The Sword - Siszz's beliefs and keeping him in the loop...

[The Dragon Master]

Plan to run The Sword for my group this thursday, but I'm having some trouble seeing how to keep the Roden involved. On a quick read of his beliefs it feels like as soon as he gets his money he has no further reason to remain in the area.

I'll likely be running it with a group of four players. We normally have five, and on thursdays I run a shadowrun campaign for them, but last session one of the guys was MIA and didn't get hired on the next run, and this session an other (who happens to be the host) will be gone, so rather than start a new game, or try and work out a way to swap their characters on the fly I decided to run a one shot of burning wheel (been trying to talk them into a game of it since I first bought the books and a one shot seems the best way to suceed).

Looking over his beliefs it seems that his payment is the only thing keeping him part of the group. From reading other APs I've noticed that tends to be his first concern in the opening scene, and if paid then and their he has no particular reason to remain. Even if he does he doesn't have too much riding on who gets the sword. The only way I can see him being drawn in is if his payment is refused, or if someone else breaks their word to another player, both of which require in-game choices by other players, and neither of which seems too likely to come up (unless Robard attempts to steal the sword). It almost feels like I should be swapping out one of the other characters beliefs with something about the rodens services not being worth the money spent on them.

Am I worried about nothing, or is there some other solution I'm not seeing? Has this been fixed somewhere (tried a search but my search-fu failed to turn up anything that seemed relevent).

[Dwight]

Difficult for any one single PC to pay him alone. So normally he doesn't get paid until the other PCs get things worked out, and even if he does get paid prior he's likely going to end up throwing in with another PC.

Once a Belief is resolved the player can draft a new one that's in line with the others. Plus he's got his Traits to hit too. For example even if he gets paid there is Greed pushing him to get just a little more for his Cult. ;)

[The Dragon Master]

Thanks for the info, I'd forgotten about the beliefs being changed once resolved (which is odd as I was explaining that to one of the players a week ago, before I found out this week was available for a one shot).

[Kublai]

I agree with changing his Belief as soon as he gets paid.

"The Sword will make an excellent gift for my Visionary and increase my status in the Cult."

"The fee paid to me was a one-way ticket. To get back to the surface, I'll demand the Sword as payment!"

or somesuch.

[Daniel H.]

The three times I've run or played The Sword, Siszz was an NPC, so there wasn't a whole lot of incentive for him to stick around once he was paid. I try to open with his asking for payment, but as paying him generally proves difficult for the PCs, he ends up hanging out a little longer than expected. I've usually had Siszz threaten the PCs with refusing to lead them back to the surface if they are unable or unwilling to pay him, in which case he demands more money for his trouble. Siszz should be trying to get the most he can for the his cult and the Visionary, so any further financial deal he can strike with the PCs (including obtaining the valuable Sword for himself) can keep him in the action.

[Saphim]

The times I ran the sword the other characters usually tried to use the roden for an alliance against the other characters because he
1. doesn't seem to want the sword, so no sharing
2. knows the terrain.

[Thor]

Siszz is a member of the cult of the Visionary. That cult has spent generations preparing for a secret war to wipe away the surface-world scum that drove them below the surface.

If the other characters aren't looking to Siszz to shore up their own claims and keeping his player invested that way, I (as the GM) would emphasize two things when Siszz realizes what it is that the adventurers have found:
He can't allow the surface worlders to walk away with an artifact of power like the Sword of Ages.
The Sword of Ages would be a potent weapon for the cult. If Siszz were to bring it to the Visionary, the exalted one might find a place for Siszz at his right hand.Also, keep in mind that Siszz is a badass, as long as no one gets close enough to grapple him. He's actually a better warrior than any of the other characters, especially if he uses his shield training and sticks to Blocking Strikes (if it comes to combat). Of course, Brechtanz and Fidean both have armor, and that's something to consider.

[stormsweeper]

The biggest issue I have with Siszz is that Roden are in the Monster Burner, so for newbies it may be a bit much to go and read up on the Visionary stuff. The other characters are mostly self-explanatory. He also has oblique BITs, like Robard. You should try to stick those characters with resourceful and clever players.

[khelek]

I normally rewrite his beliefs to read something like this:

1. The surface dwellers would have died without me, they owe me their lives.

2. The agreed payment was insufficient for the services Rendered, I will extort them for all they have.

3. The Visionary taught me to be cunning, I will use their Greed against them.

I keeps his in the game regardless of what happens. I played it vanilla once, and the Roden player got payed and no other belief struck him as time critical. I think that for all the evolution that belief writing has gone through at BW in the last few years that they really should update some of these characters!

[luke]

What's up with the necromancy, Jason?

[khelek]

too much corruption...

I am stictching together some recurrent NPCs for a game I am running, and trolling for beliefs, stats, etc...

Hit upon a post that was bugging me since I ran the sword last month for some friends.

Perfect Necroptic Storm.

[Kublai]

I suspect we'll see a lot more necromancy now that the MagBu is out there!