Race drawing the villain's attention

[SnowleopardVK]

First of all: The following post contains some spoilers to the Pathfinder AP Jade Regent. (There, I warned you)

I've just gotten Brinewall Legacy and thus plan to start taking a group into the first part of Jade Regent soon, and something's happened. A player wants to be a tengu.

They are, at the moment completely unaware of the Yamabushi Tengu, dire corbies, and whatnot in this AP. They just want to try this because they think the tengu race sounds cool.

My current instinct is to let him if he wants to, but also warn them that this particular race might draw the attention of certain villains towards him specifically and give him the opportunity to change his choice if he decides he'd rather that not happen.

Any thoughts? Both on whether or not I should allow the tengu, and if I do how much I should tell him in warning for this?

 

[The Shaman]

Personally, I would rather discover this in actual play than be told in advance.

That said, I'm not your player.

 

[Pentius]

First of all: The following post contains some spoilers to the Pathfinder AP Jade Regent. (There, I warned you)

I've just gotten Brinewall Legacy and thus plan to start taking a group into the first part of Jade Regent soon, and something's happened. A player wants to be a tengu.

They are, at the moment completely unaware of the Yamabushi Tengu, dire corbies, and whatnot in this AP. They just want to try this because they think the tengu race sounds cool.

My current instinct is to let him if he wants to, but also warn them that this particular race might draw the attention of certain villains towards him specifically and give him the opportunity to change his choice if he decides he'd rather that not happen.

Any thoughts? Both on whether or not I should allow the tengu, and if I do how much I should tell him in warning for this?

As someone who doesn't know the Jade Regent AP, you've given no relevant spoilers in this post, and if you want to give a player this much, I have a hard time seeing it'd ruin anything.

 

[S'mon]

Personally, I would rather discover this in actual play than be told in advance.

Yes, me too. Sounds cool, actually.

 

[Hand of Evil]

I would think some of this would come out in the backstory of the character, family history, rumors around the campfire while growing up. He should have some knowledge.

 

[Nagol]

Some questions to ask yourself:

1) Will the extra attention appear like you deliberately targeting of the player by the player or the group (either positively or negatively) or will in-game circumstances be understandable so that the attention appears warranted within the context? This becomes more important in situations of low initial trust like a new group or the player in question is new to the group.

2) Are the in-game factions concerned sufficiently with race to warrant spending extra attention in the first place? If the factions were elvish in nature, would you naturally shift attenton to the elves in the group or is part of the extra atention the relatve scarcity of PCs of that particular heritage? If it is based upon PC scarcity then think about whether the in-game factions are overly concerned with race to begin with.

3) Are the in-game factions particularly interested on concerned with the PCs at all? Often PCs are viewed as agents of the "Other Side" as opposed to individuals or aren't considered at all -- especially at low level. Will the in-game factions take particular note of the PCs versus everyone else until their plans start getting blown?

 

[KiloGex]

1) Will the extra attention appear like you deliberately targeting of the player by the player or the group (either positively or negatively) or will in-game circumstances be understandable so that the attention appears warranted within the context? This becomes more important in situations of low initial trust like a new group or the player in question is new to the group.

I think deliberately targeting this player is the point. If he chooses a race that normal people of the land would be suspicious of, or one that the main villain would be more hateful towards, then he will be targeted.

During combat though, you just have to ask yourself if the character's race will be sufficient enough reason for the enemies to target him over a more dangerous threat. I'd say maybe during the initial phase of combat they might glance towards him, of course if he isn't the major threat of the group then they might turn their attentions away.

 

[Nagol]

I think deliberately targeting this player is the point. If he chooses a race that normal people of the land would be suspicious of, or one that the main villain would be more hateful towards, then he will be targeted.

<snip>

That would be targeting the character and seen as such if

in-game circumstances be understandable so that the attention appears warranted within the context?

The problem comes when the in-game context isn't understandable and it appears the DM is targeting the player i.e. "I'll hit Bob's character because it's Bob's" or "I'll give this boon to Bob's character because it's Bob's". Both forms can be problematic if the player group thinks they are happening.

 

[Psychotic Jim]

First of all: The following post contains some spoilers to the Pathfinder AP Jade Regent. (There, I warned you)

I've just gotten Brinewall Legacy and thus plan to start taking a group into the first part of Jade Regent soon, and something's happened. A player wants to be a tengu.

They are, at the moment completely unaware of the Yamabushi Tengu, dire corbies, and whatnot in this AP. They just want to try this because they think the tengu race sounds cool.

My current instinct is to let him if he wants to, but also warn them that this particular race might draw the attention of certain villains towards him specifically and give him the opportunity to change his choice if he decides he'd rather that not happen.

Any thoughts? Both on whether or not I should allow the tengu, and if I do how much I should tell him in warning for this?

Hmm, seems like on the one hand they're drawn to the tengu b/c of its stylishness rather than knowing of any real benefit it would give them, but OTOH, it might be something of a thematic game changer as far as certain villains are concerned. Given your initial impression, the vibe I'm getting from you is that it might be for the best to be up front about it and notify him ahead of time.

Really, what it depends on is a) how much it will affect the scenario for all parties, b) how would the player handle the surprise, c) how the unspoken social contract works for your game. If your players are used to this sort of thing happening, it might be fun to go for a surprise. If not, it might help to be a little bit up front about it with the player and give him a little advance warning. Just depends on how your gaming group works; it's your call. You seem to be thinking this through pretty thoroughly, so I think your cognizance is probably a good sign for whatever decision you end up with.

 

[SnowleopardVK]

During combat though, you just have to ask yourself if the character's race will be sufficient enough reason for the enemies to target him over a more dangerous threat. I'd say maybe during the initial phase of combat they might glance towards him, of course if he isn't the major threat of the group then they might turn their attentions away.

Yamabushi Tengus in particular are described as the kind of enemy who will always attack a duck even in the presence of a far more dangerous and immediate threat, so I think this is exactly the type of villain with a mentality that would pick him over other targets.

I think I am going to give him a bit of warning. Minimal spoilers if I can help it. If I just say "that particular race is likely draw the attention of some of the villains in this adventure, are you okay with that?" and then give him the option to change it if he wants, that'll be fair.