How would this NPC react? Need some ideas (longish)

[NewJeffCT]

Anybody in my group, please stop reading...



OK, next session, the party’s N/G human rogue is going to find out he has an aunt he has never met before, while the aunt will simultaneously discover she has a nephew she never knew.

The aunt NPC is the consort to a powerful king. She is from a minor noble family who went to visit this king a few years after he became a widow. Her grace, charm and beauty captivated the king, but her lower status meant that they could not marry in their very strict caste-based society. However, she has managed to stick around as the king’s consort. As written in the book, she is good aligned and an influential voice on behalf of the poor and downtrodden.

The PC rogue had thought his mother and father were a fisherman and his wife. However, the “mother” made a deathbed confession to the PC that his real mother was a noblewoman named Suluri. When Suluri was fleeing her evil and abusive husband, her ship was sunk by pirates. The fisherman and wife found Suluri in the wreckage of a sinking ship, clinging to her baby and a few possessions. Fearing for her own life, and that of her child, Suluri paid the fisherman & wife to raise the baby as their own. The baby would later grow into the PC rogue. (this was part of the background, already set...)

The dying fisherman’s wife gave the PC a necklace that she said was from his real mother. She did not notice that the PC had a ring and rapier that matched the necklace. (The PC was given the rapier and ring by a goodly cleric he helped to save months ago (in game and out of game), so he has not come by the items illicitly.)

The noblewoman later was found by her evil husband and killed. The evil husband was supposedly later killed in turn (heh heh heh, at least they think so…)

Cut to the next session – the party will meet with the king (also good), and the aunt will notice either the necklace or ring on the PC rogue as having belonged to her long-lost sister. The aunt will not make a scene there, but will later confront the PC one-on-one and demand to know where he got the rapier, ring and necklace.

PC (I assume) tells the truth and the aunt figures out that the PC is her long-lost nephew. The aunt has a very high Bluff & Sense Motive and will have access to clerics that can cast Detect Lie.

What would her initial reaction be to finding out this news and figuring it is true? Would she embrace him warmly, or still be suspicious until confirmed? With a 16 INT, she will likely ask a cleric to discern the truth even though her Sense Motive is very high. However, I am looking for a good initial reaction, and then a later reaction after confirmed by a cleric.

The rogue has a pretty good Bluff and would have a slim chance of beating her Sense Motive if he wants to lie. However, if he tries to lie and fails to beat her Sense Motive, he could be in trouble.

My long-term goal is for the aunt to help the party out on occasion.

Thanks

 

[Herremann the Wise]

Firstly, great story!

I love this sort of stuff and this looks to have been well planned and cast. As for her initial reaction, it would be interesting if her reaction was defensive or even accusational. Whilst her sense motive might be telling her one thing, the sheer improbable logic of it all might still win through - particular if her sister's death is a sore point.

And in fact, perhaps she might seek information about the group first before confronting them. She might have people she can use to do the running around. Perhaps a lowborn relative of hers known as Uncle might do the confronting - actually requesting the immediate return of the items if pushed.

Essentially, make the group earn her as a powerful ally. Obfuscate at your best before finally producing the surprising reveal and reward.

Best Regards
Herremann the Wise

 

[NewJeffCT]

Firstly, great story!

I love this sort of stuff and this looks to have been well planned and cast. As for her initial reaction, it would be interesting if her reaction was defensive or even accusational. Whilst her sense motive might be telling her one thing, the sheer improbable logic of it all might still win through - particular if her sister's death is a sore point.

And in fact, perhaps she might seek information about the group first before confronting them. She might have people she can use to do the running around. Perhaps a lowborn relative of hers known as Uncle might do the confronting - actually requesting the immediate return of the items if pushed.

Essentially, make the group earn her as a powerful ally. Obfuscate at your best before finally producing the surprising reveal and reward.

Best Regards
Herremann the Wise

Thanks - good idea.

I was planning on having her angrily confront the PC, saying that the rapier in question once belonged to her sister, who was murdered, and the rapier lost. How did he come to have them?

 

[Ydars]

The aunt's reaction will depend upon a number of variables;

1) What was her relationship with her sister? if you feel she loved her then this will make any reunion with the Rogue PC warmer.

If she and her sister were not close or quarreled or were even rivals, she may view the PCs appearance as "yet another consequence of my dear Sister's ineptitude!".

2) The major variable is this one; how secure is the Aunt's position in society? She may be a consort, but if there is a legitimate wife, then a faction within the Kingdom may be seeking to discredit and ruin the Aunt to strengthen the wife's position. This could make for a very nice intrigue driven set of stories; the type I love but YMMV.

In this case, the arrival of a lowbred Rogue will be a danger to the Aunt and, though she may strongly desire to help him, it will not be so easy.

I think the most interesting position (and useful from a DMing point of view) is to have the Aunt initially very worried for herself because of her precarious position (after all she doesn't know or have any feelings for the PC) but later tries to help him, albeit with lots of cloak and dagger stuff.

Then the relationship could evolve into playing cat and mouse with the true Queen's people and perhaps even helping the aunt and the King behind the scenes.

If you are tempted to say "but wait............there is no Queen!" then think about introducing one. Maybe the King becomes ill, realises his mortality and is pressured to beget a legitimate heir. Since this requires a marriage then you can play this all out as background flavour in the campaign.

It would also be wonderful if the ailing King does not realise what a poisonous viper his new and young wife is and it becomes the Aunt's mission in life to protect the new Kingdom from the Queen's excesses (perhaps she worships a secret and unpleasent deity who at first looks much less threatening than it actually is; her mission is to convert the whole Kingdom to this new faith).

Then you have TONs of material for a political campaign and a nice convenient way of embroiling the PCs in it, without them gaining too much power in return.

On the other hand, it might just make a nice story and your players might just want to kill things and take their stuff (sigh). Only you can know this.

 

[Herremann the Wise]

Thanks - good idea.

I was planning on having her angrily confront the PC, saying that the rapier in question once belonged to her sister, who was murdered, and the rapier lost. How did he come to have them?

Is it something where she might bring court/judicial action against the PC? Could the PC possibly even be facing some form of arrest, or notice of action? The revelation of their familial relationship in court might be very interesting, and possibly even dangerous. Can you introduce a third party who might be able to manipulate behind the scenes seeking to gain advantage (at the expense of the PCs and the Aunt)?

You've created a wonderful situation where you could take it in so many different and interesting directions. Well done again.

Best Regards
Herremann the Wise

 

[Gilladian]

In my opinion, if you make the Aunt's initial reaction too unfriendly, it may make the PCs dislike or mistrust her. I think she needs to be kind, but unconvinced until she has "real evidence" ie proof from the cleric that it is the truth.

You mentioned that the king is a widower; if he has a son or daughter from his marriage, that child may dislike the new consort, and may wish to discredit her. He or she could easily try to either use the rogue's background in that way, or he or she might approach the rogue and try to get them to help him or or her ruin the Aunt; this child may be convinced that the PC rogue will have no loyalty towards an aunt who "abandoned" his mother when she ran into trouble.

My only confusion is in how tightly class-bound this society must be: if the sister who died was married to a nobleman, then why is the still-living sister not fit to marry the king? I guess the sister must really have married "up" into her marriage... you may want to make this a fundamental part of the story.

 

[Nightson]

I imagine such a character would play her cards close to her chest. The cleric over to cast discern lies, he's an old friend stopping in for tea. Her questions about his background, polite chatter. Her question as to where he got the sword, something that just popped into her head, a trifle of no importance.

I mean if she's polite society then she's not going to just interrogate him, especially since it isn't a question of finding her sister's murderer or anything like that. I mean for all she knows the blacksmith who made the original items decided to make another copy for someone, or someone saw the designs her sister had and decided to emulate them. She doesn't know anything at this point, so she doesn't want to tip off to the rogue (who may be someone unfriendly) how much she wants to know.

 

[NewJeffCT]

My only confusion is in how tightly class-bound this society must be: if the sister who died was married to a nobleman, then why is the still-living sister not fit to marry the king? I guess the sister must really have married "up" into her marriage... you may want to make this a fundamental part of the story.

The sister married a minor noble from another kingdom, which is several steps below marrying a king. Sorry, was not clear on that.

 

[fba827]

Depending on her level of doubt prior to confrontation, she may get someone to act as "shield" -- one of the castle guards (depending on that relationship if the guard knows she's with the king, etc) or a bigger friend in town. And she and the shield would approach the PC in a semi-controlled area -- after all, she knows the town better than them. So it won't be an alley with lots of escapes but instead their room at the inn or something with fewer random exits and still "non public"

She would have the shield stop them and ask them to explain the situation/have him do the initial talking while she stands to the side listening. The shield need not be agressive, just she probably wouldn't want to be alone with a guy who may have robbed (or killed) her sister.

If she believes the story she just then starts to speak up and talk to him explaining her half of the story.

If she doesn't believe the story, she speaks up calling out his lies and says that he will have to explain it to the constable (or else she simply demands back the items and lets him go depending on the level of mistrust over his involvment in whatever happened to her sister)

 

[Quartz]

Just a suggestion, but introduce the aunt first and have her make the connection in a later session. Otherwise the whole thing may seem a bit forced and soap-opera-ish.

The ideal intro would be a session where the rogue (or the player of the rogue even) is not present - perhaps he's in jail?

Alternatively, have one of her older servants recognise the items (give the PCs a chance to notice the servant giving them a careful inspection), tell her, and the next thing the PCs know is that a contingent of the King's Guard arrives with the Consort.

A further alternative and my favourite: the goodly cleric has written to the Consort advising her that she might find the party useful and that she can recognise them through the items the rogue carries (because they'll be known only to her and a few others). Thus the whole question of provenance is bypassed; she can become their patron, and only after a good many sessions have passed can you spring the big reveal.