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Looking for high level Pathfinder intrigue ideas
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<blockquote data-quote="BlackSeed_Vash" data-source="post: 6975285" data-attributes="member: 33580"><p>Unless your players generally love this time of game play, I would advise discussing the idea of secret goals with them as a group or individually. I would suggest having this discussion before they start generating a character/background. This way they can help you to create interesting goal(s) for their own character. </p><p></p><p>Without knowing any of your players background it's going to be impossible to suggest anything specific. However, here are a few things I would do if you do not have the above mentioned discussion with your players. Have a individual pre-session (or send an email) for each player, where you take some aspect of their background to either inspire/cajole/force the character towards a goal.</p><p></p><p>Here are some ideas on how hook your specific goal(s) to a player:</p><p></p><p>[1] A once though dead relative/friend/lover turns out to be in the clutches of someone. The captive will be returned after the character has aided the villain(s) with their plans. The villain(s) promise the character that each attempt to disrupt their plans, expose the villain(s), tell another about their situation, etc... the worse off the captive will be when returned.</p><p></p><p>[2] The family/clan/etc has a secret goal. This is best used for characters of noble birth and/or deeply embedded within a (thieves/assassin/etc) guild. While it seems boring, you've just provided your player with a group of NPCs who's goal matches up with their own. These NPCs should be willing to aid the player to the best of their ability in so long as they see it progressing their communal goal. Best case scenario, exposing the goal will result in the imprisonment/exile all key member of the group.</p><p></p><p>[3] A mentor or someone the character deeply respects has been wronged by someone who is well loved by the people, powerful and/or highly influential. It doesn't matter if the injustice is real or perceived, the character is intent upon some form of revenge. If this goal is revealed, the character can expect that the situation will worse for their mentor. In addition, the character might find themselves an outcast to society, with little to no political power or influence. It's never fun when vendors refuse to sell to you, your goods are treated as unclean and no inn keep will let you sleep with their stables let alone beneath their roof.</p><p></p><p>[4] The character is offered a position within a secret society. The character needs to at least perceive that their overall goal(s) are at least parallel to the society's. Similar to [2], the character should receive aid from NPCs, however; there should be more one time use NPCs used (being proxies for the society). Exposing the existence of the society, disrupting their plans, etc will earn the character a powerful group of enemies. Ones who are mostly likely all to happy to send assassin do deal with their problem.</p><p></p><p>[5] For a divine caster or highly devout character, he/she is given a task(s) by the entity they worship. Whether or not the one who contacted them is actually who it says it is, the character is told that the tasks must be kept secret. If asked why, the entity can explain that certain critial events will not come to pass if the others are aware of it's influence through the character's actions. In this case, you will need to hand this player a variety of things to achieve. Some should be obvious things the entity would request (like a god of healing wanting you to cure a particular individual) to the odd (ensuring that a particular woman purchases a lavender colored dress for the king' ball). Over the course these tasks, a picture of what the entity's goal truly is. In this situation, the player is going to be inclined to keep the secret for either mechanical and/or role-playing reasons.</p><p></p><p>[6] The character is secretly one of many potential heirs to someone well loved by the people, powerful and/or highly influential (probably the someone from [3]). Whether or not the character actually want to succeed this parent, at least one of his/her siblings will stop at nothing to eliminate this unexpected competition should the secret be revealed. If the player doesn't want to be named heir, have the parent look like an older version of the character, with many other similar aspects (like speech pattern, handedness , preferred combat style, etc). This will force the player to think of ways to hide these aspects from the other heir(s) and their minions. If the player wants to be named heir, give them a list of tasks that prove they are his/her true heir. The list should contain multiple tasks that an average adventure should be able tick 1 or 2 off. However, as the character accomplishes more and more of these tasks, the harder it is going to be to hide. Especially if the general populace is aware of at least some of the more critical tasks needed.</p><p></p><p>While not a secret, having one character who despises secrets and actively tries to expose them as part of the group would make the game very interesting.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="BlackSeed_Vash, post: 6975285, member: 33580"] Unless your players generally love this time of game play, I would advise discussing the idea of secret goals with them as a group or individually. I would suggest having this discussion before they start generating a character/background. This way they can help you to create interesting goal(s) for their own character. Without knowing any of your players background it's going to be impossible to suggest anything specific. However, here are a few things I would do if you do not have the above mentioned discussion with your players. Have a individual pre-session (or send an email) for each player, where you take some aspect of their background to either inspire/cajole/force the character towards a goal. Here are some ideas on how hook your specific goal(s) to a player: [1] A once though dead relative/friend/lover turns out to be in the clutches of someone. The captive will be returned after the character has aided the villain(s) with their plans. The villain(s) promise the character that each attempt to disrupt their plans, expose the villain(s), tell another about their situation, etc... the worse off the captive will be when returned. [2] The family/clan/etc has a secret goal. This is best used for characters of noble birth and/or deeply embedded within a (thieves/assassin/etc) guild. While it seems boring, you've just provided your player with a group of NPCs who's goal matches up with their own. These NPCs should be willing to aid the player to the best of their ability in so long as they see it progressing their communal goal. Best case scenario, exposing the goal will result in the imprisonment/exile all key member of the group. [3] A mentor or someone the character deeply respects has been wronged by someone who is well loved by the people, powerful and/or highly influential. It doesn't matter if the injustice is real or perceived, the character is intent upon some form of revenge. If this goal is revealed, the character can expect that the situation will worse for their mentor. In addition, the character might find themselves an outcast to society, with little to no political power or influence. It's never fun when vendors refuse to sell to you, your goods are treated as unclean and no inn keep will let you sleep with their stables let alone beneath their roof. [4] The character is offered a position within a secret society. The character needs to at least perceive that their overall goal(s) are at least parallel to the society's. Similar to [2], the character should receive aid from NPCs, however; there should be more one time use NPCs used (being proxies for the society). Exposing the existence of the society, disrupting their plans, etc will earn the character a powerful group of enemies. Ones who are mostly likely all to happy to send assassin do deal with their problem. [5] For a divine caster or highly devout character, he/she is given a task(s) by the entity they worship. Whether or not the one who contacted them is actually who it says it is, the character is told that the tasks must be kept secret. If asked why, the entity can explain that certain critial events will not come to pass if the others are aware of it's influence through the character's actions. In this case, you will need to hand this player a variety of things to achieve. Some should be obvious things the entity would request (like a god of healing wanting you to cure a particular individual) to the odd (ensuring that a particular woman purchases a lavender colored dress for the king' ball). Over the course these tasks, a picture of what the entity's goal truly is. In this situation, the player is going to be inclined to keep the secret for either mechanical and/or role-playing reasons. [6] The character is secretly one of many potential heirs to someone well loved by the people, powerful and/or highly influential (probably the someone from [3]). Whether or not the character actually want to succeed this parent, at least one of his/her siblings will stop at nothing to eliminate this unexpected competition should the secret be revealed. If the player doesn't want to be named heir, have the parent look like an older version of the character, with many other similar aspects (like speech pattern, handedness , preferred combat style, etc). This will force the player to think of ways to hide these aspects from the other heir(s) and their minions. If the player wants to be named heir, give them a list of tasks that prove they are his/her true heir. The list should contain multiple tasks that an average adventure should be able tick 1 or 2 off. However, as the character accomplishes more and more of these tasks, the harder it is going to be to hide. Especially if the general populace is aware of at least some of the more critical tasks needed. While not a secret, having one character who despises secrets and actively tries to expose them as part of the group would make the game very interesting. [/QUOTE]
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