Stolen Fate Book 2: Negotiation in Kho

I'm on a negotiation kick! I know the MCDM negotiation rules will likely change, but I also really like them in their present form, and they seem relevant to several of the projects I'm working on right now. 

Kho, before its fall

Today, we'll be talking about Stolen Fate Book 2, The Destiny War, Chapter 2, Cards of Kho, and breaking down the 5 people the party is meant to deal with! We will stat out 4 of them as negotiations. The 5th (the Lich) has an offer he is prepared to do, end of story (and the party might decide to fight him instead).

Some of these are harder than others - that's intentional! Hopefully this will keep the party on their toes.

Negotiation Rules

If you haven't read my other posts, here's my adapted version of the MCDM negotiation rules for Pathfinder 2e!

The players will make Arguments to convince the other party to give them what they want (in this case, the Cards of Destiny). If the Argument appeals to the character's Motivations, it automatically succeeds, increasing their Interest by 1! (Only the first time they do so for each Motivation.) If the party stumbles into a Pitfall, that counts as an automatic critical failure, decreasing the target's Interest and Patience by 1.

Otherwise, the party will make a check, usually against the base DC, though a particularly good/bad argument might alter the DC by +/- 2, or even +/- 5 for exceptional cases. Remember, these need not be charisma-skills - knowledge skills in particular can be very useful, but any skill can theoretically work depending on the specific tactic! Your question as the GM is how relevant is that tactic?

• Critical Success. The targets Interest increases by 2!
• Success. The targets Interest increases by 1.
• Failure. The targets Patience decreases by 1 :/
• Critical Failure. The targets Interest and Patience both decrease by 1 :(

The party can keep making Arguments until Patience or Interest hits 0, at which point negotiations are over. They can also choose to end negotiations early. Attacking the other side will immediately trigger combat, regardless of their Interest (though highly Interested creatures might be confused and ask for an explanation mid-fight).

I've formatted Motivations/Pitfalls as "Default party action. Explanation of the motivation." just to make things easier for you to parse, but feel free to allow other actions than the default one listed as long as they appeal to the motivation in some way!

A. Phantom Academy - Trexima Butoi, The Lich

This is the only non-negotiation. The Lich will immediately offer the party the card in exchange for retrieving his living runes (one of which, he does not tell them, is his soul cage). At the same time, the Hadi he enslaves will ask the party to liberate them by killing the Lich! Either way, the party can get the card, and will get the same XP, so it's really just up to their values! I think that's fine, doesn't need a change.

B. Obelisk Vault - The Radiant Warden

Honestly, if the PCs *don't* successfully negotiate with the Warden, they either didn't try, couldn't talk to it, or fucked up horribly. This should be fairly easy to succeed at, and therefore makes a great introduction to the Negotiation rules!

Starting Interest: 3

Base DC: 30 (must be able to speak Shory)

Patience: 3

Motivations:

• Offer to destroy the necromantic "Fragment". The Warden wants to protect this place, and is not only wary of  Necromancy broadly but also of Trexima specifically, given their earlier confrontation. (Will state this as a goal early on.)
• Denigrate the Lich. The Warden is angry at Trexima for destroying the lab, and happy to see him insulted.
• Revel in the mastery of the Shory. The Warden is proud of their former masters, and excited to share what little they know about the observatory or the other Shory workings.

Pitfalls:

• Damage the observatory. Even in combat/etc.
• Try to push past. If the party tries to skip negotiations and push past the warden, it won't immediately attack as the books says, but this will  (won't immediately attack)
• Insult the Shory. The Warden is protective of its former masters, and will not take kindly to insults.

Interest:

• 0 - Attacks immediately!
• 1 - Tells them to leave, and will attack if they don't do so quickly.
• 2 - Will not give them passage, but is happy to discuss more of this places history and, potentially, his battle with Trexima!
• 3 - Will allow them passage, but will carefully watch their every step (and will get mad if they take anything, for example the hidden treasure in B3). Will give them The Bear if they destroy the Soul Cage.
• 4 - Will allow them passage, and will give them The Bear if they destroy the Soul Cage.
• 5 - Will allow them passage, give them The Bear regardless of what they do (though still won't knowingly let them remove the Soul Cage from the premises), and will overtly offer to help them fight against the living runes!*

* Will attack the Soul Cage on sight regardless, but the PCs might not otherwise think to draw the runes out, and this level of interest allows them to coordinate better.

Will join them in Chapter 4 in any result of 3 or more!

C. Cistern Villa - Markish Aghayarea, The Undead Djinn

This one is likely to go bad, and succeeding might not be a good thing! They might have a powerful ally, but he's also a piece of shit, and taking his treasure while saving the derhii might be better. Still, it should be an option!

Starting Interest: 0

Base DC: 37

Patience: 2

Motivations:

• Offer tribute. Markish is vain, and is happy to accept any tribute of 5,000 gp or more. Unlike a normal Motivation, this one can increase his Interest up to 3 times instead of just once.
• Admire his shadow magic. The djinn is quite proud of the Shadow Maze (C3) and his broader success connecting to the Shadow Plane, and is excited for the chance to show off.

Pitfalls:

• Advocate for the derhii. The djinn cares not for such feeble creatures - they were once servants of the djinn, and are not worthy of higher consideration.
• Suggest altering the water levels. Markish's primary goal is to flood the entire region, and he will not allow any tinkering with the crystals or disruption of his plan.
• Insult Markish. He thinks very highly of himself, and does not take kindly to insults.

Interest:

• 0 - The party must give up one of their souls, and then leave immediately!
• 1 - The party must leave immediately!
• 2 - The party must leave eventually, but he will happily chat in the meantime. He will tell them he has The Beating and potentially describe the function of the crystals and the broad strokes of his plan.
• 3 - Will sell them the card for 10,000 gp and a soul.
• 4 - Will sell them the card for just 10,000 gp.
• 5 - Will sell them the card for just 10,000 gp, and will either join them in Chapter 4* or give them 3 wishes**, their choice!

* The derhii will join the party in Chapter 4 only if they reverse the flooding and negative energy plane connection in C5. This means that the party cannot ally with both!

** Markish will try to twist any wishes that actually require his magic to be as bad for the party as possible while still technically falling within the letter of the wish. But, if they make an agreement in exchange for the wishes, breaking that agreement will also end their magical effects!

In my game, this led to a great situation where he had a knife against the cleric's throat, so the three wishes were 1. free the cleric, 2. give us the card, and 3. reverse the flooding. This last would not have satisfied the derhii anyway, and I had it so that the lake emptied by gushing water onto the nearby city, flooding it instead and causing untold devastation! So, to reverse this, they attacked Markish once more and figured out the crystals on their own.

D. Deep Pit of Endless Night - Xiuli Cachu, The Morlock Queen

While the DC is as high as with the djinn, this negotiation is much easier. The Interest starts higher, the Patience starts higher if they didn't fight her at all, and several of her Motivations are pretty easy to target. That being said, if they do fight her significantly, feel free to make things harder!

Starting Interest: 1

Base DC: 37

Patience: 3 (2 if they fought her at all)

Motivations:

• Provide direction. Xiuli believes she was given The Lost for a reason by Lamashtu. If the party can come up with a convincing justification that it might be Lamashtu's will that she give it to them, she will jump at the chance!
• Protect the Morlocks. Xiuli wants to protect her surviving morlock flock above all else, and will take kindly to any shows of care or affection towards them.
• Express interest in tinkering. Xiuili's focus is on her goddess, but like many Morlocks she has a great elove for tinkering and strange inventions, and will happily talk shop.
• Revel in bloodshed. As a follower of Lamashtu, Xiuli loves to see her goddesses enemies fall before her. Showing delight in the downfall of the Demons (or past foes) will endear a sense of kinship.

Pitfalls:

• Insult Lamashtu or her creatures. Her goddess is the most important aspect of Xiuli's life. She will brook no insult to her or to the monstrous creatures she protects, who Xiuli see's as beautiful.
• Threaten her tribe. The Morlocks are precious to her, and she will not show weakness to any that set themselves as her enemies.

Interest:

• 0 - Xiuli attacks!
• 1 - She tells the party to begone from her realm, or she will attack.
• 2 - Wont trade The Lost, but will offer the ghost dust talisman as thanks for saving her
• 3 -Will trade The Lost for 5,000 gp
• 4 - Will give The Lost as thanks
• 5 - Will give The Lost and the ghost dust talisman

Will join them in chapter 4 on any result of 4 or more! (Or if they get a 3 and specifically negotiate an alliance.)

E. Sunset Towers - Vehanezhad, The Crystal Dragon

This should be somewhat easier, because an actual failure could be real rough for the party - the interest is decent, the DC is lower, and there are multiple paths to getting the card. That being said, there are lots of gradations of success here! The difference between paying 10,000gp and earning most of a treasure horde is tremendous, so successful diplomacy will be highly rewarded here.

Starting Interest: 2

Base DC: 34

Patience: 2 (1 if not accompanied by the xorns)

Motivations:

• Compliment her Crystaline Beauty. Vehanezhad is self-conscious about her limitations in this form, but tremendously vain. Even as she asks the PCs to cure her, she basks in any compliments of her present form.
• Offer to cure her. If the PCs present a reasonable path to a cure, Vehanezhad is willing to put up with a lot (but not anything). She yeans for the greater power of her true Blue form.

Pitfalls:

• Openly covet her treasures. Vehanezhad is fiercely jealous and protective of her horde.
• Lie to her. She frustrated if she discovers any deception on the PCs part (if they fail a check to lie, treat it as a critical failure instead; if they critically fail, she loses 2 interest instead of 1).
• Stall or distract. Vehanezhad is not very patient, and will lose interest quickly if the PCs try to find ways around either paying or curing her, or if they waste her time.

Interest:

• 0 - Vehanezhad attacks, and will pursue the PCs should they try to flee!
• 1 - She lets out a breathe weapon attack into the air, giving the PCs time to flee before her wrath falls upon them!
• 2 - She will trade The Sickness for 10,000 gp only if the party first cures her curse.
• 3 - She will trade The Sickness for 10,000 gp or a cure. If cured, she will take care to bring all her treasure with her (other than the coins, which are too unwieldy to quickly transfer for one so large).
• 4 - She will trade The Sickness for 7,000 gp or a curse. If cured, she will carelessly leave behind the viol and bow, the gems and art objects, and the coinage, prioritizing her magical treasures.
• 5 - She will trade The Sickness for 4,000 gp or a cure. If cured, she will destroy the Cluster Heart (E5) for the PCs, and intentionally leave behind some of her finest treasures as thanks: the viol and bow, the gems and art objects, the coins, the +3 greater striking longsword, and the greater flaming rune. She can rebuild her horde later!

The xorns will join the PCs in chapter 4 if Vehanezhad is driven off (whether because she is cured or defeated). This means that if the PCs buy the Sickness, the xorns won't join them. 

Will join them in chapter 4 on any result of 4 or more! (Or if they get a 3 and specifically negotiate an alliance.)

That's all folks! I'm pretty happy with where this is at, and while my group isn't quite done (they still haven't talked to the dragon), the others all went great (they fought the Lich and djinn, and got to Interest 4 with the Warden, and 5 with the Morlocks)! I'm curious to see if MCDM will tweak this framework further, but I think (especially with my edits for PF2) it's pretty dang fun as is.