Modified Rannos & Gremag scenario, part 1

This is part 1 of my reworked traders scenario mod. It's an attempt to address the issue of the traders being killed relatively easily by low level parties, thus gaining a ton of XP and magical items very early. What happens in the mod is the following:

• When you attack the traders for the first time, they call for guards, and then one of Burne's badger intervenes. The badger breaks up the fight and makes you leave the building, unless you choose to fight on. In that case the badger becomes hostile, and you get the Butcher of Hommlet rep, and of course the traders' runoff sequence fires off (as per Livonya's script, with slight tweaks).
• Upon re-entering the building, you find that the traders have vanished, leaving only Raimol behind. If you talk to him, he tells you they'll be back shortly, and that if you attack them again they'll respond in full force. He then goes away to make room for the new mercenaries (unless you choose not to let him, in which case a most likely short fight ensues).
• On your second re-entry, Raimol goes away if he hasn't already, and Rannos and Gremag appear again, this time with two hired thugs (taken from the Revenge Encounter). They immediately initiate dialogue with you, so you don't get the chance to position the fighters and/or start off the combat with a spell as before. Hopefully the fight is now impossible for low level parties, but who knows.

Other minor additions:

• Added a check for subdual damage in the runoff script (otherwise, you could use nonlethal attacks on the traders, and the runoff script didn't fire, allowing you as many turns as you liked to beat them)
• Added an option to attack them from dialogue after confronting them about the assassin (for non-lawful parties only). (for RP purposes, as some requested in another thread)

Known issues:

• You get the Butcher of Hommlet rep as soon as you choose to fight the badger. Normally you get it only after actually killing two Hommlet NPCs, but otherwise you could perhaps get away with it by either using the flee from combat option or by knocking the badger unconscious.
• Also, the traders fight the badger as well. It sort of makes sense, because they'll want to leave Hommlet after this incident anyway, but it's kinda funny. Might correct this by adding a new badger proto with the traders' faction for this end.
• Currently, after getting kicked from the trading post, if you enter again, exit, then enter immediately after, the traders will show up with their guards. Not the most realistic, but timed events are known to cause problems. Until Cerulean realeses his timevent fix, I'll stick with this.
• There's an unfinished branch relating to the part 2 of the traders' scenario, which has to do with the laborer spy quest and the council meeting event. But it's only available to evil parties, so most people won't notice it anyway
• Probably incompatible with old saves; I added a san_first_heartbeat script to the traders, which wasn't there before. Won't CTD the game, but will mess up the mod if that script doesn't fire. You might be able to correct this by modifying their scripts ingame:
  
  from utilities import *
  gremag.find_npc_near(game.leader, 8049)
  gremag.scripts[10] = 61
  rannos.find_npc_near(game.leader, 8048)
  rannos.scripts[10] = 62

I'd like to also add pre-buffing when you encounter them again, but they are not spell casters, and have none around. Is there a way to make NPCs use potions/scrolls outside of combat?

Also, do you think the two hired guards are enough to deter low level parties, or have I just made things worse by offering even more easy XP and loot? (i.e. would they still be easy to beat?)

Your feedback would be greatly appreciated.

EDIT: updated for compatibility with Chuchulain's contribution

 

Sounds very interesting. I especially like the option to initiate combat from dialog relating to the assassin.

 

Excellent work, I'll check on this as soon as I'm done
with testing 50%xp reduction.

 

This sounds like a very interesting addition. I hope it works as well as it looks like it should.

 

Well, it's the appropriate thing to do in the game-exploit sense. Maybe I'll add a new alternative rep to trigger KOS ('lawbreaker' or something to that effect), but currently it's not a very high priority.

 

Sounds good, but some thoughts on the scenario:

1) I still don't like the idea of a Badger coming to their aid after Rannos and Gremag have been revealed to Burne. They report directly to Burne, and would be informed that the Traders are up to no good. Also, why can they call for aid from the Badgers but any other NPC attacked is forced to defend themselves? I realize this was implemented because the players are more-likely to attack the Traders than anyone else, but it seems odd that two people under extreme suspicion from those the Badgers report directly to are the only ones who can call for aid.

2) I disagree with the idea of preventing Lawful parties from picking a fight after an assassin has been sent after them. While Rannos and Gremag simply being spys wouldn't be enough to justify hostile action without legal go-ahead for Lawful characters, sending an assassin is a personal attack on the characters and shows that the Traders are dangerous men who are not above attempting to kill others. At that point, for Lawful Good characters, they have become a threat to the lives of others and standing back could result in the deaths of innocents. For Lawful Evil characters, retaliation is required for the sake of restoring order and asserting the dominance of the LE characters.

3) I don't like the idea of Rammos and Gremag returning with the hired thugs. Once they've been outed and it's obvious the PCs intend to commit violence, the Traders would likely leave and never come back. Plus, where did the thugs come from? It would take them at least a couple days to locate some mercenaries and bring them back to Homlett. Which is why I had suggested a boosted Raimol and Groom/Courier as their allies if the PCs attacked them, since they're right there.

The hired thugs scenario would make sense, however, if the PCs chose to, for whatever reason, attack them without revealing them to Burne and before the assassin tries to kill them. At such a point, the Traders are still legitimate businessmen in the eyes of the villiagers (and still undercover and able to maintain their epsionage) and would be perfectly justified in bringing in hired muscle to protect themselves from violent, unscrupulous folks like the PCs. In fact, the would probably even get assistance from the villagers in locating a sellsword or two willing to do guard work.

 

While I see the problem, I can think of one story out. The Badger has been sent to watch Rannos and Gremag until the council meeting, to keep them in Hommlet. He intervenes because it's up to the council to decide if the traders are criminals and what to do with them, not the PCs.

Agreed here.

Good points.

 

Point. Perhaps there could be some form of dialogue options for the PCs to convince the Badger to backoff? Intimidate would be an obvious one, though could have repurcussions for the PCs later. Diplomacy would be another option, perhaps with a bonus to the check if the PCs have been attacked by the assassin. "Good sir, I know you are doing as ordered, but these men sent an assassin to kill me, who very nearly succeeded. [Show Badger Smigmal's note.] I mean to stop them before they can slay anyone else and I beg you to please stand aside."

 

It could even be dialogued in to allow for the badger a choice; to either flee, or join, the melee.

 

what if you waited untill long into the game, to the point where you had become a knight of F&V. wouldn't that have some effect on how the situation and how people look at the PCs. Its kind of like Mr Paladin rides into town, sees some guy and rides him down, later in the day he cures a old sick lady.

 

Definitely doable.

Giving it more thought, if the party chooses to Intimidate the Badger, or attacks Rannos and Gremag before the assassin is sent and uses Diplomacy to make the Badger to back down, then Burne would have some unkind words with the party the next time he speaks with them. He might even want to bring them before the town Council themselves to answer for their actions. If the party uses Diplomacy after they've been attacked by the assassin, the next time they talk to Burne he simply mentions he wishes they had come to him before taking matters into their own hands, but thanks them for killing/driving off an obvious threat to Homlett.

Another thought, perhaps if the party brings the assassin's attack to Burne's attention before attacking Rannos and Gremag, Burne tells the party "Rannos and Gremag are obviously a dangerous threat and must be handled as soon as possible" in which case we get the situation mentioned upthread where Rannos and Gremag decide to flee town before they're attacked. When the party arrives at their shop, there is a wounded Badger there who says he tried to stop them from leaving town but they stabbed him and headed for the stables. If the party goes to the stables, they find Rannos and Gremag preparing to leave town, and have Raimol, the Courier and perhaps Jayfie with them. Dialogue begins when they enter, and the party has a choice to try and stop them or let them go. Either action results in the Target of Revenge plot (provided the party doesn't manage to kill them before they flee) since even if they're let go, Rannos and Gremag don't appreciate getting run out of town.

 

Here's a thought. How about we actually give the mod a try as written before we start pronouncing judgment on it and suggest changes. Sheesh!

 

Awh man, I like to judge books by their covers and this one has a fluffy pink kitty on it.

on a side note I can see this going the way of the 0rion Wars - some one makes a mod, someone doesn't like the way the characters now behave (cos thats just stupid I know those characters and they would never act like that) and it all gets out of hand. Just voicing my fears before this all ends in tears.

btw, there could be many reasons for R&G to come back after they skiped town the first time, like a stash of loot that needs 4 or 5 people to carry it or some other valuable item forgotten in the rush to leave the first time round.

 

I definately like the way this whole thing is turning out. Lots of good ideas to make the encouters with R&G even better. I hate to say that I've never actually failed to kill them before, so I have no idea what the other encounters with them are like if you get the Target Of Revenge. =p