How to handle a Shahalesti PC?

[Marcon]

One of my players decided to play an undercover Shahalesti agent in Gate Pass. He has been sent on a mission a while back to investigate the rumors of an imminent war on the city.

I can foresee this as being a problem as early as Act 2 in the first adventure. When it becomes obvious that Shahalesti is after the same military case as the PCs, how will that particular PC react? How can the bond with Torrent and the other PCs be so strong that he does not feel compelled to reveal his true colors and switch sides?

I want to reward the player for coming up with such an original idea but OTOH, I haven't read every adventure cover-to-cover so I don't really know how big a role Shahalesti plays in the outcome and therefore don't want to start on the wrong track right at the beginning.

Any ideas?

-Marcon

 

[RangerWickett]

The basic overview is that the ruler of the Shahalesti -- Shaaladel -- was once sort of next in line after Coaltongue. His nation was allied with Ragseia, and he expected that when the emperor died, rule would pass to him. But then Coaltongue became immortal, and relations between their two nations soured, and then somehow the 'immortal' Coaltongue died, and Leska took his place. So now Shaaladel is worried. He wants to defeat Ragesia, and maybe rule it for himself, but he isn't sure he can do it alone. Also, he's kind of a Machiavellian bastard himself, so the heroes probably don't want him in charge.

In adventure 2, in the course of their travels the heroes find out that the Shahalesti were responsible for torching the forest of a group of elves who were hostile to their nation.

In adventure 3, the Shahalesti fleet blockades Seaquen in an effort to force them to join Shaaladel's side, and the heroes have to help stop the two sides from coming to blows.

In adventure 6, Shaaladel's daughter Shalosha is working with the general of one of Ragesia's armies; the general has decided he wants to take on Leska, and they're trying to work together to retrieve the Torch of the Burning Sky.

Adventure 7 is set in Shahalesti, where you find out some skeletons in Shaaladel's closet.

Adventure 9 has the heroes finally joining as allies with Shaaladel, because they need his help, despite that he's clearly not trustworthy.

Hopefully a Shahalesti PC will figure out a compromise; he'll be in a unique position to come up with a way to please both sides, probably by making a copy of the text (with the aid of, say, Diogenes in the academy). I'd recommend you have any Shahalesti NPCs that the heroes get friendly with to warn them not to come through their nation.

For out-of-game reasons, this could potentially lead to a big change in the campaign, with the PCs allying with the Shahalesti, and then later having to get the help of the resistance. You could do it, but it would require a bit of reworking.

The in-game reason would be that the Shahalesti are very nervous about spies, and there's a good chance any foreigners coming through would be taken as prisoners of war. Shahalesti NPCs that the heroes make friends with would actually encourage the PCs to go to Seaquen, so they could encourage the mages of Seaquen to be allies.

Oh, and if the PCs decide not to negotiate, well, drama and strife is always fun.

 

[FunkBGR]

I was a player in CrazyEights game as an Elven Commander, stationed in Gate Pass as a some sort of training program for the Gryphon Cavalry. Needless to say, I had to make some tough choices in the game.

Some of the memorable moments include arguing with the rest of the PC's that Seaquen SHOULD give in to the Sha demands, for example. The party was "at odds" with me for a couple of discussions, especially since I played up a fairly rigid good outlook, and almost complete and utter faith in that the Shahalesti were the good guys. Then later on, when it became clear that members of the Shahalesti weren't as good as me, we had a falling out.

It's totally doable, and can easily create some good party tension. Do not let it overshadow decisions though - I'd make sure the player knows that party cohesion is really important, and that it's a decision that could put them at odds later on. If it becomes too much, they may have to retire the character, or switch gears.

Edit:
As far as Gate Pass, point out to the player that tough decisions may come up, and tell them your reservations. You don't have explain exactly why - but point out that you're thinking about it. Most people will be understanding.

To be honest, I'd let them go for it, and try to give them "side missions" via email or something (a.k.a. their contacts). Have the missions be easy at first (report on this), and scale it up to actual sabotage of the party in some cases. Depending on how they react, you might cause them to "defect" to the party side. Just be careful if they don't - I wouldn't sabotage a party that isn't mature enough to handle it in-character. If it became a problem, you might have to just ask them to swap it out, as if they were "found out as a spy" or something.