. That was one of my favorite parts of PHB2.

I haven't fully read the Affiliations section of the PHB II, but shouldn't the bonus for being a member of the Pathwarden Prestige class be higher? That prestige class means you are an elite member of the Striders, so it makes sense to me that you would reap a lot more benefits.

Shroomy said:

I haven't fully read the Affiliations section of the PHB II, but shouldn't the bonus for being a member of the Pathwarden Prestige class be higher? That prestige class means you are an elite member of the Striders, so it makes sense to me that you would reap a lot more benefits.

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I was thinking that, too, but if you factor in the minimum level requirement for the PrC (and I have no clue as to what that is), a member of the PrC is going to have a pretty good affiliation score anyway.

That kind of bonus is kind of a balancing act, in that you may not want membership in a PrC to make it too easy to qualify for the very highest levels in the affiliation.

Rodrigo Istalindir said:

Looks pretty good to me, although I might make the penalty for being evil greater, or at least make sure that a high-level evil party had had plenty of opportunities to accrue the -10 penalty.

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That's a good point. I bumped it up to -10. That's pretty much enough to keep someone out of the highest ranks, and a ranking below where they would be otherwise. My reasoning is that the Striders wouldn't fail to use an evil character if he furthered their purposes.

Shroomy said:

shouldn't the bonus for being a member of the Pathwarden Prestige class be higher? That prestige class means you are an elite member of the Striders, so it makes sense to me that you would reap a lot more benefits.

Click to expand...

I don't necessarily agree that means you are an elite member (because of the class). The highest level member in the book doesn't have any ranks in it, for example. I see that it would be a favorable condition, but I'm not seeing them keeping people down for not taking it.
(IMHO, YMMV, etc., etc.)

~Qualidar~