Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Tait Ransom 04-27-06, 06:41 PM	One of my players is running a changeling rogue 5/changeling paragon 3. She wrote up a background, and I need some help with how to flesh it out in the campaign. In her background, her village in northern Breland was overrun by bandits while her father was away on business. Her mother was killed by the bandits, and she escaped by using her shapeshifting abilities. She's been trying to find out what happened to her father. She knew he did some business as a merchant in Sharn and travelled there to look for him (which is how she met up with the other PCs). Since arriving, she's enlisted the aid of an Inquisitive who has been able to find out more about her father, Layton. (Note: What follows is information I provided based on the background the player wrote ... the player doesn't know anything more about what happened than what she wrote and what I've revealed since then). The inquisitive learned that Layton was an identity of a member of the Tyrants. The inquisitive told the PC what she'd learned ... that Layton fell in love with the PC's mother and discovered that the PC's mother and her family were in danger for refusing to pay protection money to Sharn crime boss Sigor Thule. Layton faked his death in a fire, smuggled the PC's mother and family out of Sharn, and went to the Watch with information on Thule, specifically about the new identity the Tyrants had arranged for him. Thule was arrested, tried, convicted and eventually executed for his crimes. The remants of his organization blamed the Tyrants for his capture, and a gang war broke out between them. When the dust settled, several Tyrants and their agents were dead, but Thule's organization was no more. Layton and the PC's mother started a new life near the Breland/Aundair border, married, and lived happily for several years. Layton maintained one deep cover identity in Sharn, and travelled there several times a month. He told his family he was travelling on business, but in fact, he was still working for the Watch. The Tyrants eventually learned Layton was still alive and what his current identity was. They hired a band of mercenaries to wipe out the village he was living in to kill him and send a message to any of their number who might consider betraying them. Layton returned to the village shortly after the attack and assumed his wife and daughter were dead. He has not been seen since. The PC is unaware that Layton returned to the village. Since the PC arrived in Sharn and began asking questions about her father, it attracted the attention of the Tyrants, who have been keeping an eye on her. Now, that's where everything is as of now. My question is ... where should I take it from here? Should the PC's father still be alive? Should the Tyrants have already made an example out of him? If the PC's father is alive, what is he doing? Where do you folks recommend I go with the story from this point? Thanks in advance!
Temjinstrife 04-30-06, 05:31 PM	If you wish to factor Layton's plot line in as part of the story, it's very possible to have him working on an important Watch assignment (either Tyrant-related or not) and have him either employ the PCs as a patron or be the "watchman gone missing" that the PCs find either dead or captured in Tyrant territory. What's also important is, which parent was the changeling? One or both? As for what Layton is actually doing, there are a bunch of options. Should he be a member of the Watch still, he could be working on any number of assignments, or he could have been promoted into a higher position where he could act as a patron. If the PCs end up on the wrong side of the law, imagine the PC's surprise should her father end up being the prosecuting judge! The worst part is that he might not be able to trust that it is his own daughter, especially since she is a changeling. Layton could also have left the watch, looking for revenge on the Tyrants. He might, in an extreme case, have raised a rival gang or orchestrated raids deep into their territory. He could also be running both sides; still a Watch member, (possibly high-up) but hardened by the loss of his family, paying assassins and rival gangs to cause trouble for the Tyrants until he makes his move. Another possibility is that he rescues his daughter from a Tyrant attack. If he is a changeling, it is very possible for him to be running as a deep cover operative again within their ranks. This can combine with any of the above. There's plenty of room for expanding this further as well. Perhaps Layton was actually a Tyrant all along, and orchestrated the death of his family as a sign of obedience or if he thought they might compromise him. After all, who wouldn't want a double agent in the Watch? Again, though, which parent is/was the changeling? That makes a big difference as to what Layton and the PC's options are/were.