My thoughts on possible table swaps for arc 2:
Bolaire would benefit greatly from a table swap because I think Tal, as a player, wants more challenging scenes and no one has really dug into Bolaire’s situation. Schemers play style feels very avoidant?? If that’s the right word to use. Skirted around combat, skill proficiencies are padded for high rolls, even the one time Tal panicked with “kick her down the stairs” felt like a very generous safety net granted to him with Termina absorbing a whole plot line. Bolaire works with artifacts, is also old enough for any potential Sea Door knowledge and has that glass rapier we’ve not seen much of. His biggest mechanic (body hijacking) would be more on display if he needed a new body after combats like the Sewer combat, which would prompt roleplay. So I think he’d be better fit for the Seekers especially if he had someone like Julien or Thaisha to bounce off of. Idk, in my opinion you need some high energy PCs and Thaisha and Tyranny have great personalities, Julien is a grated asshole who has a “let’s keep moving” energy which would pair for Tal’s unconventional build of Bolaire. This is a PC you have to dig into sooner rather than latter or the longer the PCs react passively or not at all to their presence their impact will be lost in the long run.
I think Thaisha or Julien coming over to the Schemers table could help the energy of the Schemers not feel so ehh. Schemers are a real shlog where it would actually be more interesting if they were revealed. Usually in the first act, you introduce your character’s normal day life to give them something to miss/reflect on and you take them out of their everyday and shake up their world. So I’m hoping the next schemer’s arc will do that because this one felt like it could’ve been a TL;DR built on fleshing out the nitty gritty details learned from the build up from other tables. Schemer’s definitely gained from being the last table, but a lot of their episodes felt repetitive as hell with unnecessary rolls with no pay off. I think putting a PC or 2 with more “present day” energy could help the table not feel so bland and boring with so many skippable scenes. So as much as people didn’t love the Seeker’s “confrontational mistrust” these PC’s at least had personalities and were willing to make “wrong moves” against others. Schemers feel way too tidy for a d&d political intrigue game especially with Marisha bleeding into Murray with the “note taker” role and her PC mechanics that the table mates themselves couldn’t tell who was speaking several times. I like a good Marisha speal myself but Murray almost seems like she’s set up to receive all the meta knowledge players would know above table and it muddles up roleplay moments with obsessive paranoia like her moments in the 5hr schemer’s episode that went nowhere. The paints still aren’t resolved. This schemer’s arc definitely felt like an ongoing set up for the next table arcs and less about the schemers as PCs going on their own adventures. Maybe that’s the flaw of a city scape setting? Too many NPCs outnumbering and overbearing on PC’s roleplay and actions. Too many “abiding” personalities and not enough resistance for building a resistance force.
Something that would help flesh Hal out would be what he does after his play is over. If he believes his daughters are safe with Elodie, and doesn’t know what to do with 350 soldiers, perhaps leaving the city could do him wonders and give him space to breathe being thrusted into Sundered Houses plans. He doesn’t have a reason to stay in the city if he isn’t worried about his daughters, so he can switch focus to the Alogar leads which Liam has revealed in his fireside chat that there’s a tumultuous relationship between Hal & Alogar like there is with Shadia & Thaisha. So maybe those two can change tables: Thaisha to Schemers as a Lloy having been a guest in Einfasen estate and Hal to Soldiers, who could pay back Thimble for hunting down their traitor and joining her to the Golden Orchard.
Wick and Tyranny. These two are great bouncing off each other but I’d like to see them apart. Sam and Whitney both seemed surprised to be at the soldiers table to begin with so maybe that wasn’t their initial interest as players preferred play style? There’s been a lot established between these two with the contract binding, aspirant and scion power dynamic, and potential unrequited feelings. I think it would be good for Tyranny to have an arc of self actualization after her talk with Kattigan figuring out what she wants to do with herself and her own life outside of Wick and the creed, and Wick could easily bless these wishes with having power over her: going a protective route by sending her away from any consequences his family might have for her or leaning into the dynamic by ordering her to investigate on his behalf.
I think Vaelus will find a good purpose in the crescendo/convergence episodes having some necessary convos with Thimble, Bolaire, and Occtis. I don’t think she’s that obsessed over Occtis and is likely willing to part with him more than Julien is at this moment. She can be a heavy hitter in combat (if the dice allow it) and has Speak with Dead to talk to anymore warlocks of the Drowned Men like Velmonte where they originally learned of the Sea Door, so it makes sense for her to follow that plot line when she’s the only one with the artifact that can do so. She doesn’t have that many threads to many PCs so I am worried a little about the legitimacy of her hanging around other than the meta reason of Vaelus being a PC, hopefully it’s something we can discover a little more in her next arc no matter the table. One dynamic we do know is testy is Vaelus & Bolaire. While it is another classic Tal & Ashley PC duo, I do think they know best how to roleplay off of each other’s characters and Tal could poke her’s more comfortably than other’s as Ashley has confessed to struggling with conflict and she came in swinging heavy in the overture towards Bolaire. The comfort and chemistry is there as cast mates/players and could translate over to revealing deeper lore as PCs.
I know Robbie said the soldiers table felt like a unit and Kattigan feels like “here for the vibes” character so far, that ironically makes him really flexible to place. He seems to have some sort of backstory about leaving the rebellion and it would be interesting for the character who just felt like he was back with a group he’s forcing himself to not get attached in realize they’re leaving him this time and believe he’s better suited elsewhere momentarily. I think that could make for some compelling roleplay during the crescendo/convergence like Vaelus. Could also be the moment of realization for Kattigan to have a “waking up moment/get my shit together” or regress further like his isolated level up. We know this is intended to be a slow burn character so we got to let the water boil/stove come to temp first.
Soldiers Table arc 2: Thimble joined by Teor and Hal. Teor has an oath to Thimble, Hal might want to repay his sister figure for Casimir and check in with her emotionally. Occtis & Thimble reunite and spend some time together post murder and Julien is persistent on being a shadow to Occtis. Julien has antagonistic relations with Thimble for sure, offers that run-in with Teor at the market to come back, and Hal has to deal with another person eager to spit on his brother’s name just when he thought he escaped it all. Two rogues, two healers, and a wizard could actually be a good combat group for running into reinforcements/armada of Sundered Houses.
Soldier goals: find Alogar, locate Aranessa, meet Maya & Alba Davinos, learn the news of the Royce extended family members’ fate, likely kill more Tachonis forces, emotional closure for Occtis towards his own murder (if this is possible), further dive into why Teor’s powers seem to be close to fae magic, news about Faerie/fae for Thimble.
Seekers Table arc 2: Kattigan. Feels self explanatory as he’s a ranger/tracker can navigate them there, also has puppy cuteness for combat we’ve not seen much of with Thimble killing everything. Tyranny could join him, further that dynamic. Vaelus has Speak with Dead from the stone of nightsong. These 3 alone could have interesting talks about mortality/death, personhood, family/grief. Not certain on the 4th person, could be either Bolaire or Azune depending on what happens with the Einfasen and 350 soldiers, for right now I’d say Bolaire is more flexible and invested in moving Blix (if that is a priority) considering his background in smuggling. I don’t think 2 warlocks at the same table is a problem, just means we’re going to be short rest oriented. Vaelus would be the primary healer with Kattigan as second heals (both can hold their own in combat), and Tyranny could use the arc as learning when to pull back a little, people are forgetting about Wulfric and Bolaire’s melee martial flavoring so I don’t think they’ll struggle if they make wise shots and lean into sneaking around which I think they can manage with Pass Without a Trace, Bolaire’s manipulation kit, Tyranny in Disguise, and Vaelus’ aura. I think this is a combo that people sleep on and in-world has dynamics set up to be really interesting.
Seeker goals: further investigate the drowned men and stone of nightsong powers, what exactly the sea door is, what the stoned statues are about, necromancy/mortality as a concept of conversation in general for these characters, the spiritual bond of Wulfric, Tyranny’s independence, literally anything about Bolaire and Vaelus as characters and their history as immortals, disrupting Tachonis contacts at Houndsport, slim shot of Hospital Heist 2.0/Bellow’s Fever
Schemer’s Table arc 2: Thaisha doesn’t need to go to the Sea Door, her conflicts seem rooted in family and I think if Hal takes over the search for Alogar, it’ll give her some juicy moments with the daughters, Elodie, and any Lloy family and her privileges, she can also further continue the Einfasen storyline from her previous political station with Otto Einfasen. It makes a lot of sense for her to try and get some political backing with both Druid Circles and being a “respectable” influential Lloy. Wick doesn’t seem ready to confront his family from all the talks from the soldiers so maybe having Thaisha there could give him some confidence?? I’m not sure, no one seems to like Wick enough to give him the benefit of the doubt so a Schemer’s arc might be hard for Wick but right up Sam’s alley. I don’t see Murray working at the soldiers or seekers table with her ac 9, she also just got an “in” with saving King Gus’ life so he may not leave the city immediately after an attempt on his life but might be willing to sit down for negotiation talks for funding which is right up a bursar’s line of work. I also think Thaisha and Murray would roleplay so well off each other, I personally wanna see what this dynamic is like. We need to get Murray some gal pals she can confide and vent to after dealing with Dean Kora at all and Bolaire dismissing her. The last to round out the table would be Azune. He has spy things, sister things, 350 things people to feed. This puts two healers, Thaisha and Azune’s recent discovery of healing hands, a non-violent sorcerer Wick with direct ties to Sundered Houses, and a wizard who can keep crafting spell glyphs. Azune & Wick are 27/28 sorcerers from different spectrums of life. Thaisha & Murray are two women in a position of status/privilege with different prospect of lives: spiritual versus intellect. It’s the classic Druid’s wisdom versus a Wizard’s intelligence with a “but not in the way you think” twist. I think this would be a faaaaaaaar more interesting Schemer’s table.
Schemer goals: figuring where the Einfasen fall into the Tachonis and Halovar plots, keeping King Gus alive and allying with him, Wick further investigating the warlock creed plot line and maybe circling back around to the Baron of Sloak contact, Thaisha and Shadia relation, sneaking & hiding 350 soldiers or selected trusted individuals, what happened to Armas, there’s a lot of identity crisis happening here
Won’t really know 100% until we see what the convergence tries to accomplish and what threads are left. Is it confirmed the next 6 episodes are all convergence based located strictly in Dol-Makjar? Idk, my predictions are based off of individual player keystones and play styles and what in-world plot their characters are attached to and their reason to be campaign relevant. How prepared for backup characters are they?? Will PCs leave instead of being killed off? What is the end goal of this campaign??
